【饥饿游戏】42

If I don’t get air soon, I’m going to start to throw

things again. I run down the hall to the door to the roof. It’s

not only unlocked but ajar. Perhaps someone forgot to close it,

but it doesn’t matter. The energy field enclosing the roof prevents

any desperate form of escape. And I’m not looking to escape,

only to fill my lungs with air. I want to see the sky and

the moon on the last night that no one will be hunting me.

The roof is not lit at night, but as soon as my bare feel reach

its tiled surface I see his silhouette¹, black against the lights

that shine endlessly in the Capitol. There’s quite a commotion²

going on down in the streets, music and singing and car horns,

none of which I could hear through the thick glass window

panels in my room. I could slip away now, without him noticing

me; he wouldn’t hear me over the din³, But the night air’s

so sweet, I can’t bear returning to that stuffy⁴ cage of a room.

And what difference does it make? Whether we speak or not?

My feet move soundlessly across the tiles. I’m only yard behind

him when I say, “You should be getting some sleep.” He starts 

but doesn’t turn. I can see him give his head a slight shake. 

“I didn’t want to miss the party. It’s for us, after all.”

I come up beside him and lean over the edge of the rail. The

wide streets are full of dancing people. I squint⁵ to make out

their tiny figures in more detail. “Are they in costumes?”

“Who could tell?” Peeta answers. “With all the crazy clothes

they wear here. Couldn’t sleep, either?”

“Couldn’t turn my mind off,” I say.

“Thinking about your family?” he asks.

“No,” I admit a bit guiltily. “All I can do is wonder about 

tomorrow. Which is pointless, of course.” In the light from 

below, I can see his face now, the awkward way he holds 

his bandaged hands. “I really am sorry about your hands.”

“It doesn’t matter, Katniss,” he says. “I’ve never been a 

contender in these Games anyway.”

“That’s no way to be thinking,” I say.

“Why not? It’s true. My best hope is to not disgrace myself

and . . .” He hesitates.

“And what?” I say.

“I don’t know how to say it exactly. Only . . . I want to die as

myself. Does that make any sense?” he asks. I shake my head.

How could he die as anyone but himself? “I don’t want them to

change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that

I’m not.”

I bite my lip feeling inferior. While I’ve been ruminating⁶ on

the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to

maintain his identity. His purity of self. “Do you mean you

won’t kill anyone?” I ask.

“No, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll kill just like everybody

else. I can’t go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing

I could think of a way to . . . to show the Capitol they don’t 

own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games,” says 

Peeta. “But you’re not,” I say. “None of us are. That’s how the

Games work.”

“Okay, but within that framework, there’s still you, there’s

still me,” he insists. “Don’t you see?”

“A little. Only . . . no offense⁷, but who cares, Peeta?” I say.

“I do. I mean, what else am I allowed to care about at this

point?” he asks angrily. He’s locked those blue eyes on mine

now, demanding an answer.

I take a step back. “Care about what Haymitch said. About

staying alive.”

Peeta smiles at me, sad and mocking. “Okay. Thanks for the

tip, sweetheart.”

It’s like a slap in the face. His use of Haymitch’s patronizing

endearment⁸. “Look, if you want to spend the last hours of your

life planning some noble death in the arena⁹, that’s your choice.

I want to spend mine in District Twelve.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if you do,” says Peeta. “Give my

mother my best when you make it back, will you?”

“Count on it,” I say. Then I turn and leave the roof. I spend

the rest of the night slipping in and out of a doze¹⁰, imagining

the cutting remarks I will make to Peeta Mellark in the 

morning. Peeta Mellark. We will see how high and mighty¹¹ he 

is when he's faced with life and death. He'll probably turn into

one of those raging beast tributes, the kind who tries to eat

someone's heart after they've killed them. There was a guy

like that a few years ago from District 6 called Titus. He went

completely savage¹² and the Gamemakers had to have him 

stunned¹³ with electric guns to collect the bodies of the players

he'd killed before he ate them. There are no rules in the arena, 

but cannibalism¹⁴ doesn't play well with the Capitol audience,

so they tried to head it off. There was some speculation¹⁵ that

the avalanche¹⁶ that finally took Titus out was specifically 

engineered to ensure the victor was not a lunatic.

I don't see Peeta in the morning. Cinna comes to me before

dawn, gives me a simple shift to wear, and guides me to the

roof. My final dressing¹⁷ and preparations will be alone in the

catacombs under the arena itself. A hovercraft appears out of

thin air, just like the one did in the woods the day I saw the

redheaded Avox girl captured, and a ladder drops down. I

place my hands and feet on the lower rungs and instantly it's

as if I'm frozen. Some sort of current glues me to the ladder

while I'm lifted safely inside.(我手脚刚搭上梯子，就觉得

全身像凝住了一样动弹不得，一种电流把我粘在梯子上)

I expect the ladder to release me then, but I'm still stuck

when a woman in a white coat approaches me carrying a 

syringe. "This is just your tracker, Katniss. The stiller you 

are, the more efficiently¹⁸ I can place it," she says.

Still? I'm a statue. But that doesn't prevent me from feeling

the sharp stab of pain as the needle inserts the metal tracking

device deep under the skin on the inside of my forearm. 

ruminate¹⁹ vt. 反刍；沉思；反复思考

patronizing v. 屈尊俯就（patronize的现在分词）

cannibalism n. 食人；嗜食同类；残忍的行为

avalanche vi. 崩塌

 

1 silhouette   

n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓

参考例句：

• I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
• I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。

2 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

3 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

4 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

5 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

6 ruminating   

v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth. 他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is ruminating on what had happened the day before. 他在沉思前一天发生的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

8 endearment   

n.表示亲爱的行为

参考例句：

• This endearment indicated the highest degree of delight in the old cooper.这个称呼是老箍桶匠快乐到了极点的表示。
• To every endearment and attention he continued listless.对于每一种亲爱的表示和每一种的照顾，他一直漫不在意。

9 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。

10 doze   

v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐

参考例句：

• He likes to have a doze after lunch.他喜欢午饭后打个盹。
• While the adults doze,the young play.大人们在打瞌睡，而孩子们在玩耍。

11 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

13 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

14 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。

15 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

16 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

17 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

18 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

19 ruminate   

v.反刍；沉思

参考例句：

• It is worth while to ruminate over his remarks.他的话值得玩味。
• The cow began to ruminate after eating up grass.牛吃完草后开始反刍。