前情提要：

這是一個小村莊，今天這裡有一個聚會，是為履行分亨年的人和他的家人們舉辦的告別會。這裡的每個人到了12歲都要履行自己的分亨年，有一半的人再也不會回來，他們死了。孩子們的鼻子裡放了一個錄音機，要放置一年，經過醫生的處理，他們能聞到葉子，牛奶，血等的味道。醫生給孩子用藥，他們會熟睡過去，醒來之後，他們就會和某群動物在一起了。醫生還會給他們一種特別的體味，讓他們聞起來就像是那個動物家族的寶寶一樣。醫生告訴他們，和動物在一起生活很困難。記住，不是生就是死。

故事原文：

2 Deer 鹿

Where am I？Where is everybody？Where‘s the village？

我在哪兒？大家都去哪兒了？村莊呢？

Oh！

噢！

I remember．

我記起來了。

I’ve just woken up．I think it‘s early morning．It’s still a little dark because there are trees all around me．

我剛剛醒過來，我想現在是清晨。天看起來仍然有些昏暗，因為我的周圍都是樹。

I don‘t want to sit up and look yet．When I sit up，I will see my animal family．I think I can smell them．I feel a little ill．People don’t smell like that．

我還不想坐起來張望。因為我坐起來後，就會看見我的那個動物家族。我想我聞到了它們的味道，我有一點兒不舒服。人的味道和這不一樣。

The trouble is，I‘ve never been near an animal before．We don’t have animals in the village，of course．We have to leave animals alone，so we always stay behind our village wall．In the old days people kept cats or dogs in the house；today you would go to

prison

for keeping an animal．

問題是，我以前從來沒有接近過動物。我們村子裡當然沒有動物。我們得讓動物自由生活，所以只能待在圍牆後面。過去，人們能夠在家裡養貓養狗，但是現在，豢養動物是要坐牢的。

I‘m going to sit up and look at my animal family now．

我現在要坐起來，看看我的動物家族了。

They’re deer．I didn‘t want deer．I wanted a strong animal which can fight，not an animal which runs away like deer．Well，I’m not going to run away．

它們是鹿。我不想和鹿在一起。我喜歡強壯擅斗的動物，不喜歡像鹿這樣動不動就逃跑的動物。反正，我不會逃跑的。

One of the deer is looking at me because I‘m moving．I’m trying to stand up but it‘s difficult．My body is cold；I’ve never been so cold in my life．I was lying on the wet ground and of course they didn‘t give me any clothes to wear．I have to move very slowly until I get warm．

有一隻鹿正看著我，因為我在動。我試圖站起來，但是非常困難。我的身體冰涼，一生中從沒有這麼冷過。我躺在溼漉漉的地上，他們當然沒有給我衣服穿。在身體暖和起來之前，我只能慢慢地挪動。

There are three deer — no，four．I didn’t see the fourth at first because it‘s very small．I think it’s a baby．It‘s lying beside the deer which is looking at me — I think that’s its mother．

一共有三隻鹿——不，是四隻。一開始我沒有看到第四隻，因為它太小了。我想那是隻鹿崽。它躺在一隻鹿的身旁，那隻鹿正看著我，我想它是小鹿的媽媽。

The mother is watching me carefully — she thinks I‘m her baby too．Poor mother！I’m a

strange

baby for her to have．There‘s another deer which looks young — perhaps one year old．The last deer is the biggest — I think he’s the father of the two young deer．

鹿媽媽仔細地打量我——它以為我也是它的孩子。可憐的鹿媽媽！我是它陌生的孩子。另一隻鹿看起來也不大——大概一歲的樣子。最後一隻鹿個子最大——我想它是兩隻小鹿的爸爸。

There‘s more light now．The deer are moving around，taking leaves from the trees and eating them．I’m hungry too．I want my breakfast．

天亮了一些。群鹿四處走動，從樹上採葉子吃。我也餓了，想吃早餐。

What‘s for breakfast，mother？Don’t answer that．I don‘t think I can eat your food．I know how to find fruit which is good for me and to look in the ground for

roots

to eat；I learnt all that in the village school．Everybody learns because everybody does the Year of Sharing．

早上吃什麼，媽媽？別回答，我想我吃不了你們的食物。我知道怎麼找到對我有益的水果；我還知道怎麼從地裡挖樹根來吃。我在村裡的學校都學過。因為過“分享年”的緣故，每個人都必須學這些。

I’ll just take a walk and find some food．

我要走一走，去找些食物。

Hey，get off！Stop that！What are you doing？

嘿，走開！別這樣！你在幹嗎？

That was the big deer which is the father，I think．He didn‘t let me take a walk．He ran and pushed me back next to mother．This is terrible．Because of my smell，he thinks I’m a baby ．Listen，father — I want to find something to eat！

