英语听力 暮光之城·暮色 第326期:第二十一章 电话(3)

 For three and a half hours I stared at the wall, curled in a ball, rocking. My mind went around in circles, trying to come up with some way out of this nightmare.  在之后的三个半小时里，我盯着墙壁，蜷成一个球，滚来滚去。我的脑子反反复复地思索着，试图想出一些办法来结束这个梦魇。

There was no escape, no reprieve¹. I could see only one possible end looming² darkly in my future. The only question was how many other people would be hurt before I reached it. 但我根本无法逃离，也无法拖延。我所能看见的未来，有且只有一个正阴森森地逼近的结局。唯一的问题是，在我走到这个结局以前，有多少别的人会受到伤害。

The only solace³, the only hope I had left, was knowing that I would see Edward soon. Maybe, if I could just see his face again,  我所拥有的唯一的安慰和唯一的希望是，我知道很快我就能看到爱德华了。也许，只要我再次看到他的脸，

I would also be able to see the solution that eluded⁴ me now. 我就能够想出那个现在正遍寻不见的答案。

When the phone rang, I returned to the front room, a little ashamed of my behavior. I hoped I hadn't offended either of them,  当电话响起来的时候，我回到了前面的屋子，动作里有着一丝羞愧。我希望我没有冒犯他们两个，

that they would know how grateful I was for the sacrifices they were making on my account. 我希望他们知道，我对他们为了我所做出的牺牲是多么的感激。

Alice was talking as rapidly as ever, but what caught my attention was that, for the first time, Jasper was not in the room.  和往常一样，是爱丽丝接的电话，但引起我注意的是，贾斯帕头一次没在房间里。

I looked at the clock it was five-thirty in the morning. 我看了看钟——现在是早上五点半。

"They're just boarding their plane," Alice told me. "They'll land at nine-forty-five." Just a few more hours to keep breathing till he was here. “他们刚刚登机。”爱丽丝告诉我。“他们会在九点四十五分降落。”还得再强迫自己保持呼吸几个小时，才能等到他。

"Where's Jasper?" “贾斯帕在哪里？”

"He went to check out." “他去退房。”

"You aren't staying here?" “你们不是要待在这里吗？”

"No, we're relocating closer to your mother's house." “不，我们要搬到离你妈妈的房子更近的地方。”

My stomach twisted uneasily at her words. 我的胃因为她的话而不自在地扭曲起来。 

But the phone rang again, distracting me. She looked surprised, but I was already walking forward, reaching hopefully for the phone. 但电话再次响起，分散了我的注意力。她看上去很惊讶，但我已经走向前去，满怀希望地向电话伸出手去。

"Hello?" Alice asked. "No, she's right here." She held the phone out to me. Your mother, she mouthed. “你好？”爱丽丝问道。“不，她就在这里。”她把电话递给我。你妈妈，她用唇语说道。

"Hello?" “你好？”

"Bella? Bella?" It was my mother's voice, in a familiar tone I had heard a thousand times in my childhood,  “贝拉？贝拉？”是我妈妈的声音，用着我童年时听过一千遍的熟悉的语气说着。每当我离人行道的边缘太近，

anytime I'd gotten too close to the edge of the sidewalk or strayed out of her sight in a crowded place. It was the sound of panic. 或者在拥挤的地方脱离了她的视线时，她都会这样喊着我。那是一种充满恐惧的声音。

I sighed. I'd been expecting this, though I'd tried to make my message as unalarming as possible without lessening⁵ the urgency of it. 我叹了口气。我早就料到了，虽然我在留言时，已经在不降低紧迫感的同时尽可能地让自己的声音显得不那么惊惶。

"Calm down, Mom," I said in my most soothing⁶ voice, walking slowly away from Alice. I wasn't sure if I could lie as convincingly with her eyes on me.  “冷静点，妈妈。”我用最令人宽慰的语气说着，慢慢地从爱丽丝身旁走开。我不确定自己能否在她的监视下说出令人信服的谎言。

1 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

4 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

6 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。