胡安娜說「不」

The trackers whined a little, like excited dogs on a warming trail.

追蹤者輕輕哼叫，像嗅到越來越濃的氣味而興奮的狗。

Kino slowly drew his big knife to his hand and made it ready.

奇諾慢慢把大刀抽到手裡，準備好。

He knew what he must do.

他知道自己必須怎麼做。

If the trackers found the swept place, he must leap for the horseman, kill him quickly and take the rifle.

如果追蹤者發現了掃過的地方，他就必須撲向騎馬的人，迅速殺了他，搶下步槍。

That was his only chance in the world.

那是他在這世上唯一的機會。

And as the three drew nearer on the road, Kino dug little pits with his sandalled toes so that he could leap without warning, so that his feet would not slip.

那三個人在路上越走越近，奇諾用穿著涼鞋的腳趾挖出幾個小坑，好讓自己能毫無預警地撲出去，腳也不會打滑。

He had only a little vision under the fallen limb.

從倒下的樹枝底下，他只看得到一點點。

Now Juana, back in her hidden place, heard the pad of the horse’s hoofs, and Coyotito gurgled.

這時，躲在後面藏身處的胡安娜聽見了馬蹄輕輕的踏地聲，柯尤提托咿呀了一聲。

She took him up quickly and put him under her shawl and gave him her breast and he was silent.

她趕緊把他抱起來，放進披巾底下，給他吸奶，他就安靜了。

When the trackers came near, Kino could see only their legs and only the legs of the horse from under the fallen branch.

追蹤者走近時，奇諾從倒下的樹枝底下，只看得到他們的腿和馬的腿。

He saw the dark horny feet of the men and their ragged white clothes, and he heard the creak of leather of the saddle and the clink of spurs.

他看見那些人黝黑、長滿厚繭的腳，和他們破舊的白衣服，聽見馬鞍皮革的嘎吱聲和馬刺的叮噹聲。

The trackers stopped at the swept place and studied it, and the horseman stopped.

追蹤者在掃過的地方停下來研究，騎馬的人也停了下來。

The horse flung his head up against the bit and the bit-roller clicked under his tongue and the horse snorted.

馬猛地抬頭，頂著嘴裡的嚼子，嚼子上的滾輪在牠舌下喀喀作響，馬打了個響鼻。

Then the dark trackers turned and studied the horse and watched his ears.

接著黝黑的追蹤者轉過身，打量那匹馬，盯著牠的耳朵。

Kino was not breathing, but his back arched a little and the muscles of his arms and legs stood out with tension and a line of sweat formed on his upper lip.

奇諾沒有呼吸，可是他的背微微拱起，手臂和腿上的肌肉因為緊繃而突起，上唇冒出一排汗珠。

For a long moment the trackers bent over the road, and then they moved on slowly, studying the ground ahead of them, and the horseman moved after them.

追蹤者彎腰俯看路面好長一段時間，然後慢慢往前移動，研究著前方的地面，騎馬的人跟在他們後面。

The trackers scuttled along, stopping, looking, and hurrying on.

追蹤者急急往前，停下、察看，又匆匆趕路。

They would be back, Kino knew.

奇諾知道，他們會回來的。

They would be circling and searching, peeping, stooping, and they would come back sooner or later to his covered track.

他們會繞圈搜尋、窺探、彎腰察看，遲早會回到他掩蓋過的足跡這裡。

He slid backwards and did not bother to cover his tracks.

他往後滑退，沒有費心掩蓋足跡。

He could not; too many little signs were there, too many broken twigs and scuffed places and displaced stones.

他沒辦法；那裡有太多小跡象了，太多折斷的細枝、磨亂的地面和移了位的石頭。

And there was a panic in Kino now, a panic of flight.

這時奇諾心中一陣恐慌，一種想逃的恐慌。

The trackers would find his trail, he knew it.

追蹤者會找到他的足跡，他知道。

There was no escape, except in flight.

除了逃，沒有別的出路。

He edged away from the road and went quickly and silently to the hidden place where Juana was.

他慢慢挪離路邊，快速而無聲地回到胡安娜躲藏的地方。

She looked up at him in question.

她抬頭用詢問的眼神看他。

“Trackers,” he said. “Come!”

「追蹤者。」他說。「快走！」

And then a helplessness and a hopelessness swept over him, and his face went black and his eyes were sad.

接著一陣無力與絕望席捲了他，他的臉沉了下來，眼神悲傷。

“Perhaps I should let them take me.”

「也許我該讓他們把我抓走。」

Instantly Juana was on her feet and her hand lay on his arm.

