暮光之城•暮色 第2期:来到凤凰城

 My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm¹ of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving,erratic, harebrained mother to fend² for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…

我长得像我妈妈，但她头发较短，而且脸上带有笑纹。看着她那双天真烂漫的大眼睛，我涌起一阵心痛。我怎么可以撇下我可爱、古怪、率性的母亲，让她独自一人去生活呢?当然，眼下她有菲尔，账单会有人去付，冰箱里会有吃的，汽车没油了有人去加，迷了路也有人可求，但还是……

 

"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar³, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.

 

"我真的想去，"我撒了个谎。我一直都不太会说谎话，不过这个谎话最近一直在说，最后连自己都深信不疑了。

 

"Tell Charlie I said hi." "I will."

 

"代我向查理问好。" "我会的。"

 

"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."

 

"我很快就会来看你的，"她坚持道，"你想回家的话，随时都可以回——你说一声需要我，我马上就回来。"

 

But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.

 

不过，从她眼中我能看出这样的诺言会让她做出怎样的牺牲。

 

"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."

 

"别为我操心，"我劝她，"一切都会很好的。我爱你，妈妈。"

 

She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.

 

她紧紧地搂了我一会儿，然后等我登上了飞机，她才离开。

 

It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix⁴ to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to PortAngeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks.

 

Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about. 从凤凰城到西雅图要飞四个小时，然后在西雅图换乘小飞机往北飞一个小时到天使港，再南下开一个小的车就到福克斯了。坐飞机我倒不怕;不过，跟查理在车上相处的那一个小时却令我有些担心。

 

Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.

 

查理对这件事情的态度从头到尾都非常不错。我第一次来跟他一起生活，即使还有些许做秀的成分，但他似乎真的很高兴。他已经为我在高中注册了，还打算帮我弄辆车。

 

But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would callverbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a littleconfused by my decision — like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.

 

但是跟查理在一起肯定会很别扭。我们都不是那种在谁看来都很啰嗦的人，何况，我也不知道有什么好说的。我明白，他被我的决定弄得摸不着头脑了——就像我妈妈在我面前那样，我不喜欢福克斯，这一点我从来都没有掩饰过。

 

When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen⁵ — just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.

 

飞机在天使港着陆时，天空正在下着雨。我没有把它看作是某种征兆——下雨在福克斯是不可避免的。我已经跟太阳说过再见了。

 

Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite thescarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.

 

查理开着巡逻车来接我，这也是我预料之中的事。查理·斯旺是福克斯善良人民的斯旺警长。我尽管手头不宽裕，但还是想买辆车，主要就是因为我不想让一辆顶上有红蓝灯的警车拉着我满街跑。交通不畅，警察的功劳谁都望尘莫及。

1 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

2 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。

3 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

4 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

5 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？