《罗克斯维尔火车站的猫》（节选三）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

Still hungry， Rachet ran all the way to the tire and dove in.

She turned as smoothly as flowing water， lifted her head， and breathed in deeply. The Roxville Cats were each back in their First Homes. She could locate everyone but Elizabeth. Elizabeth was somewhere in that abandoned lot. But where？ She sought her with her whiskers and nose and finally sensed her in the front seat of a junked truck.

When she had located everyone but Shifty， she went out to hunt anything that moved—bird， mouse， or frog. No sooner was she outside the tire than she sensed Shifty. The red fox was asleep near the mouth of his den under the bridge. Rachet was safe.

With her body in crouch， her tail stretched out straight behind her， and her whiskers bowed forward to feel the vibrations of living things， she crept silently through the dying goldenrod.

Grasses moved. A mouse gleaning seeds took form as it ran. It was near the burrow of its den， and cat wisdom told Rachet to make herself invisible by sitting still.

The mouse finished the seeds and， still hungry， went down his grass highway， looking for more. A caterpillar diverted his attention， and Rachet tucked her hind legs under her， aimed her unsheathed forepaws， and pounced. She slammed down upon the mouse with deadly accuracy， felt it in her grip， but did not bite with her powerful jaws. Instead she lifted one paw out of curiosity—and it got away. She was racing after it when Shifty， out of his den now and right behind her， leaped on her yellow-and-orange tail. Screaming and hissing， she ran， dove in her tire， turned around， and spit. Shifty， she now understood， was more than a citizen of wild Roxville—he was an enemy. Her bleeding tail twitched in pain， and she licked it tenderly. Shifty did not come after her. He saw much easier prey in her wounded mouse and caught it in one graceful leap， his white tail tip held aloft. Shifty swallowed the mouse， then trotted off.

All day Rachet stayed in the tire. In the evening she came out， smelled Shifty nearby， and went back in. Somewhat later， when Shifty was down by the river， she stared out of her tire hole again， only to smell the red-headed boy， Mike， coming through the milkweeds toward her. He walked slowly， quietly， a flashlight in hand.

“Kitty， kitty，” he called when he was almost upon the tire. She drew back farther but not so far that she couldnt see him.

“Here， kitty， kitty. Are you there？” He really wanted her. There was something magical about that cat.

Rachet， for her part， was strangely attracted to the boy and yet afraid of him. He was a human after all. She bowed her whiskers forward to sense him， could not， and curled up in the tire and slept.

还饿着肚子，拉齐特一路跑回了轮胎，跳了进去。

拉齐特转过身，动作顺滑得像流水一样，然后抬起头，深呼吸。罗克斯维尔火车站的猫咪们都回到了各自的大本营。拉齐特能确定所有猫的位置，但伊丽莎白除外。伊丽莎白在那块荒地的某一处。到底哪一处呢？拉齐特用胡须和鼻子搜寻，最终察觉到伊丽莎白是在一个废弃卡车的前座里。

拉齐特确认了除希夫蒂之外所有猫咪的位置，然后就出门捕猎，任何会动的猎物——小鸟、老鼠或青蛙都行。但她一出轮胎就闻到了希夫蒂。那个赤狐就在桥下狐狸窝的门口睡觉呢。拉齐特是安全的。

拉齐特趴在地上，尾巴在身后挺直，胡须往前倾，来感觉活物发出的震动，然后悄无声息地从近乎枯萎的秋麒麟丛中爬过去。

草丛动了。有一只正在收集草种的老鼠跑着现身了。老鼠还在自己的洞口附近，猫咪天生的智慧告诉拉齐特静静坐着不动，不让老鼠发现。

老鼠吃完了草种，还是饿，就沿着他的草丛公路前行，继续找草籽。一只毛毛虫分散了老鼠的注意力，这时拉齐特把后腿回收到身子下面，亮出了锋利的前爪，瞄准老鼠扑了过去。拉齐特猛地扑到老鼠身上，准确无误，一击致命。她感觉到老鼠就在爪子下面，但还没有用她有力的颌骨去咬老鼠。她好奇地抬起一只爪子——老鼠逃走了。拉齐特猛追老鼠，不过希夫蒂从窝里出来，就跟在拉齐特后面，跳到了她橘黄相间的尾巴上。拉齐特又是尖叫又是嘶嘶叫，飞跑着跳进自己的轮胎，然后转身朝着希夫蒂吐口水。现在拉齐特明白了，希夫蒂不仅仅是罗克斯维尔火车站附近荒野里的居民，更是她的敌人。她的尾巴在流血，疼得抽搐，她赶紧温柔地舔起来。希夫蒂并没有追赶拉齐特。他发现被拉齐特扑伤的老鼠是更容易捕获的猎物，于是优雅地一跳，就抓住了。希夫蒂的白色尾巴尖高高举起以示胜利。希夫蒂吞下老鼠，然后慢步跑开。