胡安娜立刻站起來，手按在他的手臂上。

“You have the pearl,” she cried hoarsely.

「你有珍珠。」她嘶啞地喊。

“Do you think they would take you back alive to say they had stolen it?”

「你以為他們會讓你活著回去，說出是他們偷了它嗎？」

His hand strayed limply to the place where the pearl was hidden under his clothes.

他的手軟軟地移到衣服底下藏珍珠的地方。

“They will find it,” he said weakly.

「他們會找到它的。」他虛弱地說。

“Come,” she said. “Come!”

「走。」她說。「快走！」

And when he did not respond, “Do you think they would let me live?

他沒有反應，她又說：「你以為他們會讓我活下去嗎？

Do you think they would let the little one here live?”

你以為他們會讓這個小的活下去嗎？」

Her goading struck into his brain; his lips snarled and his eyes were fierce again.

她的刺激扎進了他的腦子；他的嘴唇咧開齜牙，眼神又兇狠起來。

“Come,” he said.

「走。」他說。

“We will go into the mountains.

「我們進山。

Maybe we can lose them in the mountains.”

也許我們可以在山裡甩掉他們。」

Frantically he gathered the gourds and the little bags that were their property.

他慌忙收拾起葫蘆和小袋子——那是他們的全部家當。

Kino carried a bundle in his left hand, but the big knife swung free in his right hand.

奇諾左手提著一個包袱，右手則空著握著那把大刀。

He parted the brush for Juana and they hurried to the west, towards the high stone mountains.

他替胡安娜撥開灌木，他們匆匆往西走，朝高聳的石頭山奔去。

They trotted quickly through the tangle of the undergrowth.

他們快步穿過糾纏的矮樹叢。

This was panic flight.

這是一場驚慌的逃亡。

Kino did not try to conceal his passage; he trotted, kicking the stones, knocking the tell-tale leaves from the little trees.

奇諾不再試著掩藏行蹤；他小跑著，踢動石頭，碰落小樹上會洩漏行蹤的葉子。

The high sun streamed down on the dry creaking earth so that even the vegetation ticked in protest.

高懸的太陽傾瀉在乾燥、嘎吱作響的大地上，連植物都滴答作響地抗議。

But ahead were the naked granite mountains, rising out of erosion rubble and standing monolithic against the sky.

可是前方是光禿禿的花崗岩山，從侵蝕的碎石堆中拔起，像巨大的獨石一樣矗立在天空下。

And Kino ran for the high place, as nearly all animals do when they are pursued.

奇諾朝高處跑去，就像幾乎所有被追捕的動物一樣。

This land was waterless, furred with the cacti which could store water and with the great-rooted brush which could reach deep into the earth for a little moisture and get along on very little.

這片土地沒有水，覆滿了能貯水的仙人掌，和根系巨大的灌木——它們能深深探進地底，汲取一點點水分，靠很少的水活下去。

And underfoot was not soil but broken rock, split into small cubes, great slabs, but none of it water-rounded.

腳下不是泥土，而是碎裂的岩石，裂成小方塊、大石板，可是沒有一塊是被水磨圓的。

Little tufts of sad dry grass grew between the stones, grass that had sprouted with one single rain and headed, dropped its seed, and died.

石頭之間長著一小簇一小簇乾枯的可憐小草，那些草只靠一場雨發芽、抽穗、落下種子，然後死去。

Horned toads watched the family go by and turned their little pivoting dragon heads.

角蜥看著這家人經過，轉動牠們小小的、可以旋轉的龍頭。

And now and then a great jack-rabbit, disturbed in his shade, bumped away and hid behind the nearest rock.

偶爾有一隻大長耳兔在陰涼處被驚動，一蹦一跳地逃開，躲到最近的石頭後面。

The singing heat lay over this desert country, and ahead the stone mountains looked cool and welcoming.

嗡嗡作響的熱氣籠罩著這片沙漠，前方的石頭山看起來清涼而好客。

And Kino fled.

奇諾逃著。

He knew what would happen.

他知道會發生什麼事。

A little way along the road the trackers would become aware that they had missed the path, and they would come back, searching and judging, and in a little while they would find the place where Kino and Juana had rested.

追蹤者沿路走一小段就會發覺錯過了足跡，他們會回來，邊搜尋邊判斷，不久就會找到奇諾和胡安娜休息過的地方。

From there it would be easy for them—these little stones, the fallen leaves and the whipped branches, the scuffed places where a foot had slipped.

