The Cats of Roxville Station (Excerpt XI) 《罗克斯维尔火车站的猫》（节选十一）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 吴文安

Wary of the haunted house， Rachet took up a First Home in a large green briar bush at the edge of the woods amid sumac， maple saplings， and thorns. She scratched out a winding tunnel through the bush to some sticks and leaves and settled down there. Not even Shifty could get past the briars to get to her， and Mr. Vinski now kept Stalin on a heavier leash. The rain did not get through the dense stems， and she was safe and dry.

Even though she had a new home， Rachet still thought about the box of rags by the hot water pipes. If she could claim it she would remove Queenella from her top position in the order of the cats of Roxville Station. She， Rachet， would reign.

She contracted and opened her claws in pleasure at the thought of the food and of the First Home that being top cat would assure her.

The days went from warm to cold several times and then it was May. The Roxville wildlife really became busy. Starlings were building nests， Shifty and Ringx were nursing pups， and Windy was feeding half-grown owlets. She caught them mice by listening to the sounds the animals made， rather than by seeing them. One ear is lower than the other in all owls so that they can triangulate on rustles and movements. Once a sound is pinpointed， they zero in on the prey on a sound crossbar and strike it without seeing.

One night after swooping up a mouse just that way at the Olga River cliffs， Windy flew with it to her owlets， “hearing” the many limbs of the woods without touching one. Her hearing was that precise and accurate. She swept low over the green briar tangle， heard Rachet breathing， and veered out over the field to her owlets.

At daybreak Rachet heard Stalin sniffing her trail， then felt the scraping of his dragging leash coming closer and closer. He was loose. Running hard behind him came Mr. Vinski， and in no time they were at her thicket entrance. Mr. Vinski grabbed Stalin， who barked to announce Rachet’s presence， but Rachet was high in the briar bush. Stalin kept barking until Mr. Vinski hauled him back to the bicycle path. Rachet hissed.

Confused by the warm weather， a female cardinal laid a stick in a shrub fork and started a nest. When she built a nest， her mate didn’t help but sang clearly and loudly that she was his and this was his territory. He would feed her sweet tidbits after it was finished and she was ready to lay eggs. But that would be almost a month from now. This warm and cold weather had mixed up the cardinals as well as the Carolina wrens.

The birds flew off. Sensing only deer in the woods， not fox or owl， Rachet rolled on her back， legs outstretched， and yawned. The deer and her yearling walked right by Rachet. The doe was teaching her fawn her secret path to the best food. She led him to a garden of hostas. They ate them all and casually vanished into the morning shadows. The deer had yarded in the lowlands all winter where they could eat only cedars and twigs. They were now enjoying the sweet young plants in the gardens and yards of the suburb.

拉齐特有点害怕鬼屋，于是在一大片绿色荆棘丛里安置了自己的“老家”。这片荆棘丛长在一片树林的边缘，树林里有漆树、枫树苗，还有各类荆棘。 拉齐特在树丛里刨出一条弯弯曲曲的通道，在一堆树枝和树叶里安顿下来。希夫蒂都不能穿过那片荆棘来抓她。温斯基先生现在也给大狗斯塔林拴上了更粗重的狗绳。雨水浇不透那些浓密的树干，所以拉齐特在这里又安全又干爽。

拉齐特虽然有了新家，却仍然思念热水管道旁边的那个破布箱子。如果她能独自占有那个箱子，她就会把女王艾拉从罗克斯维尔火车站猫群头领的位置掀翻下来。她，拉齐特，就会统领一切。

拉齐特把爪子收紧又张开，因为一想到如果当上了猫群头领就会有相应的食物和“老家”，她就开心不已。

天气经历了几番冷暖变化，就到了5月。罗克斯维尔火车站周围的野生动物们都开始忙碌起来。欧椋鸟在筑巢。赤狐希夫蒂和浣熊林克斯在哺育幼崽。猫头鹰如风也在喂养自己半成年的小猫头鹰。如风喂雏鹰吃的是老鼠，她抓老鼠是靠听他们的动静，而不是靠看到他们。所有猫头鹰的一只耳朵都比另一只低，这样才能靠听到的窸窣声和动作来进行三角定位。一旦确定了声音来源，猫头鹰就会瞄准猎物，不用看便可一击致命。

一天晚上，就在奥尔加河悬崖附近，如风抓起一只老鼠，叼着朝自己的雏鹰飞去。她靠着“听觉”穿过树林，树枝很多却没碰到一根。她的听觉是如此精准。她低飞掠过那片绿色的荆棘丛，听到了拉齐特的呼吸声，然后转身越过田野飞向自己的雏鹰。

