5 “Tiger! Tiger“虎!虎-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《森林王子The Jungle Book》

“Tiger!Tiger!" What of the hunting,hunter bold? Brother,the watch was long and cold. What of the quarry ye went to kill? Brother,he crops in the jungle still. Where is the power that made your pride? Brother,it ebbs from my flank and side. Where is the haste that ye hurry by? Brother,I go to my lair-to die. Now we must go back to the first tale.When Mowgli left the wolf's cave after the fight with the Pack at the Council Rock,he went down to the plowed lands where the villagers lived,but he would not stop there because it was too near to the jungle,and he knew that he had made at least one bad enemy at the Council.So he hurried on,keeping to the rough road that ran down the valley, and followed it at a steady jog-trot for nearly twenty miles,till he came to a country that he did not know.The valley opened out into a great plain dotted over with rocks and cut up by ravines.At one end stood a little village,and at the other the thick jungle came down in a sweep to the grazing-grounds, and stopped there as though it had been cut off with a hoe.All over the plain, ·100· “虎！虎！” 勇敢的猎手，打猎可顺利？ 兄弟，等候猎物漫长而寒冷。 你去猎杀的猎物怎样了？ 兄弟，他还在丛林里找食吃。 那曾经让你自豪的力量呢？ ①cbb[eb]变弱，减弱 兄弟，它已从我的身体两侧流走。 ②ank[nenk]h.(人或动 那你现在如此慌张是为了什么？ 物的)胁（部） ③haste[heist]n.快，急速， 兄弟，我要回我的窝去一等死。 迅速 现在让我们回到第一个故事。在议会岩与狼群大闹 一场之后，毛格利离开了狼穴，去了村民居住的耕地， 但是他并没有待在那儿，因为那里离丛林还是太近了， 他也清楚自己在狼族议会里招惹了不止一个仇人。所以 他继续赶路，沿着峡谷里那条崎岖小路，保持匀速快步 走了大概二十英里远，来到了一片陌生的乡村。在这里， 山谷豁然开朗，眼前一片宽广的平原，其间不乏大石和 ④plain[plein].平地，平 原，旷野 沟壑。平原的一头有一处小小的村落，另一头，浓密的 ⑤ravine['vimn.沟壑 丛林沿着山坡绵延到牧场时戛然而止，边缘齐整得像用 锄头修过一样。整个平原上，到处是耕牛和水牛在吃草， ⑥hoe [hou]n.锄 ·101· "Tiger!Tiger!" cattle and buffaloes were grazing,and when the little boys in charge of the herds saw Mowgli they shouted and ran away,and the yellow pariah dogs that hang about every Indian village barked.Mowgli walked on,for he was feeling hungry,and when he came to the village gate he saw the big thorn-bush that was drawn up before the gate at twilight,pushed to one side. "Umph!"he said,for he had come across more than one such barricade in his night rambles after things to eat."So men are afraid of the People of the Jungle here also."He sat down by the gate,and when a man came out he stood up,opened his mouth,and pointed down it to show that he wanted food. The man stared,and ran back up the one street of the village shouting for the priest,who was a big,fat man dressed in white,with a red and yellow mark on his forehead.The priest came to the gate,and with him at least a hundred people,who stared and talked and shouted and pointed at Mowgli “They have no manners,,these Men Folk,.”said Mowgli to himself..