双语美文之似水流年 (90)老人与海(3)
One hundred fathoms down a marlin was eating the sardines that covered the point and the shank of the hook where the hand-forged hook projected from the head of the small tuna.
在一百英寻的深处有条大马林鱼正在吃包住钓钩尖端和钩身的沙丁鱼,这个手工制的钓钩是从一条小金枪鱼的头部穿出来的。
The old man held the line delicately, and softly, with his left hand, unleashed it from the stick. Now he could let it run through his fingers without the fish feeling any tension.
老人轻巧地攥着钓索,用左手把它从竿子上轻轻地解下来。他现在可以让它穿过他手指间滑动,不会让鱼感到一点儿牵引力。
This far out, he must be huge in this month, he thought. Eat them, fish. Eat them. Please eat them. How fresh they are and you down there six hundred feet in that cold water in the dark. Make another turn in the dark and come back and eat them.
在离岸这么远的地方,它长到本月份,个头一定挺大了,他想。吃鱼饵吧,鱼啊。吃吧。请你吃吧。这些鱼饵多新鲜,而你啊,待在这六百英尺的深处,在这漆黑黑的冷水里。在黑暗里再绕个弯子,拐回来把它们吃了吧。
He felt the light delicate pulling and then a harder pull when a sardine’s head must have been more difficult to break from the hook. Then there was nothing.
他感到微弱而轻巧地一拉,跟着较猛烈地一拉,这时准是有条沙丁鱼的头很难从钓钩上扯下来。然后没有一丝动静了。
“Come on,” the old man said aloud. “Make another turn. Just smell them. Aren’t they lovely? Eat them good now and then there is the tuna. Hard and cold and lovely. Don’t be shy, fish. Eat them.”
“来吧,”老人说出声来。“再绕个弯子吧。闻闻这些鱼饵。它们不是挺鲜美吗?趁它们还新鲜的时候吃了,回头还有那条金枪鱼。又结实,又凉快,又鲜美。别怕难为情,鱼儿。把它们吃了吧。”
He waited with the line between his thumb and his finger, watching it and the other lines at the same time for the fish might have swum up or down. Then came the same delicate pulling touch again.
他把钓索夹在大拇指和食指之间等待着。同时盯着它和其他那几根钓索,因为这鱼可能已游到了高一点的地方或低一点的地方。跟着又是那么轻巧地一拉。
“He’ll take it,” the old man said aloud. “God help him to take it.”
“它会咬饵的,”老人说出声来。“求天主帮它咬饵吧。”
He did not take it though. He was gone and the old man felt nothing.
然而它没有咬饵。它游走了,老人没感到有任何动静。
“He can’t have gone,” he said. “Christ knows he can’t have gone. He’s making a turn. Maybe he has been hooked before and he remembers something of it.”
“它不可能游走的,”他说。“天知道它是不可能游走的。它正在绕弯子呐。也许它以前上过钩,还有点儿记得。”
欧内斯特·米勒尔·海明威
美国作家和记者,被认为是20世纪最著名的小说家之一。出生于美国伊利诺伊州芝加哥市郊区的奥克帕克,晚年在爱达荷州凯彻姆的家中自杀身亡。海明威一生中的感情错综复杂,先后结过四次婚,是美国“迷惘的一代”(Lost Generation)作家中的代表人物,作品中对人生、世界、社会都表现出了迷茫和彷徨。
在海明威一生之中曾荣获不少奖项。他在第一次世界大战期间被授予银制勇敢勋章;1953年,他以《老人与海》一书获得普利策奖[4] ;1954年,《老人与海》又为海明威夺得诺贝尔文学奖。2001年,海明威的《太阳照样升起》(The Sun Also Rises)与《永别了,武器》两部作品被美国现代图书馆列入“20世纪中的100部最佳英文小说”中。
海明威一向以文坛硬汉著称,他是美利坚民族的精神丰碑。海明威的作品标志着他独特创作风格的形成,在美国文学史乃至世界文学史上都占有重要地位。
1.smack v. 掴;用掌击
I don’t smack them, but I sometimes think I should, because the elder two have so much attitude.
我不打他们,但有时我真觉得我该打他们,因为那两个大的非常不听管教。
I focus totally on human responses to things; if you smack someone in the face, what would they do?
我关注的完全是人类对事物的反应;如果你掴了某人一巴掌,他们会怎么办?
2.fathom n. 英寻
It is, in general, hard to fathom what he sees or thinks, which is both the point and a bit of a problem.
总之,很难参透他到底在看什么或是想什么,这既是影片的重点却也带来一点问题。
If that’s tough to fathom, consider one of the features already built into the device. Say the wearer goes to the grocery store and picks up a box of cereal from the shelf.
如果这样很难彻底了解,那么请设想一下这套装置已有的一种功能——我们说如果一个使用者到食品店买东西,他从架子上挑了一盒谷类食品。
3.coil n. 线圈;卷
The burnt coil should be renewed.
烧穿的线圈应换新的。
Boil the oil soiled by the coil in the toilet lest it spoil.
把被盥洗室里的线圈弄脏的油煮开,免得它变质。
4.skiff n. 小艇;小型帆船
First we have the “Pilot of some small night-founder’d Skiff,” and the pilot stands ab extra, from outside, in the simile.
首先我们有这句“迷茫深夜中,轻舟的导航人“,并且这个导航人在明喻中,体现为从诗句之外向内眺望。
All lights were out when he sailed into the little harbor and beached his skiff.
当他划进小港,让小船冲上沙滩时,岸上的灯火都已灭了。