吳銓高 英譯中[散文]會降雨的龍

二觉陀

吳銓高 英譯中 [散文]

The Dragons Who Rained
會降雨的龍
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THE DRAGONS WHO RAINED (a Chinese legend)
adapted by Amy Friedman and illustrated by Jillian Gilliland
會降雨的龍 (一個中國傳說)
[安米-弗里德曼] 摘錄 , 並且由 [基利安-吉利蘭] 說明

Long, long ago, the rain stopped falling in China.
At first there was no rain for weeks, but the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into a year. The people prayed to the Jade Emperor, for it was he who looked after everything in heaven, on the land and in the sea. They prayed that he would not let their crops wither and die, that he would not let their creatures suffer, and that he would bless them with rain.
很久很久以前，雨不降在中國境內。
最初數周沒有降雨，繼而數月沒有降雨，最後，整年都沒有降雨。
人們向玉皇大帝禱告，因為玉帝掌管天上 , 人間及海中的一切事務。他們祈求玉皇大帝不要讓他們的榖物枯死 , 不要讓他們的牲畜受痛苦，並且賜給他們雨水。

But no matter how long and loudly they prayed, rain did not fall. Jade Emperor was paying no attention.
但是 , 無論人們禱告多長久 , 禱告的聲音多響亮，雨還沒有降下。玉皇大帝沒有理睬他們。

The days grew longer and hotter, but not a single drop fell to quench the dry earth's thirst. People began to burn incense as they prayed and wept and even raged. Some people said Jade Emperor would never listen, and they gave up and lost hope. People began to believe that all was lost.
日照時間越來越長 , 天氣越來越熱，一滴雨也不降下來滋潤龜裂的土地。
人們開始焚香禱告 , 並且哭泣甚至生氣。
一些人說玉皇大帝不再理會他們，人們心灰意冷。以為是世界末日。

Now in those days there were no rivers in China, but in the great East China Sea, there lived four beautiful large dragons. The four dragons watched the people suffering and praying, and one day they gathered together to see if they could somehow ease the pain of this world they so loved.
當時 , 在中國沒有河流，但是 , 在中國東海裡，有四條美麗的巨龍居住。這四條巨龍看見他們的子民在受苦 , 又聽到子民的禱告。有一天，他們聚集一起 , 商議如何減輕人民的疾苦。

"We must do something," Long Dragon said to the others, and Yellow Dragon nodded his head.
"我們必須盡一點力 !" 長龍對其他龍說，黃龍點點頭表示附和。

"We must," said Black Dragon, "but look. The people pray and Jade Emperor ignores their prayers." He slapped his long tail against the surface, and a great wave rolled all the way to shore.
"贊成 !" 黑龍說 "你看 ! 人們祈雨，可是 , 玉皇大帝卻不管。" 黑龍在水面擺動他的長尾巴，驚濤隨即拍岸。

So the dragons swam to see what was happening to their people. They reached shore not long after the wave, and there they saw the people tearing thin roots of grass from the caked ground.
因此 , 四條巨龍一起游上岸 , 親自視察民情。
離水登陸不久 , 看見人們從龜裂的土地上 , 拔起乾枯的草根。

"Oh no," the dragons wailed, for they saw that this thin grass was all the people had left to eat.
"我的天 !" 群龍嚎啕大叫 , 因為 , 他們看見人民只剩下乾枯的草根作為糧食。

They dove beneath the surface to plan. "We must help them ourselves," said Pearl Dragon.
四巨龍潛下水底 , 籌劃大計。 "我們必須挺身而出。"珠龍說。

"How?" the others asked.
"如何挺身而出 ?" 其他龍問。

Pearl Dragon swam up to the surface, the others following. They looked up at the sky. "Jade Emperor will never listen, but look around," said Pearl Dragon.
珠龍游到水面，其他龍跟隨著。
他們望著上天。 "玉皇大帝不理人們的禱告了，他只管雲遊四海。" 珠龍說。

And with those words, the others suddenly understood. They lived in the wondrous waters of a great sea. They would scoop up the water with their bodies and then leap into the sky and let the water fall like rain upon the earth.
其他的龍聽了珠龍這一番話，猛然醒悟。
他們生活在一片汪洋大海。可以用他們的身體 , 把大量的水帶上天空 , 然後讓水像雨一般 , 降下地面。

