9 “Rikki-Tkki-Tavi“瑞奇-迪奇-塔维”-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《森林王子The Jungle Book》

“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” At the hole where he went in Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin. Hear what little Red-Eye saith: "Nag,come up and dance with death!" Eye to eye and head to head. (Keep the measure,Nag.) This shall end when one is dead; (At thy pleasure,Nag.) Turn for turn and twist for twist- (Run and hide thee,Nag.) Hah!The hooded Death has missed! (Woe betide thee,Nag!) This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment2. Darzee,the Tailorbird,helped him,and Chuchundra,the musk-rat,who never comes out into the middle of the floor,but always creeps round by the wall, gave him advice,but Rikki-tikki did the real fighting. ·186· “瑞奇一迪奇一塔维” 在他走进的洞穴里， 红眼睛的对皱皮肤的说， 听小红眼睛在说什么吧： “纳格，出来和死神共舞！” 眼对眼、头碰头， (保持距离，纳格。) 当一方死去，舞蹈就会结束； (如你所愿，纳格。)】 转来转去，扭东扭西 (逃吧躲吧，纳格。) 哈！戴兜帽的死神失手了！ (灾难降临，纳格。) 这个故事讲的是瑞奇-迪奇-塔维单打独斗的那场 大战，战场跨越了瑟枸里军营那座大平房的好几个浴 Dbungalow ['bangalou]n. 室。虽然有缝叶莺达吉帮了他一把，还有从不敢跑到地 (印度的有廊的)平房 板中央、总沿着墙根儿爬行的麝鼠楚蔷德拉也给他出了 ②cantonment ken'tu:nmont]n.(临时 出主意，但是瑞奇-迪奇才是真正打架的那个。 性的)军营，兵营 ·187· "R派i-Taw” He was a mongoose,rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail,but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits.His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink.He could scratch himself anywhere he pleased with any leg, front or back,that he chose to use.He could fluff up his tail till it looked like a bottle brush,and his war cry as he scuttled through the long grass was:"Rikk- tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!" One day,a high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where he lived with his father and mother,and carried him,kicking and clucking,down a roadside ditch.He found a little wisp of grass floating there,and clung to it till he lost his senses.When he revived,he was lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden path,very draggled indeed,and a small boy was saying,"Here's a dead mongoose.Let's have a funeral." "No,"said his mother,"let's take him in and dry him.Perhaps he isn't really dead." They took him into the house,and a big man picked him up between his finger and thumb and said he was not dead but half choked.So they wrapped him in cotton wool and warmed him over a little fire,and he opened his eyes and sneezed. "Now,"said the big man (he was an Englishman who had just moved into the bungalow),"don't frighten him,and we'll see what he'll do." It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose,because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity.The motto of all the mongoose family is"Run and find out,"and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose.He looked at the cotton wool,decided that it was not good to eat,ran all round the table, sat up and put his fur in order,scratched himself,and jumped on the small boy's shoulder. "Don't be frightened,Teddy,"said his father."That's his way of making friends.” "Ouch!He's tickling under my chin,"said Teddy Rikki-tikki looked down between the boy's collar and neck,snuffed at his ·188· “瑞奇一迪奇一塔维” ①mongoose[mongus]n. 