【饥饿游戏】43

Now the Gamemakers will always be able to trace my 

whereabouts in the arena¹. Wouldn’t want to lose a tribute.

As soon as the tracker’s in place, the ladder releases me.

The woman disappears and Cinna is retrieved² from the roof,

An Avox boy comes in and directs us to a room where breakfast

has been laid out. Despite the tension in my stomach, I eat

as much as I can, although none of the delectable³ food makes

any impression on me. I’m so nervous, I could be eating coal

dust. The one thing that distracts me at all is the view from the

windows as we sail over the city and then to the wilderness⁴

beyond. This is what birds see. Only they’re free and safe. The

very opposite of me.

The ride lasts about half an hour before the windows black

out, suggesting that we’re nearing the arena. The hovercraft

lands and Cinna and I go back to the ladder, only this time it

leads down into a tube underground, into the catacombs that

lie beneath the arena. We follow instructions to my destination,

a chamber⁵ for my preparation. In the Capitol, they call it

the Launch Room. In the districts, it’s referred to as the 

Stockyard. The place animals go before slaughter⁶.

Everything is brand-new, I will be the first and only tribute

to use this Launch Room. The arenas⁷ are historic sites, preserved

after the Games. Popular destinations for Capitol residents

to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games,

tour the catacombs, visit the sites where the deaths took

place. You can even take part in reenactments. They say the

food is excellent.

I struggle to keep my breakfast down as I shower and clean

my teeth. Cinna does my hair in my simple trademark⁸ braid

down my back. Then the clothes arrive, the same for every

tribute. Cinna has had no say in my outfit⁹, does not even know

what will be in the package, but he helps me dress in the 

undergarments, simple tawny¹⁰ pants, light green blouse, sturdy

brown belt, and thin, hooded¹¹ black jacket that falls to my

thighs¹². “The material in the jacket’s designed to reflect body

heat. Expect some cool nights,” he says.

The boots, worn over skintight socks, are better than I

could have hoped for. Soft leather not unlike my ones at home.

These have a narrow flexible rubber sole with treads though.

Good for running.

I think I’m finished when Cinna pulls the gold mockingjay

pin from his pocket. I had completely forgotten about it.

“Where did you get that?” I ask.

“Off the green outfit you wore on the train,” he says. I remember

now taking it off my mother’s dress, pinning it to the

shirt. “It’s your district token, right?” I nod and he fastens it on

my shirt. “It barely cleared the review board. Some thought

the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage.

But eventually, they let it through,” says Cinna. “They

eliminated a ring from that District One girl, though. If you

twisted the gemstone, a spike¹³ popped out. Poisoned one. She

claimed she had no knowledge the ring transformed and there

was no way to prove she did. But she lost her token. There,

you’re all set. Move around. Make sure everything feels comfortable.”

I walk, run in a circle, swing my arms about. “Yes, it’s fine.

Fits perfectly¹⁴.”

“Then there’s nothing to do but wait for the call,” says Cinna.

“Unless you think you could eat any more?”

I turn down food but accept a glass of water that I take tiny

sips¹⁵ of as we wait on a couch. I don’t want to chew on my nails

or lips, so I find myself gnawing¹⁶ on the inside of my cheek. It

still hasn’t fully¹⁷ healed from a few days ago. Soon the taste of

blood fills my mouth.

Nervousness seeps¹⁹ into terror as I anticipate what is to

come. I could be dead, flat-out dead, in an hour. Not even. My

fingers obsessively²⁰ trace the hard little lump on my forearm

where the woman injected the tracking device. I press on it,

even though it hurts, I press on it so hard a small bruise²¹ begins

to form.

“Do you want to talk, Katniss?” Cinna asks.

I shake my head but after a moment hold out my hand to

him. Cinna encloses it in both of his. And this is how we sit until

a pleasant female voice announces it’s time to prepare for launch.

Still clenching²² one of Cinna’s hands, I walk over and stand

on the circular metal plate. “Remember what Haymitch said.

Run, find water. The rest will follow,” he says. I nod. “And 

remember this. I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could, my 

money would be on you.”

“Truly?” I whisper.

“Truly,” says Cinna. He leans down and kisses me on the

forehead. “Good luck, girl on fire.” And then a glass cylinder²³ is

lowering around me, breaking our handhold, cutting him off

from me. He taps his fingers under his chin. Head high.

I lift my chin and stand as straight as I can. The cylinder begins

to rise. For maybe fifteen seconds, I’m in darkness and

then I can feel the metal plate pushing me out of the cylinder,

into the open air. For a moment, my eyes are dazzled by the

bright sunlight and I’m conscious only of a strong wind with

the hopeful smell of pine trees.

Then I hear the legendary²⁴ announcer, Claudius Templesmith,

as his voice booms all around me.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger

Games begin!”

reenactment n. 再制定；再扮演

tawny n. 黄褐色；茶色

seep¹⁸ n. 小泉；水陆两用的吉普车

flat-out adj. 直率的；坦白的；最高的

1 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。

2 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

3 delectable   

adj.使人愉快的；美味的

参考例句：

• What delectable food you cook!你做的食品真好吃！
• But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.但是今天这种可口的海味已不再大量存在。

4 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

7 arenas   

表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场

参考例句：

• Demolition derbies are large-scale automobile rodeos that take place in big arenas. 撞车比赛指的是在很大的竞技场上举行的大型汽车驾驶技术表演。
• Are there areas of privacy in the most public of arenas? 在绝大部分公开的场合中存在需要保护隐私的领域吗？

8 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

9 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

10 tawny   

adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色

参考例句：

• Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
• None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。

11 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

12 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

15 sips   

n.小口喝，一小口的量( sip的名词复数 )v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You must administer them slowly, allowing the child to swallow between sips. 你应慢慢给药，使小儿在吸吮之间有充分的时间吞咽。 来自辞典例句
• Emission standards applicable to preexisting stationary sources appear in state implementation plans (SIPs). 在《州实施计划》中出现了固定污染的排放标准。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

19 seeps   

n.（液体）渗( seep的名词复数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出v.（液体）渗( seep的第三人称单数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water seeps through sand. 水渗入沙中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Water seeps out of the wall. 水从墙里沁出。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

21 bruise   

n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤

参考例句：

• The bruise was caused by a kick.这伤痕是脚踢的。
• Jack fell down yesterday and got a big bruise on his face.杰克昨天摔了一跤，脸上摔出老大一块淤斑。

22 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

23 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

24 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。