從那裡開始對他們來說就容易了——這些小石頭、掉落的葉子、被抽打過的樹枝、腳滑過留下的磨痕。

Kino could see them in his mind, slipping along the track, whining a little with eagerness, and behind them, dark and half disinterested, the horseman with the rifle.

奇諾在腦中看得見他們，沿著足跡悄悄前進，急切地輕輕哼叫，後面是那個黝黑、有點漫不經心、帶著步槍的騎馬人。

His work would come last, for he would not take them back.

他的工作排在最後，因為他不會把他們帶回去。

Oh, the music of evil sang loud in Kino’s head now, it sang with the whine of heat and with the dry ringing of snake rattles.

喔，惡的音樂此刻在奇諾腦中高聲歌唱，它和著熱氣的嗡鳴、和著響尾蛇乾澀的嘎嘎聲一起唱。

It was not large and overwhelming now, but secret and poisonous, and the pounding of his heart gave it undertone and rhythm.

它現在不再龐大、壓倒一切，而是隱密而有毒，他怦怦的心跳替它打著低音和節奏。

The way began to rise, and as it did the rocks grew larger.

路開始往上升，越往上石頭越大。

But now Kino had put a little distance between his family and the trackers.

可是現在奇諾已經在他的家人和追蹤者之間拉開了一點距離。

Now, on the first rise, he rested.

現在，在第一道坡上，他休息了。

He climbed a great boulder and looked back over the shimmering country, but he could not see his enemies, not even the tall horseman riding through the brush.

他爬上一塊巨石，回頭望向閃爍的大地，可是看不見他的敵人，連穿過灌木叢的那個高大騎馬人都看不見。

Juana had squatted in the shade of the boulder.

胡安娜蹲在巨石的陰影裡。

She raised her bottle of water to Coyotito’s lips; his little dried tongue sucked greedily at it.

她把水瓶舉到柯尤提托嘴邊；他乾巴巴的小舌頭貪婪地吸著。

She looked up at Kino when he came back; she saw him examine her ankles, cut and scratched from the stones and brush, and she covered them quickly with her skirt.

奇諾回來時她抬頭看他；她看見他打量她被石頭和荊棘割傷、刮傷的腳踝，就趕緊用裙子遮住。

Then she handed the bottle to him, but he shook his head.

然後她把水瓶遞給他，他卻搖搖頭。

Her eyes were bright in her tired face.

她疲憊的臉上，眼睛卻很明亮。

Kino moistened his cracked lips with his tongue.

奇諾用舌頭潤了潤乾裂的嘴唇。

“Juana,” he said, “I will go on and you will hide.

「胡安娜，」他說，「我繼續走，你躲起來。

I will lead them into the mountains, and when they have gone past, you will go north to Loreto or to Santa Rosalia.

我把他們引進山裡，等他們過去了，你就往北走，去洛雷托或聖羅莎莉亞。

Then, if I can escape them, I will come to you.

然後，要是我逃得掉，我就去找你。

It is the only safe way.”

這是唯一安全的辦法。」

She looked full into his eyes for a moment.

她直直地看進他的眼睛，看了一會兒。

“No,” she said.

「不。」她說。

“We go with you.”

「我們跟你一起走。」

“I can go faster alone,” he said harshly.

「我一個人走得比較快。」他嚴厲地說。

“You will put the little one in more danger if you go with me.”

「你跟著我，會讓這個小的更危險。」

“No,” said Juana.

「不。」胡安娜說。

“You must.

「你必須這樣做。

It is the wise thing and it is my wish,” he said.

這是明智的做法，也是我的意思。」他說。

“No,” said Juana.

「不。」胡安娜說。

He looked then for weakness in her face, for fear or irresolution, and there was none.

他在她臉上尋找軟弱、恐懼或猶豫，一點都沒有。

Her eyes were very bright.

她的眼睛非常明亮。

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly then, but he had taken strength from her.

他無可奈何地聳聳肩，可是他已經從她身上得到了力量。

When they moved on it was no longer panic flight.

他們再出發時，已經不再是驚慌的逃亡了。

The country, as it rose toward the mountains, changed rapidly.

地勢往山上升高，景物也迅速改變。

Now there were long outcroppings of granite with deep crevices between, and Kino walked on bare unmarkable stone when he could and leaped from ledge to ledge.

現在出現了長長的花崗岩露頭，中間是深深的裂縫，奇諾盡可能走在光禿禿、不會留下痕跡的石頭上，從一塊岩架跳到另一塊岩架。

He knew that wherever the trackers lost his path they must circle and lose time before they found it again.

