0628翻譯：最後一頭戰象（沈石溪）

0628翻譯：最後一頭戰象（沈石溪）

Translation: The Last War Elephant (Shen Shixi)

(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by: Adam Lam)

西雙版納曾經有過威風凜凜的象兵。

Xishuangbanna once had an awesome elephant army.

所謂象兵，就是騎著大象作戰的士兵。

The so-called elephant army was a group of soldiers battling on elephants』 backs.

士兵騎象殺敵，戰象用長鼻劈敵，用象蹄踩敵，

During fighting, those elephant-back soldiers went for the kill against enemies, while war-elephants slashed with their trunks and trampled with their feet.

一大群戰象，排水倒海般地撲向敵人，勢不可當。

A large herd of war elephants stampeding towards their enemies would be an unstoppable force.

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1943年，象兵在西雙版納打洛江畔和日寇打了一仗。

In 1943, elephant soldiers fought with a Japanese army by the side of Luojiang River, Xishuangbanna.

戰鬥結束後，鬼子扔下了七十多具屍體，我方八十多頭戰象全部中彈倒地。

When the battle was over, the Japanese left behind seventy dead bodies while all the eighty elephants on our side took bullets and fell down (1).

人們在打洛江邊挖了一個巨坑，隆重埋葬陣亡的戰象。

People dug a huge pit on the side of Luojiang River and ceremoniously buried the fallen (2) war-elephants.

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在搬運戰象的屍體時，人們發現一頭渾身是血的公象還在喘息，

When people were moving the bodies of those war-elephants, they found a blood-drenched male elephant was still gasping for breath.

就把它運回寨子，

They shipped it back to the stockaded village.

治好傷養了起來。

It was nursed back to health and kept by the locals.

村民們從不叫它搬運東西，它整天優哉游哉地在寨子里閑逛，

Villagers never asked it to move things and so all day long it just strolled around in a carefree and leisurely manner.

到東家要串香蕉，到西家喝筒泉水。

Sometimes it would go to one family to ask for bananas and other time it would take a sip of spring water in another family.

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它叫嘎羧，負責飼養它的是波農丁。

The elephant』s name was Gasuo and the person responsible for taking care of it was Bo Nongding.

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二十多年過去，

Twenty odd years had come and gone.

嘎羧五十多歲了。

Gasuo grew to be fifty years old.

它顯得很衰老，

It became aged and frail.

整天卧在樹陰下打瞌睡。

All day long it just dozed off lying under tree shades.

有一天，嘎羧躺在地上拒絕進食，

One day Gasuo lay on the ground and refused to eat anything.

要揪住它的鼻子搖晃好一陣，

Someone had to grab and shake its trunk for a long time.

它才會艱難地睜開眼睛，朝你看一眼。

Then it would struggle to open up its eyes and give you a look.

波農丁對我說：「太陽要落山了，火塘要熄滅了，

Bo Nongding said to me: 「The sun is setting and the hearth-fire is about to be extinguished.

嘎羧要走黃泉路啦。」

Gasuo is on its way to heaven.」

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第二天早晨，嘎羧突然十分亢奮，兩隻眼睛燒得通紅，

The next morning Gasuo suddenly got very hyper and its two eyes were red from a high temperature.

見到波農丁，歐歐地輕吼著，象蹄急促地踏著地面，

When it saw Bo Nongding, it started yowling and its feet were stamping rapidly on the ground.

鼻尖指向堆放雜物的閣樓，像是想得到閣樓上的什麼東西。

It pointed its nose to the attic where sundry items were stored as if it wanted to get something from there.

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閣樓上有半籮谷種和兩串玉米。

Up in the attic there were half a crater of paddy seeds and two strings of corns.

我以為它精神好轉想吃東西了，

I thought Gasuo was feeling better and wanted to eat something.

就把兩串玉米扔下去。

So I threw down the two strings of corns.

嘎羧用鼻尖鉤住，像丟垃圾似的甩出象房，

Gasuo picked them up with the tip of its snout and threw them out of the elephant stable.

繼續焦躁不安地仰頭吼叫。

Then it continued to howled restlessly.

破篾席裡面有一件類似馬鞍的東西，我漫不經心地一腳把它踢下樓去。

Under the bamboo-strip mat there was an item that somewhat resembled a saddle and I casually kicked it downstairs.

沒想到，嘎羧見了，一下子安靜下來，

I never would have thought Gasuo saw the article and abruptly quieted down.

用鼻子呼呼吹去上面的灰塵，鼻尖久久地在上面摩挲著，

It then used its nostril to blow the dust off the top and its nose-tip to stroke the item.

