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书中有很多描写非常动人,不仅仅是故事的本身,它还有一种让人能够久久回味的意义,通过莫多克这头大象,我更深彻地感受到人与自然交融的美妙。从这点来说,作者的英语文笔真的很漂亮。比如书中神秘的印度人雅格拉特对布拉姆说的这段话:
What you have to be able to do with your Modoc is what man has been seeking for a long time。 To municate with nature through the animals。 Treasure it。 The sounds of nature are its music; its lyrics; and it es from all living things。 The subtle violin whispers of the wind in the pine forest; the howling bassoon of the violent monsoon; the clarinet of the birds; the drums of the earthquakes and volcanoes; the cymbals of the lightning and thunder; the harp of the oceans; together they play God’s songearly morning dripping of water from a night storm; the songbirds in the meadow during the sunny afternoon; the owl; the roar of a lion; the evening breezes blowing through the trees。 It is a true song。 Not a story。 Not a fable with a point made at its end。 But a song that sings within and without all living things。
(你能与莫多克进行交流,正是人们多少年来所梦想的,那就是,通过动物与大自然交流,珍视它吧。大自然的各种声音都是他的音乐,它是诗歌,它来自一切有生命的东西。松林中的风声像奇妙的小提琴的低语,凶暴的季风像巴松管的吼叫,鸟儿的啁啾如同单簧管的独奏,地震和火山就像鼓声隆隆,电闪雷鸣像铙钹的重击。海涛汹涌恰似竖琴的拨弦,他们一起汇成神的歌曲——夜晚的风暴留下清晨滴答的水声,阳光灿烂的下午,会唱歌的鸟儿在草地上啼啭,还有猫头鹰恐怖的鸣叫,雄狮的怒吼,晚风轻轻掠过树梢。那是真正的歌唱,不是讲故事,也不是在结尾点题的寓言,而是一首歌,它在所有生命体内咏唱,也在大自然中咏唱。)
在《莫多克》这本书里,令人惊奇的情境不断出现,又迅速地消失,有时它牵扯着我突然进入一个全新的境界,我甚至很久找不到适当的词语,而只有惊叹。比如下面这段景色的描写:
It was a lovely day。 Summer was stealing some extra time while fall slept。 White puffs of clouds hung in the sky with seemingly no interest in moving on。 The rains had turned the countryside into a sea of green covering the hilltops。 The slopes; spotted with groves of sycamore and spruce trees; caught the runoff and were a deeper green; with splashes of purple sage; the essence of the lush valley。 The rainwater slowed and settled into the rich loam; and from it grew the emerald grass that carpeted God’s house; grass where the regal stage grazed。 In the middle of the palace’s private forest flowed the beautiful Agra; a mystical river of dark blue water。 It writhed through the forest like a giant serpent; angling through the trees; changing in width; in girth; never ending; sometimes multi…channeled; and splitting into many tributaries。
(天气真好,秋天还在沉睡之中,夏天正在偷走秋天的时光。白色的云朵高悬在天空,好像没有飘走的兴致。一场大雨把田野变成了绿色的海洋,一直覆盖到小山顶上,点缀着簇簇槭树和云杉的陡坡峭壁,接住了顺坡而下的流水,显得更加郁郁葱葱。丛丛紫色的鼠尾草惹人注目,散发着翠谷特有的芬芳。雨水渐渐渗入了沃土,从那里长出茂盛浓绿的青草,给上帝的屋宇铺上了绿毯,也让国王的牡鹿群追逐奔跑。在宫廷专有的森林之中,流淌着一条美丽的艾格拉河,深蓝色的河水神秘莫测。它像一条巨蟒一样在林中蜿蜒而过,穿行在林木之间,时宽时窄,时急时缓,永不停息,有时候还分成多条河道一起流淌,或者生出很多支流。)
