馮驥才《珍珠鳥》中英雙語欣賞

　　(譯者：張夢井、杜耀文)

　　真好!朋友送我一對珍珠鳥。放在一個簡易的竹條編成的籠子里，籠內還有一卷干草，那是小鳥舒適又溫暖的巢。

　　What a nice pair of Pearl birds my friend gave me! I kept them in a simple cage woven with bamboo strips. Inside the cage I put some dry grass to serve as their nest and keep them warm and comfortable.

　　有人說，這是一種怕人的鳥。

　　It is said that the Pearl birds are easily scared in the present of man.

　　我把它掛在窗前，那兒還有一盆異常茂盛的法國吊蘭。我便用吊蘭長長的、串生著小綠葉的垂蔓蒙蓋在鳥籠上，它們就像躲進深幽的叢林一樣安全;從中傳出的笛兒般又細又亮的叫聲，也就格外輕松自在了。

　　I hung the cage over the window next to a pot of exuberant French bracketplant. I put the long trailing vines of the plant with their small green leaves on the top of the cage, making the birds feel safe and sound as they did deep in the woods. Their singing, as clear and pleasant as the flute, was an indication that they were very much relaxed and at ease.

　　陽光從窗外射入，透過這里，吊蘭那些無數指甲狀的小葉，一半成了黑影，一半被照透，如同碧玉;斑斑駁駁，生意蔥蘢。小鳥的影子就在這中間隱約閃動，看不完整，有時連籠子也看不出，卻見它們可愛的鮮紅小嘴從綠葉中伸出來。

　　When the sunlight streamed through the window, half of the small nail-like leaves of the plant were left in the shadow and the other half illuminated, looking like emeralds, casting greenish specks of light on my desk. The shadows of the birds flashed back and forth among the leaves. You could hardly see their bodies, not even the cage sometimes, but occasionally you could see them putting out their lovely red beaks through the leaves.

　　我很少扒開葉蔓瞧它們，它們便漸漸敢伸出小腦袋瞅瞅我。我們就這樣一點點熟悉了。

　　As I seldom tried to part the leaves to look at them, gradually they plucked up their courage to put out their small heads to look at me. By and by they became accustomed to my presence.

　　三個月后，那一團愈發繁茂的綠蔓里邊，發出一種尖細又嬌嫩的鳴叫。我猜到，是它們，有了雛兒。我呢?決不掀開葉片往里看，連添食加水時也不睜大好奇的眼去驚動它們。過不多久，忽然有一個小腦袋從葉間探出來。更小喲，雛兒!正是這個小家伙。

　　Three months later some thinner and weaker cries were heard through the more exuberant leaves. I knew what had happened. They must have had a baby bird. However, I was not so curious as to look inside the cage and disturb them, not even when I added food and water for them. A few days later I saw a tiny head thrust out. Oh, it was the tiny baby bird, the one that had been uttering the thin and weak cries.

　　它小，就能輕易地由疏格的籠子鉆出身。瞧，多么像它的母親：紅嘴紅腳，灰藍色的毛，只是后背還沒有生出珍珠似的圓圓的白點;它好肥，整個身子好像一個蓬松的球兒。

　　As it was very small, it could easily get out of the cage through the holes. It looked very much like its mother, the red beak, the red claws and the grayish blue down. The only difference was that it had not developed the pearl-like whitish dots on its back. Its body was as plump as a ball of fluff.

　　起先，這小家伙只在籠子四周活動，隨后就在屋里飛來飛去，一會兒落在柜頂上，(一會兒神氣十足地站在書架上，啄著書背上那些大文豪的名字;)一會兒把燈繩撞得來回搖動，跟著跳到畫框上去了。只要大鳥在籠里生氣兒地叫一聲，它立即飛回籠里去。

　　For the first few days it fluttered about the cage only, and then it began to fly all over the room. At one minute it got to the top of the cupboard; at another it darted to the bookcase, pecking at the names of the great writers on the spines of the books. At one moment, it knocked the string of the switch and left it swinging back and forth like a pendulum; at another, it switched around to the frame of the painting. But it had to fly back to the cage when its parents were angry and called it to return.

　　我不管它。這樣久了，打開窗子，它最多只在窗框上站一會兒，決不飛出去。

　　I let it do as it pleased. After some time, even when I opened the window, it would not fly away. The most it would do was to stand on the window frame for a few moments and then turn around and flutter back again.

　　漸漸它膽子大了，就落在我書桌上。

　　By and by it became so bold as to come and rest on my desk. At first it kept at arm's length from me.

　　它先是離我較遠，見我不去傷害它，便一點點挨近，然后蹦到我的杯子上，俯下頭來喝茶，再偏過臉瞧瞧我的反應。我只是微微一笑，依舊寫東西，它就放開膽子跑到稿紙上，繞著我的筆尖蹦來蹦去;跳動的小紅爪子在紙上發出嚓嚓響。

　　Seeing that I was not harmful, it inched toward me, jumped up to the edge of my cup and lowered its head to drink my tea and then turned to look at me and see what I was going to do in response to its mischief. I gave it a smile and went on with my writing. It then moved onto my paper, hopping around the nib of my pen, scratching the paper with its red claws.

　　我不動聲色地寫，默默享受著這小家伙親近的情意。這樣，它完全放心了。索性用那涂了蠟似的、角質的小紅嘴，“嗒嗒”啄著我顫動的筆尖。我用手撫一撫它細膩的絨毛，它也不怕，反而友好地啄兩下我的手指。(有一次，它居然跳進我的空茶杯里，隔著透明光亮的玻璃瞅我。它不怕我突然把杯口捂住。是的，我不會。)

　　I wrote on, undistracted, enjoying in silence the friendliness of the small creature. By now it seemed to trust me completely. What happened next was that it started pecking at the nib of the pen with its wax-like hard beak. I gently stroked its soft fluff and it was very well received. To show its intimacy toward me, it pecked at my fingers a couple of times. Once it even got into my empty cup, eyeing me through the transparent glass. It was not worried that I should put my hand over the cup and smother it inside. No, I would never do that.

　　白天，它這樣淘氣地陪伴我;天色入暮，它就在父母的再三呼喚聲中，飛向籠子，扭動滾圓的身子，擠開那些綠葉鉆進去。

　　During the day it kept me company joyfully. When it turned dark, it would return to the cage at the repeated calls of its parents, waggling its small plump body inside through the leaves.

　　有一天，我伏案寫作時，它居然落到我的肩上。我手中的筆不覺停了，生怕驚跑它。呆一會兒，扭頭看，這小家伙竟扒在我的肩頭睡著了，銀灰色的眼瞼蓋住眸子，小紅腳剛好給胸脯上長長的絨毛蓋住。我輕輕抬一抬肩，它沒醒，睡得好熟!還呷呷嘴，難道在做夢?

　　One day I was working at the desk when the small bird flew over and rested on my shoulder. I stopped writing for fear that it would fly off. After a moment when I turned and looked at it, I found it had fallen asleep there, its silver eye-lids covering its eye-balls, its red claws buried in its fluffy chest. I slightly lifted my shoulder, but it did not awake. It was having a fast sleep. Once it opened its beak a bit — obviously it was enjoying itself in a dream.

　　我筆尖一動，流瀉下一時的感受：

　　I then put my pen to the paper, noting down my feelings of the moment.

　　信賴，往往創造出美好的境界。

　　Mutual trust can create happy relationships indeed.

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