赫斯特短篇小说《朱鹭》(翻译初稿)

      我的译文 2007-1-22 14:35

The Scarlet Ibis
朱鹭

by James Hurst
詹姆斯·赫斯特

Summer was dead, but autumn had not yet been born when the ibis came to the bleeding tree. It's strange that all this is so clear to me, now that time has had its way. But sometimes (like right now) I sit in the cool green parlor, and I remember Doodle.
    夏天已经逝去,秋天还没有来临,这个时候朱鹭来到了那棵满是树脂的树上。奇怪的是这一切对我来说竟如此清晰,而现在那段时光早已过去。但有时候(就像现在)我坐在凉爽的绿色客厅里,我想起了嘟嘟。
Doodle was about the craziest brother a boy ever had. Doodle was born when I was seven and was, from the start, a disappointment. He seemed all head, with a tiny body that was red and shriveled like an old man's. Everybody thought he was going to die.
    嘟嘟差不多是一个男孩有过的最古怪的兄弟。嘟嘟出生时我七岁了,他从一开始就让人失望。他似乎只有脑袋,小小的身子红红的,如同老人一样干瘪。每个人都认为他活不了多久。
Daddy had the carpenter build a little coffin, and when he was three months old, Mama and Daddy named him William Armstrong. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.
    爸爸让木匠给打了一口小棺材,而当他三个月大的时候,妈妈和爸爸给他取了名字,叫威廉·阿姆斯特朗。这样一个名字只有在墓碑上叫得响。
When he crawled on the rug, he crawled backward, as if he were in reverse and couldn't change gears. This made him look like a doodlebug, so I began calling him 'Doodle.' Renaming my brother was probably the kindest thing I ever did for him, because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle.
    当他在小地毯上爬时,他倒着爬,好像他被弄反了,又转不过来。这使他看上去像一只幼虫,所以我开始叫他“嘟嘟”。给我弟弟的这次改名很可能是我为他做过的最和蔼的一件事,因为没有人会对一个叫嘟嘟的人有多大期望。
Daddy built him a cart and I had to pull him around. If I so much as picked up my hat, he'd start crying to go with me; and Mama would call from wherever she was, "Take Doodle with you."
    爸爸给他造了一辆手推车,而我必须到处拉着他。如果我去拣我的帽子,他就会哭起来要跟我一起去;而妈妈无论在哪都会喊,“带嘟嘟和你一起去。”
So I dragged him across the cotton field to share the beauty of Old Woman Swamp. I lifted him out and sat him down in the soft grass. He began to cry.
    于是我拉着他穿过棉花地,一起去享受老妇沼泽的美景。我把他拎出来,让他在柔软的草地上坐下。他开始哭。
"What's the matter?"
    “怎么的了?”
"It's so pretty, Brother, so pretty."
    “太美了,哥哥,太美了。”
After that, Doodle and I often went down to Old Woman Swamp.
    从那以后,嘟嘟和我就常常去老妇沼泽了。
There is inside me (and with sadness I have seen it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love. And at times I was mean to Doodle. One time I showed him his casket, telling him how we all believed he would die. When I made him touch the casket, he screamed. And even when we were outside in the bright sunshine he clung to me, crying, "Don't leave me, Brother! Don't leave me!"
    在我心里有一个因爱的川流而产生的残忍的结(我很悲伤地看到它也存在于其他人心中)。有时我对嘟嘟很刻毒。有一次我给他看他的棺材,告诉他我们是怎样都认为他活不长的。当我让他摸棺材时,他尖叫起来。而甚至当我们来到室外,沐浴着明媚的阳光时,他也要紧跟着我,叫着,“不要丢下我,哥哥!不要丢下我!”
Doodle was five years old when I turned 13. I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him. We were down in Old Woman Swamp. "I'm going to teach you to walk, Doodle," I said.
    嘟嘟五岁时,我13了。我对有一个那么大年纪还不能走路的弟弟而感到困窘,于是我决定教他。我们来到了老妇沼泽。“我将教你走路,嘟嘟,”我说。
"Why?"
    “啊?”
"So I won't have to haul you around all the time."
    “这样我就不用老是拉着你去这去那了。”
"I can't walk, Brother."
    “我不能走路,哥哥。”
"Who says so?"
    “谁说的?”
"Mama, the doctor–everybody."
    “妈妈,医生——所有人。”
"Oh, you can walk." I took him by the arms and stood him up. He collapsed on to the grass like a half-empty flour sack. It was as if his little legs had no bones.
