爱斯基摩民歌二首

阿九译（2000）

我觉得这两手诗特别动人。大家仔细读一下，回味爱斯基摩人的生活、理念和风尚。这

两首诗都那么平淡，平淡得大出读者的意料。但那不是他们的错，而只是我们太复杂了。第

二首诗里先说通力特人与自然搏斗的勇气，然后突然转过来说：“通力特人个个强悍，但容

易吓着。打仗时他们宁愿逃跑也不拼杀。总之，你从未听说他们杀过人。”他们因为错杀了

“我们”的一条狗，就吓得流落他乡。多么纯洁善良的民族！他们热爱和平，不是口号，而

是一种生命中的原则。他们的心，正如北极之雪不曾受到污染。而讲述者把最后两行说完

时，脸上也没有轻蔑的神色，倒更象是满心内疚地，怀念那些远走的邻居。

Songs My Mother Taught Me

I am just an ordinary woman

who has never had visions.

But I will tell you what I can

about this world I know

and about the other worlds I do not know personally.

I don't even dream at night -

if I did I would know more than I do.

People who dream

hear and see many important things. In sleep

people can live a completely different life

from real life.

I believe in dreams

but not being a dreamer myself

I only know what every child learns from his mother,

for mothers tell children stories at bedtime

to put them to sleep

and it is from these stories

we learn about things.

妈妈教给我的歌

我只是个平常的女人

从没见过异象。

但我要告诉你

我能知道的这个世界

以及我尚未亲历的另一世界。

我的夜晚几乎没有梦――

如果有，我会知道得比现在更多。

做梦的人们

见闻许多重要的事情。梦乡里

人们过一种与这个世界

全然不同的生活。

我相信梦

但自己却不是梦者，

我只知道每个孩子自母亲所知的一切，

因为她在睡前给孩子讲故事

好让他们入睡，

正是从这些故事里

我们懂得了一切。

History of the Tunrit

When our forefathers came to these hunting grounds

the Tunrit people already lived here.

it was the Tunrit who first learned

how to survive in this difficult country.

They showed us the caribou crossing places

and taught us the special way to fish in the rivers.

Our people came from inland

so we love caribou hunting more than anything else,

but the Tunrit were sea people

and preferred to hunt seal.

They actually went out on the salt sea in their kayaks,

hunting seal in open water. That takes nerve.

We only hunt them through the ice at their breathing holes.

They also caught whales and walruses as they swam by:

The bones of these creatures are still lying around

in the wrecks of the Tunrit houses.

And they hunted bear and wore their skins for clothes.

We wear caribou.

The Tunrit were strong, but easily frightened.

In a fight they would rather run than kill. Anyway,

you never heard of them killing anyone.

And we lived among the Tunrit in those days peacefully,

for they let us come and share their land:

until once by accident some of them killed one of our dogs

and ran away scared, leaving their homeland.

通力特人的历史

我们的先人到这片猎场时，

通力特人就己经在这里住着。

通力特人首先知道了

如何在这穷山恶水中存活。

他们给我们指出驯鹿出没的地方，

教我们在河里捕鱼的妙法。

我们的人从内地来到这里，

所以爱打驯鹿胜过所有别的事情，

而通力特人是都是渔人，

更喜欢猎海豹。

他们可是真的坐着皮筏子下盐海，

在大洋里抓海豹。那需要勇气。

而我们只在冰面上通过它们的呼吸孔抓猎。

他们也打鲸鱼和海象，当它们游经的时候：

这些东西的骨头到处还能找着，

在通力特人的废墟里。

它们也打熊，以熊皮为衣。

我们穿的是鹿皮。

通力特人个个强悍，但容易吓着。

打仗时他们宁愿逃跑也不拼杀。总之，

你从未听说他们杀过人。

我们与通力特人一直和平相处，

因为他们让我们来分享他们的土地，

直到有一天，他们中有人失手杀了我们一条狗

就吓得远走他乡。