是那隻個子最大的鹿，我想那是鹿爸爸，它不讓我走開。它跑過來把我拱回鹿媽媽身邊。真可怕，因為我身上的味道，它以為我是一隻鹿寶寶。聽著，鹿爸爸——我想去找東西吃！

Deer don‘t talk much，do they？

鹿不怎麼講話，是吧？

Sorry I haven’t said anything for a long time．There‘s nothing to say．I’m very，very hungry．I‘ve

missed

breakfast and I’ve missed lunch and soon I‘m going to miss dinner．It’s late afternoon．This deer family likes to move around a lot．

對不起，我很長時間沒有講過話了，沒什麼可講的。我非常非常餓。我沒有吃早餐，沒有吃午餐，很快也要錯過晚餐了。已經快到傍晚了。這群鹿非常喜歡四處走動。

Mother and Baby and I stay together — Father makes sure of that．Brother — the other young deer — sometimes stays with us，but is often alone．Father doesn‘t like it if Brother follows him．

鹿媽媽、鹿寶寶和我待在一起——鹿爸爸要確保這一點。鹿哥哥——另一隻年紀不大的鹿——有時候和我們在一起，但是經常落單。鹿爸爸不喜歡鹿哥哥跟著它。

I’ve looked for roots in the ground but I haven‘t found anything．I saw a tree with good fruit on it．I tried to climb the tree but Father knocked me off with his

antlers

．He was angry．Deer don’t climb trees！

我在地裡找樹根，但是什麼都找不到。我看到樹上有新鮮的水果，我試圖爬到樹上，但是鹿爸爸用鹿角把我扯了下來。它生氣了，因為鹿不爬樹！

So I am HUNGRY．

所以我就餓著肚子。

I‘m not cold now．That’s because we move around a lot．My arms and legs have a lot of little cuts on them．Well，I‘m not wearing clothes and so I keep cutting myself on trees and other things．And my feet hurt．

我現在不冷了，那是因為我們一直在走來走去。我的手臂和腿上傷痕累累。唉，我沒有穿衣服，所以碰到樹或其他什麼東西就會弄傷自己。我的腳也痛。

I didn’t think that life with animals would be like this．thought my new life would be fast，dangerous and exciting．It isn‘t．We just walk through the trees．The deer eat while I watch and feel hungry．Then we walk on a little more．

我沒有想到和動物一起生活會是這樣。我以為我的新生活應該是迅捷、驚險、刺激的，但情況並非如此。我們只是在林間穿行。那幾只鹿美餐時，我卻餓著肚子眼巴巴看著。然後我們就繼續漫步。

The deer don’t talk，they don‘t make any sounds．Well，sometimes Mother makes a little noise to Baby（and to me because I’m a‘baby’too）．And Baby answers with another little noise．But it‘s nothing special．Mother is saying，‘Where are you？’and Baby is answering，‘I’m here。’That‘s all．

鹿不講話，它們不發出任何的聲音。然而，有時候鹿媽媽也會對著鹿寶寶發出一點兒聲響（對我也是，因為我也是“鹿寶寶”）。鹿寶寶會用另一種細弱的聲音回答，沒什麼特別的。媽媽說：“你在哪兒？”寶寶回答：“我在這兒。”就這麼簡單。

When Mother asked me，‘Where are you？’，I didn’t answer at first．But she went on asking and asking and asking，and I felt sorry for her．I‘m her baby，or she thinks I am．So then I answered，‘I’m here，’like Baby — I tried to make the same sound as Baby．I‘m sure it’s right because Mother asks only once now．

當鹿媽媽問我“你在哪兒？”時，一開始我沒回答。但是它一次接一次不停地問，我挺可憐它的。我是它的寶寶，至少它是這麼想的。所以後來我回答了：“我在這兒。”就像小鹿一樣——我試著發出和鹿寶寶一樣的聲音。我肯定這聲音沒錯，因為鹿媽媽現在只問一次了。

Father never talks to Mother．Brother sometimes makes the noise for，‘I‘m here，’but nobody listens．

鹿爸爸從不和鹿媽媽講話。鹿哥哥有時會說：“我在這兒。”但是沒人理它。

I like Baby．She’s

sweet

．Yes，she‘s a girl deer．She’s soft to touch，she‘s funny and she’s always jumping up and down．She smells of milk．

