琼·克雷格黑德·乔治

Then something moved in the hollow of the maple tree.

It was Ringx， the racoon. Not knowing if Ringx was an enemy like Shifty had turned out to be， Rachet climbed out of the deep hollow and onto a limb. Being a young cat， she knew how to climb up a tree but not how to get down. She stared at the ground below and miaowed the helpless kitten cry for mother， but in vain.

Ringx heard Rachets cry and came from deep in the hollow to peer at the cat. Her beady eyes gleamed in a black furry mask， and her ears were laid back. Rachet took one look at the growling bandit face and leaped. She crashed through the tree limbs， grabbed one， couldnt hold on， and dropped twelve feet to the ground. Landing on all fours， she ran under the bridge and climbed up into the steel supports. On a high beam twenty feet up， she spit. With that adult cat comment， she discarded the kitten in her and grew up. No more miaows.

She was on her own amid people， storm， snake， fox， and raccoon. She stayed high on the bridge infrastructure until the rain let up. It was already very late at night when she stirred. She could hunt now. This is the time cats operate secretly and best—but so do Shifty and Ringx.

Below her two mice came out of the papers and junk. They searched the debris for tasty garbage the swollen Olga River had washed ashore from the parks and towns upriver. Rachet riveted her eyes on the mice. When they ran into a sodden paper bag， she jumped from arch to beam. They came out. She stopped. They disappeared. She ran. When she had worked her way down to the ground， she crept， body low， to a rock near them and sat still. By sitting stone-still and then running， she inched closer to the mice without their realizing she was there. Then suddenly with a flash of her paw she caught one. This time she did not lift it in curiosity but carried the food up to her spot on the steel beam and dined.

Another mouse took its place—then another. Rachet had found a cat smorgasbord in the heart of fox and racoon territory. She would need all her cat wits to mouse here with Shifty and Ringx around.

After she had eaten， she washed her mouth with her tongue， then her cheeks and the back of her neck with her paw. There she found a burr. Scratching it with her hind foot， she dislodged it. It fell into the water and floated with the current to a tidal cove.

A sparrow picked it up and flew landward. Suddenly chased by a hawk， the bird veered and dropped the burr. There it would lie all winter. When spring came it would send out roots and leaves and make more burrs to be dispersed by animals. Burrs were hitchhikers. Rachet had given it a ride from the field to the river to a bird， then from a flying bird to a new home. Rachet was unaware of her part in the burdocks scheme to spread burdocks. High on the scaffolding， she sat sphinxlike and catnapped.

就在那时，枫树洞里有东西动了一下。

那是浣熊林克斯。拉齐特不知道林克斯是不是敌人，就像初遇赤狐希夫蒂那样，于是爬出深深的树洞，爬上一个树枝。她是一只小猫，知道如何爬上一棵树却不知道如何爬下来。她盯着树下的地面，喵喵叫，那是无助的小奶猫叫妈妈的声音，但是没用。

林克斯听到了拉齐特的叫声，就从树洞深处爬出来，盯着小猫。林克斯圆溜溜的小眼睛在黑色毛茸茸的面孔中闪闪发光，她的耳朵朝后贴在头上。拉齐特看了一眼那张低吼的强盗嘴脸，然后一跃而下。她从树枝间掉落，抓住了一个，没能抓牢，从12英尺高的地方掉落地上。拉齐特四脚着地，然后跑到桥下，爬上了桥的钢架。她爬到20英尺高的横梁上，转头吐了口口水。吐口水是成年猫表达不屑的方式，拉齐特以此表示自己不再是小奶猫，她长大了，不会再像小奶猫那样喵喵叫了。

面对人类、暴风雨、蛇虫、狐狸和浣熊，拉齐特只能自食其力。她一直待在高高的桥梁钢架上，直到雨停。她醒来已是深夜。她现在可以狩猎了。这是猫咪秘密行动的最佳时机——对赤狐希夫蒂和浣熊林克斯而言也是如此。

就在拉齐特下方，有两只老鼠从废纸和垃圾堆里钻出来了。他们在垃圾堆中寻找可口的食物，那些都是涨水的奥尔加河从上游的公园和城镇冲下来的。拉齐特的眼睛紧盯着老鼠。老鼠跑进一个淋湿的纸袋时，拉齐特从拱梁跳到横梁上。老鼠出来。拉齐特停下。老鼠消失不见。拉齐特往前跑。拉齐特一路从钢架跑到地面，然后俯下身子，匍匐前进，来到老鼠旁边的一块石头处，静坐不动。拉齐特一会儿像石头一样静止不动，一会儿往前跑，一点儿一点儿地靠近老鼠。老鼠都没有觉察到拉齐特的到来。突然，她爪子一挥，抓住了一只。这一次，拉齐特没有好奇地把老鼠举起来查看，而是叼着老鼠爬到她在钢梁上的藏身处，然后进餐。

