鲸之声 第3期

翻译：白色声响

“Leave him alone!”I yelled as I walked out of the 1)orphanage gate and saw several of the Spring Park School 2)bullies pushing the deaf kid around. I did not know the boy at all, but I knew that we were about the same age because of his size. He lived in the old white house across the street from the orphanage where I lived. I had seen him on his front 3)porch several times doing absolutely nothing, except just sitting there making funny hand movements.

We didn’t get much to eat for Sunday supper except watermelon, and then we had to eat it outside behind the dining room so that we would not make a 4)mess on the tables inside. About the only time that I would see him was through the high chain link fence that surrounded the orphanage when we ate our watermelon outside.

The deaf kid started making all kind of hand signals. “You are a stupid 5)idiot,”said the bigger of the two bullies as he pushed the boy down on the ground. The other bully ran around behind the boy and kicked him as hard as he could in the back. The deaf boy’s body started shaking all over and he 6)curled up in a ball trying to 7)shield and hide his face. He looked like he was trying to cry or something, but he just couldn’t make any sounds.

I ran as fast as I could back through the orphanage gate and into the thick 8)azalea bushes. I uncovered my homemade bow which I had 9)constructed out of bamboo and 10)string. I grabbed four arrows that were also made of bamboo with coca cola tops bent around the ends to make real sharp tips. Then I ran back out the gate with an arrow 11)cocked in the bow and I just stood there quietly, breathing real hard, just daring either one of them to kick or touch the boy again.

“You’re a stupid 12)freak just like him, you big eared 13)creep,”said one of the boys as he grabbed his friend and backed off far enough so that the arrow would not hit them. “If you’re so brave, kick him again now.”I said, shaking like a leaf. The bigger of the two bullies ran up and kicked the deaf boy in the middle of his back as hard as he could and then ran out of arrow 14)range again.

The boy 15)jerked about and then made a sound that I will never forget for as long as I live. It was the sound like a whale makes when it has been 16)harpooned and knows that it is about to die. I fired all four of my arrows at the two bullies as they ran away laughing about what they had done.

I pulled the boy up off the ground and helped him back to his house which was about two 17)blocks down the street from the school. When we reached his home, his sister told me that her brother was deaf but he was not stupid like the two bullies said. He was very smart but could not say or hear anything. I told her that he did make a sound when the bully kicked him in the back. She told me that I must be mistaken, because all her brother’s 18)vocal cords had been removed during an experimental 19)surgery which had failed.

The boy made one of those hand signs at me as I was about to leave. I asked his sister, “If your brother is so smart then why is he doing things like that with his hands?”She told me that he was saying that he loved me with his hands. I didn’t say anything back to her at all because I didn’t believe her. People can’t talk with their hands and everybody knows that. People can only talk with their mouth.

Almost every Sunday for the next year or two I could see the boy through the chain link fence as we ate watermelon outside behind the dining room. He always made that same funny hand sign at me and I would just wave back at him, not knowing what else to do.

On my very last day in the orphanage, I was being chased by the police. They told me I was being sent off to the Florida 20)Reform School for Boys, so I ran to get away from them. They chased me around the building several times and finally I made a 21)dash for the chain link fence and tried to climb over in order to escape. I saw the deaf boy sitting there on his porch just looking at me as they pulled me down from the fence and 22)handcuffed me. The boy, now about twelve, jumped up and ran across the street, placed his fingers through the chain link fence and just stood there looking at us.

They dragged me by my legs, screaming and yelling, for more than several hundred yards through the dirt and pine 23)straw to the waiting police car. All I could hear the entire time was the high 24)pitched sound of that whale being harpooned again. As we pulled away in the police car, I saw the deaf boy loosen his 25)grip on the fence and 26)slide very slowly to the ground and lower his head into the leaves and pine straw. That is when I realized that he probably really did love me and wanted to save me because he thought that I too was making the whale sound.

