【饥饿游戏】11

Chapter 3

The moment the anthem¹ ends, we are taken into custody². I

don’t mean we’re handcuffed or anything, but a group of

Peacekeepers marches us through the front door of the Justice

Building. Maybe tributes³ have tried to escape in the past. I’ve

never seen that happen though.

Once inside, I’m conducted to a room and left alone. It’s the

richest place I’ve ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a

velvet⁴ couch⁵ and chairs. I know velvet because my mother has

a dress with a collar made of the stuff. When I sit on the couch,

I can’t help running my fingers over the fabric⁶ repeatedly. It

helps to calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour. The

time allotted⁷ for the tributes to say goodbye to their loved

ones. I cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with 

puffy eyes and a red nose. Crying is not an option. There will 

be more cameras at the train station.

My sister and my mother come first. I reach out to Prim⁸

and she climbs on my lap, her arms around my neck, head

on my shoulder, just like she did when she was a toddler.

My mother sits beside me and wraps her arms around us.

For a few minutes, we say nothing. Then I start telling them

all the things they must remember to do, now that I will not be

there to do them for them.

Prim is not to take any tesserae. They can get by, if

they’re careful, on selling Prim’s goat milk and cheese and the

small apothecary⁹ business my mother now runs for the people

in the Seam¹⁰. Gale¹¹ will get her the herbs she doesn’t grow 

herself, but she must be very careful to describe them because

he’s not as familiar with them as I am. He’ll also bring them

game — he and I made a pact¹² about this a year or so ago —

and will probably not ask for compensation¹³, but they should

thank him with some kind of trade, like milk or medicine.

I don’t bother suggesting Prim learn to hunt. I tried to teach

her a couple of times and it was disastrous¹⁴. The woods 

terrified her, and whenever I shot something, she’d get teary 

and talk about how we might be able to heal it if we got it 

home soon enough. But she makes out well with her goat, so 

I concentrate on that.

When I am done with instructions about fuel, and trading,

and staying in school, I turn to my mother and grip her arm,

hard. “Listen to me. Are you listening to me?” She nods,

alarmed by my intensity¹⁵. She must know what’s coming. 

“You can’t leave again,” I say.

My mother’s eyes find the floor. “I know. I won’t. I couldn’t

help what—”

“Well, you have to help it this time. You can’t clock out and

leave Prim on her own. There’s no me now to keep you both

alive. It doesn’t matter what happens. Whatever you see on

the screen. You have to promise me you’ll fight through it!” 

My voice has risen to a shout. In it is all the anger, all the fear 

I felt at her abandonment.

She pulls her arm from my grasp, moved to anger herself

now. “I was ill. I could have treated myself if I’d had the 

medicine I have now.”

That part about her being ill might be true. I’ve seen her

bring back people suffering from immobilizing sadness since.

Perhaps it is a sickness, but it’s one we can’t afford.

“Then take it. And take care of her!” I say.

“I’ll be all right, Katniss,” says Prim, clasping¹⁶ my face in her

hands. “But you have to take care, too. You’re so fast and

brave. Maybe you can win.”

I can’t win. Prim must know that in her heart. The competition

will be far beyond my abilities. Kids from wealthier districts,

where winning is a huge honor, who’ve been trained

their whole lives for this. Boys who are two to three times my

size. Girls who know twenty different ways to kill you with a

knife. Oh, there’ll be people like me, too. People to weed out

before the real fun begins.

“Maybe,” I say, because I can hardly tell my mother to carry

on if I’ve already given up myself. Besides, it isn’t in my nature

to go down without a fight, even when things seem insurmountable.

“Then we’d be rich as Haymitch.”

“I don’t care if we’re rich. I just want you to come home.

You will try, won’t you? Really, really try?” asks Prim.

“Really, really try. I swear it,” I say. And I know, because of

Prim, I’ll have to. And then the Peacekeeper is at the door, 

signaling our time is up, and we’re all hugging one another so 

hard it hurts and all I’m saying is “I love you. I love you both.” 

And they’re saying it back and then the Peacekeeper orders 

them out and the door closes. I bury my head in one of the 

velvet pillows as if this can block the whole thing out.

Someone else enters the room, and when I look up, I’m 

surprised to see it’s the baker¹⁷, Peeta Mellark’s father. I can’t 

believe he’s come to visit me. After all, I’ll be trying to kill 

his son soon. But we do know each other a bit, and he knows 

Prim even better. When she sells her goat cheeses at the Hob, 

she puts two of them aside for him and he gives her a generous

amount of bread in return. We always wait to trade with him

when his witch of a wife isn’t around because he’s so much

nicer. I feel certain he would never have hit his son the way

she did over the burned bread. But why has he come to see

me?

1 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 tributes   

n.（尤指旧时一国向他国交纳的）贡品( tribute的名词复数 )；（良好效果或影响的）体现；（尤指对死者的）致敬；称赞

参考例句：

• He had the strength and power; he meant to bear rule over others and he expected tributes from them. 他有权有势，想支配人，要人们拜倒在他的脚下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His colleagues paid generous tributes to the outgoing president. 同事们纷纷向即将卸任的总裁致敬。 来自辞典例句

4 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

5 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

6 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

7 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

8 prim   

adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地

参考例句：

• She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板，不喜欢听粗野的笑话！
• He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨

9 apothecary   

n.药剂师

参考例句：

• I am an apothecary of that hospital.我是那家医院的一名药剂师。
• He was the usual cut and dry apothecary,of no particular age and color.他是那种再普通不过的行医者，说不出多大年纪，相貌也没什么值得一提的。

10 seam   

n.缝，接缝；vt.用缝缝，接缝；vi.有裂缝

参考例句：

• The seam of his coat is pulled.他外套的线缝被撕开了。
• His shirt ripped at the seam.他的衬衣缝口撕开了。

11 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。

12 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

13 compensation   

n.补偿（或赔偿）的款物，补偿，赔偿

参考例句：

• Workers who have been unfairly dismissed may claim compensation.被无理开除的工人可以要求补偿。
• Equal compensation should be given to men and women for equal work.男女同工应同酬。

14 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

15 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

16 clasping   

抱紧( clasp的现在分词 )； 紧紧拥抱； 握紧； 攥紧

参考例句：

• The thief was clasping a knife in his left hand. 盗贼左手握着一把刀。
• He had slumped to his knees, almost paralysed, clasping the stricken elbow with his other hand. 他瘫了下来，一只手捧着那条挨了一棍的手肘，几乎要跪倒在地。 来自英汉文学

17 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。