Frightful’s Mountain (Excerpt I) 《猎鹰的山林》（节选一）

文/琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 译析/吴文安

By Jean Craighead George

Frightful had not been quite two weeks old when she first saw Sam Gribley.He had lifted her from her nest on a cliff.Small as she was, she had jabbed him with her already powerful talons as he carried her to the ground.“I’m going to call you Frightful,”he had said.“You are a raving beauty.”Then he carried her to the gigantic hemlock tree on the mountain and into its hollowed-out bole.This was Sam’s home.

“惊悚”初识山姆·格里布雷时，她还不到两周大。山姆把她从悬崖上的巢里取出，带到地面上。“惊悚”还小，却在下来时用已经很有力的爪子猛戳山姆。“我就叫你‘惊悚’吧，”山姆说，“你真是个绝色美女。”然后山姆就带着“惊悚”来到山上那棵巨大的铁杉树旁，钻进中空的树干里。这就是山姆的家。

[2]He fed her four and five times a day.He carried her on his gloved fist and talked to her.Before long, Frightful thought of him as her mother.He nurtured her like a peregrine falcon mother would.

[2]山姆一天喂“惊悚”四五次。山姆让她待在戴着手套的手上，跟她说话。没过多久，“惊悚”就把山姆当作了自己的鹰妈妈。山姆就像游隼妈妈那样养育“惊悚”。

[3]When she was older, Sam made a perch for her and placed it outside his tree.He taught her to fly to his hand.When she was full-grown, he took her hunting with him.By now, the memory of her parents was pushed far back in her mind.Sam was her family.

[3]“惊悚”稍稍长大，山姆给她做了块栖木，放在树屋外。山姆教她飞到自己的手上。“惊悚”长大以后，山姆就带着她打猎。如今，“惊悚”已经完全忘记了自己的游隼父母。山姆成了她的家人。

[4]At night and on winter days, Sam brought Frightful inside the huge old tree.She perched on his rustic bedstead and warmed herself by the clay fireplace.On spring and summer days,she would sit on her perch outside and watch the birds, the butterflies, and busy Sam.Patiently she waited for him to take her hunting.It was her greatest pleasure.She loved the sky.She loved the updrafts and coiling winds, and she loved“waiting on,”hovering above Sam until he kicked up game.Then she stooped, the wind singing in her feathers.

[4]夜晚和冬季，山姆会把“惊悚”带到这棵巨型老树的树洞里。“惊悚”待在简朴的床架上，靠着黏土火炉取暖。而春天和夏日，“惊悚”就待在屋外的栖木上，看鸟儿和蝴蝶飞来飞去，还有忙忙碌碌的山姆。她耐心地等待山姆带她去打猎。那是她最高兴的事儿。她热爱天空。她热爱上升的气流和盘旋的山风，她热爱“空中待命”，盘旋在高处直到山姆惊起猎物。然后她俯冲而下，任凭羽翅间风声呼啸。

[5]Frightful was an excellent hunter who rarely missed.The food was shared.Their lives depended on each other.She must find Sam again now.

[5]“惊悚”是个出色的猎手，几乎从不失手。她捉的食物跟山姆共享。他们的生活彼此依赖。现在她必须再找到山姆才行。

[6]Frightful crouched to fly.She could not see.She folded her gray-blue wings to her body and straightened up.

[6]“惊悚”俯下身准备起飞。但她看不见。于是她合拢蓝灰色的翅膀，挺直了身子。

[7]Hooded and tethered, she had traveled with two strange men for several days.

[7]她戴着眼罩，系着绳索，已经跟两个陌生人一起走了好几天了。

[8]One of them had taken her from the perch beside the big hemlock tree.He had a deep jerky voice and a face like a condor’s.She looked intently at him before he slipped the falconer’s hood over her head.

[8]其中一人把她从大铁杉树旁的栖木上取下。他的声音低沉急促，一张脸好像兀鹫。“惊悚”凝视着他，直到他把训鹰手所用的眼罩套在她头上。

[9]Sam had begged and pleaded with the man not to take her away, but he had pushed Sam aside and carried her down the mountain to a pickup truck.A leather perch had been presented to her feet.She had stepped up on it as Sam had taught her to do.A door had closed,and she was inside a camper on the truck.The motor rumbled, and she was moving.A falcon bell tinkled nearby.A sharp-shinned hawk had shifted his feet.A prairie falcon called out a single note.They, like herself, were sensing the direction of the moving pickup—east,northeast, east, then straight north.