他知道，追蹤者不管在哪裡跟丟了他的足跡，都得繞圈、浪費時間，才能再找到。

And so he did not go straight for the mountains any more; he moved in zigzags, and sometimes he cut back to the south and left a sign and then went towards the mountains over bare stone again.

所以他不再直直往山裡走；他走之字形，有時往南折回去，留下一個記號，再從光禿的石頭上往山裡走。

And the path rose steeply now, so that he panted a little as he went.

這時路變得很陡，他一邊走一邊微微喘氣。

The sun moved downwards toward the bare stone teeth of the mountains, and Kino set his direction for a dark and shadowy cleft in the range.

太陽朝山脈光禿的石齒往下移，奇諾把方向定在山脈中一道幽暗的裂谷。

If there were any water at all, it would be there, where he could see, even in the distance, a hint of foliage.

如果這裡還有任何水，就會在那裡——即使隔著那麼遠，他也看得見那裡隱約有點綠葉。

And if there were any passage through the smooth stone range, it would be by this same deep cleft.

而如果有任何路能穿過這片光滑的石頭山脈，也會經過這道深深的裂谷。

It had its danger, for the trackers would think of it too, but the empty water-bottle did not let that consideration enter.

那裡也有危險，因為追蹤者也會想到，可是空空的水瓶不容他考慮這一點。

And as the sun lowered, Kino and Juana struggled wearily up the steep slope towards the cleft.

太陽西沉，奇諾和胡安娜疲憊地掙扎著，爬上陡坡，朝那道裂谷走去。

High in the grey stone mountains, under a frowning peak, a little spring bubbled out of a rupture in the stone.

在灰色石頭山的高處，在一座陰沉的山峰底下，一眼小泉從岩石的裂口中湧出。

It was fed by shade-preserved snow in the summer, and now and then it died completely and bare rocks and dry algæ were on its bottom.

夏天時，它靠陰影中保存下來的雪供給水源，偶爾會完全乾涸，底部只剩光禿的石頭和乾掉的藻類。

But nearly always it gushed out, cold and clean and lovely.

可是它幾乎總是湧流不絕，冰涼、清澈而可愛。

In the times when the quick rains fell, it might become a freshet and send its column of white water crashing down the mountain cleft, but nearly always it was a lean little spring.

驟雨來時，它可能變成一道山洪，把一股白色的水柱衝下山谷，可是它幾乎總是一眼細瘦的小泉。

It bubbled out into a pool and then fell a hundred feet to another pool, and this one, overflowing, dropped again, so that it continued, down and down, until it came to the rubble of the upland, and there it disappeared altogether.

它湧進一個水池，然後落下一百英尺到另一個水池，這一個水池滿溢了，又往下落，就這樣一層一層往下，直到抵達高地的碎石堆，就在那裡完全消失了。

There wasn’t much left of it then anyway, for every time it fell over an escarpment the thirsty air drank it, and it splashed from the pools to the dry vegetation.

反正到那時也剩不了多少，因為它每次從峭壁上落下，乾渴的空氣都會喝掉一些，水池濺出的水也被乾枯的植物吸走了。

The animals from miles around came to drink from the little pools, and the wild sheep and the deer, the pumas and raccoons, and the mice—all came to drink.

方圓好幾英里的動物都來這些小水池喝水，野羊和鹿，美洲獅和浣熊，還有老鼠——全都來喝水。

And the birds which spent the day in the brushland came at night to the little pools that were like steps in the mountain cleft.

白天待在灌木地的鳥，夜裡也飛來這些像山谷中台階一樣的小水池。

Beside this tiny stream, wherever enough earth collected for root-hold, colonies of plants grew, wild grape and little palms, maidenhair fern, hibiscus, and tall pampas grass with feathery rods raised above the spike leaves.

在這條小溪旁，凡是積了足夠泥土讓根扎住的地方，就長出一叢叢植物：野葡萄和小棕櫚、鐵線蕨、扶桑，還有高高的蒲葦，羽毛般的花穗高高舉在尖葉之上。

And in the pool lived frogs and water-skaters, and water-worms crawled on the bottom of the pool.

水池裡住著青蛙和水黽，水蟲在池底爬行。

Everything that loved water came to these few shallow places.

一切愛水的東西都來到這幾個淺淺的地方。

The cats took their prey there, and strewed feathers and lapped water through their bloody teeth.

貓科動物在那裡捕食獵物，撒下一地羽毛，透過沾血的牙齒舔水喝。

The little pools were places of life because of the water, and places of killing because of the water, too.

這些小水池因為有水而成為生命之地，也因為有水而成為殺戮之地。