“Only the gray ape would behave as they do."So he threw back his long hair and frowned at the crowd. "What is there to be afraid of?"said the priest."Look at the marks on his arms and legs.They are the bites of wolves.He is but a wolf-child run away from the jungle.” Of course,in playing together,the cubs had often nipped Mowgli harder than they intended,and there were white scars all over his arms and legs.But he would have been the last person in the world to call these bites,for he knew what real biting meant. “Arre!Arre!”'said two or three women together..“To be bitten by wolves, poor child!He is a handsome boy.He has eyes like red fire.By my honor, Messua,he is not unlike thy boy that was taken by the tiger." "Let me look,"said a woman with heavy copper rings on her wrists and ankles,and she peered at Mowgli under the palm of her hand."Indeed he is not. He is thinner,but he has the very look of my boy." ·102· “虎！虎！” ①buffalo ['bAfolou叫n.【动 放牛的小孩们看见毛格利时大叫着跑开了，印度村落里 物】水牛：野牛 随处可见的黄色流浪狗也大声狂吠。毛格利没有停下脚 ②pariah[paria】n.印度南 部最下层的民众：被社 步，他觉得很饿。走到村口时，他发现一堆巨大的荆棘 会遗弃的人 丛，这玩意儿每到黄昏时会被拉起来挡住门口，现在被 推到了一边。 “啊哈！看来这里的人也害怕丛林动物啊。”他说， 这样的路障以前他夜里出来找食物时看见过不止一次。 他在门边坐了下来，等到一个人出来，他站起来，张 开嘴，朝里面指指示意自己想要点儿吃的。那个男人 盯着他，然后跑回村里那唯一的一条街上喊来了祭司。 祭司是个胖胖的大个子，穿着一身白衣，额头上点了 ③priest[pri:st]n僧侣 个红色和黄色的印记。祭司来到村口，后面还跟着 少一百来个人，他们都盯着毛格利看，七嘴八舌，指 指点点。 毛格利自言自语：“这些人类可真是没有礼貌。只 ④throw back使（头、肩 有灰猿才像他们这样干呢。”于是他把长发往后一甩， 等)向后，向后扬 ⑤frown[fraun](不悦、 皱着眉看着这些人。 深思时)皱眉 祭司说：“有什么好害怕的？看看他胳膊和腿上的 印子，那都是被狼咬伤的。他只不过是个从森林里逃出 来的狼孩儿罢了。” 当然啦，狼崽们和毛格利嬉闹时经常会咬着玩儿，但 是他们往往控制不好力道，所以毛格利的四肢上到处都是 白色的疤痕。但是不管别人怎么说，他才不会认为这些印 迹是咬伤呢，因为他知道真的被咬了会是什么样子。 两三个妇女齐声叫了起来：“哎呀，哎呀！被狼咬 了，可怜的孩子！他长得可真好看呢。他的限睛就像通 红的火一样。梅斯娃，我敢发誓，他真有点像你家那个 被老虎叼走的男娃娃呢。” “让我看看。”一个女人说道，她的手腕和脚踝上 都戴着沉甸甸的铜环。她手搭凉棚，仔细地看了看毛格 利，说：“他才不是呢。他瘦一些，不过他的样子倒是 跟我儿子一模一样。” ·103· "Tiger!Tiger!" The priest was a clever man,and he knew that Messua was wife to the richest villager in the place.So he looked up at the sky for a minute and said solemnly:"What the jungle has taken the jungle has restored.Take the boy into thy house,my sister,and forget not to honor the priest who sees so far into the lives of men.” "By the Bull that bought me,"said Mowgli to himself,"but all this talking is like another looking-over by the Pack!Well,if I am a man,a man I must become.” The crowd parted as the woman beckoned Mowgli to her hut2,where there was a red lacquered bedstead,a great earthen grain chest with funny raised patterns on it,half a dozen copper cooking pots,an image of a Hindu god in a little alcove,and on the wall a real looking glass,such as they sell at the country fairs. She gave him a long drink of milk and some bread,and then she