the open boat (海上扁舟)的中文版 要全的
the open boat (海上扁舟)的中文版 要全的
[美国]斯蒂芬·克莱恩 孙致礼译注
None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the hue of slate, save of the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the men knew the colors of the sea. The horizon narrowed and widened, and dipped and rose, and at all times its edge was jagged with waves that seemed thrust up in points like rocks.
Many a man ought to have a bath-tub larger than the boat which here rode upon the sea. These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was a problem in small boat navigation.
The cook squatted in the bottom and looked with both eyes at the six inches of gunwale which separated him from the ocean. His sleeves were rolled over his fat forearms, and the two flaps of his unbuttoned vest dangled as he bent to bail out the boat. Often he said: "Gawd! That was a narrow clip." As he remarked it he invariably gazed eastward over the broken sea.
The oilier, steering with one of the two oars in the boat, sometimes raised himself suddenly to keep clear of water that swirled in over the stern. It was a thin little oar and it seemed often ready to snap.
The correspondent, pulling at the other oar, watched the waves and wondered why he was there.
The injured captain, lying in the bow, was at this time buried in that profound dejection and indifference which comes, temporarily at least, to even the bravest and most enduring when, wilily nilly, the firm fails, the army loses, the ship goes down. The mind of the master of a vessel is rooted deep in the timbers of her, though he command for a day or a decade, and this captain had on him the stern turned faces, and lower, and down. Thereafter there was something strange in his voice. Although steady, it was deep with mourning, and of a quality beyond oration or tears.
"Keep' er a little more south, south, Billie," said he.
"A little more south,' sir," said the oiler in the stern.
A seat in this boat was not unlike a seat upon a bucking broncho, and , by the same token, a broncho is not much smaller. The craft pranced and reared, and plunged like and animal. As each wave came, and she rose for it, she seemed like a horse making at a fence outrageously high. The manner of her scramble over these walls of water is a mystic thing, and , moreover, at the top of them were ordinarily these problems in white water, the foam racing down from the summit of each wave, requiring a new leap, and a leap from the air. Then, after scornfully bumping a crest, she would slide, and race, and splash down a long incline and arrive bobbing and nodding in front of the next menace.
A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats. In a ten-foot dingey one can get an idea of the resources of the sea in the line of waves that is not probable to the average experience, which is never at sea in a dingey. As each slaty wall of water approached, it shut all else from the view of the men in the boat, and it was not difficult to imagine that this particular wave was the final outburst of the ocean, the last effort of the grim water. There was a terrible grace int eh move of the waves, and they came in silence, save for the snarling of the crests.
In the wan light, the faces of the men must have been gray. Their eyes must have glinted in strange ways as they gazed steadily astern. Viewed from a balcony, the whole thing would doubtlessly have been weirdly picturesque. But the men in the boat had no time to see it, and if they had had leisure there were other things to occupy their minds. The sun swung steadily up the sky, and they knew it was broad day because the color of the sea changed from slate to emerald-green, streaked with amber lights, and the foam was like tumbling snow.
The process of the breaking day was unknown to them. They were aware only of this effect upon the color of the waves that rolled toward them.
In disjointed sentences the cook and the correspondent argued as to the difference between lifesaving station and a house of refuge. The cook had said: "There's a house of refuge just north of the Mosquito Inlet Light, and as soon as they see us, they'll come off in their boat and pick us up."
"As soon as who see us?" said the correspondent.
"The crew," said the cook.
"Houses of refuge don't have crews," said the correspondent. "As I understand them, they are only places where clothes and grub are stored for the benefit of shipwrecked people. They don't carry crews."
"Oh, yes, they do ," said the cook.
"no, they don't," said the correspondent.
"Well, we're not there yet, anyhow," said the oiler, in the stern.
"Well," said the cook, "perhaps it's not a house of refuge that I'm thinking of as being near Mosquito Inlet Light. Perhaps it's a life-saving station."
"We're not there yet," said the oiler, in the stern.
他们谁也不知道天空的颜色.几双眼睛平望出去,紧紧盯着朝他们汹涌扑来的波涛.波涛是暗蓝色的,只有浪脊上喷溅着白色的泡沫.他们几个人全都知道这海的颜色.地平线窄了又宽,落了又起,边缘上总是参差不齐,波浪看上去像巉岩一般尖削地向上搏击.
漂浮在海上的这条小船,许多人家的浴盆都该比它大.那阵阵波涛无法无天、飞扬跋扈地翻得又高又陡,每个浪头都给小船的航行带来危险.
橱子蹲在船底,双眼瞅着那6英寸厚的船舷,他与这汪洋大海就这一舷之隔啊.他把袖子捋过肥胖的前臂,当他俯身从船里往外舀水时,身上的马甲因为没有系上扣,两片襟子在荡来荡去.他不时说道:“天哪!好险啊!”他说话时,眼睛总是向东凝视着那波浪滔滔的大海.
