《狼女朱莉》（节选五）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

She awoke with a start a short time later and looked about in puzzlement. The sky vaulted above her. A grass blade tickled her face， and she remembered where she was—up on the frost heave with the wolf pack！ Breathing deeply to quell a sense of uneasiness， she finally relaxed， unrolled， and sat up. Kapu was curled against her leg. His feet were flipping and he yipped as if challenging some wolf badman in his dreams. Softly she stroked his fur.

“All’s well，” she whispered and his paws stopped moving. He sighed and dreamed on peacefully.

She glanced around. All of the wolves were asleep， although they usually went hunting when the sky was lime-green. Perhaps they knew something she didn’t know. Sniffing and turning her head， she saw nothing different from any other evening. Then in the distance a thick wall of fog arose. It blotted out the horizon， the far dips and heaves， the grasses， the pond， and finally her own frost heave. The fog streamed up the wolf slope and enveloped the members of the pack one by one until only Kapu was visible. Fogs were part of the Arctic summer， rolling in from the sea for only an hour or for many days， but Miyax had never given them much thought. Now she remembered that when the fog rolled over Barrow， airplanes were grounded， ships and boats had to be anchored， and even the two jeeps in town sat where they had stopped in the fog. She also remembered that people were prisoners of the fog， too. They could not see to hunt.

Now， if the wolves did not bring her some meat， she might not eat for days. She could resort to the belly-basket again， but Jello was jumpy and she doubted if she had enough courage to put her hands in the mouths of the others. Perhaps Kapu would share his meals with her.

“Kapu？” He sighed and pushed tighter against her. The whiskers that protected his sensitive nose and warned him of objects nearby， twitched as her breath touched them. His lips curled up. Whatever he was dreaming about now must be funny， she thought. She hoped so， for her wide-awake dream was hardly amusing—it was desperate.

She was looking at Silver stretched not far away in a thin spot of fog. Zing， the incorrigible Zing， was nursing again. Silver growled. The pup rolled to his back， paws outstretched like an upside-down chair. The Silver moved out of the fog. She snuggled up to her mother， suckled two or three times， more for comfort than food， and fell back to sleep.

過了一小会儿，米娅克斯猛地惊醒，困惑地看看四周。头顶是弧形的天空。一枝草叶戳到她脸上，她想起了自己在哪里——她在冻土堆顶上跟狼群在一块儿！她深吸一口气，让不安的感觉稍稍平复，然后终于放松下来，挺直身子，坐起来。卡普紧挨着她的腿，蜷缩着身子。他的脚在翻动，口里尖叫，似乎在梦中挑战某只恶狼。米娅克斯轻柔地抚摸卡普的毛发。

“一切都很好。”她小声地跟卡普说，然后卡普的爪子不动了。卡普叹一口气，继续安静地做梦。

米娅克斯瞥一眼四周。所有的狼都在睡觉。一般情况下，天空呈现浅黄绿色的时候，他们该去狩猎了。也许有些事情她不知道，但狼群知道。她轉着头，闻一闻周围，没看到跟其他傍晚有什么不同。然后，在远处，有一层浓重的雾幔缓缓升起。大雾遮蔽了远方的地平线，然后是远处的洼地和冻土堆，然后是草地、水塘，最后是她所在的冻土堆。大雾缓缓流动，爬上了狼群所在的斜坡，将群狼一个一个包裹起来，最后只有卡普还看得见。浓雾是北极地区夏天常见的天气，从海面而来，持续仅一个小时或者数日，但米娅克斯对此从来没有多想过。现在她记起来，大雾弥漫之时，巴洛镇的航班就会停飞，大小船只必须靠港，甚至是镇上的两辆吉普车都要待在原地不动。她还记起来，人们也会成为大雾的囚徒。因为看不见，就不能狩猎。

现在，如果狼群不能给她带一些肉来，她也许数天都吃不上饭。她或许还能再指望一下狼群的口中储备，但果冻现在紧张不安，她怀疑自己是否有足够的勇气再把手伸进其他狼的嘴里去。也许卡普会把自己的肉跟她分享。

“卡普？”卡普又嘘了口气，挪了挪，朝她靠得更紧了。卡普的胡须一般是用来保护他敏感的鼻子，或者提醒他附近有什么东西，现在由于米娅克斯的呼吸吹到了胡须，胡须就抽动了几下。卡普的嘴唇撅了起来。不管他现在梦到了什么，肯定是可笑的事情，米娅克斯想。她希望如此，而她自己的白日梦一点儿都不可笑——而是绝望极了。

她又看到了银白，在不远处舒展着身体睡觉，周围一层薄雾。津，那个无比固执的津，又开始给小狼喂奶了。银白怒吼了一声。小狼崽翻了个身，肚子朝上，四个爪子伸开，就像一把底朝天的椅子。银白从大雾中走了过来。银白依偎到狼妈身边，咂了两三口，与其说是喝奶，不如说是寻求安慰。然后银白躺下来睡着了。

【背景知识】米娅克斯面临绝境，仅靠自己难以生存，就混进狼群，从熟悉的狼崽儿那里讨要一点儿食物维持生命。她与狼为伍，时时刻刻胆战心惊，又不知道何时会有新的情况。因此她小心翼翼，密切观察周围的动向。该选段就是米娅克斯在狼群求生的一个片段。

【第一段】第一句译文调整了原文的顺序，因为中文的动作一般按照时间顺序来叙述，而英文的句式以主语为中心。接下来的两个动词vault和tickle都不宜按照字面翻译，译文中把vault变成了形容词，而tickle也没有译为“挠痒”。后面的动词unroll和flip都需要斟酌翻译。

【第二段】英语的主谓短语she whisper（她低语）在译文里补出了对象“跟卡普说”，目的是让中文更自然流畅。

【第三段】情况不同寻常，该狩猎的时候狼群却在睡觉。米娅克斯开始琢磨到底是为什么。原文里，大雾的隐喻是a thick wall of fog（浓重的雾墙），不符合中文习惯，于是改为“浓重的雾幔”。接下来原文的名词词组之间译文增加了“然后”，使句子更连贯。

【第四段】第二句中的belly-basket不能直译为（肚子篮子），这里指狼用嘴巴给其他狼带来的碎肉，吐出来给别的狼吃。米娅克斯是伸手从狼的嘴里捞出碎肉，非常危险，她担心目前行不通了。仅能指望自己的好朋友卡普给她分享一点儿吃的。

【第五段】动词push不宜直译为“推了推”，这里指躺着的狼挪动了一下。译文添加了几个字，让中文更自然。英文短句twitched as her breath touched them非常简洁，中文在此做不到，只能靠添加文字来传递原文的意思：“现在由于米娅克斯的呼吸吹到了胡须，胡须就抽动了几下。”最后两句话语义比较曲折，描述卡普梦里碰到了好笑的事情，但米娅克斯面临的却是绝境，其中wide-awake dream（清醒时做的梦）纯属自我调侃，并非真的指白日梦。

【第六段】狼崽吃奶，会招致哥哥姐姐们的嫉妒。因此银白会用低吼表达不满。然而长大了的狼喝奶又实在没什么用。该段的描写真实而有趣。译文添加了一些连接词语，让译文更顺畅。

【小结】该选段的翻译难点有二：一、动词的译法。一些动词不能直译，要根据上下文灵活选择，确保中文自然顺畅;二、有几个英文句子十分简洁，中文译文需要适当添加词语才能让中文语义贯通、文通字顺。这里原文的特点是描写精微细腻，译文也当体现这一文学特色。