《蝇王》节选

《蝇王》是英国作家、诺贝尔文学奖获得者威廉•戈尔丁的代表作，书中的人物、场景和语言等都充满了象征意义。故事发生在虚构的第三次世界大战中，有一群孩子乘坐飞机时发生了坠机事件并被困在一个荒岛上。这一群孩子逐渐分裂成两派，代表理智与文明的一派与代表野性和原始的一派，并爆发了两派间的决战。

本选段摘自于故事刚开始，描述了代表理智与文明一派的拉尔夫和外号叫“小猪”的两位男孩在坠机事故后初次遇到的场景。文中多次提到“没有大人”在场，暗示着这个荒岛脱离了文明的约束，成为了代表人类本性的孩子们自由发挥的舞台。可是殊不知，一场悲剧就此拉开了序幕……

By William Golding

安妮 选译

Chapter One The Sound of the Shell

第一章 海螺的声音

The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon[1]. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead.[2] All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.[3] He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another.[4]

金发少年从岩石离地还有几英尺处滑溜下来，开始朝环礁湖方向走去。虽然他已经脱掉了校服毛衣，用一只手拖曳着，但还是大汗淋漓，灰衬衫粘在身上，头发（湿漉漉地）贴在前额上。在这位少年四周，一条长长的突起的岩石径直穿进丛林深处，天气的闷热使得这块孤岩就像个热气腾腾的浴缸。这会儿，少年正在藤蔓和断树残干中费劲地爬着，突然一只红黄相间的小鸟怪叫一声，振翅飞向天空；紧接着，像回声似的，另一个声音也响起来了。

“Hi!” it said. “Wait a minute!” The undergrowth at the side of the scar was shaken and a multitude of raindrops fell pattering.[5] “Wait a minute,” the voice said. “I got caught up.”

“嘿！”这声音喊道。“等一等！”岩石侧面的矮树丛突然一阵摇晃，许多雨珠啪嗒啪嗒地直往下掉。“等等我。”这声音叫了起来，“我给缠住了。”

The fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an automatic gesture that made the jungle seem for a moment like the Home Counties.[6]

金发少年停下了脚步，习惯性地紧了一紧袜子，动作自然得好像这片丛林是自己的家一样。

The voice spoke again. “I can’t hardly move with all these creeper things.”

那个声音又叫开了：“这么多的藤蔓我真没法摆脱。”

The owner of the voice came backing out of the undergrowth so that twigs scratched on a greasy wind-breaker.[7] The naked crooks[8] of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. He bent down, removed the thorns carefully, and turned round. He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat. He came forward, searching out safe lodgments for his feet, and then looked up through thick spectacles.[9] “Where’s the man with the megaphone[10]?”

说这话的孩子正从矮树丛中脱身出来，细树枝刮着他肮脏的防风外衣上，嚓嚓直响。他光着的膝盖看起来胖乎乎的，不过被荆棘缠住，有一些刮伤。他弯下腰，小心翼翼地拨开棘刺，然后转过身来。与金发少年相比，这个男孩稍矮一些，也更胖一些。他用脚小心地试探着往前走着，寻找着安全的落脚处，随后透过厚厚的眼镜往上瞧瞧。“那个带喇叭筒的大人在哪儿？”

The fair boy shook his head. “This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere.”

金发少年摇摇头。“这是一个岛屿，至少在我看来是一个岛。那儿是一条伸进外海的珊瑚礁。兴许这儿没大人了。”

The fat boy looked startled[11]. “There was that pilot. But he wasn’t in the passenger cabin, he was up in front.”

胖男孩大吃了一惊：“本来有个驾驶员，但是他没在客舱，在前上方的驾驶舱里。”

The fair boy was peering at the reef through screwed-up eyes.

金发少年眯起眼睛凝视着那条珊瑚礁。

“All the other lads,” the fat boy went on. “Some of them must have got out. They must have, mustn’t they?”

“其他的小孩，”胖男孩继续说道。“他们中肯定会有一些幸存下来的，你说是不是？”

The fair boy began to pick his way as casually as possible toward the water. He tried to be offhand[12] and not too obviously uninterested, but the fat boy hurried after him. “Aren’t there any grownups at all?”

