Charlie’s Raven (Excerpt I)查理的渡鸦（节选一）

Gee， maybe the people who think ravens are supernatural are right， he mused. Yellow fog and a rogue wind while I’m robbing a raven nest. The strange wind gusted again and the tree bent low. As Charlie rode back with it he gasped. On a limb above the nest sat the parent ravens. He had not seen or heard them return. But there they were—seemingly metamorphosed from the pine needles. They held their heads high like royalty. Their black eyes looked right at him. He shivered.

哎呀，也许那些认为渡鸦有超自然能力的人是对的，查理沉思道。我正在掏渡鸦窝的时候，竟然起了一阵黄雾和一股邪风。那股怪风再次刮起来，大树都被吹弯。查理骑在树干上荡回来的时候倒吸一口凉气。鸟巢上方的一根树枝上就坐着渡鸦夫妇。此前他没有听到他们回来。但是他们就在那里，仿佛是松针变形而来。他们的头高高扬起，颇有帝王气概。他们的黑眼睛直勾勾看着他。查理浑身一抖。

Charlie picked up a nestling. The parents lifted the long feathers on the top of their heads until they looked like devil horns. Their throat feathers puffed out like lion manes， and their large beaks were slightly open. Charlie could see the insides of their mouths. They were black. He had never seen black inside a bird’s mouth. Most were pink or red. A chill ran down his spine. And something else was eerie. The parents did not scream and dive at him. Bird parents never let an enemy come so near their nest without putting up a fight. Even the tiny hummingbirds in Granddad’s yard dive-bombed him when he walked near their nest， and the mother red-tailed hawk had strafed him just for sitting on a rock near her nest tree. In fact， he had worn his winter parka today because he expected an attack from the powerful ravens. Now， it seemed he didn’t need it.

查理捡起了一只小渡鸦。大渡鸦父母把他们头上的长长羽毛立起来，好像魔鬼的两只角。他们喉咙处的羽毛也撑起来，就像狮子的鬃毛。他们大大的喙也略微张开。查理可以看到他们嘴巴的里面。是黑的。查理从来没有看到过一只鸟的嘴巴里面是黑的。大部分都是粉红色或红色。查理的脊背上一阵凉意。还有其他古怪的事情。渡鸦夫妇没有尖叫，也没有朝他俯冲下来。小鸟的父母很少让敌人靠得这么近而不争斗。即便是爷爷院子里那些弱小的蜂鸟也会朝他俯冲攻击，他还只是走近他们的巢穴而已。他仅仅坐在红尾鵟筑巢的大树附近的岩石上，红尾鵟雌鸟就会俯冲攻击他。实际上，查理今天穿了冬天的风雪衣，就是因为预料到凶猛的渡鸦肯定会攻击他。现在，似乎并不需要这件衣服。

A pinecone hit Charlie on the head. Another stung his face. A third got him in the ear. He looked up. The wind had stopped. It was not knocking off the cones， and the red squirrels were not dropping them. He glanced at the ravens. They were sitting quietly. Then the female， the one who held her head lower than the other， snapped off a cone with her beak， reared her head back， and with a flick of her neck hurled it at Charlie. It struck him on the forehead.

一个松果打在查理头上。又一个扎在他的脸上。第三个打在耳朵上。查理抬头看。风停了。不是风吹下来的松果，也不是红松鼠扔的。查理瞥了一眼渡鸦。他们静静地坐着。然后那只雌鸟，头比另一只放得低，用喙撕下一个松果，头向后转，脖子一甩，把松果朝查理扔过来。松果打在查理前额上。

“Wow，” he said aloud. “You guys use weapons！ No fair！” He pulled the parka hood over his head and picked up a baby raven. It was a funny little thing with big eyes and bits of white down sticking out of its newly feathered head. The little bird seemed perfectly content in Charlie’s hand. Another pinecone hit Charlie. Then everything changed. The parents screamed the raven alarm cry—“KEK， KEK， KEK， KEK， KEK， KEK.”

“哇，”查理大声喊。“你们这些家伙会使用武器！不公平！”他把风雪衣的帽子拽到头上，然后拿起一只小渡鸦。这是一个可爱的小家伙，眼睛大大的，刚刚生长羽毛的头上还有一些白色绒毛。小鸟在查理的手上显得心满意足。另一个松果击中查理。然后一切突变。渡鸦夫妇高声惊叫 ——“嘎、嘎、嘎、嘎、嘎、嘎。”

The baby raven croaked and flapped his stubby wings. Charlie hurriedly tucked him inside his parka so he couldn’t see. Like all daytime birds in the dark， he would sit still and be quiet. As Charlie backed down the tree， pinecones pelted him and raven alarms rang out.