"We can save the earth!" Black Dragon said, delighted at the notion, and before another moment had passed, all four dragons were swimming this way and that, scooping up as much water as they could carry. And then all four leapt into the sky.
"我們能挽救地球了 !" 黑龍一面說，
一面為那理念而高興 , 說時遲 , 那時快。四條巨龍各就各位 , 各盡所能吸取海水 , 然后飛上天上。

Black Dragon flew to the far north, Long Dragon flew to the west, Pearl Dragon flew to the southernmost tip of China, and Yellow Dragon flew to the very center of the vast country. All at once, they let the water fall from their mouths and arms and legs, and even their tails.
黑龍飛往遙遠的北方，
長龍飛往西方，珠龍飛往中國最南端，而黃龍則飛往中原。
同一時間，他們讓水從龍口 , 龍爪甚至龍尾巴流下來。

The people down below looked up, but they could not see the dragons. They saw only the rain falling in sheets from the sky -- beads of rain more beautiful than all the jewels in the world.
在地面的人們往上望，他們看不見這些巨龍。
他們只看見層層大雨從天而降 --比世上所有寶石更美麗的雨珠。

"Rain!" they cried joyfully. "We are saved!" And all the people and all the animals ran out into the rain, for they did not care that the fields were now muddy or that they were soaking wet.
"雨呀 !" 他們快樂地呼叫。 "我們得救了 !" 於是 , 所有人和牲畜都跑出來淋雨 , 不管田中泥土的濕滑 , 也不管混身濕透。

Wheat and rice began to grow again, and all the living creatures sang and grunted and roared with pleasure at the taste of cool water, at the feel of soft earth beneath their feet.
小麥和稻米開始再次生長，而其他的生物 , 或高聲歌唱 , 或輕哼調子 , 或高興吼叫 ! 一同享受清涼的雨水 , 一同感受他們腳下柔軟的泥土。

When Jade Emperor saw the rain falling, he was furious. "Who tampers with my world?" he cried, though the people on earth were bowing to him and shouting their thanks to the sky. "Who dares to intrude on my world?"
當玉皇大帝看到降雨時，他忿怒地大喊 :  "誰來干預我的世界 ? 誰敢闖入我的領土 !" 雖然 , 在地面上的人們 , 正對他鞠躬並且向天空道謝。

Jade Emperor looked around, and then he saw them, the four dragons swooping out of the sky, back to their home in the sea.
玉皇大帝四處巡查 , 最後 , 他發現四條巨龍 , 逃離天空 , 正欲返回大海。

"Aha!" he cried as the dragons descended.
"You will not escape!" Jade Emperor cried, and he summoned Mountain God, ordering him to send mountains to fall upon the dragons.
當眾龍慌忙逃走時，玉皇大帝高聲呼喊 : "哈哈 ! 你們逃不了的 !” 他馬上召喚山神 ,命令山神用大山壓在眾龍身上。

"Crush them!" Jade Emperor demanded.
"把他們壓成肉醬 !" 玉皇大帝下了旨。

Mountain God, fearful of disobeying the supreme god of all the gods, sent four mountains tumbling after the dragons, so that the moment the creatures landed, four mountains landed upon them.
山神不敢違抗玉皇聖旨，祭起四座高山 , 當四條龍一著陸 , 馬上用四座高山壓住他們。

Now the dragons, trapped beneath the terrible weight and tremendous height of these mountains, were forever imprisoned.
可憐四條義龍，被這些沉重無比 , 高入雲霄的高山壓住 , 永遠失去自由。

But then an odd thing happened. Where once the sea had been but one great big expanse of water, suddenly four rivers formed, and these four meandered from beneath the mountains and spread across the whole country.
自此以後 , 怪事迭生。
以前的一片汪洋大海 , 突然形成四條大河 , 大河流經群山 , 遍行全中國。

The people say these were the dragons, flowing from west to east and north to south, offering water to all the people of China forever afterward.
人們傳說 , 這些河流就是四條龍的化身，大河從西方流到東方 , 從北方流到南方 , 為全部中國人提供永遠的水源。

And this, the people say, is how the four great rivers of China were created, the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Pearl and the Heilongjiang, remnants of the four great dragons of the East China Sea who saved the people of China.
人們又言之鑿鑿地說 , 中國四大河流 , 長江 , 黃河 , 珠江和黑龍江 , 就是這樣產生的。這四大河流 , 是中國東海四條巨龍的化身 , 是四條巨龍因拯救萬民而留下的遺跡。

The Dragons Who Rained 會降雨的龍 [完] [中譯 : 二覺陀]
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