他是一只猫鼬，他的毛和尾巴看上去像只小猫，但 【动物】猫鼬 是他的脑袋和习惯却更像一只黄鼠狼。他的眼睛和总是 ②weasel[wi:zal]m.【动物 学】鼬属 东嗅西嗅的鼻子尖儿都是粉粉的。他会随时随地用任意 条腿儿给自己挠痒痒，不管是前腿还是后腿，他想用 ③uf宜up拍松，抖松（枕 就用了。他还会让尾巴上的毛都竖起来，看上去就跟个 头、坐垫等) 奶瓶刷一样。当他在长长的草间急速飞奔时，他会发出 战斗的呼喊：“瑞克-迪克-迪奇-迪奇一忒克！” ④cluck [klak]g(人用舌 原先他跟爸妈住在一个地洞里，后来有一天，一场 头发咯咯声（表示关 夏天的大洪水把他从洞里冲了出去。他一路叫唤，使劲 心或同意） 儿踢腾，最后还是被洪水冲到了路边的一条沟里。那儿 漂着一小捆草，他就紧紧地抓着它直到失去了知觉。等 他醒过来时，发现自己躺在一条花园的小径上，暴晒在 阳光下，浑身脏兮兮的，一个小男孩在说：“这儿有只 死了的猫鼬。咱们给他弄个葬礼吧。” 小男孩的母亲说：“不，咱们把他拿进去，给他弄干。 也许他还没死呢。” 于是他们把他带进屋子里，一个大个子男人用拇指 ⑤wool[wuln.绵羊毛 和食指把他拎起来，说他没有死，只是被水呛着了。然 后他们用棉絮把他裹起来，放在一小堆火上烤烤，直到 他睁开眼睛，打了个喷嚏。 大个儿男人（他是个英国人，刚搬进这个平房里来） 说：“好了，别吓着他了，让咱们看看他要干什么。” 要想吓住一只猫鼬，这恐怕是世界上最难的事情 ⑥motto[motau]m.座右铭 了，因为他从鼻子到尾巴都透着股好奇劲儿。猫鼬家族 的座右铭是“奔跑不息，发现不止”，而瑞奇一迪奇可 是一只地地道道的猫鼬。他看了看棉絮，觉得那应该不 会好吃，于是就在桌上跑了一圈，又坐直身子理了理毛， 挠了挠痒，接着就跳到了小男孩的肩上。 男孩的父亲说：“别害怕，泰迪。他是想跟你交朋 友呢。” 泰迪说：“哎呀！他在挠我的下巴。” ⑦snuff[snA]嗅，闻 瑞奇-迪奇从男孩的衣领和脖子间望下去，闻了闻 ·189· “R派-ii-Tavn” ear,and climbed down to the floor,where he sat rubbing his nose. “Good gracious,,”said Teddy's mother,,“and that''sa wild creature!I suppose he's so tame because we've been kind to him." "All mongooses are like that,"said her husband."If Teddy doesn't pick him up by the tail,or try to put him in a cage,he'll run in and out of the house all day long.Let's give him something to eat." They gave him a little piece of raw meat.Rikki-tikki liked it immensely, and when it was finished he went out into the veranda and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to make it dry to the roots.Then he felt better. "There are more things to find out about in this house,"he said to himself, "than all my family could find out in all their lives.I shall certainly stay and find 0ut” He spent all that day roaming2 over the house.He nearly drowned himself in the bath-tubs,put his nose into the ink on a writing table,and burned it on the end of the big man's cigar,for he climbed up in the big man's lap to see how writing was done.At nightfall he ran into Teddy's nursery to watch how kerosene lamps were lighted,and when Teddy went to bed Rikki-tikki climbed up too.But he was a restless companion,because he had to get up and attend to every noise all through the night,and find out what made it.Teddy's mother and father came in,the last thing,to look at their boy,and Rikki-tikki was awake on the pillow."I don't like that,"said Teddy's mother."He may bite the child." "He'll do no such thing,"said the father."Teddy's safer with that little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him.If a snake came into the nursery nOw-” But Teddy's mother wouldn't think of anything so awful. Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast in the veranda riding on Teddy's shoulder,and they gave him banana and some boiled egg.He sat on all their laps one after the other,because every well-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house mongoose some day and have rooms to run about in; and Rikki-tikki's mother (she used to live in the general's house at Segowlee) ·190· “瑞奇一迪奇一塔维”【 他的耳朵，又爬下来，坐在地板上揉了揉自己的鼻子。 泰迪的母亲说：“天啊，他真的是野生的吗？我猜 他是因为我们对他很好才会这么乖的吧。” 她的丈夫说：“所有的猫鼬都是这样的。只要泰迪 不抓他的尾巴，或者想要把他关到笼子里去，他就会整 天屋里屋外地跑来跑去。咱们给他弄点儿吃的吧。” 他们给了他一小片生肉。