laid her hand on his head and looked into his eyes;for she thought perhaps that he might be her real son come back from the jungle where the tiger had taken him.So she said, "Nathoo,O Nathoo!"Mowgli did not show that he knew the name."Dost thou not remember the day when I gave thee thy new shoes?"She touched his foot,and it was almost as hard as horn."No,"she said sorrowfully,"those feet have never worn shoes,but thou art very like my Nathoo,and thou shalt be my son." Mowgli was uneasy,because he had never been under a roof before.But as he looked at the thatch,he saw that he could tear it out any time if he wanted to get away,and that the window had no fastenings."What is the good of a man,"he said to himself at last,"if he does not understand man's talk?Now I am as silly and dumb as a man would be with us in the jungle.I must speak their talk.” It was not for fun that he had learned while he was with the wolves to imitate the challenge of bucks in the jungle and the grunt of the little wild pig. So,as soon as Messua pronounced a word Mowgli would imitate it almost perfectly,and before dark he had learned the names of many things in the hut. ·104· “虎！虎！” 祭司是个聪明人，他知道梅斯娃的丈夫是当地最富 有的村民。所以他抬头看看天，然后郑重其事地说：“丛 林夺走的，又被丛林归还了。我的姊妹，把这孩子带回 家吧。还有，别忘了向祭司表达敬意，他可是能看透凡 人的生命呢。” 毛格利自言自语道：“以赎我的那头公牛起誓，听 着这些人的话就像是被狼群再审查一次！好吧，要是我 真的是人，那就让我变成一个人吧。” 人群散开了，那个女人招呼毛格利去她的茅屋。屋 ①beckon[bekan](以招 里有一个红漆床架，一个装粮食的硕大的陶柜，上面有 手、点头)表示招呼 ②hut[hAtn.(简陋的) 些稀奇古怪的凸起的花纹，五六只铜锅，一个小小的壁 小屋 龛里摆着一个印度教的神像，墙上还挂了一面真正的镜 ③bedstead[bedsted]r.床 子，和市集上卖的那些一样。 架 ④alcove[elkauv]n.壁龛 她给毛格利倒了好些牛奶，又让他吃了点面包。 她把手放在毛格利头上，盯着他的眼睛看了又看，觉 得真有可能是儿子回来了，当年那个被老虎带到丛林 里去的儿子。于是她说：“纳都，哦，纳都！”毛格利 对这个名字没什么反应。“你不记得了吗？那天我给了 你一双新鞋？”她摸摸他的脚，硬得跟牛角似的。她难 过地说：“唉，这双脚是从来没有穿过鞋的。但是你真 的很像我的纳都，你就当我的儿子吧。” 毛格利有些不安，因为他从来没有在屋顶下待过。 但是他看看茅草屋项，知道自己如果想逃的话，随时可 ⑤thatch[0etf们n.(用茅 以把它扯开，而且窗户也没有加门。最后他对自己说： 草或稻草等盖的)茅屋 今 “要是连人话都听不懂，当人有什么用？现在我就像个 在丛林里遇到我们的人一样，又蠢又呆。我必须学会他 们的语言。” 毛格利跟狼群在一起时，不是为了好玩才去学习模 仿丛林里雄鹿发起挑战的声音和小野猪的哼哼声。所以 现在梅斯娃每说一个字，毛格利就会差不多一模一样地 模仿出来，天黑以前他就已经学会说茅屋里很多东西的 名称了。 ·105· "Tiger!Tiger!" There was a difficulty at bedtime,because Mowgli would not sleep under anything that looked so like a panther trap as that hut,and when they shut the door he went through the window."Give him his will,"said Messua's husband. "Remember he can never till now have slept on a bed.If he is indeed sent in the place of our son he will not run away." So Mowgli stretched himself in some long,clean grass at the edge of the field,but before he had closed his eyes a soft gray nose poked him under the chin. "Phew!"said Gray Brother (he was the eldest of Mother Wolf's cubs)."This is a poor reward for following thee twenty miles.Thou smellest of wood