天亮的时候，拉齐特听到斯塔林在嗅闻自己的小道，还感觉到斯塔林拖着狗绳越走越近。斯塔林挣脱了主人。温斯基先生跟在后面拼命跑。不一会儿他们就来到了荆棘丛的入口处。温斯基先生拽住斯塔林，斯塔林狂吠，告诉主人他找到了拉齐特，但是拉齐特已经爬到了荆棘丛的高处。斯塔林一直狂吠，直到温斯基先生拖着他回到自行车道上。拉齐特朝着狗嘶嘶叫。

天气如此温暖，一只北美红雀雌鸟有些困惑，就在一个灌木树杈那里放了根树枝，开始筑巢。雌鸟在筑巢，雄鸟没有帮忙，只在一旁纵声高唱，说雌鸟属于他，这片领地属于他。雌鸟筑巢完毕，雄鸟会喂她好吃的，雌鸟就准备产卵。但其实那是将近一个月以后的事。这种温暖和寒冷交替的天气让北美红雀弄错了日子，卡罗莱纳鹪鹩也是如此。

鸟儿们飞走了。拉齐特觉察到树林里只有鹿，不是狐狸或猫头鹰，于是翻身仰躺，伸开腿，打了个哈欠。母鹿和一岁多的幼崽正好从拉齐特身边走过。母鹿在告诉幼崽这一条能找到最好食物的秘密小道。母鹿带着小鹿来到一片玉簪草花园。他们吃光了这些美味，悠闲地离开，消失在早晨的光影里。整个冬天，鹿群都待在低地处，那里只能吃到雪松和嫩枝。而现在他们能享用郊区花园和院落里鲜嫩的植物了。

【背景知识】冬去春来。由于老妇人叫来了驱赶野猫的工作人员，拉齐特只好逃离迈克的家，躲到一片荆棘丛里安顿下来。这里既安全又干爽，还能与各种动物相处。敌人来了有荆棘阻挡，朋友来了不必介意。这一选段描写了拉齐特的新家以及周围的野生动物，属于生态文学知识普及的范畴。

【第一段】第一个单词wary（小心的，警觉的）就不容易翻译。这里指迈克住的鬼屋让猫咪们受惊了，所以拉齐特被迫换个地方住。因此，wary不能按照字面翻译，译文转化为“有点害怕鬼屋”。第一句是典型的英文句子，译者很容易调整译文的语序。但是考虑到原文的信息结构，译文保持了原文语序，用“树林里”来衔接上下文。

【第二段】第二句的语序较为麻烦，不宜逐词直译为中文。

【第三段】这一段只有一句话，但是语序处理仍然要用心。译文使用了切分和添加连接词的方式，这样既保持原文的信息流不变，又实现通顺的中文句子。作者在此使用了全知视角，仿佛钻入了猫咪内心，讲述猫咪的小心思。

【第四段】该段又一一列举了环境中的野生动物。为了方便读者，译者在动物名字前面都加了类别词语，像赤狐、浣熊、猫头鹰等，有助于读者更顺畅地阅读。

【第五段】这里的“听觉”之所以用引号，是因为实际上猫头鹰靠回声定位辨别方向避开障碍，并非真正的听觉。原文使用了引号，译文照搬过来，中文读者也能理解。

【第六段】拉齐特的新家虽然安全，依然有来自恶狗的威胁。好在拉齐特的小径设计周到，恶狗钻不进来。拉齐特可以躲在高处嘲笑无能为力的恶狗。这里的描写趣味横生。

【第七段】第一句的语序处理是一个难点，不能直译为“受了温暖天气的迷惑”，这样翻译腔太重。译文按照中文习惯做了换位处理。译文还把she、he、her mate分別翻译为“雌鸟”“雄鸟”，这样中文表达更清楚。

【第八段】这一段的描写充满趣味和温情，画面也很美。拉齐特悠闲地打起了哈欠。鹿妈妈带着孩子享受了美味。晨光明媚，光影迷离，让读者心驰神往。

【小结】该选段有几个较长的句子，英译汉时的语序处理是重点。从译文可以看出，非常地道的英文句子不容易转化为中文。一旦大幅度调整语序，译文的信息结构将会大大不同于原文，产生不良效果。但如果译者采用一些小技巧，比如切分、加连接词、加概括词、重复关键词等方法，就可以在保留原文信息流的基础上创造通顺的中文句子。

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