[9]山姆苦苦哀求这个人不要把“惊悚”带走，但他把山姆推到一边，带着“惊悚”下山来到一辆皮卡货车旁。有人给了她一块皮栖木。她跳了上去，就像山姆教她的那样。一扇门关上了，她来到卡车上的露营帐篷里。马达轰鸣，她在移动。身边有个游隼铃铛叮铃铃响。一只斑胸鹰挪了挪脚。一只草原隼叫来叫去只有一个音调。他们，跟“惊悚”一样，都在感觉皮卡移动的方向——东，东北，东，然后一直向北。

[10]Several feedings later, the second man put Frightful on a perch in the pine forest.The prairie falcon and sharpshinned hawk were there, too.She could hear their bells tinkling.Although they were birds who would readily attack her, she was not afraid of them.

[10]又喂了几次，第二个人把“惊悚”放到松树林里的一块栖木上。草原隼和斑胸鹰也在那儿。“惊悚”能听到他们的铃铛在响。这两种鸟儿随时都可能攻击她，但她不怕。

[11]Frightful was a peregrine falcon.She was faster and more agile than any other bird or beast the world around.Her long pointed wings; wide shoulders; and strong, tapered body were sculpted by the wind, the open sky, and the nature of her ancestral prey—swift birds.

[11]“惊悚”是一只游隼。她比世界上任何一种鸟兽都更快、更敏捷。她又长又尖的翅膀、宽阔的肩膀、强有力的锥形躯体，都并非毫无来由，那是呼啸的山风、开阔的天空以及世代相传的猎物——迅疾的鸟儿——千百年来共同塑造而成。

【背景知识】《猎鹰的山林》是《我的山林》（My Side of the Mountain）和《远方山林》（On the Far Side of the Mountain）的续篇，从猎鹰“惊悚”的视角描述世界。猎鹰被迫离开山姆，独自迁徙、求偶、育雏，慢慢融入游隼的大家庭，但她始终忘不了那片养育她的山林和亲如父母的山姆，于是她一次次回来与山姆相伴。

【第一段】这里有一个时间状语不太好安排，即as he carried her to the ground，译文分开处理，用“带到地面上”和“下来时”重复叙述，以求更好地连接句子。

【第二段】为了更清楚地表达，译文把her mother明确为“鹰妈妈”。

【第三段】名词perch意思为“鸟类歇脚处，栖息处”，这里具体化为“栖木”。倒数第二句如果直译会是“她对父母的记忆被推到了脑后”，这样显得有翻译腔，于是转译为“已经完全忘记了自己的游隼父母”。

【第四段】该段文字虽朴素无华却热情洋溢、充满诗意。动词perch和sit在中文里都译为“待”，因为中文里很少说鸟儿“坐着”。“看着鸟儿和蝴蝶”后面添加了“飞来飞去”，这样句子更完整。

【第五段】这一段夹杂了冷静的描写和“惊悚”的心理活动。说“惊悚”是出色的猎手是旁观者的评价，而接下来是“惊悚”的内心活动，渴望去找寻山姆。

【第六段】这里又是冷静的旁观式描述。“惊悚”想飞出去，才想起自己看不见，只好收回翅膀继续待着。译文添加了“但”“于是”，把隐含的逻辑明示出来。

【第八段】这里描写偷猎者长得像“兀鹫”，是假意从猎鹰的视角来看，以增加趣味。

【第九段】该段文字都是从猎鹰的视角叙述的，而且是戴着眼罩仅靠听觉感知世界的鸟儿视角。文字简练但妙趣横生。

【第十段】“惊悚”通过听觉判断周围还有其他的鸟儿。她想到可能会受攻击，但她不怕。

【第十一段】这里的第三句翻译难度较大，需要分析句子结构和梳理语义，然后再重新组织译文。为了联系上下文，使得句子意义连贯，译文添加了“都并非毫无来由”，这也是把原文隐含的逻辑明晰化。

【小结】作为《我的山林》和《远方山林》的续篇，《猎鹰的山林》叙述视角有所改变，是全知视角和猎鹰视角的结合，相对而言，更加冷静客观，也增加了很多趣味。语言方面，也许作者是在模拟猎鹰的思维，句子简短，有时情绪饱满、诗意盎然，有时点到为止、大音希声，特色极为鲜明。译文应当尽力再现这些特点。