那些无法抗拒的名篇05:Life of Pi 少年Pi的奇幻漂流(节选)MP3和文本下载

05 Life of Pi

05 少年Pi的奇幻漂流

    When we reached land，Mexico to be exact, I was so weak I barely had the strength to be happy about it. We had great difficulty landing. The lifeboat nearly capsized in the surf. I streamed the sea anchors一what was left of them—full open to keep us perpendicular to the waves, and I tripped them as soon as we began riding a crest. In this way, streaming and tripping the anchors, we surfed in to shore. It was dangerous. But we caught one wave at just the right point and it carried us a great distance,past the high, collapsing walls of water. I tripped the anchors a last time and we were pushed in the rest of the way. The boat hissed to a halt against the sand.

    我们到达陆地的时候，具体地说，是到达墨西哥的时候，我太虚弱了，简直连高兴的力气都没有了。靠岸非常困难。救生艇差点儿被海浪掀翻。我让海锚—剩下的那些—完全张开，让我们与海浪保持垂直，一开始往浪峰上冲，我就起锚。我们就这样不断地下锚和起锚，冲浪来到岸边。这很危险。但是我们正好抓住了一个浪头，这个浪头带了我们很远，带过了高高的、墙一般坍塌的海水。我最后一次起锚，剩下的路程是被海浪推着前进的。小船发出嘶嘶声，冲上海滩停了下来。

    I let myself down the side. I was afraid to let go, afraid that so close to deliverance, in two feet of water, I would drown.I looked ahead to see how far I had to go. The glance gave me one of my last images of Richard Parker, for at that precise moment he jumped over me. I saw his body, so immeasurably vital，stretched in the air above me, a fleeting，furred rainbow. He landed in the water, his back legs splayed, his tail high, and from there, in a few hops, he reached the beach. He went to the left,his paws gouging the wet sand, but changed his mind and spun around. He passed directly in front of me on his way to the right.He didn't look at me. He ran a hundred yards or so along the shore before turning in. His gait was clumsy and uncoordinated.He fell several times.At the edge of the jungle, he stopped. I was certain  he would turn my way. He would look at me.He would conclude our relationship. He did nothing of the sort.He only looked fixedly into the jungle.Then Richard Parker,companion of my torment,awful,fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life.

    我从船舷上爬了下来。我害怕松手，害怕在就要被解救的时候淹死在这两英尺深的海里。我向前看要走多远。那一看在我心里留下了对理查德·帕克的最后几个印象之一，因为就在那一刻它朝我扑了过来。我看见它充满了无限活力，在我身体上方的空中伸展开来，仿佛一道飞逝的毛绒绒的彩虹。它落进了海里，后腿展开，尾巴翘得高高的，只跳了几下，就从那儿跳到了海滩上。它向左走去，爪子挖开了潮湿的沙滩，后来又改变了主意，转过身来。它向右走去时径直从我面前走过。它没有看我。它沿着海岸跑了大约一百码远，然后才调转过来。它步态笨拙又不协调，它摔倒了好几次。在丛林边上，它停了下来。我肯定它会转过身看着我，它会聋拉下耳朵，它会咆哮，它会以某种诸如此类的方式为我们之间的关系作一个总结。然而，它并没有这么做，只是目不转睛地看着丛林。然后，理查德·帕克—我忍受折磨时的伙伴;激起我求生意志的可怕的猛兽，向前走去，从我的生活中永远的消失了。

    I struggled to shore and fell upon the sand. I looked about.I was truly alone, orphaned not only of my family, but now of Richard Parker, and nearly, I thought，of God. Of course，I wasn’t. This beach, so soft, firm and vast, was like the cheek of God, and somewhere two eyes were glittering with pleasure and a mouth was smiling at having me there.

    我挣扎着向岸边走去，倒在了海滩上。我四处张望。我真的是孤独一人，不仅被家人抛弃，现在理查德·帕克也抛弃了我，而且上帝也抛弃了我，但我并没有被遗弃。这座海滩如此柔软、坚实、广阔，就像上帝的胸膛。而且，在某个地方，有两只眼睛正闪烁着快乐的光芒，有一张嘴正因为有我在那儿而微笑着。   

    After some hours a member of my own species found me.He left and returned with a group. They were six or seven. They came up to me with their hands covering their noses and mouths.I wondered what was wrong with them. They spoke to me in a strange tongue. They pulled the lifeboat onto the sand. They carried me away. The one piece of turtle meat/had brought from the boat they wrenched from my hand and threw away.