瑞奇-迪奇非常喜欢，吃 完以后他就跑到外面的阳台上，坐在太阳底下，把毛都 ①veranda[va'rando]n.阳 西 给蓬起来好彻底晒干。然后他觉得舒服多了。 他对自己说：“这座房子里值得瞧瞧的东西比我们 一家一辈子能发现的还要多。我一定得留下来好好看 看。” 他花了一整天的时间在屋子里游荡。他一会儿差点 ②roam[rum]闲逛 在浴缸里淹死，一会儿把鼻子伸进写字台上的墨水里， 后来又爬上大个子男人的膝盖去看他怎么写字，结果鼻 ③cigar[si'ga]m.雪茄烟 头被男人的雪茄给烫了一下。天黑的时候，他又跑进泰 ④kerosene[kerasi:n]n.煤 迪的房间里看煤油灯是怎么点燃的，等泰迪上床时，瑞 油，火油 奇一迪奇也爬了上去。但他可不会安安生生地陪在旁边， 整个晚上但凡哪里有点动静他就会爬起来去看个究竞。 最后，泰迪的父母进来看看他们的儿子，发现瑞奇一迪 奇清醒地躺在枕头上。泰迪的母亲说：“我不喜欢这样。 他也许会咬伤孩子的。”父亲说：“他不会干这种事的。 泰迪跟这个小东西在一起再安全不过了，哪怕有猎犬看 5 bloodhound ['blAdhaund] 着也比不上呢。如果现在有条蛇爬进房间里一” n【动物】寻血猎犬 泰迪的母亲没让他说完，因为她无法想象如此可怕 的场景。 大早瑞奇一迪奇骑在泰迪的肩头上到阳台上来吃 早餐。他们给了瑞奇一迪奇一些香蕉和白煮蛋。他挨个 儿在这家人的大腿上坐了个追，因为凡是有教养的猫鼬 都渴望有朝一日能够成为家养的猫鼬，这样就能在各个 房间里跑来跑去。瑞奇-迪奇的妈妈曾经在瑟枸里的将 军家住过，她很仔细地告诉过瑞奇一迪奇要是碰上白人 ·191· had carefully told Rikki what to do if ever he came across white men. Then Rikki-tikki went out into the garden to see what was to be seen.It was a large garden,only half cultivated,with bushes,as big as summer-houses,of Marshal Niel roses,lime and orange trees,clumps of bamboos,and thickets of high grass.Rikki-tikki licked his lips."This is a splendid hunting-ground,"he said,and his tail grew bottle-brushy at the thought of it,and he scuttled up and down the garden,snuffing here and there till he heard very sorrowful voices in a thorn-bush. It was Darzee,the Tailorbird,and his wife.They had made a beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching them up the edges with fibers, and had filled the hollow with cotton and downy fluff.The nest swayed to and fro,as they sat on the rim and cried. "What is the matter?"asked Rikki-tikki. “We are very miserable,”said Darzee.“One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday and Nag ate him." "H'm!"said Rikki-tikki,"that is very sad-but I am a stranger here.Who is Nag?" Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without answering,for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush there came a low hiss-a horrid cold sound that made Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet.Then inch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag,the big black cobra,and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground,he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion tuft balances in the wind,and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression,whatever the snake may be thinking of. "Who is Nag?"said he."I am Nag.The great God Brahm put his mark upon all our people,when the first cobra spread his hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept.Look,and be afraid!" ·192· “瑞奇一迪奇一塔维”【 了该怎么办。 然后瑞奇-迪奇跑进花园里去查看有什么可看的 这个花园很大，但是打理得并不精心，种了些尼埃尔元 ①lime[laim]m.【植物】 帅玫瑰，花丛长得跟凉亭一样高大，还有酸橙、甜橙、 酸橙树 竹子和一蓬蓬的高草。瑞奇-迪奇舔舔嘴唇，说：“这里 ②scuttle['skatl]v:破坏， 真是个再好不过的狩猎场。”他一想到这个，尾巴又变得 毁坏 跟奶瓶刷一样了。他在花园里飞快地跑来跑去，这儿嗅 嗅那儿闻闻，直到他听见荆棘丛里发出非常悲痛的哭声。 那是缝叶莺达吉和他的老婆。他们之前用两片大叶 子做了一个漂亮的鸟巢，叶子的边都用纤维缝合起来， ③fbcr['faiba]m.纤维 里面还塞上了棉絮和绒毛。现在他俩坐在巢边上哭，鸟 ④uff[0agn.(织物上 的)绒毛，软毛 巢就来回地晃着。 ⑤sway[swei]摇动，摆 瑞奇-迪奇问道：“这是怎么回事？” 动 达吉说：“我们太惨了。昨天我们的一个宝宝从窝 里掉出去，被纳格吃掉了。” 瑞奇一迪奇说：“嗯！这是够惨的，不过我刚米， 谁也不认识。谁是纳格呢？” 达吉和他的老婆不作声了，在鸟巢里蜷缩成一团， 因为从荆棘丛底部密密的草丛里传来低沉的嘶嘶声，这 个声音冰冷可怕，把瑞奇-迪奇吓得往后直跳了两英尺 远。只见一条黑色大眼镜蛇的头和膨大的颈部一点一点 地从草里冒出来，这就是纳格，他从头到脚足足有五英 尺长。当他把三分之一的身体都抬离地面时，他来回地 摇晃着身躯以保持平衡，活像一朵蒲公英在风中摇曳。 