我喜歡鹿寶寶，它很乖。是的，它是隻小母鹿。它摸起來很柔軟，它也很有趣，總是跳上跳下的，聞起來有股奶味。

Because I have nothing to do，I play with Baby．I try to catch her．We run round and round Mother．Then she goes under Mother and I follow，which is funny because I‘m nearly as big as Mother．Mother stops moving because she doesn’t want to put her foot down on one of us．When I catch Baby，she suddenly jumps out of my arms．She‘s like a ball—she uses her four legs to push hard and she jumps high up．

我無事可做，於是和鹿寶寶一起玩。我想捉住它。我們繞著鹿媽媽跑啊跑，然後它鑽到鹿媽媽肚子下面，我也跟著。這很好笑，因為我的個頭和鹿媽媽差不多大。鹿媽媽停了下來，因為它不想踩到我們倆。當我捉到小鹿後，它突然從我的懷抱裡跳了出去。它像一個球——用四條腿用力後蹬，然後高高躍起。

One day of this life is interesting．Not comfortable，but interesting．Two days will be a little boring，I think．After three days I’ll want to

scream

．And I‘ve got a year of this life。。．

這樣過一天挺有意思，雖然並不舒服，但是有意思。第二天就會有點兒無聊了，我想；三天後我會想要尖叫。但我要這樣過上一年……

It’s evening now．It suddenly got dark．And cold．I haven‘t eaten a

single

thing all day．We swam across a river in the afternoon，so I drank a lot of water then．

現在是傍晚了，天突然全黑了，而且很冷。這一天裡我什麼都沒吃。我們下午遊過了一條河，我當時喝了很多水。

These deer are really good at swimming．Baby can swim too — but Mother and Father helped Baby and me．

這些鹿很會游泳。小鹿也能遊——但是鹿媽媽和鹿爸爸幫助小鹿和我來著。

The deer family is going to

spend

the night here．All right．I would like to go and look for something to put over myself，to keep myself warm．I don’t think Father will let me．Let‘s see．

群鹿一家準備在這裡過夜了。好啊，我要去找一些東西遮在身上保暖。我想鹿爸爸不會讓我去，我要試試。

I was right．Father didn’t let me．I‘ll just have to be cold．

不出意料，鹿爸爸不讓我走開。我只能繼續挨凍。

It’s spring — the Year of Sharing usually begins in spring．I don‘t know what a winter night will be like．Perhaps I will learn to keep warm by then．

現在是春天——“分享年”都是從春天開始的。我難以想象冬天的晚上會是什麼樣，希望到時候我已經找到了保暖的辦法。

Brother is asleep．Baby is lying beside Mother．Father is walking in a slow circle around us．He’s listening and smelling the wind．He‘ll make sure we’re not in danger．I‘m sitting on the ground，with my arms round my body，trying to keep warm，but I’m shaking with cold．

鹿哥哥已經睡了。鹿寶寶睡在媽媽的身旁。鹿爸爸慢慢繞著我們轉圈子。它在聽風的聲音和聞風的味道。它要確保我們沒有危險。我坐在地上，用雙臂摟住身體，儘量保持溫暖，但還是冷得發抖。

Baby is drinking Mother‘s milk．

小鹿在喝媽媽的奶。

For the first time today I feel lonely．I don’t often feel lonely．I don‘t need people．I think it’s the dark and the cold and being hungry and feeling sorry for myself and listening to Baby drinking Mother‘s warm milk and knowing that I can’t do that．

今天我第一次覺得寂寞。我並不常常覺得寂寞。我不需要和人在一起。我想是因為天又黑又冷吧；我餓著肚子，為自己感到難過。我還聽見小鹿在喝媽媽那溫暖的鹿奶，我卻不能。

Mother just said，‘Where are you？’to me．

鹿媽媽只是問我：“你在哪兒？”

I made the sound which means，‘I‘m here．’

我發出聲響：“我在這兒。”

I’m falling asleep while I speak．I drank Mother‘s milk．I’m lying with Baby next to Mother and it‘s very warm．I don’t feel lonely．Good night．

我說著說著就睡著了。我喝了鹿媽媽的奶，和小鹿一起擠在鹿媽媽的身邊，非常溫暖。我不覺得寂寞了。晚安。

核心語言點：

prison n．a place where people are kept as punishment for committing a crime 監獄

strange adj．not familiar or known to you 陌生的

root n．the part of a plant which grows under the ground 根

miss v．to fail to catch 錯過

antler n．one of the two horns which grow on a male deer‘s head 鹿角

sweet adj．kind，gentle，and friendly 溫柔的，友好的

scream v．to make a loud high cry because you are hurt，frightened，or excited 尖叫

single adj．only one 單個的，一個的

spend v．to stay somewhere or do something for a period of time 度過

mean v．to have a particular meaning 表示……的意思