季羡林《加德满都的狗》 -经典散文英译-中英双语赏析

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◎　季羡林　Ji Xianlin

加德满都的狗

◎　季羡林

我小时候住在农村里，终日与狗为伍①，一点也没有感觉到狗这种东西有什么稀奇的地方②。但是狗却给我留下了极其深刻的印象。我母亲逝世以后，故乡的家中已经空无一人。她养的一条狗——连它的颜色我现在都回忆不清楚了——却仍然日日夜夜卧在我们门口，守着不走。女主人已经离开人世，再没有人喂它了。它好像已经意识到这一点③。但是它却坚决宁愿忍饥挨饿④，也决不离开我们那破烂的家门口。黄昏时分，我形单影只从村内走回家来，屋子里摆着母亲的棺材，门口卧着这一只失去了主人的狗⑤，泪眼汪汪地望着我这个失去了慈母的孩子，有气无力地摇摆着尾巴，嗅我的脚。茫茫宇宙，好像只剩下这只狗和我。此情此景⑥，我连泪都流不出来了，我流的是血，而这血还是流向我自己的心中。我本来应该同这只狗相依为命，互相安慰⑦。但是，我必须离开故乡，我又无法把它带走。离别时，我流着泪紧紧地搂住了它，我遗弃了它，真正受到良心的谴责⑧。几十年来，我经常想到这一只狗，直到今天，我一想到它，还会不自主地流下眼泪。我相信，我离开家以后，它也决不会离开我们的门口。它的结局我简直不忍想下去了。母亲有灵，会从这一只狗身上得到我这个儿子无法给她的慰藉吧。

从此，我爱天下一切狗。

但是我迁居大城市以后，看到了狗渐渐少起来了⑨。最近多少年以来，北京根本不许养狗，狗简直成了稀有动物，只有到动物园里才能欣赏了。

我万万没有想到，我到了加德满都以后，一下飞机，在机场受到热情友好的接待，汽车一驶离机场，驶入市内，在不算太宽敞的马路两旁就看到了大狗、小狗、黑狗、黄狗，在一群衣履比较随便的小孩子们中间，摇尾乞食，低头觅食。

这是一件小事，却使我喜出望外：久未晤面的亲爱的狗竟在万里之外的异域会面了⑩。

狗们大概完全不理解我的心情，它们大概连辨别本国人和外国人⑪的本领还没有学到。我这里一往情深，它们却漠然无动于衷，只是在那里摇尾低头，到处嗅着，想找到点什么东西吃吃。

晚上，我们从中国大使馆回旅馆的时候，天已经完全黑了。加德满都的大街上，电灯不算太多，霓虹灯的数目更少一些。我在阴影中又隐隐约约地看到了大狗、小狗、黑狗、黄狗，在那里到处嗅着。回到旅馆，在沐浴后上床的时候，从远处的黑暗中传来了阵阵的犬吠声。古人说，深夜犬吠若豹⑫。我现在听到的不是吠声若豹，而是吠声若犬⑬。这事当然并不稀奇。可这并不稀奇的若犬的犬吠声却给我带来了无尽的甜蜜的回忆。这甜蜜的犬吠声一直把我送入我在加德满都过的第一夜的梦中。

Dogs in Katmandu

◎ Ji Xianlin

When I lived in the countryside as a small child, there were dogs all around, and so I got quite accustomed to them, never thinking of them as anything out of the common. Nevertheless, they have since left a most deep impression on me. After mother, the sole occupant of our country home, passed away, the dog she had raised — I’ve now even forgotten what colour he was — continued to keep watch at the door, lying there day and night. He must have been aware that nobody was going to feed him after the death of his mistress. But he would rather endure the torments of hunger than forsake his post outside our run-down home. At dusk, when I arrived alone from somewhere in the village at our house, in which lay mother’s coffin, the ownerless dog would fix his tearful eyes on me, the youngster bereaved of his loving mother, wag his tail feebly and sniff at my feet. It seemed as if he and I were left all alone in this vast universe. In face of the sad and dreary scene, I could shed no tears. What I shed was blood which flowed right into my innermost heart. I could have stayed with him to live in mutual dependence and comfort each other in distress, but I had to quit my native place, unable to take him along with me. At the time of parting, I hugged him tightly with tears in my eyes. I felt terribly bad about having to desert him. He has since been in my mind for decades. Even today, I cannot restrain my tears whenever I think of him. I am certain he would never stop standing guard at our door even after I left. I cannot bear to imagine what fate befell him in the end. May mother’s soul receive from this faithful dog the consolation that I, as her son, have not been able to offer her!

