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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Everyone is weirded out. I’m very weirded out. Husband? Husband? Thursday, April 12, 1984 (Henry is 36, Clare is 12) HENRY: Clare and I are playing chess in the fire circle in the woods. It’s a beautiful spring day, and the woods are alive with birds courting and birds nesting. We are keeping ourselves out of the way of Clare’s family, who are out and about this afternoon. Clare has been stuck on her move for a while; I took her Queen Three moves ago and now she is doomed1 but determined2 to go down fighting. She looks up, “Henry, who’s your favorite Beatle?” “John. Of course.” “Why ‘of course’?” “Well, Ringo is okay but kind of a sad sack, you know? And George is a little too New Age for my taste.” “What’s ‘New Age’?” “Oddball religions. Sappy boring music. Pathetic attempts to convince oneself of the superiority of anything connected with Indians. Non-Western medicine.” “But you don’t like regular medicine ” “That’s because doctors are always trying to tell me I’m crazy. If I had a broken arm I would be a big fan of Western medicine.” “What about Paul?” “Paul is for girls.” Clare smiles, shyly. “I like Paul best.” “Well, you’re a girl.” “Why is Paul for girls?” Tread carefully, I tell myself. “Uh, gee3. Paul is, like, the Nice Beatle, you know?” “Is that bad?” “No, not at all. But guys are more interested in being cool, and John is the Cool Beatle.” “Oh. But he’s dead.” I laugh.
它开始动了,缓慢地旋转,然后停在了H上。接着它越转越快,先后停在E、N、R、Y上。“是亨利(HENRY),”玛丽·克里斯汀娜问:“谁是亨利?”海伦说:“我也不知道。克莱尔,你脸红了,谁是亨利?”我一个劲地摇头,似乎那个名字对我也是个谜。“到你了,鲁思。”(真没有想到)她也问了谁喜欢她,占卜板拼出了R、I、C、K。我觉得她用手推过,瑞克(RICK)就是马龙老师,我们的自然课老师,他正在暗恋我们的英语老师恩格尔小姐。除了帕蒂,所有人都笑了,因为帕蒂暗恋的就是马龙老师。鲁思和我起身,换劳拉和南茜坐下。南茜背对着我,问:“亨利是谁?”她提问时我看不见她的脸,大家都看着我,鸦雀无声。我盯着板,什么动静也没有,我起初以为总算逃过了窘境,但那塑料玩意开始动了。H。我想,大概又要把“亨利”再拼一遍吧,毕竟,南茜和劳拉对亨利一无所知,连我都知道得很少。但是接着出现的字母依次为:U、S、B、A、N、D,大家都看看我。“嗯,我还没有结婚呢,我才十一岁啊。”劳拉追问:“亨利究竟是谁啊?”“我真不知道,也许是某个我还没有遇到的人吧。”她点点头。大家都觉得不可思议。我也觉得不可思议。HUSBAND?老公?
一九八四年四月十二日,星期四(亨利三十六岁,克莱尔十二岁)
亨利:我和克莱尔在树林里升了一堆火,我们在那儿下着国际象棋。这个春天美丽动人,树林里充满了生机,鸟儿都忙着唱情歌、筑爱巢。我们刻意避开克莱尔的家人,正巧他们今天下午都出门了。现在的战况是:克莱尔的一招棋迟迟出不了手,而三招之前,我已经吃了她的“后”,显然她败局已定,可她还想一拼到底。
她抬头看着我,“亨利,你最喜欢甲壳虫乐队里的哪一个?”
“当然是约翰·列侬。”
“为什么要说‘当然是’呢?”
“这么说吧,林戈·斯塔尔也是不错,可是看上去太老实了,你觉得呢?乔治·哈里森又有点太新世纪了,不合我的口味。”
“什么叫‘新世纪’?”
“古怪的宗教、精力过剩、叫人发腻的音乐。那些病态的家伙总企图说服人们,凡是和印度人有关的任何东西都如何的超级了不起。还有那些东方的医学。”
“可你也不喜欢常规西医啊。”
“那是因为医生们老说我精神有问题。如果我胳膊断了,我肯定是个西医大粉丝。”
“你觉得保罗·麦卡特怎么样?”
“保罗招女孩子喜欢。”
克莱尔笑了,害羞地说:“我最喜欢保罗了。”
“这个嘛,你是女孩子啊。”
“为什么保罗招女孩子喜欢呢?”
我暗暗对自己说,得好好回答她。“嗯,保罗,他,是只,乖甲壳虫,明白了么?”
“那样不好吗?”
“不,也不是不好啦。可是男人都更喜欢酷酷的感觉,约翰就是只酷甲壳虫。”
“哦,可惜他已经死了。”
我不由大笑。
1 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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2 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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3 gee | |
n.马;int.向右!前进!,惊讶时所发声音;v.向右转 | |
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