翻译大赛NO.3 /Canadian Wonder Tales之THE DANCE OF DEATH 死亡之舞

THE DANCE OF DEATH 死亡之舞
[151]

ONCE long ago there lived on the banks of a beautiful Canadian river a powerful Indian tribe. In the tribe was a very handsome young man, very brave and a great hunter. He was loved by a young Indian girl who was likewise very beautiful. But the young man repulsed her love; he was a great warrior; he was busy getting ready for the autumn and winter hunt and he had little time for such nonsense as love. He frankly told the young girl that he did not love her and that she must follow him no more.
很久以前，有一条美丽的加拿大河，岸边住着强大的印第安部落。部落里有个非常英俊的年轻人，他是一个勇敢而伟大的猎人。有个同样美丽的印第安女孩爱上了他。可是年轻人拒绝了她的爱。他是个真正的勇士。正为了秋冬季节的狩猎忙得焦头烂额。可没有时间考虑像爱情这样无聊的事。他坦诚地告诉年轻女孩，自己一点也不爱她。所以别缠着自己了。

IN THE TRIBE WAS A VERY HANDSOME YOUNG MAN.
部落里有位非常英俊的年轻人（插图说明？

Now, the young girl was very angry, for she was proud and beautiful and of a high temper, and she was little used to have her desires refused. She had a very strange power which the Spirit of the Night had placed in her cradle at her birth. It was a power by which she could do great harm to mankind, but she had never used it in all her life. But now in her anger she said to the young man as he went away with his comrades, "You may go; but you will never return as you go." The young man gave no heed to her words; he neither cared for her nor feared her, and with a merry heart he went his way with his companions.
于是，年轻女孩很生气。因为她既自信又美丽，脾气也很好，以前她的愿望很少被拒绝。在她出生的时候，暗夜精灵在她的摇篮里放了一种奇怪的力量。那是一种可以强烈伤害人类的力量，但她从没有用过那种东西。只是，现在，她愤怒了。年轻人正要和同伴离开。她说：“你可以走，但你走了就别想回来。”年轻人没有听从她的话。他既不关心也不害怕女孩。所以他和同伴一起带着愉快的心情上了路。

[152] One day, many weeks later, when they were far away in the North Country in the land of ice and snow, the young man became suddenly ill. Then he went raging mad with what the Indians call the wild "madness of the woods." The girl's strange power was upon him. In the band of hunters was the young man's older brother, a very strong and powerful man. He knew what ailed his brother. He went to the river and sang the strange weird song that calls the Evil Spirit of the Stream to man's assistance. Now this was a very dangerous thing to do, for the Spirit of the Stream had no love for cowards; but the man being brave had no fear, as he wished to save his brother's life. After the usual custom, he dared the Evil Spirit of the Stream to come to him. Soon the monster appeared in answer to the challenge, its great eyes shining like fire on the water and its horns rising above the surface. It asked the man what he wished, and the man answered, "I wish you to help me; I wish my brother to be in his right mind again and free from the maiden's wicked power." Then the monster said, "You may have what you wish if you are not afraid"; and the man said that he feared nothing. And the monster asked, "Do you fear me?" And the man said, "No." Then said the monster, "Take hold of my horns and scrape them with your knife." The man did as he was told, and he scraped and scraped until he had taken a handful of powder from the monster's horns.
许多个星期之后的一天，他们来到了遥远的冰雪之地——北国。年轻人突然病倒了。他完全失去了理智。用印第安人的话说，叫做“森林一样狂野”。女孩的奇怪力量影响了他。狩猎队中有年轻人的哥哥，一个强壮有力的男人。他知道折磨弟弟的到底是什么。于是他来到河边唱了一首奇怪的歌，召唤溪水恶魔的帮助。这是一件非常危险的事。因为溪水恶魔可不喜欢胆小鬼了。不过男人很勇敢什么也不怕。他想要挽救他弟弟的生命。在例行仪式之后，他呼唤溪水恶魔的到来。很快那个怪兽就应声出现了。它的大眼睛在水里像火一样闪光。它的角高高地伸出水面。它问男人有什么愿望，男人回答“我想你帮我。我希望我弟弟恢复理智，逃脱少女的邪恶的力量。”怪兽说“如果你不害怕的话，你的愿望就会实现。”男人说他什么也不怕。于是怪兽问：“你怕我吗？”男人回答：“不”怪兽又说“那握着我的角，用你的小刀刮一点。”男人按他说的做了。直到有一把怪兽角的粉末时，他才住手。

The monster wondered at the man's bravery and said, [153] "Go to your camp now; put half the scrapings into a cup of water and give it to your brother to drink; put the other half in another cup of water and give it to the maiden to drink when you go back home, and all will be well." Then the Indian returned to the camp and did as the monster had told him, and his brother drank the powdered water and soon got back his senses and his strength.
怪兽惊叹于男人的勇敢，它说：“现在回你的营地，把一半的粉末泡在水杯里，给你的弟弟喝。另一半放在别的水杯里，当你回家的时候给少女喝，这样一切都好会好起来。”然后印第安人回到营地照着做了。他的弟弟喝完魔法水后立刻恢复了意识和力气。