Since then, I have been fond of all dogs in the world.

But I’ve seen a steady dwindling of the canine population ever since I became a city dweller. In recent years, it has been strictly banned in Beijing to raise dogs. Dogs have become a rare animal to be seen only in a zoo.

At Katmandu, the moment I was driven into town after meeting with a warm and friendly reception at the airport, I was greatly surprised to see dogs, big and small, black and yellow, in the midst of casually-dressed children on both sides of a relatively narrow street, wagging their tails or nosing around for food.

Small as the incident was, I was immensely overjoyed to meet out of the blue in a remote foreign land dear dogs that I had not seen for ages.

Presumably these dogs were entirely ignorant of my state of mind and perhaps even incapable of telling a foreigner from a native. They appeared totally apathetic towards me in spite of my partiality for them and kept wagging their tails with lowered heads and nosing around for food.

In the evening, it was already dark when we were on our way to the hotel from the Chinese Embassy. The streets of Katmandu were illuminated by only a few electric lamps, and still fewer neon lights. In the dim light I vaguely saw again dogs, big and small, black and yellow, nosing around here and there. Back in the hotel, when I was getting into bed after a bath, I heard dogs barking again and again in the distant darkness. It reminded me of the old saying, “A dog’s bark at dead of night resembles that of a leopard.” To me, however, what I heard was dogs’ barking, pure and simple, having nothing whatever in common with that of leopards. The barking was nothing out of the ordinary, yet it brought back to me one sweet memory after another. The sweet barking sent me straight into the dreams I had on my first night at Katmandu.

季羡林（1911—　）， 山东清平（今临清市）人，是我国著名教育家、印度学家、梵文文学翻译家、散文家。《加德满都的狗》是他在1986年写于尼泊尔首都加德满都的一篇小品。

注释

①“终日与狗为伍”的字面意思是“每天都与狗在一起”，实际上指“农村遍地所见都是狗”，现参照上下文，把它意译为there were dogs all around。

②“一点也没有感到狗这种东西有什么稀奇的地方”实际上意即“对农村里的狗已习以为常，不以为奇”，现按此译为and so I got quite accustomed to them, never thinking of them as anything out of the common，其中out of the common是成语，作“非同寻常”解。

③“它好像已经意识到……”译为He must have been aware that…，等于He was probably aware that…。情态动词must在这里表示揣测或可能性。

④“忍饥挨饿”译为endure the torments of hunger，其中torments和pain或suffering同义，是添加成分，原文虽无其词而有其意。ZS~　　⑤“一只失去了主人的狗”译为the ownerless dog，比the dog that had lost his mistress简洁。

⑥“此景此情”意即“面对悲惨凄凉的情景”，故采取加字法译为In face of the sad and dreary scene。

⑦“相依为命，互相安慰”译为to live in mutual dependence and comfort each other in distress，其中in distress是添加成分。

⑧“真正受到良心的谴责”译为I felt terribly bad about…，其中to feel terribly bad about…是日常用语，作“甚感歉疚”解。此句也可译为I really felt conscience-stricken about…。

⑨“狗渐渐少起来了”译为a steady dwindling of the canine population，其中canine population作“狗的总数”解。

⑩“久未晤面的亲爱的狗竟在万里之外的异域会面了”译为to meet out of the blue in a remote foreign land dear dogs that I had not seen for ages，其中out of the blue是成语，作“出乎意外”解，用以表达原文有关含意。

⑪“辨别本国人和外国人”译为telling a foreigner from a native，与distinguishing between a foreigner and a native同义。

⑫“古人说，深夜犬吠若豹”译为It reminded me or the old saying, “A dog’s bark at dead of night resembles that of a leopard.”，其中It reminded me of 是添加成分，在译文中起承上启下的作用。

⑬“我现在听到的……而是吠声若犬”译为what I heard was dogs’ barking, pure and simple，其中pure and simple是成语，作“不折不扣”解，用以加强语气。

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