这是可以让人沉醉的宁静的美,可以让人忘却一切的仙境般的美,也仿佛是一种可以让人超越尘世的神秘的美。翻译这样的段落,需要的不仅是词汇,更重要的是对美的感受力和超越文字的想象力(a piercing imagination); 只有当我的头脑中形成一幅幅图画的时候,当我的心浸在泪水中的时候,我的语言才能在笔下像小溪一样流淌出来:风暴中的印度洋上,一艘船在飘摇,即将倾覆;神秘的印度森林里,月光衬出了神象阿托尔的剪影……
第二部分:从汉语到英语我亲爱的莫多克(3)
后来,马戏团辗转演出时,莫多克在一个深夜被人偷偷运上火车。从此,布拉姆就开始了寻找她的路程。很多年以后,他终于找到了受尽创伤的莫多克,他们就像久别重逢的亲人紧紧拥抱在一起。可是,他们已经老了,翻译这样的段落时,我总是一次次抹去泪水,有时泪水也许就会落到稿纸上。我相信这样一句话:出自内心的,才能够打动内心。对作家是这样,对译者也是如此。翻译文学作品必须投入全部的感情。比如下面这一段,我总是不忍再看第二遍。
Modoc’s eyesight had gotten worse。 She couldn’t leave the elephant barn without Bram being there to help。
Well; Mosie; how ya doing today; huh? Bram asked。
She constantly kept her trunk busy; like a man with a cane; touching all things; whether standing still; walking,meeting people; she had to touch them; it was the only way she could talk to them。
When Bram took her out; she moved carefully; touching as she walked; but still anything in her way was fair game。 Bram; seeing the problem; decided to solve it。
He put the tip of her trunk into his back belt loop。 “Now you just hang to that and I’ll be your seeing…eye person。”
(莫多克的视力越来越坏,没有布拉姆的帮助,她已经不能离开棚子了。
喂,莫西,你今天觉得怎么样?布拉姆问。
莫多克不停地摆弄着她的鼻子,就像一个拿手杖的人,碰碰这儿,敲敲那儿,无论是站着不动,还是外出散步,或者跟别人见面,她都要到处触摸,这是她与别人交谈的惟一方式。当布拉姆带她外出时,她总是小心翼翼地挪动脚步,每走一步都用鼻子触摸着,任何挡在路上的东西仍然是她的鼻子触摸的对象。布拉姆看出了她的麻烦,决定帮助她解决走路的问题。他把莫多克的鼻子尖塞到他腰带后面的环里,对她说,现在,你只要挂在那儿,我就当你的导盲人。)
Mo listened; swaying her head to and fro; not missing a word。 Bram said; all things need to change form to live。 When we die we change into ashes; gases; things like that。 Then they carry on until they change。 The ashes may help a tree grow; the gases could mingle with others and bee…something else! That means someday you and I are going to change and ah…well…His voice stuck in his throat。 He rubbed the soft leathery skin on the underside of her ear。 And you…you will bee something greater and more wonderful than you imagine! You will soar in the cosmos; bee part of all things; you will sit at His side and help rule all of nature。
(莫多克侧耳聆听,她的头左右摇晃着,从不漏掉一个字。布拉姆说,莫,在生活中任何事物都要变换形式。我们死后会变成尘土、气体,诸如此类的东西。然后,它们也会变的。尘土将有助于树木的生长,气体会同别的气体混合,变成……别的什么。也就是说,总有一天我和你都会变的……哦……莫……他的话音哽咽在喉咙里,他抚摸着她耳朵后面柔软的皮肤。还有你……你会变成某种比你想象的大得多,奇妙得多的东西。你会飞升到宇宙碧空,成为万物的一部分,你会坐到造物主的身边,帮他掌管整个大自然。)
翻译了《莫多克》这本书之后,我真正感到了翻译文学作品的艰辛,这需要译者超越文化的隔阂,去体验一种情感的涅槃,并且把它复述成每一个读者都能接受、都能引起心灵共颤的东西,这样在译者的笔下就会有一种文化的新生。翻译如同写作一样,是一种让人呕心沥血的劳动。但是,当《莫多克》成为很多读者喜爱的形象时,我也就为自己的心灵找到安慰了。
第二部分:从汉语到英语在西敏寺大教堂(1)
In Westminster Abbey
在西敏寺大教堂
去年,作家出版社再一次邀请我和我先生翻译一本书,书名是Darwin’s Worms(《达尔文的蚯蚓》)。书的作者是英国人亚当·菲利普斯(Adam Phillips)。开始我曾想,达尔文是一个研究生物进化的人,他研究的重点应该是古生物、古人类,像蚯蚓这种只要有泥土就会有的小东西,他可