When the hunt was ended, the band returned home. It was night in the spring-time when they reached their village; the snow had already left the ground and the trees were in bud. In a great tent in the village the annual Spring Dance was in progress, and all the people of the place were gathered. Among them was the maiden lover dancing merrily with the rest. None of the hunting band entered the tent, but they watched the dance from outside the door. The elder brother had mixed a drink as the Evil Spirit of the Stream had told him, by placing the remainder of the powder in a cup of water. And he stood at the door waiting for his chance to give it to the girl. The night was hot and still, and he knew that the dancers would soon grow warm and thirsty. At last the maiden lover came to the door to breathe the cool night air; the man passed her the cup, and without looking at him or knowing him she took it and gladly drained it dry because of her great thirst; then she went back to the dance.
狩猎结束时，队伍返回了家。他们抵达村庄的时候正是春天的夜晚，雪已经融化，树开始发芽。所有人聚集在一个巨大的帐篷里，举行一年一度的“春之舞”。他们中，那个少女正和其他人欢乐地跳着舞。狩猎队没有进帐篷。他们在门外观看着舞蹈。按溪水恶魔所教的那样，哥哥把剩下的粉末倒进了一杯水中。他倚在门边等机会把水给女孩。那天晚上天气很热。但他知道，跳舞的人很快会出汗会口渴。终于，那个少女来到门边呼吸夜晚的清凉空气。男人把杯子递给她。她口渴极了。根本没看到甚至意识到就一口气喝干了。接着她回去继续跳舞。

Then a very strange shadow came upon her. When she began to dance she was a young and beautiful girl, the [154] loveliest of all the maidens in the land. But after she had drunk the magic cup she grew gradually older. Her friends noticed the change and stood rooted with terror; the tales of their parents came back to their memories; they knew that the girl was now passing through the Dance of Death from which no power could save her. Their fears were well founded. At each turn of the dance, a year was added to the girl's life; the colour faded slowly from her cheeks; her shoulders slowly stooped; wrinkles appeared upon her face; her hands trembled as if palsied; her feet lost their nimbleness and her tread was no longer light. She was growing old in the Dance of Death. Yet she was unconscious of it all, and her life ebbed away without her knowing it. At last she reached the end of the room, tottering to the music of the dance; but old age was now upon her, and she fell dead upon the floor. Her power over the young man was forever ended, for the Spirit of the Stream had brought about the Dance of Death. "She will trouble you no more," said the elder Indian to his brother as he gazed upon the shrunken face and form, "her dance is forever ended." The people wondered greatly at the strange happening, and their merry-making was hushed; and since that day the Indians in silent fear still point you on the river to the scene of the Dance of Death.

然后，一个非常奇怪的影子笼罩着她。当她开始跳舞时，她是一个年轻漂亮的姑娘，是这片土地上最美的姑娘。但在她喝了一杯魔法药水之后，她逐渐变老。她的朋友们注意到了这个变化，却害怕地挪不了步。她父母的故事又浮现在他们的记忆里，他们知道，这个女孩现在跳的是死亡之舞，没有任何力量，能救她。他们的担心应验了。在舞蹈中每转一圈，女孩就增长一岁。血色从她的脸上慢慢地褪去，她的肩膀渐渐地塌了下去，皱纹出现在她的脸上，她双手颤抖，好像瘫痪了一样，她的脚不再灵活了，她的步伐不再轻盈。在死亡之舞中，她正在变老。然而这一切，她毫无察觉，她的生命像潮水一样退去。最后，她跳到了空地边缘，蹒跚着舞到音乐结束，但岁月已经刻下了沧桑。她倒在地上死了。她影响年轻人的力量永远消失了。因为溪水恶魔带来了死亡之舞。 “她不会再打扰你了”印第安人凝视着那缩小的脸和身体，对弟弟说，“她的舞蹈永远结束了。”这奇怪的事情让人们非常惊讶，他们的快乐聚会停了下来。从那天起，印第安人看见河流，就会陷入沉默，想起那个恐怖的故事——死亡之舞。

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我……大概是有速度没质量的孩子 自己都有句子读不通顺 居然还是厚颜无耻地译成中文了 （速度啥啊 比赛时间还没到呢

继续抛砖引玉吧 看翻成这样的也来参赛大家应该对自己非常有信心了吧~

这篇很猎奇地选了这个 题目很感兴趣啦~ 结果还是恐怖故事 （果然是么？

我希望结局是 年轻人泪流满面 那我会喜欢这故事 （啊 爱情悲剧什么的最喜欢了~

依然废话好多 就这样……

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大概改了下……（OTL没有认真改……

好吧 谢谢各位的意见了~我似乎对于翻译有了点初步认识了~