    “哦,你能走的。”我抓着他的胳膊,让他站起来。他倒瘫到草地上,像一只空了一半的面袋子。他的小腿就好像没有骨头一样。
"Don't hurt me, Brother."
    “不要伤害我,哥哥。”
"Shut up. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to teach you to walk." I heaved him up again, and he collapsed.
    “闭嘴。我不是要伤害你。我要教你走路。”我又把他拽起来,而他又一次倒瘫下去。
"I just can't do it."
    “我真的做不到。”
"Oh, yes, you can, Doodle. All you got to do is try. Now come on," and I hauled him up once more.
    “哦,不,你行的,嘟嘟。你所需要的只是不断努力。好,再来,”我又一次将他拉起。
It seemed so hopeless that it's a miracle I didn't give up. But all of us must have something to be proud of, and Doodle had become my something.
    这一切似乎毫无希望,我没有放弃简直是个奇迹。我们大家都必须有一个值得骄傲的东西,嘟嘟便成为了我的骄傲。
Finally one day he stood alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter ringing through the swamp like a bell. Now we knew it could be done.
    终于有一天他独自站了几秒钟。当他倒下时,我抱住了他,我们的笑声如银铃般响彻这片沼泽。现在我们知道我们成功了。
We decided not to tell anyone until he was actually walking. At breakfast on our chosen day I brought Doodle to the door in the cart. I helped Doodle up; and when he was standing alone, I let them look. There wasn't a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at the table. Then Mama began to cry and ran over to him, hugging him and kissing him. Daddy hugged him, too. Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so they wanted to hug me, and I began to cry.
    我们决定在他真正能走之前不把这事告诉任何人。我们选了个日子,在那天早餐时,我推着车子把嘟嘟带到门口。我扶他站起来;当他一个人站着的时候,我让他们看。当嘟嘟缓缓走过房间,在桌前坐下时,屋子里鸦雀无声。然后妈妈哭起来,跑过去拥抱他,吻他。爸爸也拥抱了他。嘟嘟告诉他们是我教会他走路的,所以他们也要来拥抱我,而我却哭起来。
"What are you crying for?" asked Daddy, but I couldn't answer. They didn't know that I did it just for myself, that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.
    “你在哭什么?”爸爸问,但是我无法回答。他们不知道我这么做全是为了自己,教嘟嘟走路只是因为我不愿有一个残疾兄弟。
Within a few months, Doodle had learned to walk well. Since I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility. I decided to teach him to run, to row, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight. Now he, too, believed in me; so, we set a deadline when Doodle could start school.
    几个月内,嘟嘟已经很好地学会了走路。因为我成功地教会了嘟嘟走路,我开始有了自信。我决定教他跑步、划船、游泳、爬树,还有打架。现在他也很相信我了;所以我们规定了一个最终期限,在嘟嘟可以上学的时候。
But Doodle couldn't keep up with the plan. Once, he collapsed on the ground and began to cry.
    但是嘟嘟跟不上这个计划。一次,他瘫倒在地上,哭起来。
"Aw, come on, Doodle. You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?"
    “噢,快点,嘟嘟。你能行的。你想要在上学的时候跟别人不一样吗?”
"Does that make any difference?"
    “有不同吗?”
"It certainly does. Now, come on."
    “当然有。好了,来吧。”
And so we came to those days when summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born. It was Saturday noon, just a few days before the start of school. Daddy, Mama, Doodle, and I were seated at the dining room table, having lunch. Suddenly from out in the yard came a strange croaking noise. Doodle stopped eating. "What's that?" He slipped out into the yard, and looked up into the bleeding tree. "It's a big red bird!"
    就这样我们来到了那段夏天已去而秋天还未来的时节。那是星期六的中午,离开学只有几天了。爸爸、妈妈、嘟嘟,还有我正坐在餐厅的桌前吃午餐。突然,从外面的院子里传来一阵奇怪的嘎嘎声。嘟嘟停下来,不吃了。“那是什么?”他去到院子里,抬头望向那棵满是树脂的树。“一只大红鸟!”
Mama and Daddy came out. On the topmost branch perched a bird the size of a chicken, with scarlet feathers and long legs.