smoke and cattle-altogether like a man already.Wake,Little Brother;I bring news." "Are all well in the jungle?"said Mowgli,hugging him. "All except the wolves that were burned with the Red Flower.Now,listen. Shere Khan has gone away to hunt far off till his coat grows again,for he is badly singed 2.When he returns he swears that he will lay thy bones in the Waingunga..” "There are two words to that.I also have made a little promise.But news is always good.I am tired to-night,-very tired with new things,Gray Brother,-but bring me the news always." "Thou wilt not forget that thou art a wolf?Men will not make thee forget?" said Gray Brother anxiously. "Never.I will always remember that I love thee and all in our cave.But also I will always remember that I have been cast out of the Pack." "And that thou mayest be cast out of another pack.Men are only men, Little Brother,and their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond.When I come down here again,I will wait for thee in the bamboos at the edge of the grazing- ground..” For three months after that night Mowgli hardly ever left the village gate,he was so busy learning the ways and customs of men.First he had to wear a cloth round him,which annoyed him horribly;and then he had to learn about money, ·106· “虎！虎！” 睡觉的时候出了点麻烦，毛格利怎么也不肯睡在茅 屋里，因为它看上去太像个关豹子的笼子了。大人一关 上门他就从窗户爬了出去。梅斯娃的丈夫说：“随他去吧， 要知道他到现在还没在一张床上睡过呢。如果他真的是 被送来代替我们儿子的话，他不会逃走的。” 于是毛格利就在田边上一些干净的草地上伸展四肢 躺下来。可是还没等他合上眼呢，一个柔软的灰鼻头就 碰了碰他的下巴。 灰哥（他是狼妈妈最大的孩子）说：“呵！跟着你 跑了二十英里，就给我这么点报酬。你身上一股子烧木 ①reward[ri'wx:d]m.报答 头和耕牛的味道一差不多就跟人的气味一样啦。小兄 弟，醒醒，我有消息给你。” “大家在丛林里都好吗？”毛格利说着，抱了抱他。 “都好，除了那些被红花烧伤的狼。好了，你听着， 希尔汗的毛被燎得可厉害了，所以他己经跑到老远的地 ②singe[sind3]g把 方去猎食啦，不到他的毛长好他是不会回来的。但是他 的表面烫焦 回来时发誓要把你的骨头丢到瓦因刚加河里去。” “对此我只有两个字可说。我也曾经发了一个小小 的誓呀。不过有消息总是好的。今晚我累了—学这些 新东西可是把我累坏了，灰哥，一不过以后你要一直 给我带消息来呀。” ③anxiously[enkfasli]ad. 灰哥焦急地说：“你不会忘了你是头狼吧？人类不 不安地，忧虑地 会让你忘掉这一点吧？” “永远也不会。我会一直记得我爱你，爱咱们洞里 ④cast [kast投，掷，扔 所有的狼。但是我也会记得我己经被赶出了狼群。” “你也可能被另一个族群赶出去。人就是人，小兄 ⑤frog[trog]i.【动物】蛙 弟，他们说的话就跟池塘里的青蛙叫唤一样。下次我再 来这儿，我会在牧场边上的竹林里等你。” 那晚以后有三个月毛格利几乎一步也没离开过村 口。他忙于学习人类的规矩和行为方式。首先他得在 身上裹块布，这让他很是恼火：然后他还得学习用钱， 虽然他压根也不明白为什么：他还要学习耕田，尽管 ·107· "Tiger!Tiger!" which he did not in the least understand,and about plowing,of which he did not see the use.Then the little children in the village made him very angry.Luckily, the Law of the Jungle had taught him to keep his temper,for in the jungle life and food depend on keeping your temper;but when they made fun of him because he would not play games or fly kites,or because he mispronounced? some word,only the knowledge that it was unsportsmanlike to kill little naked cubs kept him from picking them up and breaking them in two. He did not