   几个小时以后，我的一个同类发现了我。他找了一群人来。大约有六七个人。他们用手捂着鼻子和嘴，我怀疑他们是不是有什么问题啊。他们用一种奇怪的语言跟我说话。他们把救生艇拖到了沙滩上，把我抬走了。我手里拿着一块从船上带下来的海龟肉，他们把肉抠出来扔了。

    I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome at having survived my ordeal，though I was. Nor was it the presence of my brothers and sisters, though that too was very moving. I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously.What a terrible thing it is to botch a farewell. I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order. Where we can，we must give things a meaningful shape. For example, I wonder—could you tell my jumbled story in exactly one hundred chapters,not one more, not one less? I'II tell you, that's one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever. It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse. That bungled goodbye hurts me to this day. I wish so much that I'd had one last look at him in the lifeboat, that I had provoked him a little,so that I was on his mind. I wish l had said to him then—yes,I know, to a tiger, but still-I wish I had said, "Richard Parker,it's over. We have survived. Can you believe it? I owe you more gratitude than I can express.I couldn't have done it without you. I would like to say it formally: Richard Parker, thank you. Thank you for saving my life. And now go where you must. You have known the confined freedom of a zoo most of your life;now you will know the free confinement of a jungle.I  wish you all the best with it. Watch out for Man. He is not your friend. But I hope you will remember me as a friend. I will never forget you, that is certain.You will always be with me, in my heart. What is that hiss? Ah,our boat has touched sand. So farewell, Richard Parker, farewell.God be with you."

    我像个孩子一样哭了起来。不是因为我对自己历尽磨难最后生存下来而感到激动，尽管这也令我非常感动。我哭是因为理查德·帕克如此轻易地离开了我。不能好好的告别是件多么可怕的事啊。我是一个相信形式、相信秩序和谐的人。只要可能，我们就应该赋予事物一个有益的形式。比如说—我想知道—你能一章不多、一章不少，用正好一百章把我的杂乱的故事说出来吗?我告诉你，我讨厌自己外号的一个原因就是，那个数字会一直循环下去。事物应该恰当的结束，这在生活中很重要，只有在这时你才能放手。否则你的心里就会装满应该说却不曾说的话，你的心情就会因为悔恨而沉重。那个没有说出的再见直到今天仍让我伤心。我真希望自己在救生艇里看了它最后一眼，希望我稍稍激怒了它，这样它就会牵挂我。我希望自己当时就对它说—是的，我知道，对一只老虎，但是我还是要说—我希望自己说:“理查德·帕克，一切都过去了。我们活了下来，你能相信吗?我对你的感激无法用语言来表达。如果没有你，我做不到这一点。我要郑重地对你说，理查德·帕克，谢谢你。谢谢你救了我的命。现在去你想去的地方吧。这大半辈子，你已经了解了什么是动物园里有限的自由;现在你将会了解什么是丛林里无限的自由。我祝你好运。小心人类。他们不是你的朋友。但我希望你记住我这个朋友。我不会忘记你的，这是肯定的。你会永远在我心里。那嘶嘶声是什么?啊，我们的小船触到沙滩了。那么，再见了，理查德·帕克，再见。上帝与你同在。”

    The people who found me took me to their village, and there some women gave me a bath and scrubbed me so hard that I wondered if they realized I was naturally brown skinned and not a very dirty white boy. I tried to explain. They nodded and smiled and kept on scrubbing me as if I were the deck of a ship. I thought they were going to skin me alive. But they gave me food.Delicious food. Once I started eating, I couldn't stop.

    发现我的人把我带到了他们村子里，在那里，几个女人给我洗了个澡。她们擦洗得好用力啊，我不知道她们是否意识到我的皮肤是天生的棕色，不是非常脏的白人小伙子。我试图解释。她们点了点头，笑了笑，然后继续擦洗，仿佛我是船甲板。我以为她们要把我活剥了。但是她们给了我食物，非常可口的食物。我一吃起来，就停不下来了。

    The next day a police car came and brought me to a hospital,and there my story ends.

    第二天，来了一辆警车，把我送进了医院。我的故事到此结束了。

    I was overwhelmed by the generosity of those who rescued me. Poor people gave me clothes and food. Doctors and nurses cared for me as if I were a premature baby. Mexican and Canadian officials opened all doors for me so that from the beach in Mexico to the home of my foster mother to the classrooms of the University of Toronto, there was only one long, easy corridor I had to walk down. To all these people I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks.

    救我的人慷慨大方，让我深受感动。村民送给我衣服和食物。医生和护士照顾我，仿佛我是个早产的婴儿。墨西哥和加拿大的官员为我敞开了所有的大门，因此从墨西哥海滩到我养母家，再到多伦多大学的课堂，我只需走一道长长的、通行方便的走廊。我要对所有这些人表示衷心的感谢。
 

作者介绍：
    扬·马特尔，1963年出生于西班牙，父母是加拿大人。他曾在哥斯达黎加、法国、墨西哥和加拿大生活。大学哲学系毕业后，他做过洗碗工、植树工和保安，之后开始写作。《少年Pi的奇幻漂流》是扬·马特尔的第三部作品。2002年，这部小说获得了当代英语小说界的最重要奖项—布克奖。

    《少年Pi的奇幻漂流》讲述的是帕特尔的父亲决定全家带着动物移民加拿大，他们所乘坐的日本货船在太平洋失事，帕特尔侥幸生存下来，在海上漂泊了227天。期间最危险的就是与一只成年孟加拉虎理查德·帕克的斗争。他曾想了6种对付这只虎的计策。最后终于明白，只要保证了理查德·帕克的饮食，他就不会有危险。后来他利用老虎的一些弱点开始了驯虎的过程。这驯虎的过程也是少年帕特尔演变成成年男人的过程。