金发少年开始随心所欲地向海边走去。他尽量使自己表现出一副随随便便的样子，同时又避免显得太过于无动于衷，可那胖男孩紧紧地尾随其后，问道：“到底还有没有大人呢？”

“I don’t think so.” The fair boy said this solemnly[13]; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy.[14]

“我认为没有。”金发少年板着面孔回答；可随后，他又像实现了理想般那样心情愉悦。在岩石堆当中，他情不自禁地做了个倒立，咧着嘴朝颠倒了的胖男孩嘻嘻笑。

“No grownups!” The fat boy thought for a moment. “That pilot?”

“没大人啦！”胖男孩想了想。“那，那个驾驶员呢？”

The fair boy allowed his feet to come down and sat on the steamy earth. “He must have flown off after he dropped us. He couldn’t land here. Not in a plane with wheels.”

金发少年把倒立的两条腿放下来，一屁股坐在湿漉漉的地上。“他把咱们投下后就飞走了。他没办法在这儿降落，至少有轮子的飞机没办法（在地面不平的岩石堆上）降落。”

“We were attacked!”

“我们被袭击了！”

“He’ll be back all right.”

“他会平安回来（接我们）的。”

The fat boy shook his head: “When we were coming down I looked through one of the windows. I saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it.” Then he looked up and down the scar. “And this is what the cabin done.”

胖男孩摇着头：“我们下落的时候，我从窗口往外看，看到飞机的另一边正在着火，向外冒烟呢。”然后他上下打量着岩石堆。“瞧，这不就是机身撞的嘛。”

The fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk. For a moment he looked interested. “What happened to it?” he asked. “Where’s it got to now?”

金发少年伸出手来，摸了摸树干高低不平的一头。这一刻，他好像对此事非常感兴趣，问道：“机身发生了什么事？现在又跑到哪儿去了？”

“That storm dragged it out to sea. It must be very dangerous with all the tree trunks falling. There must have been some kids still in it.” He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. “What’s your name?”

“暴风雨把它又拖到海里去了。倒下的树干这么多，情况一定非常严重。机舱里准保还有一些小孩呢。”胖男孩犹豫了一下，又问道：“你叫什么名字？”

“Ralph.”

“拉尔夫。”

The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer[15] of acquaintance was not made; the fair boy called Ralph smiled vaguely, stood up, and began to make his way once more toward the lagoon. The fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder.

胖男孩等着对方问自己的名字，可是对方却不打算了解自己。这位名叫拉尔夫的金发少年隐约地笑着，站起身来，又开始朝环礁湖方向走去。胖男孩的手重重地搭在拉尔夫的肩膀上。

“I expect there’s a lot more of us scattered about. You haven’t seen any others, have you?”

“我想应该还有好多小孩分散在附近。你没见过别人吗？”

Ralph shook his head and increased his speed. Then he tripped over a branch and came down with a crash.

拉尔夫摇了摇头，加快了步伐，没想到却被树枝一绊，猛地摔了个跟头。

Vocabulary

1. lagoon: 环礁湖。

2. trail: 拖，拉；plaster: 粘贴，使紧贴。

3. scar: 伤疤，这里是将突起的岩石比喻成地球表面的伤疤；smash: 猛撞，猛冲。

4. clamber: （费劲地、手脚并用地）攀登，爬；creeper: 匍匐攀缘植物；flash: 飞驰，掠过；witch: 女巫。

5. undergrowth: 矮树丛；multitude: 众多，大量；pattering: 嗒嗒的声音。

6. jerk: 急拉，猛地拉一下；automatic: （习惯性的）不假思索的，无意识的。

7. twig: 细枝，嫩枝；scratch: 划破，抓伤；greasy: 油腻的；wind-breaker: 防风上衣。

8. crook: 弯曲部分，弯曲处。

9. lodgment: 落脚处；spectacles: 眼镜。

10. megaphone: <英>扩音器，喇叭筒。

11. startle: 使大吃一惊。

12. offhand: 随便地，漫不经心地。

13. solemnly: 表情庄重地，不苟言笑地。

14. grin: 露齿而笑，咧着嘴笑；reversed: （位置）相反的，颠倒的。

15. proffer: <正式>（给对方）拿出，提供。

（来源：英语学习杂志）