《蠅王》是英國作家、諾貝爾文學(xué)獎獲得者威廉?戈爾丁的代表作，書中的人物、場景和語言等都充滿了象征意義。故事發(fā)生在虛構(gòu)的第三次世界大戰(zhàn)中，有一群孩子乘坐飛機時發(fā)生了墜機事件并被困在一個荒島上。這一群孩子逐漸分裂成兩派，代表理智與文明的一派與代表野性和原始的一派，并爆發(fā)了兩派間的決戰(zhàn)。

本選段摘自于故事剛開始，描述了代表理智與文明一派的拉爾夫和外號叫“小豬”的兩位男孩在墜機事故后初次遇到的場景。文中多次提到“沒有大人”在場，暗示著這個荒島脫離了文明的約束，成為了代表人類本性的孩子們自由發(fā)揮的舞臺。可是殊不知，一場悲劇就此拉開了序幕……

By William Golding

安妮 選譯

Chapter One The Sound of the Shell

第一章 海螺的聲音

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]

金發(fā)少年從巖石離地還有幾英尺處滑溜下來，開始朝環(huán)礁湖方向走去。雖然他已經(jīng)脫掉了校服毛衣，用一只手拖曳著，但還是大汗淋漓，灰襯衫粘在身上，頭發(fā)（濕漉漉地）貼在前額上。在這位少年四周，一條長長的突起的巖石徑直穿進叢林深處，天氣的悶熱使得這塊孤巖就像個熱氣騰騰的浴缸。這會兒，少年正在藤蔓和斷樹殘干中費勁地爬著，突然一只紅黃相間的小鳥怪叫一聲，振翅飛向天空；緊接著，像回聲似的，另一個聲音也響起來了。

“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！”這聲音喊道。“等一等！”巖石側(cè)面的矮樹叢突然一陣搖晃，許多雨珠啪嗒啪嗒地直往下掉。“等等我。”這聲音叫了起來，“我給纏住了。”

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]

金發(fā)少年停下了腳步，習(xí)慣性地緊了一緊襪子，動作自然得好像這片叢林是自己的家一樣。

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

那個聲音又叫開了：“這么多的藤蔓我真沒法擺脫。”

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]?”

說這話的孩子正從矮樹叢中脫身出來，細(xì)樹枝刮著他骯臟的防風(fēng)外衣上，嚓嚓直響。他光著的膝蓋看起來胖乎乎的，不過被荊棘纏住，有一些刮傷。他彎下腰，小心翼翼地?fù)荛_棘刺，然后轉(zhuǎn)過身來。與金發(fā)少年相比，這個男孩稍矮一些，也更胖一些。他用腳小心地試探著往前走著，尋找著安全的落腳處，隨后透過厚厚的眼鏡往上瞧瞧。“那個帶喇叭筒的大人在哪兒？”

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.”

金發(fā)少年搖搖頭。“這是一個島嶼，至少在我看來是一個島。那兒是一條伸進外海的珊瑚礁。興許這兒沒大人了。”

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

胖男孩大吃了一驚：“本來有個駕駛員，但是他沒在客艙，在前上方的駕駛艙里。”

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

金發(fā)少年瞇起眼睛凝視著那條珊瑚礁。

“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，”胖男孩繼續(xù)說道。“他們中肯定會有一些幸存下來的，你說是不是？”

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?”

金發(fā)少年開始隨心所欲地向海邊走去。他盡量使自己表現(xiàn)出一副隨隨便便的樣子，同時又避免顯得太過于無動于衷，可那胖男孩緊緊地尾隨其后，問道：“到底還有沒有大人呢？”

“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]

“我認(rèn)為沒有。”金發(fā)少年板著面孔回答；可隨后，他又像實現(xiàn)了理想般那樣心情愉悅。在巖石堆當(dāng)中，他情不自禁地做了個倒立，咧著嘴朝顛倒了的胖男孩嘻嘻笑。

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

“沒大人啦！”胖男孩想了想。“那，那個駕駛員呢？”

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.”

金發(fā)少年把倒立的兩條腿放下來，一屁股坐在濕漉漉的地上。“他把咱們投下后就飛走了。他沒辦法在這兒降落，至少有輪子的飛機沒辦法（在地面不平的巖石堆上）降落。”

“We were attacked!”

“我們被襲擊了！”

“He’ll be back all right.”

“他會平安回來（接我們）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.”

胖男孩搖著頭：“我們下落的時候，我從窗口往外看，看到飛機的另一邊正在著火，向外冒煙呢。”然后他上下打量著巖石堆。“瞧，這不就是機身撞的嘛。”

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?”

金發(fā)少年伸出手來，摸了摸樹干高低不平的一頭。這一刻，他好像對此事非常感興趣，問道：“機身發(fā)生了什么事？現(xiàn)在又跑到哪兒去了？”

“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?”

“暴風(fēng)雨把它又拖到海里去了。倒下的樹干這么多，情況一定非常嚴(yán)重。機艙里準(zhǔn)保還有一些小孩呢。”胖男孩猶豫了一下，又問道：“你叫什么名字？”

“Ralph.”

“拉爾夫。”

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.

胖男孩等著對方問自己的名字，可是對方卻不打算了解自己。這位名叫拉爾夫的金發(fā)少年隱約地笑著，站起身來，又開始朝環(huán)礁湖方向走去。胖男孩的手重重地搭在拉爾夫的肩膀上。

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

“我想應(yīng)該還有好多小孩分散在附近。你沒見過別人嗎？”

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

拉爾夫搖了搖頭，加快了步伐，沒想到卻被樹枝一絆，猛地摔了個跟頭。

Vocabulary

1. lagoon: 環(huán)礁湖。

2. trail: 拖，拉；plaster: 粘貼，使緊貼。

3. scar: 傷疤，這里是將突起的巖石比喻成地球表面的傷疤；smash: 猛撞，猛沖。

4. clamber: （費勁地、手腳并用地）攀登，爬；creeper: 匍匐攀緣植物；flash: 飛馳，掠過；witch: 女巫。

5. undergrowth: 矮樹叢；multitude: 眾多，大量；pattering: 嗒嗒的聲音。

6. jerk: 急拉，猛地拉一下；automatic: （習(xí)慣性的）不假思索的，無意識的。

7. twig: 細(xì)枝，嫩枝；scratch: 劃破，抓傷；greasy: 油膩的；wind-breaker: 防風(fēng)上衣。

8. crook: 彎曲部分，彎曲處。

9. lodgment: 落腳處；spectacles: 眼鏡。

10. megaphone: <英>擴音器，喇叭筒。

11. startle: 使大吃一驚。

12. offhand: 隨便地，漫不經(jīng)心地。

13. solemnly: 表情莊重地，不茍言笑地。

14. grin: 露齒而笑，咧著嘴笑；reversed: （位置）相反的，顛倒的。

15. proffer: <正式>（給對方）拿出，提供。

（來源：英語學(xué)習(xí)雜志）