Frightful’s Mountain (Excerpt II)

The sharp-shinned hawk flew off his perch in terror. His bell tinkled. He was stopped by his leash, which was knotted to a steel ring at the base of his perch and to the jesses on his legs. He jumped forward, fell back, and beat the earth with his wings.

A killing snarl colored the air red.

[2] An eastern coyote had killed the sharp-shinned hawk. The killer, bird in her mouth, ran toward her pups in the woods. With a jerk, she, too, was stopped by the leash. She turned back and dug at the base of the perch until it toppled and fell. The next sound Frightful heard was the clink of the ring at the end of the leash bouncing over the ground. The sounds faded into the woods.

[3] A wind twisted Frightful’s silky pantaloons of pinstriped feathers, which hung down over her enamel-shiny legs.Her tail fl icked. She was nervous.

Human footsteps approached.

Their sound did not conjure up the image of the men she had been traveling with. Wary, she lifted her wings to fly.

斑胸鹰吓得从栖木上飞起来。他脚上的铃铛叮铃铃响。但他被脚绳拽了回来。脚绳一头绑在栖木底部的钢环上，另一头绑在他腿的脚带上。他往前跳起来，又落下，在地上拍打着翅膀。

一阵屠杀的低吼之后，空气中充满了血腥的味道。

[2]一只东方郊狼杀死了斑胸鹰。郊狼嘴里叼着斑胸鹰，朝树林里的狼崽儿们跑去。猛地一下，郊狼也被脚绳拽了回来。郊狼转过身，在栖木下端刨土，直到栖木倒下。接下来，“惊悚”听到脚绳被郊狼跑着拖过地面，脚绳头上的铃铛蹦蹦跳跳响个不停，一直消失在树林深处。

[3]一阵风吹过，掀起了“惊悚”腿上丝绸般光滑、有着细细条纹的羽毛，羽毛下是珐琅般光滑的双腿。她的尾巴抖动了一下。她很紧张。有脚步声靠近。脚步声不像是把她一路运到这里的那些人的。她警觉地抬起翅膀想要飞走。一只手触碰到了她腿的前部，她踩了上去，就像山姆教她的那样。

A hand touched the front of her legs,and she stepped up onto it as Sam had taught her to do.

[4] “Hello, Frightful.” Her name; but not Sam’s voice. The tone was soft, like the call of a mourning dove.

“What are you doing here?” the voice asked, and Frightful recognized Alice,Sam’s sister. In her mind’s eye, she saw a rosy face with sea-blue eyes and yellow hair. Frightful relaxed. Alice was family.

[5] She liked Alice, who ran and jumped. She also darted. Frightful liked movement. A spot in her eyes that connected to many nerves gave her an instant focus on movement. Running,leaping Alice was a member of Frightful’s home forest. Sam must not be far away. Frightful eased her grip on Alice’s bare hand. She lifted her talons.

[4]“你好，‘惊悚’。”这是在叫她的名字；但不是山姆的声音。语调柔和，像是哀鸠的叫声。

“你在这儿干嘛啊？”那个声音问道，这时“惊悚”认出那是艾丽斯的声音，是山姆的妹妹。“惊悚”脑海里浮现出一张红润的脸庞，大海一样碧蓝的眼睛，还有金黄的头发。“惊悚”放松下来。艾丽斯是家人。

[5]“惊悚”喜欢艾丽斯，艾丽斯总是跑跑跳跳。艾丽斯还会飞奔。“惊悚”喜欢观察动作。“惊悚”的眼睛里有一个部位连接着很多神经，能让她瞬间聚焦运动的物体。跑跑跳跳的艾丽斯是“惊悚”森林故乡的一个成员。山姆一定也在近处。“惊悚”的爪子放松了，因为艾丽斯没有戴手套。“惊悚”抬起了她的利爪。

[6] “Frightful,” Alice said softly.“You’ve got to get out of here.” The young girl’s voice brought back images of the one mountain among thousands of mountains, the one hemlock tree among millions of trees—and Sam.

“I’m cutting your jesses,” she whispered. “You are surrounded by enemies!Fly, fl y far away.

“Fly away, Frightful! Sam is not allowed to have you. He has to have a falconer’s license, and he’s too young to get one. Fly, Frightful! Fly far!”

[7] A quick slash of a knife, and Frightful’s jesses and leash dropped away. The hood was fl ipped off.

And Frightful could see.

“Fly!” Alice urged.

Frightful saw the clearing before her and the leaves on the bushes, even the shiny needles at the tops of the pine trees. Her eyes were endowed with incredible vision.

[8] Alice tossed her into the air.

Pulling on her powerful wings,Frightful sped to the top of the tallest pine and alighted on a slender twig.Her large, black-brown eyes observed the forest, the cascading stream, a town tucked into a steep valley, and rolling mountains as far as she could see.