6 dandelion ['daendilaian] 他用那双恶毒的蛇眼盯着瑞奇一迪奇，谁也不知道他到 m.【植物】蒲公英 底在想些什么，因为他眼睛里的神情从来都没有变化。 他说：“谁是纳格？我就是纳格。想当初第一条眼 镜蛇撑起兜帽'为睡着的大梵天神遮挡太阳时，伟大的 梵天神就把他的印记留在我们所有的族民身上了。看吧， 恐惧吧！” 1原文的ood是兜帽、风帽的意思，这里是指眼镜蛇受到威胁或准 备攻击时头部直立，颈部皮褶两侧会膨胀起来凸显背部的眼镜圈纹， 借以恐吓敌人，这样看上去就好像戴了一·个兜帽。 ·193· He spread out his hood more than ever,and Rikki-tikki saw the spectacle- mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook-and-eye fastening.He was afraid for the minute,but it is impossible for a mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time,and though Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before,his mother had fed him on dead ones,and he knew that all a grown mongoose's business in life was to fight and eat snakes.Nag knew that too and,at the bottom of his cold heart,he was afraid. "Well,"said Rikki-tikki,and his tail began to fluff up again,"marks or no marks,do you think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of a nest?" Nag was thinking to himself,and watching the least little movement in the grass behind Rikki-tikki.He knew that mongooses in the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family,but he wanted to get Rikki-tikki off his guard.So he dropped his head a little,and put it on one side. “Let us talk,.”he said.“You eat eggs.Why should not I eat birds?" "Behind you!Look behind you!"sang Darzee. Rikki-tikki knew better than to waste time in staring.He jumped up in the air as high as he could go,and just under him whizzed by the head of Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife.She had crept up behind him as he was talking,to make an end of him.He heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed.He came down almost across her back,and if he had been an old mongoose he would have known that then was the time to break her back with one bite;but he was afraid of the terrible lashing return stroke of the cobra.He bit,indeed,but did not bite long enough,and he jumped clear of the whisking tail,leaving Nagaina torn and angry. "Wicked,wicked Darzee!"said Nag,lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thorn-bush.But Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes, and it only swayed to and fro. Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot(when a mongoose's eyes grow red,he is angry),and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little ·194· “瑞奇一迪奇一塔维” 他把兜帽撑得比什么时候都要开，瑞奇-迪奇就看 见兜帽的背面有着眼镜形状的花纹，就跟搭扣的扣眼一 模一样。瑞奇-迪奇害怕了一会会儿，但是猫鼬从来都 不会一直害怕下去。再说了，尽管瑞奇-迪奇以前从没 见过活生生的眼镜蛇，他的妈妈倒是喂他吃了不少死的， 所以他知道成年的猫鼬一辈子都在打蛇、吃蛇。纳格当 然也知道，在纳格冰冷的内心深处，他才是害怕的那个。 瑞奇一迪奇的尾巴上的毛又竖起来了，他说：“喂， 不管你有没有印记，你觉得把鸟窝里掉出来的幼鸟给吃 ①fledgling['fledslin]n.刚 了，这样好吗？” 生羽毛（或刚会飞】的 小鸟 纳格一边思索，一边密切地注视着瑞奇-迪奇身后 草丛里的动静。他明白一旦花园里有了猫鼬，那他们一 家子也就离死不远了，但是他想让瑞奇-迪奇放松警惕， 所以就把头低下来一点点，往一边偏了偏。 他说：“咱们谈谈吧。你吃鸡蛋。我为什么就不能 吃鸟呢？” 达吉叫起来：“你后面！看你后面！” ②whizz[wiz,使发嗖嗖 瑞奇一迪奇压根就没工夫去看。他奋力一下跳到空 中，纳盖娜的头就从他身下一掠而过，她是纳格的老婆， 最是可恶了。趁着瑞奇-迪奇在说话，她就从背后偷偷 地扑上来，想要结果他的性命。瑞奇一迪奇听见她扑空 时发出凶狠的嘶嘶声。他落地时几乎掠过纳盖娜的背部。 ③stroke[strauk]n.打，击， 要是瑞奇-迪奇是一头老猫鼬的话，就会知道这是一口 敲 咬断她脊背的最佳时机。但是瑞奇一迪奇害怕眼镜蛇转 ④whisk[wisk]g飞快地 掠过 身时威力吓人的回抽，所以他咬是咬了，可是只咬了一 下下就闪过身子好躲开甩过来的蛇尾。纳盖娜身上被撕 开一道口子，气得不得了。 纳格说：“坏达吉，太坏了！”他纵身一跃，想去攻 击荆棘丛上的鸟窝，但是达吉把窝修得很高，蛇根本就 够不着，所以鸟窝只是来回晃动了几下。 瑞奇-迪奇觉得自己的眼睛开始变得又红又热（当 猫鼬的眼睛变红时，表示他生气了)，他往后坐在尾巴 ·195·