眼睛裡淚光閃閃，像是見到久別重逢的老朋友。

Tears welled in its eyes just like it was reuniting with a long-lost friend.

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「哦，原來它是要自己的象鞍啊。」波農丁恍然大悟，「這就是它當年披掛的鞍子，

「Oh, actually it wants its elephant saddle,」 it dawned on Bo Nongding what was happening, 「and this was the saddle which it wore during that particular year.

給它治傷時，我把象鞍從它身上解下來扔到小閣樓上了。

In fixing up Gasuo』s wounds, I took the elephant saddle off from it and threw the saddle up in the attic.

唉，整整二十六年了，它還記得那麼牢。」

Well, exactly twenty-six years have passed and it still could remember what happened so well.」

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象鞍上留著彈洞，似乎還有斑斑血跡，

Bullet holes and seemingly splattered blood-stains still remained on the elephant saddle.

混合著一股皮革、硝煙、戰塵和血液的奇特氣味；

The saddle gave off a peculiar odor which mixed smells of leather, gunpowder-smoke, battle-dust and blood together.

象鞍的中央有一個蓮花狀的座墊，四周鑲著一圈銀鈴，還綴著杏黃色的流蘇。

In the middle of the saddle was a lotus-shaped cushion with a ring of fringing silver-bells and decorative apricot-colored tassels.

二十六個春秋過去，

Twenty-six springs and autumns had passed.

象鞍已經破舊了，仍顯出凝重華貴；

The saddle had been somewhat torn and aged, but it still looked dignified and sumptuous.

嘎羧披掛上象鞍，平添了一股英武豪邁的氣概。

A saddle-adorned Gasuo suddenly looked valiant and heroic.

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波農丁皺著眉頭，傷感地說：「它要離開我們去象冢了。」

Bo Nongding winced and said in a melancholy voice, 「It wants to leave us and go to the elephants』 mass grave.」

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大象是一種很有靈性的動物，

Elephant is a very intelligent type of animal.

每群象都有一個象冢，

Each herd of elephants has its own mass grave.

除了橫遭不幸暴斃荒野的，它們都能準確地預感到自己的死期，

Other than accidental, sudden death in the wilderness, elephants would have an accurate premonition on their times of demise.

在死神降臨前的半個月左右，會獨自走到遙遠而又神秘的象冢里去。

Approximately half-a-month before death descends on any one of them, it would travel alone to the distant and secret elephants』 mass grave.

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嘎羧要走的消息長了翅膀似的傳遍全寨，

News of Gasuo』s eternal farewell grew wings and was spread all over the stockade.

男女老少都來為嘎羧送行。

People of all sexes and ages came to say goodbye.

許多人泣不成聲。

Many people were choked up in tears.

村長在嘎羧脖子上系了一條潔白的紗巾，四條象腿上綁了四塊黑布。

The village mayor tied a white gauze scarf on Gasuo』s neck and a black cloth on each of its four legs.

老人和孩子捧著香蕉、甘蔗和糯米粑粑，送到嘎羧嘴邊，

Old men and children carried bananas, sugar-canes and glutinous-rice cakes in their hands and presented them to Gasuo』s mouth.

它什麼也沒吃，只喝了一點水，

Gasuo did not take a bite and it only drank some water.

繞著寨子走了三圈。

Then it walked around the stockade three times.

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日落西山，天色蒼茫，

The sun was setting in the west and the sky was getting hazy.

在一片唏噓聲中，嘎羧開始上路。

In a bout of sighs, Gasuo went on its way.

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我和波農丁悄悄地跟在嘎羧後面，想看個究竟。

Bo Nongding and I followed quietly behind Gasuo to find out exactly what was going to happen.

嘎羧走了整整一夜，天亮時，來到打洛江畔。

Gasuo walked for the entire night and arrived at the riverbank of Luojiang River at daybreak.

它站在江灘的卵石上，久久凝望著清波蕩漾的江面。

It stood on the pebbles of the river-beach and stared at the crystal-clear, rippling river surface for a long time.

然後，它踩著嘩嘩流淌的江水，走到一塊龜形礁石上親了又親，

Then it stepped on the gurgling, flowing river water and walked to a turtle-shaped semi-submerged rock. It gave the rock kisses after kisses.

許久，又昂起頭來，向著天邊那輪火紅的朝陽，歐──歐──發出震耳欲聾的吼叫。

After a long while, it looked up at the bright-red dawning sun by the edge of the sky and gave out ear-piercing howls.

這時，它身體膨脹起來，四條腿皮膚緊繃繃地發亮，

At the same time, its body started to swell up, and its leg-skin became taut and glistening.