小渡鸦也叫起来，同时扇动他粗短的翅膀。查理赶紧把小渡鸦塞到自己的风雪衣里面，让他什么都看不见。跟所有白天行动的鸟儿一样，在暗处他就会待着一动不动一声不吭。查理慢慢爬下树，松果不断打在他的身上，渡鸦的叫声响彻树林。

When he was halfway to the ground， the parents stopped the pinecone war. Their alarms ceased. What did that mean？ Charlie asked himself. Were they going to dive-bomb him now？ He pulled his parka hood over his head， then backed on down the tree and dropped to the forest floor.

查理往下爬，大概一半高度的时候，渡鸦夫妇不再用松果打他。他们的叫声停下来。这是什么意思？查理问自己。他们要俯冲攻击他吗？查理再次把风雪衣帽子拽到头上，然后爬下树，跳到森林地面上。

Charlie scanned the butte. No ravens were to be seen or heard. He carefully removed the youngster from his parka and placed him in the boot box lined with an old towel. He closed the lid. Not a sound came from the little bird. Not a sound came from his parents.

查理扫了一眼小山。看不到也听不到渡鸦了。查理小心翼翼地把小渡鸦从风雪衣里面取出来，放到铺了一条旧毛巾的靴子盒里。把盒子盖上。小鸟一点声音也没有。渡鸦父母再也没有声音。

【背景知识】这部小说围绕着北美渡鸦展开。故事主人公查理为了给爷爷治病，抓来了一只渡鸦幼鸟养着（乌鸦有很多种，raven体型比较大，一般称为大乌鸦或者渡鸦）。家人、同学、朋友之间因此发生了有关渡鸦的各种故事、讨论、争斗，还涉及与渡鸦相关的生态知识。小说揭露了很多渡鸦不为人知的秘密，带领读者走入渡鸦的世界。

【第一段】第二句原文为省略句，直接以两个名词短语开头，省略成分可以是“there emerged / there were”。译文颠倒了语序，补上了动词“起了”。第三句中的bent low意思是“吹弯了吹低了”，译文简化为“吹弯”。倒数第二句中的like royalty（就像皇家）不宜直译，译文引申为“颇有帝王气概”。最后一句的译文中添加了“浑身”，更符合中文习惯。

【第二段】前几句描写渡鸦的威吓手段：撑起毛发，张开嘴巴。这些手段不同于其他鸟类一般的俯冲攻击，让查理一时困惑。作者在此补充了其他鸟类的攻击手段，同时展开对比，凸显渡鸦非同寻常的智慧。倒数第三句原文很长，其译文需要适当调整语序才行。

【第三段】渡鸦的攻击方式出现了：使用松果作为武器。渡鸦很聪明，可以利用身边的工具作为武器。渡鸦扔松果出乎查理意料。译文要注意传译原文的连续动作。

【第四段】在查理抓起小渡鸦之前，渡鸦夫妇仅仅是威吓而已。见到查理动手侵犯自己的幼鸟，他们终于发威，一边扔松果，一边高叫着发出警告，同时也提醒幼鸟防范敌人。段末的象声词不容易处理，因为中英文之间的象声词差别很大。Kek如果直接音译应该是“凯克”，这在中文里无法接受。译文处理为中文里常见的乌鸦叫声“嘎嘎”。

【第五段】鸟儿分为夜行和日行种类。夜行鸟儿能够夜视，不怕黑暗。而日行鸟儿怕黑，只要放在黑暗的地方就会一声不吭。查理知道这一点，把小渡鸦放到怀里，小渡鸦就安静下来。第三句sit still and be quiet的译文使用了中文成语“一动不动一声不吭”，让句子通顺。

【第六段】这一选段中原文使用了两次（还有第二段）dive-bomb（俯冲轰炸），借助军事术语提高语言的形象性。其实鸟儿会俯冲，却不能轰炸。他们俯冲下来只是要扑抓和啄食敌人。大渡鸦的攻击方式让查理不解。

【第七段】查理把小鸟放进准备好的鞋盒，小鸟不再发出声音。渡鸦夫妇也没有声音。查理不知道，渡鸦夫妇会跟踪他到家里，并且持续骚扰报复。渡鸦的智慧程度很高。

【小结】这一选段里，原文有一些生动形象的词语在翻译时需要小心处理。还有英文象声词，不能简单地选择音译，需要考虑中文的习惯表达方式。原文句式较长的情况下，译文要适当切分和调整语序。