英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第37期:第四章 邀请(1)

 Chapter 4. INVITATIONS 第四章 邀请 

In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin.  梦里，很黑，惟一的一点儿昏暗的光，似乎是爱德华的皮肤发出来的。

I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness.  我看不见他的脸，只能看见他的背影，他正离我而去，把我留在了黑暗之中。

No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned.  不管我跑多快，总也追不上他；不管喊多大的声，他也不回头。

Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time.  一急，我半夜的时候醒了，似乎有好长一段时间硬是再也睡不着。

After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery¹, never within reach.  打这以后，差不多每天夜里他都会出现在我的梦里，但他总在我碰触不到的外围，永远都是近在咫尺又遥不可及。

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.  接下来的一个月出现的事情很令人不安、紧张，尤其是尴尬。

To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of that week.  令我感到郁闷的是，我发现自己成了后半周大家关注的中心。

Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me  around, obsessed² with making amends³ to me somehow.  泰勒·克劳利真让人受不了，成天跟着我转，老想着怎么补偿我。

I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it —  我努力让他相信我最想要的就是，他把这件事统统忘掉——

especially since nothing had actually happened to me — but he remained insistent⁴.  尤其是，实际上他根本就没给我带来任何伤害——可他就是一根筋儿地坚持。

He followed me between  classes and sat at our now-crowded lunch table.  他课间跟着我，吃午饭也挤到我们现在已经很拥挤的桌子上来凑热闹。

Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other,  迈克和埃里克对他的敌意，甚至超过了他们彼此间的敌意，

which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.  弄得我很担心自己又多了一个不受欢迎的粉丝。

No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero —  似乎谁也不关心爱德华，尽管我有一遍无一遍地解释说他是英雄——

how he had pulled me out of the  way and had nearly been crushed, too.  还解释了他把我拉开的过程以及差点儿让车给辗了的情形。

I tried to be convincing.  我使尽了浑身解数，力图描述得可信一点。

Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.  可杰西卡、迈克、埃里克以及其他所有人总是说他们在客货两用车拉走之前，连看都没有看到他。

I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing⁵ so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life.  我暗自纳闷，为什么别人谁都没有看见在他突然难以置信地救了我的命之前，他站在那么老远的地方呢。

With chagrin⁶, I realized the probable cause — no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was.  我懊恼地意识到了一个可能的原因——别人谁都不像我那样总是在注意爱德华。

No one else watched him the way I did. How pitiful.  别人谁都不曾像我那样注视过他。真是可怜啦。

Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account.  爱德华身边从来没有好奇的旁观者围着，想听他的第一手描述。

People avoided him as usual.  人们还是像往常一样对他敬而远之。

The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves.  卡伦兄妹仨和黑尔姐弟俩依旧坐在那张桌子上，不吃东西，只是他们几个之间相互聊天。

None of them, especially  Edward, glanced my way anymore.  他们谁都不瞟我这边一眼了，尤其是爱德华。

When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware⁷ of my presence.  上课他坐在我旁边时，也是能离我多远就离多远，似乎根本就不知道我的存在。

Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up — skin stretched even whiter over the bones —  只是偶尔他突然攥紧拳头，青筋暴露，皮肤更白了的时候，

did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious⁸ as he appeared.  我才会怀疑他是不是不像看上去的那样健忘。

He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van — there was no other conclusion I could come to.  他很后悔当初不该把我从泰勒的客货两用车前面拉开——除此，我得不出任何别的结论。

1 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

2 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

3 amends   

n. 赔偿

参考例句：

• He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
• This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。

4 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

5 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。

6 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

7 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

8 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。