一雙眼睛炯炯有神，吼聲激越悲壯，驚得江里的魚兒撲喇喇跳出水面。

Its eyes were beaming, and its howls were getting so emotionally stirring that fish leaped out of water in fright.

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「我想起來了，

「Now I remember.

二十六年前，我們就是在這裡把嘎羧抬上岸的。」波農丁說。

Twenty-six ago this was the place where we carried Gasuo to shore,」 said Bo Nongding.

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原來嘎羧是要回到當年曾經浴血搏殺的戰場！

It turned out Gasuo wanted to return to the battlefield where the bloody fight occurred in the old day.

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太陽升到了檳榔樹梢，嘎羧離開了打洛江，鑽進一條草木茂盛的箐溝。

When the sun rose to the top of the areca palm trees, Gasuo left Luojiang River and went to a mountain valley ditch with a rich growth of grass and shrubs.

在一塊平緩的向陽的小山坡上，它突然停了下來。

At a gentle hill slope facing the sun, it abruptly stopped.

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「哦，這裡就是埋葬八十多頭戰象的地方，

「Oh, this is where eighty and some war elephants were buried.

我記得很清楚，

I remember it clearly.

喏，那兒還有一塊碑。」波農丁悄悄地說。

Well, over there is a stone tablet.」 Bo Nongding said with a low voice.

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我順著他手指的方向望去，

I looked towards the direction where his finger was pointing.

荒草叢中，果然豎著一塊石碑，鐫刻著三個金箔剝落、字跡有點模糊的大字：百象冢。

Standing amidst a cluster of weeds was indeed a stone tablet engraved with three peeling-off, gold-foil, indistinct big letters: 「Hundred Elephant Grave」.

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嘎羧來到石碑前，選了一塊平坦的草地，

Gasuo went up to the stone tablet and selected a flat patch of grass.

一對象牙就像兩支鐵鎬，在地上挖掘起來。

It used its two tusks like iron picks to start digging into the ground.

它已經好幾天沒吃東西了，又經過長途跋涉，體力不濟，

Since it had starved itself for a few days and traveled a long journey, it felt feeble.

挖一陣就喘息一陣。

After digging briefly it would gasp for air.

嘎羧從早晨一直挖到下午，終於挖出了一個橢圓形的淺坑。

From morning till noon it finally excavated an oval-shaped shallow trough.

它滑下坑去，在坑裡繼續挖，用鼻子卷著土塊拋出坑；

After sliding down the hollowed area, it continued to dig and used its trunk to throw out pieces of earth.

我們躲在遠處，看著它的身體一寸一寸地往下沉。

We were watching from distance and saw its body sink lower inch by inch.

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太陽落山了，月亮升起來了，

The sun went down the mountain and the moon came up.

它仍在埋頭挖著。

Gasuo was still digging diligently.

半夜，嘎羧的脊背從坑沿沉下去不見了，

Halfway into the night, its back went below the ground into the pit and completely out of sight.

象牙掘土的冬冬聲越來越稀，長鼻拋土的節奏也越來越慢。

The earth-digging sounds of the tusks were spaced out at increasingly wider intervals and the earth-throwing rhythm of the trunk was getting slower.

雞叫頭遍時，終於，一切都平靜下來，什麼聲音也沒有了。

Finally at the first crow of rooster, everything turned peaceful and silent.

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我和波農丁耐心地等到東方吐白，

Bo Nongding and I waited patiently until the eastern sky turned bright.

走到坑邊查看。

We went beside the pit to check things out.

土坑約有三米深，嘎羧卧在坑底，側著臉，鼻子盤在腿彎，一隻眼睛睜得老大，凝望著天空。

The pit measured three meters deep and Gasuo was lying to its side at the bottom with its trunk curled between its legs and its eyes opened wide glaring at the sky.

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它死了。它沒有到祖宗留下的象冢。它和曾經並肩戰鬥的同伴們躺在了一起。

In passing away, it did not go to the elephants』 grave left behind by its ancestors but lay with its comrades-in-arms.

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附註：

(1) Parallelism

Originally the phrase 「the eighty elephants on our side took bullets and fell down」 was written as 「all the eighty elephants on our side were shot and fell down」.

Grammatically there was nothing wrong with the latter phrase, but then 「were shot」 is in passive voice and 「fell down」 is in active voice.

I personally prefer using two active voice sentences in parallel and so the change was made.

(2) 「Fallen」

In this context, 「fallen」 is an adjective (i.e. past participle) meaning 「dead after being dropped to ground in battle」.