【饥饿游戏】05

 The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive.

The square’s quite large, but not enough to hold District

12’s population of about eight thousand. Latecomers are directed

to the adjacent streets, where they can watch the event

on screens as it’s televised live by the state.

I find myself standing¹ in a clump² of sixteens from the Seam.

We all exchange terse³ nods then focus our attention on the

temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It

holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for

the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the

girls’ ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on

them in careful handwriting.

Two of the three chairs fill with Madge’s father, Mayor Undersee,

who’s a tall, balding man, and Effie Trinket, District

12’s escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin,

pinkish hair, and spring green suit. They murmur⁴ to each other

and then look with concern at the empty seat.

Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to

the podium and begins to read. It’s the same story every year.

He tells of the history of Panem, the country that rose up out

of the ashes of a place that was once called North America. He

lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching

seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the

brutal⁵ war for what little sustenance⁶ remained. The result was

Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which

brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the

Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol.

Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated⁷. The Treaty

of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as

our yearly reminder⁸ that the Dark Days must never be repeated,

it gave us the Hunger Games.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment

for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one

girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty four

tributes will be imprisoned⁹ in a vast outdoor arena¹⁰ that

could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland.

Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must

fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one

another while we watch — this is the Capitol’s way of reminding

us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we

would stand of surviving another rebellion.

Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look

how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s

nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every

last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.”

To make it humiliating as well as torturous¹¹, the Capitol requires

us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting

event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute

alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will

be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year,

the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil

and even delicacies¹² like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation.

“It is both a time for repentance¹³ and a time for thanks,” in tones

the mayor.

Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy four

years, we have had exactly two. Only one is still alive.

Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-aged¹⁴ man, who at

this moment appears hollering something unintelligible¹⁵, staggers

onto the stage, and falls into the third chair. He’s drunk.

Very. The crowd responds with its token applause, but he’s

confused and tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she

barely manages to fend¹⁶ off.

The mayor looks distressed¹⁷. Since all of this is being televised,

right now District 12 is the laughing stock of Panem, and

he knows it. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the

reaping by introducing Effie Trinket.

Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots¹⁸ to the podium

and gives her signature, “Happy Hunger Games! And may the

odds¹⁹ be ever in your favor!” Her pink hair must be a wig²⁰ because

her curls have shifted slightly off-center since her encounter

with Haymitch. She goes on a bit about what an honor

it is to be here, although everyone knows she’s just aching to

get bumped up to a better district where they have proper victors,

not drunks who molest²¹ you in front of the entire nation.

Through the crowd, I spot Gale²² looking back at me with a

ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least has a slight

entertainment factor. But suddenly I am thinking of Gale and

his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds

are not in his favor. Not compared to a lot of the boys. And

maybe he’s thinking the same thing about me because his face

darkens and he turns away. “But there are still thousands of

slips,” I wish I could whisper to him.

It’s time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always

does, “Ladies first!” and crosses to the glass ball with the girls’

names. She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and

pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective

breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I’m feeling nauseous

and so desperately²³ hoping that it’s not me, that it’s not

me, that it’s not me.

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip

of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not

me.

It’s Primrose²⁴ Everdeen.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

3 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

4 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

7 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

9 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

10 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

11 torturous   

adj. 痛苦的

参考例句：

• His breathing was torturous.他的呼吸充满痛苦。
• This is a torturous agonizing way to kill someone.这是一种让人受尽折磨、痛苦难忍的杀人方法。

12 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

13 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

14 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

15 unintelligible   

adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的

参考例句：

• If a computer is given unintelligible data, it returns unintelligible results.如果计算机得到的是难以理解的数据，它给出的也将是难以理解的结果。
• The terms were unintelligible to ordinary folk.这些术语一般人是不懂的。

16 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

17 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

18 trots   

小跑，急走( trot的名词复数 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• A horse that trots, especially one trained for harness racing. 训练用于快跑特别是套轭具赛跑的马。
• He always trots out the same old excuses for being late. 他每次迟到总是重复那一套藉口。

19 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

20 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

21 molest   

vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏

参考例句：

• If the man continues to molest her,I promise to keep no measures with the delinquent.如果那人继续对她进行骚扰，我将对他这个违法者毫不宽容。
• If I were gone,all these would molest you.如果没有我，这一切都会来骚扰你。

22 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

23 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

24 primrose   

n.樱草，最佳部分，

参考例句：

• She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
• The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。