[9] She turned her head almost all the way around, but could not see or sense the one mountain among thousands of mountains, the one tree among millions of trees. She must get higher. She fl ew.Strong wing beats carried her into a thermal, a column of warm air that rises from the sun-heated ground in a spiraling bubble. She got aboard and circled upward a thousand feet.

[6]“‘惊悚’，”艾丽斯柔声说，“你必须离开这儿。”小姑娘的声音让“惊悚”想起了群山中的那座山，想起了林海中的那棵铁杉树——还有山姆。

“我来切开你的脚带。”艾丽斯低声说，“你的周围都是敌人！飞吧，飞得远远的。

“快飞，‘惊悚’！山姆没有权利拥有你。他必须获得猎鹰许可证才行，但他太小，还拿不到。飞吧，‘惊悚’！飞远点儿！”

[7]刀子飞快地划过，“惊悚”的脚带和脚绳掉了下去。头罩也被掀开。

“惊悚”可以看见了。

“飞吧！”艾丽斯催促道。

“惊悚”看到了眼前的空地、灌木上的树叶，甚至松树顶上亮闪闪的松针。视野之大令人难以置信。

[8]艾丽斯把她抛到了空中。

“惊悚”扇动强有力的翅膀，快速飞到最高的松树梢，落在一根细枝上。她那双棕黑色的大眼睛仔细观察，看到了森林、湍流的小溪、嵌在深谷的小镇，还有目之所及远方连绵的群山。

[9]她的头转了一整圈，却看不到也感觉不到群山中的那座山、林海中的那棵树。她必须再高一点。她又飞起来。她使劲挥动翅膀，进入一股暖气流。这股气流是地面被加热之后盘旋上升的气泡。“惊悚”搭乘暖气流，盘旋着上升了1000英尺。

【背景知识】猎鹰被假的环保官员带走，准备出售赚大钱，一系列冒险从此开始。这一段里“惊悚”和其他猛禽一起被坏人藏匿在树林中，有一只斑胸鹰被郊狼杀死，“惊悚”也面临危险。正在此时，艾丽斯赶到。她释放了“惊悚”，让她逃生。但“惊悚”习惯了与山姆一起生活，孤独无依而又找不到鹰群的她感到十分茫然。

【第一段】最后一句话文学性很强，如果直译应该是“屠杀的低吼把空气都染红了”，这样在中文里较为费解，于是略加明晰化为“空气中充满了血腥的味道”。

【第二段】最后一句话的译文顺序做了调整，是按照中文的逻辑顺序进行了重组。

【第三段】倒数第三句中的conjure up the image of the men直译会是“让她想起那些人的画面”，译文转为从侧面描写：这个脚步声不像是把她一路运到这里的那些人的”。

【第四段】第一小段her name属心理描写，译文适当添加文字为“这是在叫她的名字”，是猎鹰心中所想。最后两小句很短，属于有意的精简修辞，仍然是心理描写。

【第五段】整段都是“惊悚”的心理描写，是作者在模仿猎鹰的语气。她回忆起艾丽斯的动作习惯，想起了主人山姆，确定艾丽斯是家人，于是善意地抬起了利爪，怕伤着艾丽斯。

【第六段】小说的主题句“the one mountain among thousands of mountains,the one hemlock tree among millions of trees”在全书中一再出现，反复吟诵，贯穿全文，寓意人鹰情深，不离不弃，相依为命。如直译为“千座山之中的那座山，百万大树之中的那棵树”反而没有了修辞效果，因此，译文选择了中文常用的“群山”和“林海”，力求再现原文的执着和诗意。句子“Sam is not allowed to have you.”如直译为“山姆不被允许拥有你。”，意思反而不清楚，所以明晰化为“山姆没有权利拥有你。”。

【第七段】一开始，文字还是模拟一只看不见的猎鹰仅凭听觉来感知世界：刀子、脚带、脚绳、头罩。然后她总算可以看周围的世界了，于是迫不及待地扫视周围。

【第八段】该段文字仍然从猎鹰的视角叙述，她飞往高处，周遭的景物一览无余。文字质朴而富有美感。

【第九段】小说的主题句再次出现，深度刻画了猎鹰对山姆的依恋之情。这里猎鹰的视角和全知视角交织在一起，叙述充满感情和力量，简洁而生动。

【小结】这一选段充满悬念，跌宕起伏。从眼睛被蒙住的猎鹰“惊悚”的感知出发，身边的世界危机四伏；主人的妹妹出现，让她感觉安全；但艾丽斯却放生了她，她顿觉一片茫然，群山之中的那座山，林海之中的那棵树，树下的那个人在哪里呢？小说叙述视角独特，充满张力；文字简约生动、感情饱满、意蕴深厚，需要译者仔细体会之后方可传译。 □