Julie (Excerpt V)《朱莉》（节选五）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

Julie looked out across the tundra and pointed her boots toward the wolves.

She stepped lightly around small snow patches as she followed the Avalik River toward its source. Her heels barely touched the ground as she walked. She skipped around poppies and waved to the snow buntings that flew up from the flowers.

A day’s walk beyond duck camp， Julie came upon a weasel standing on his hind feet， paws draped on his chest. He was no longer wearing his winter fur of white ermine， but a golden-brown coat that blended with the summer tundra. He was boldly blocking her way. Julie stamped her foot at him. He showed his sharp teeth and screamed but did not run. Julie walked closer. When she was almost two feet from him， she stopped.

“I am a person，” she said. “Why aren’t you afraid of me？ Is it because you have never seen a human before？” She lifted her arms and swayed from side to side.

“See how big I am？” The weasel twitched his whiskers and stood his ground. “Learn to be afraid of two-legged animals，” she said. “They shoot little weasels in the winter and make them into glorious ermine coats.” The bright-eyed， pointed-faced weasel stood firm， so she blew him a kiss and went on.

The next day Julie passed a snowy owl on her nest. Like the weasel， the large white bird with its huge golden eyes was not afraid of her. She let Julie come almost up to her fluffy babies before getting up on her feet.

Julie pondered about what she was seeing. The animals were talking to her. The owl and the weasel were saying they were not afraid of people because they rarely saw them. They were saying that Julie was in a wilderness where people did not come. In such country， she knew， the wolves of the Arctic raise their young.

A redpoll flew up from a grassy spot with a piece of fur in her bill. Julie spun around. That was wolf fur. She looked down. The grass had been bent by soft， padded feet， not sharp hoofs. She followed the subtle trail and came upon the sleeping scoop of a wolf. The bits of fur within it were black. Kapu had been here. The trail she was following was his. Her spirits lightened.

Bending low， noting every trampled blade of grass， she traced Kapu’s footsteps from his sleeping scoop to an elbow bend in the river. There before her was the white， stony beach Peter had mentioned. The footsteps became lost on the gravel. She went on upriver. Two wolf tracks appeared in the silt， then three， then many， as if wolves were playing. She rounded a bend， and there before her was a high， sandy bank. Scanning it carefully， she located a dark spot—a den. Just above it a garden of yellow poppies bobbed in the wind.

朱莉目視着一望无际的冻原，动身去寻找狼群。

她沿着阿瓦里克河前行，溯流而上，遇见小片雪地就轻轻地绕过去。走路的时候她的脚后跟几乎不着地。碰到罂粟花，她就从花旁跳过。有雪鹀从花儿上飞过，她就朝他们挥手。

朱莉走了一整天，已走过鸭子营。她碰到了一只鼬鼠，后腿直立，爪子搭在胸前。鼬鼠身上不再是冬天的白色貂毛，已经换上了金黄色的皮毛，跟夏天的冻原融为了一体。鼬鼠就堵在朱莉的路上，胆子很大。朱莉朝他跺脚。他露出尖利的牙齿嘶叫，并不跑开。朱莉越走越近。还有差不多两英尺的时候，朱莉停了下来。

“我是人。”朱莉说，“你为什么不怕我？因为你从来没有见过人吗？”朱莉抬起胳膊，左右挥舞。

“看我多高大？”鼬鼠抖了抖胡须，站在原地纹丝不动。“你要学会害怕两条腿的动物啊，”朱莉说，“他们冬天里会射杀小鼬鼠，用来做华美的貂皮大衣。”这只鼬鼠眼睛亮闪闪的，嘴巴尖尖的，仍然立在原地，于是朱莉抛了个飞吻，继续前行。

第二天，朱莉在路上又看到一只雪鸮待在自己的巢上。跟鼬鼠一样，这只长着金黄色大眼睛的白色大鸟一点儿都不怕她。朱莉走近鸟巢，几乎碰到了那些毛茸茸的小雪鸮，她才站起来。

朱莉琢磨她看到的这一切。动物们是在跟她交谈。雪鸮和鼬鼠在说他们不怕人，因为很少看到人。他们在说朱莉来的荒野无人涉足。朱莉知道，在这样的荒野上，北极狼可以抚育幼仔。

一只朱顶雀从一处草丛飞了起来，嘴里叼着一撮毛。朱莉转过身来。那是狼毛。朱莉往下看。踩倒草丛的是柔软的长有肉垫的爪子，不是尖锐的蹄子。她沿着这条隐隐约约的小径来到一个狼睡觉的草窝。狼窝里有些黑毛。卡普来过这里。这条小径是卡普的。朱莉兴奋起来。

朱莉一路俯身，找寻每一片被踩倒的草叶，就这样，卡普的脚印把朱莉从狼窝引到了河流的急弯处。她眼前就是彼得说过的布满鹅卵石的白色河滩。脚印消失在碎石滩上。她又溯流而上。淤泥上出现了两个狼的足迹，然后是三个，然后是很多个，好像狼群在这里玩耍过。她绕过一个弯，面前出现了一个高高的沙岸。朱莉仔细搜寻，发现了一个黑点——狼窝。就在狼窝之上，一大片黄色的罂粟在风中摇曳。

【背景知识】朱莉害怕她的狼群靠近父亲的麝牛群，这样会给他们招来杀身之祸，于是一个人深入荒野，想把狼群引到别处。她凭借丰富的冻原生存经验，徒步远足，甘冒风险也要保护狼群。

【第一段】词组look out across并非常见的固定搭配，这里指朱莉从近处一直望向远方的动作。

【第二段】最后一句话的中文改变了语序，是为了中文更活泼，句式也整齐。

【第三段】“融为一体”指鼬鼠的保护色，跟冻原颜色相近，不易被发现。将句子“He was boldly blocking her way.”中的boldly提取出来，译为“胆子很大”，这是常见的“外位法”技巧。

【第四段】朱莉把动物当作朋友对待，所以平等地跟他们交流。

【第五段】该段有些词语的译文作了适当引申，比如big译为“高大”，stood his ground译为“站在原地纹丝不动”。pointed-face没有译为“尖脸”，而是“嘴巴尖尖的”，因为中文里一般不会形容鼬鼠的“脸”如何。

【第六段】鸟儿本应该警惕性很高，但荒原上的动物从来没有见过人，所以不怕。

【第七段】朱莉在分析鸟儿的行为，进而推断出这样的荒野适合狼群生活。

【第八段】subtle trail就是不仔细看看不出来的小径，所以译为“隐隐约约的小径”。

【第九段】这一段原文的叙述顺序在模拟动作的顺序，所以译文不宜大改原文的语序。原文最后一句颇有诗意，译文亦可模仿。

【小结】该选段的叙述文学性强，具体体现在生动细致的动物描写和身临其境的动作再现。因此中文译文不要有明显的翻译腔，应该简洁细腻，再现原文的趣味性和动作性。                                                                                    □