一整天拉齐特都待在轮胎里。黄昏时，她出来闻到了附近的希夫蒂，就又躲了回去。过了一会儿，希夫蒂到河边去了，拉齐特又从轮胎的破洞往外看，却闻到了那个红头发的男孩迈克。他穿过马利筋丛朝她走来。他慢慢地、悄悄地走过来，手里拿着一个手电筒。

“猫咪，猫咪。”迈克喊道。他几乎踩到了轮胎上。拉齐特往里缩，但是仍然保持能看到迈克。

“来啊，猫咪，猫咪。你在吗？”迈克真的想要拉齐特。那只猫身上有些神奇之处。

而拉齐特呢，她不可思议地喜欢那个男孩，却又怕他。他毕竟是人类。她的胡须往前弯过去，想触碰一下他，却做不到，于是在轮胎里蜷起身子睡着了。

【背景知识】离开了父母，又没有人类喂养，拉齐特饥一顿饱一顿，还要提防赤狐的攻击及同伴的排挤，生活极为艰难。这一选段就是拉齐特独立生存的一个片段。拉齐特的人类朋友迈克也出场了，他们两个之间的友谊就此展开。

【第一段】原文形容词提前，添加了副词Still，表示强调，是独特的句式（亦可分析为省略句While she was…）。中文保留了这一强调句式，是为了再现原文的修辞效果。

【第二段】第一句原文使用了明喻手法“像流水”，特指小猫的身子柔软灵活，译文加以保留。英文里的Roxville是简称，指罗克斯维尔火车站，但中文如果仅仅用“罗克斯维尔”就不太清楚，只好添加“火车站”。

【第三段】因为中英文特点不同，英文代词多，中文多用名词，所以原文中的很多代词在译文里都用名词拉齐特替代。猫咪是赤狐的猎物，拉齐特需要十分小心才是。

【第四段】该段有两个词语不易翻译，living things和dying goldenrod。第一个词语的译文是“活物”，在中文里略显生硬。第二个词语，有几种表达方式，即“奄奄一息的秋麒麟丛”“半死不活的秋麒麟丛”等，但它们更适合修饰动物，译文最后选择了“近乎枯萎的”。

【第五段】短语cat wisdom意思是猫咪的智慧，其实是指猫咪有生以来的本能，因此译文添加了“天生的”。最后根据中文的习惯调换了方式状语by sitting still的位置。

【第六段】第五句里有一個when引导的时间状语，强调突然发生的情况。拉齐特正在追逐老鼠，赤狐突然出现，咬住了她的尾巴。拉齐特朝着赤狐吐口水的动作也许有些令人费解。动物之间，表达愤怒的方式之一是吐口水，猫咪就是如此。英文短语wild Roxville很简洁，但中文却只能添加不少信息：“罗克斯维尔火车站附近荒野里的”。倒数第二句中的原文his white tail tip held aloft（他的白色尾巴尖高高举起）如果保持直译显得语意不清，译文明晰化为“以示胜利”。

【第七段】从猫咪的视角看过去，迈克是red-headed（红头的男孩）。译文明晰化为“红头发的男孩”。

【第八段】拉齐特对迈克有一种喜爱之情，因此既害怕，又不想彻底躲开，所以原文有not so far的表达。译文添加了“保持”来表达这种复杂的感情。

【第九段】最后一句是迈克视角的叙述。他觉得拉齐特身上有一种魔力。

【第十段】第一句中的strangely不好翻译，译文选取了旁观者视角的“不可思议”来对应。

【小结】该选段特色是精微细致的动作描写，原文语言运用很微妙，语序安排很用心，有些表达简洁但难以传译。译文尽力维持原文的语序，只在个别地方根据中文习惯做了调换。为了中文译文更清楚明白，译文在几处进行了增译。