“别碰他！”我大声喊道。当时我刚走出孤儿院的大门，正好看到春园小学的几个坏家伙在推搡着那个聋孩子。我根本不认识这个孩子，但从他的身材我猜他的年纪和我差不多。他就住在我们孤儿院对街的一所白色老房子里。有好几次我看到他坐在屋子门廊上无所事事，只是坐在那儿打着好玩的手势。

除了西瓜，星期天晚上我们通常没多少好吃的。我们只能在饭厅后面室外的地方吃，这样就不会把里面的桌子弄得一团糟。在外面吃西瓜的时候，我大概就见过他一回，那是从孤儿院高高的铁丝网望出去的时候。

这时，这个聋孩子开始比划着各种手势。“你这个傻子。”两个小霸王里较大的那个一边说，一边把他推倒在地上。另一个小霸王跑到他背后，使劲踢他的背。男孩开始浑身发抖，把身子蜷成一团，想遮住、保护自己的脸。他好像想大喊，可到底没能发出什么声音来。

于是我飞快地跑回孤儿院，穿过大门，到那片茂盛的杜鹃花丛里翻出自己用竹子和线做的那把弓。我又抓起四支箭，箭也是竹子做的，再用可口可乐的罐顶折绕成锋利的箭头。然后我往回跑出了大门，弓上已挂了一支箭。我静静地站在那里，喘着粗气，心想只要他们再敢踢一下、碰一下那个孩子，我就要给他们好看。

“你只不过是个跟他一样的蠢蛋，你这个大耳朵怪物。”其中一个男孩一边说，一边拉起他的同伴远远地跑开，躲避我的箭。“要是你真够胆量，就再踢他一脚试试看呀。”我说，气得浑身像片叶子似地抖个不停。于是比较大的那个坏小子冲上来，朝那个男孩的后背正中狠狠地踢了一脚，然后又撒腿跑开，跑到箭射不到的地方去了。

那男孩倒在地上抽搐打滚，突然发出了一声我此生永远也忘不了的声音―就像被鱼叉刺中的鲸知道自己快要死去时所发出的那种声音。那两个坏小子为他们的所作所为大笑着跑开，我朝他们射出了我的四支箭。

我把那个男孩从地上拉起来，扶他回家―他家离学校的路只有大约两个街区。到他家时，他姐姐告诉我说她弟弟虽然是聋的，但并不是那两个小坏蛋说的是个傻子。相反他很聪明，只是不能说话，也听不见。我便告诉她，在那两个人踢他后背的时候，他的确叫了一声。她说我一定是弄错了，因为她弟弟的声带在一次失败的试验性手术中被完全切除了。

就在我要离开时，那男孩又对我做了个手势。我问他姐姐：“你弟弟要是很聪明的话，他怎么老是比划那些手势呢？”她告诉我，她弟弟是在用手告诉我，说他爱我。我一时无言以对，因为我无法相信。人不可能用手说话，这谁都知道。人只能用嘴巴说话。

此后的一两年里，几乎每个星期天在饭厅后面的室外吃西瓜时，我都能透过孤儿院的那道铁丝网看见那个男孩子。他总是对我比划那些有趣的手势，我也会朝他挥挥手，不知道除此以外我还能做些什么。

我在孤儿院里的最后那天，警察正在追捕我。他们说要把我送往佛罗里达少年管教学校，所以我就逃跑了。他们满大楼里追赶了我好几回，最后我朝那道铁丝网猛冲过去，想爬过那道网逃跑。这时我看到那个聋孩子正坐在屋子的门廊上，他看着我被那些人从铁丝网上拉了下去，戴上手铐。那时候已经十二岁的他一下子跳起来跑过街道，手指抓在网眼上，站在那里看着我们。

他们拉扯着我的腿，又喊又叫，拖着我穿过几百码的泥地和松树草堆，直到把我拖进等候已久的警车里。我能听到的，又是鲸鱼被鱼叉刺中时发出的那一声尖锐的鸣叫。警车渐渐驶离，我看到那个聋孩子渐渐松开了抓在铁丝网上的手，慢慢滑倒在地上，头埋进了那些树丛和草堆里。直到那时，我才意识到也许他真的爱我，也想救我，因为他认为我也发出了鲸的鸣叫声。