    爸爸妈妈也出来了。在最高的树枝上栖息着一只鸟,它有小孩那么大,长着深红的羽毛和长长的腿。
At that moment, the bird began to flutter. It tumbled down through the bleeding tree and landed at our feet with a thud. Its graceful neck jerked twice and then straightened out, and the bird was still. It lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and even death could not mar its beauty.
    这时,那鸟鼓起翅膀。它从满是树脂的树上跌下来,砰的一声落在我们脚前。它优美的脖颈抽搐了两下,然后伸直了,鸟死了。它躺在地上如同一个破碎的红花瓶,甚至死亡也无法毁损它的美丽。
"What is it?" Doodle asked.
    “它是什么?”嘟嘟问。
"It's a scarlet ibis," Daddy said.
    “它是一只朱鹭,”爸爸说。
Sadly, we all looked at the bird. How many miles had it traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree?
    我们都悲伤地看着这只鸟。它是飞过了多少英里才这般死去的,在我们的院子里、在满是树脂的树底下?
Doodle knelt beside the ibis. "I'm going to bury him."
    嘟嘟在朱鹭旁边跪下。“我要埋葬它。”
As soon as I had finished eating, Doodle and I hurried off to Horsehead Landing. It was time for a swimming lesson, but Doodle said he was too tired. When we reached Horsehead landing, lightning was flashing across half the sky, and thunder was drowning out the sound of the sea.
    我一吃完饭,就赶紧和嘟嘟去到豪斯海德码头。是上游泳课的时候了,但是嘟嘟说他太累了。当我们到达豪斯海德码头时,闪电正闪耀着横过半边天空,雷声淹没了海的声音。
Doodle was both tired and frightened. He slipped on the mud and fell. I helped him up, and he smiled at me ashamedly. He had failed and we both knew it. He would never be like the other boys at school.
    嘟嘟又累又怕。他一脚踩到泥上,滑倒了。我扶他起来,他不好意思地冲我笑了一下。他已经失败了,这个我们都知道。他永远无法像其他男孩子那样去上学。
We started home, trying to beat the storm. The lightning was near now. The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run.
    我们开始往回家走,努力赶在暴风雨来之前。现在闪电更近了。我走得越快,他走得越快,于是我跑了起来。
The rain came, roaring through the pines. And then, like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning. When the deafening thunder had died, I heard Doodle cry out, "Brother, Brother, don't leave me! Don't leave me!"
    雨穿过松林咆哮而来。然后,如同一支爆发的罗马焰火筒,我们前面的一棵橡胶树被一道闪电摧毁。当震耳欲聋的雷声消逝时,我听见嘟嘟哭喊着,“哥哥,哥哥,别丢下我!别丢下我!”
The knowledge that our plans had come to nothing was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us. Soon I could hear his voice no more.
    意识到我们的计划全部失败是件痛苦的事,我心中的那种残忍脾性觉醒过来了。我尽可能快地往前跑,把他远远地落在后面,同时一道雨墙将我们分开。
I stopped and waited for Doodle. The sound of rain was everywhere, but the wind had died and it fell straight down like ropes hanging from the sky.
    我停下来,等嘟嘟。到处是雨声,但风已经平息了,它如同从天际悬挂着的绳子般,笔直地垂落下来。
I peered through the downpour, but no one came. Finally I went back and found him huddled beneath a red nightshade bush beside the road. He was sitting on the ground, his face buried in his arms, which were resting on drawn-up knees. "Let's go, Doodle."
    我透过大雨凝望过去,没有人来。最后,我回去了,发现他卷缩在路旁的一处红龙葵矮丛下面。他正坐在地上,两只胳膊伏在弯曲的膝盖上,同时脸埋在那里。“我们走,嘟嘟。”
He didn't answer so I gently lifted his head. He toppled backward onto the earth. He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red.
    他没回答,所以我轻轻地抬起他的头。他向后仰倒在地。他的嘴里渗出了血,他的脖子和衬衣前部都被染上了灿烂的红色。
"Doodle, Doodle." There was no answer but the ropy rain. I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. "Doodle!" I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis
    “嘟嘟,嘟嘟。”没有回答,只有连绵的雨声。我开始哭泣,泪水模糊了视线,眼前的这一片红看起来是如此熟悉。“嘟嘟!”我的尖叫声盖过了哗啦啦的大雨,我扑到他身上。有很长一段时间,那似乎是永远,我躺在那里哭,用身体护着我的落下的朱鹭。

(shi43 译)

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