know his own strength in the least.In the jungle he knew he was weak compared with the beasts,but in the village people said that he was as strong as a bull. And Mowgli had not the faintest idea of the difference that caste makes between man and man.When the potter 's donkey slipped in the clay pit, Mowgli hauled it out by the tail,and helped to stack the pots for their journey to the market at Khanhiwara.That was very shocking,too,for the potter is a low-caste man,and his donkey is worse.When the priest scolded him,Mowgli threatened to put him on the donkey too,and the priest told Messua's husband that Mowgli had better be set to work as soon as possible;and the village head- man told Mowgli that he would have to go out with the buffaloes next day,and herd them while they grazed.No one was more pleased than Mowgli;and that night,because he had been appointed a servant of the village,as it were,he went off to a circle that met every evening on a masonry platform under a great fig- tree.It was the village club,and the head-man and the watchman and the barber, who knew all the gossip of the village,and old Buldeo,the village hunter,who had a Tower musket,met and smoked.The monkeys sat and talked in the upper branches,and there was a hole under the platform where a cobra lived,and he had his little platter of milk every night because he was sacred and the old men sat around the tree and talked,and pulled at the big huqas(the water-pipes) till far into the night.They told wonderful tales of gods and men and ghosts;and Buldeo told even more wonderful ones of the ways of beasts in the jungle,till the eyes of the children sitting outside the circle bulged out of their heads.Most ·108· “虎！虎！” 他也不知道有什么用。村里的那些小孩也让他很生气。 幸运的是，丛林法则教会他要控制自己的怒火，因为 在丛林里要想有东西吃、保住性命，就必须得管住自 ①temper[tempo]n.情绪 己的脾气。尽管如此，当他们因为他不肯玩游戏或者 ②mispronounce 放风筝，抑或说错了什么话就嘲笑他时，多亏他还记 [mispra'nauns】g发错 着杀死光溜溜的小崽子是不光彩的，要不然他就会把 音，读错音 他们抓起来撕成两半。 他根本不清楚自己的力气究竟有多大。在丛林里， 他知道自己和野兽比起来是弱小的，但是在村子里，人 们说他跟公牛一样强壮。 毛格利也一点都不明白种姓制度使得人和人之间存 ③potter[poto]n.陶工 在多大的差别。陶匠的驴子滑倒在黏土坑里时，毛格利 ④clay [klei]n.(制砖瓦 抓住驴子尾巴把它拉了出来，又帮着重新码好陶罐，以 陶瓷制品的)黏土，陶 便运到康尼瓦拉的集市上去卖。这事引起了轰动，因为 土 陶匠来自一个低等种姓，至于他的驴子嘛，那就更糟糕 啦。后来祭司责骂了毛格利，男孩威胁说要把祭司也放 到驴背上去。祭司就跟梅斯娃的丈夫说最好让毛格利尽 快开始工作。村长告诉毛格利他第二天就必须跟水牛一 起出去，负责放牧牛群。没有人能比毛格利更感到开心 了。既然他已经成了村子的一名公仆—如果可以这么 ⑤graze[qreiz,(牲畜) 啃食 说的话一当天晚上毛格利就去参加了一个集会，这样 的集会每天晚上都举行，地点就在一棵大无花果树下的 ⑥masonry[meisanri]n.石 砖石台上。在这个乡村俱乐部里，村长和守更人，还有 造（或砖砌）建筑 整个村子的闲话都无所不知的理发师，再加上有一支陶 尔式火枪的猎人老布尔迪奥，几个人聚在一起抽烟。在 那棵无花果树上层的树枝间坐着些猴子，他们也在聊 ⑦sacred[seikrid]a.受尊 天：石台下有个洞，里面住着一条眼镜蛇，每天晚上他 敬的，受崇敬的 都能得着一小碟牛奶，因为他是条神蛇：老人们则围坐 在树下，一边聊天，一边吸着大大的水烟枪，直到夜深。 他们讲了好些有关神啊、人啊，还有鬼怪的离奇故事， 布尔迪奥讲的关于丛林野兽的那些故事则更加离奇，听 得坐在老人圈外的那些孩子们眼珠子都要掉出来了。大 ·109·