又一只老鼠就位——然后还有一只。就在狐狸和浣熊的地盘中心，拉齐特找到了一个食物丰盛的猫咪自助餐馆。因为赤狐希夫蒂和浣熊林克斯窥伺左右，拉齐特需要动用自己所有的智慧来捉老鼠。

一番饱食之后，拉齐特用舌头舔舔嘴巴，然后是两颊，再用爪子挠挠后脖颈。她在后脖颈上发现了一个牛蒡刺果。拉齐特用后爪挠了一下，蹭掉了它。刺果掉入河水，顺着水流漂到了一个水湾处。

一只麻雀衔起了刺果朝岸边飞去。突然一只鹰飞过来追逐麻雀，麻雀一个转向，扔掉了刺果。刺果整个冬天都会待在那里。春天来临的时候，它会生根长叶，长出更多的刺果，让动物们播撒。刺果善于搭便车。拉齐特把它从田野带到河里，交给了小鸟，然后飞鸟带它到了新家。牛蒡有传宗接代的计划，拉齐特是传播者之一，但她并不知情。拉齐特坐在高高的大桥钢架上，像神秘的斯芬克斯雕像，正在打瞌睡呢。

【背景知识】拉齐特继续成长。要适应残酷的环境，她必须快快长大。她在像小奶猫一样呼唤妈妈未果之后，纵身一跃，终于长大。她铤而走险，在狐狸和浣熊的核心地带找到了安居之所，温饱问题彻底解决，还能像狮身人面像一样打个瞌睡呢。

【第一段】第三句like Shifty had turned out to be指原来拉齐特分不清敌友，被赤狐追杀。这一次她碰见浣熊，先逃开再说。译文没有按照字面翻译为“就像希夫蒂后来证明的那样”，是为了译文更简洁明晰。最后一句中用一个分句“那是一只无助的小奶猫叫妈妈的声音”来翻译词组the helpless kitten cry for mother，属分句翻译技巧，否则译文的定语会太长。

【第二段】此处的描写充满趣味。浣熊平时的耳朵并不会贴在头上，这样做是表示愤怒和威胁。作者把浣熊描写为“强盗”嘴脸，反映出猫咪心理视角的不屑，所以才有后面的吐口水。最后两句的译文没有紧贴原文，按照语义进行了适当增译。短句she discarded the kitten in her（她抛弃了体内的小猫咪）不宜直译。

【第三段】作者采用全知视角，文字夹叙夹议。最后的补充成分暗示了拉齐特仍然面临危险。

【第四段】这是一段完整的猫咪捕食老鼠过程的描写。拉齐特走走停停，竭力让自己神不知鬼不觉地接近老鼠，完成致命一击。译文应力求简洁，再现原文的动态節奏。最后一句中的lift it in curiosity（好奇地举起来），译文中添加了“查看”。

【第五段】原文富有趣味，同样是夹叙夹议。所谓smorgasbord指瑞典或斯堪的纳维亚式自助餐馆，食物丰盛。译文中如果出现瑞典或斯堪的纳维亚会显得突兀，于是仅仅点出了“食物丰盛”的意思，省略掉瑞典式或斯堪的纳维亚式。这是一个危机四伏的环境，而绝境求生正显示出猫咪拉齐特的勇敢和智慧。

【第六段】吃饱喝足了，拉齐特舒舒服服地进行梳洗打扮。不料却在身上发现了一颗牛蒡刺果。作者风趣的用意让人不禁莞尔。

【第七段】该段一边传播生态知识，一边用富有情趣的视角描述牛蒡刺果和猫咪。最后两句特别具有幽默感。倒数第二句（Rachet was unaware of her part in the burdocks scheme to spread burdocks）如果直译会是“拉齐特没有意识到她在牛蒡自我传播计划中所扮演的角色”，过于冗长。译文颠倒了语序，使之符合中文习惯，而且用“传宗接代”来表达幽默感。最后一句中有sphinxlike（像狮身人面像似的）。如直译，只说猫咪像狮身人面像会显得不伦不类，译文点出了其神秘的特征，译为“像神秘的斯芬克斯雕像”。

【小结】该原文选段风格多样，有简洁生动的动作描写，有夹叙夹议的混合视角，有文化专有词语的深刻寓意，还有隐含在字里行间的幽默和风趣。译者需要详加辨别，保持原文的节奏，恰当处理文化意象，并尽力再现原文的美学效果。