加油工在用两把桨中的一把划着船,有时猛然抬起身子,闪开由船尾漩进的海水.那是一把细细的小桨,好像随时都会啪的一声折断似的.
记者划着另一把桨.他注视着波浪,奇怪自己为何置身此处.
受伤的船长躺在船头,此刻陷入极度的沮丧与冷淡之中.如果事情不顾人意,出现商行倒闭、军队败北、船只沉没等情况,即使最有勇气、最坚忍不拔的人,也会产生这种心情,至少暂时如此.一个身为一船之长的人,不论他指挥了一天还是十年,他的心深深地植根于船上的一筋一骨.更何况,这位船长头脑中还留着如此严酷的景象:晨曦蒙胧中,海上漂着7张翻转的面孔,后来又见到一根中桅的残杆,上面还缀着一只白球,在随波冲荡,越来越往下沉,最后沉下海去.此后,他的声音就变得有点奇怪了,虽说还很镇定,但却带着深沉的哀伤,带着一种口舌和泪水所无法表达的特质.
“比利,把船再向南转一转,”他说.
“是,‘再向南转一转,’船长,”加油工在船尾回道.
坐在这只船上,简直就像坐在一只狂蹦乱跳的野马上,何况,野马也不比那船小多少.那船腾跃,竖起,栽下,就和那野马一样.每逢浪头打来,小船因此而颠起时,它好似一匹烈马身高耸的栅栏扑去.那船如何攀越过一道道水墙,实在令人不可思议.况且,到了滔滔的白色浪脊上,通常还存在这样的问题:浪花每次从浪峰上俯冲下来,小船就必须跟着再跳一次,而且是凌空一跳.接着,小船目空一切地撞上一个浪头之后,便滑下一道长坡,风驰电掣,水花四溅,颠颠晃晃地来到了下一个威胁跟前.
大海上有个特别不利的情况:当你成功地越过一个浪头之后,你发现后边又有一个浪头接踵而至,一样的气势汹汹,一样的急不可待,非要想方设法把小船吞没不可.在一条10英尺长的小船上,一个人可以了解大海如何善于兴风作浪,而对于从未乘小船在海上漂流的一般人来说,这是无法了解的.每逢一垛暗蓝色的水墙涌来,船上的人便给挡得什么也看不见,因而也就不难设想,这个浪头是大海的最后一次爆发,是海水的最后一次逞凶.波涛的运动极为优雅,静静地荡来,只有浪脊在咆哮.
在惨淡的光线中,那几个人的面孔准是灰白色的.他们目不转睛地盯着船尾,眼睛准是在奇怪地闪烁着.若是从阳台上看去,这整个场面无疑是神奇而迷人的.但是,船上的人却无暇来观赏,即使有这闲暇,他们心里还要想着别的事情.太阳冉冉地升上天空,他们知道是大白天了,因为海的颜色由暗蓝变成了碧绿,上面还夹带着琥珀色的光道,而那浪花好似滚滚白雪.夜去昼来的过程,他们并不知晓.他们只是从滚滚而来的浪涛的颜色上察觉到这番变化.
厨子和记者在争辩救护站与收容所有何区别,说起话来前言不拱后语.厨子说:“就在蚊子湾灯塔的北边,有一个收容所,他们一看到我们,就会乘船来接我们.”
“谁一看到我们?”记者问.
“水手们,”厨子说.
“收容所里没有水手,”记者证说.“据我了解,收容所只是为船只失事的人准备衣服和食品的地方.他们没有水手.”
“噢,有的,他们有的,”厨子说.
“没有,他们没有,”记者说.
“算啦,不管怎么说,我们还没到那儿呢,”加油工在船尾说.
“嗯,”厨子说,“我看离蚊子湾灯塔不远处,也许不是收容所,说不定是个救护站.”
“我们还没到那儿呢,”加油工在船尾说.
注 释:
(1)蒂芬·克莱恩(1871——1900)是美国著名作家,以《红色英勇勋章》、《街头女郎玛吉》以及一些短篇小说闻名于世.The Open Boat是他最脍灸人口的短篇名著,此处选译的是该小说的第一节.
(2)gunwale:船的(上部)舷侧(the upper sides of a boat).
(3)That was a narrow clip:(情况)真险呀.
(4)willy nilly:副词,也写作willy-nilly,意为“不管(你)愿意不愿意”.
(5)…though he command:此处用的是虚拟语态,因而command未作词尾变化.
(6)…beyond oration or tears:是言语和眼泪无法表达的.
(7)…by the same token:在此为“不单如此,而且,况且”的意思.
(8)…which is never at sea in a dingey:which的先导词为the average experience,意思是说:一般人从未有过乘小船在海上漂流的经历.
(9)…the last effort of the grim water:试比较“无情的海水的最后一次努力”和“海水的最后一次逞凶”两种译法,哪一种译法更好?好在何处?
(10)ight:在此意为“灯塔”(lighthouse).