A Dolphin

李明娟

In the tight confines1 of a cement enclosure2， a dolphin swam a repeated pattern of circles. It was twilight and she was alone in the tank.

在水泥圍成的狹小空間里，一只海豚游來游去，一圈一圈地重復(fù)著。天黑了，只有它一個(gè)人在水箱里。

Earlier that day， she had performed her tricks for the people that flocked to see her， and though this provided her with some very little pleasing form of diversion3， it did not prevent the forced isolation she experienced daily， away from her pod4 and her family.

那天早些時(shí)候，它為那些蜂擁而至來看它的人做了表演;雖然這給了它一些稍微令人愉快的消遣，但這并沒有阻止它每天被迫與自己的族群和家人隔離。

Later that afternoon， her attendants had arrived and conducted their usual set of tests on her. She had yielded5 meekly6 enough to their care. This pleased them， as it always did. But， if she did not submit7 to them in a humble manner， they would consider there was a problem; and as a result， they would ask for more undesirable tests to be done.

那天下午晚些時(shí)候，它的工作人員來了，對它進(jìn)行了一系列常規(guī)的檢查。它表現(xiàn)得足夠溫順，聽任他們的照料，這使他們和往常一樣高興。但是，如果它不這么謙卑地向他們屈服，他們就認(rèn)為有問題存在;結(jié)果就是，他們會(huì)要求做更多它不想做的測試。

She submerged8 and gazed through the heavy-plated window in the cement wall of her aquarium9. The lights glowed in the now-dark observatory room.

她潛入水中，透過水族館水泥墻上的厚玻璃窗凝視著。燈光在現(xiàn)在黑暗的瞭望臺房間里閃爍著。

During the day， visitors crowded together in this lower level viewing room. They all wanted to catch a glimpse of her from an underwater perspective. And the glass was full with the hand prints of many children who had pressed close to get a good view.

白天，游客們聚集在這個(gè)低層的觀察室里，他們都想從水下的角度瞥一眼她。玻璃上還沾滿了許多孩子的手印，他們緊緊地貼在玻璃上，想看得更清楚些。

The routine of her days rarely changed. Sometimes the trainers would come in to teach her new tricks， to be added to her show. Other times， on rare occasion， humans would bring their unwell and disabled children to swim in the water with her. And she would heal them， over time. But she would do so only by slowing the process down—so as not to show too astounding an ability to the humans. A family might have to make several return trips， for the dolphin to fully heal10 their child.

它的日常生活很少改變。有時(shí)馴獸師會(huì)來教它一些新的技巧，增加到它的表演中。其他時(shí)間里，偶爾有人會(huì)帶著生病和殘疾的孩子來和它一起在水里游泳。隨著時(shí)間的推移，它會(huì)治愈他們。但要做到這一點(diǎn)，它只能減慢進(jìn)程，以免對人類顯示出太過驚人的能力。一個(gè)家庭可能要做幾個(gè)療程，海豚才能完全治愈他們的孩子。

She swam up to the surface， then gazed calmly at the stars in the sky above her.

它游上水面，然后冷靜地凝視著上方天空中的星星。

She was far from her pod， and she was lonely.

它離族群很遠(yuǎn)，而且很孤獨(dú)。

She swam a few more laps， then stopped.

它又游了幾圈，然后停了下來。

In the dark of her enclosure， she sang…

在黑暗的圍墻里，它歌唱著……

But none of her kind heard her.

但它的同類沒人聽見。

Notes

1. confine [ ] n. 界限，邊界;約束;限制

2. enclosure [] n. 附件;圍墻;圍場

3. diversion [] n. 消遣;分散注意力

4. pod [] n. 小群動(dòng)物

5. yield [] vt. 屈服;放棄;vi. 屈服，投降

6. meekly [] adv. 溫順地;逆來順受地;忠厚地

7. submit [] vt. 使服從;vi. 屈從;服從

8. submerge [] vi. 淹沒;潛入水中

9. aquarium [] n. 水族館;養(yǎng)魚池;玻璃缸

10. heal [] v. 治愈，痊愈