【时间旅行者的妻子】64

“Pretty please?”

　“Okay, I’ll try.” She stands up, slowly. This is the year Clare got tall, quickly. In the past year she has grown five inches, and she has not yet become accustomed to her new body. Breasts and legs and hips¹, all newly minted. 

 

I try not to think about it as I watch her walk up the path to the house. I glance at the book she was reading. It’s a Dorothy Sayers, one I haven’t read. I’m on page thirty-three by the time she gets back. She has brought a Thermos², cups, a blanket, and some doughnuts. A summer’s worth of sun has freckled³ Clare’s nose, and I have to resist the urge to run my hands through her bleached⁴ hair, which falls over her arms as she spreads out the blanket.

 

　“Bless you.” I receive the Thermos as though it contains a sacrament. We settle ourselves on the blanket. I kick off the flip-flops, pour out a cup of coffee, and take a sip⁵. It’s incredibly strong and bitter. “Yowza! This is rocket fuel, Clare.”

 

　“Too strong?” She looks a little depressed⁶, and I hasten to compliment her.

　“Well, there’s probably no such thing as too strong, but it’s pretty strong. I like it, though. Did you make it?”

　“Uh-huh. I never made coffee before, and Mark came in and was kind of bugging⁷ me, so maybe I did it wrong.”

　“No, it’s fine.” I blow on the coffee, and gulp⁸ it down. I feel better immediately. I pour another cup.

　Clare takes the Thermos from me. She pours herself half an inch of coffee and takes a cautious sip. “Ugh,” she says. “This is disgusting. Is it supposed to taste like this?”

 

　

　Clare pours the rest of her coffee into the Meadow and takes a doughnut. Then she says, “You’re making me into a freak.”

　I don’t have a ready reply for this, since the idea has never occurred to me. “Uh, no I’m not.”

　“You are so.”

 

　“Am not.” I pause. “What do you mean, I’m making you into a freak? I’m not making you into anything.”

 

“美女，拜托～”

”好吧，我试试。”

 

她慢慢站起来，这年克莱尔迅速长高了。过去的一年中她长高了五英寸，克莱尔还未适应这全新的身体。青春发育的少女，胸部臀部，和修长的腿都在悄悄发生着变化。

 

我望着她沿着小路走进了房子里，尽量不去想她开始长大了这件事。我看了一眼她刚在读的书，《桃乐丝赛尔斯》，这本我以前从未见过，她回来的时候我正读到33页，她带了一个热水瓶，两个杯子，一张毯子，一些甜圈圈。（这个小妻子可真贴心啊）晒了整个夏天，太阳让她的鼻侧有点小雀斑，她俯身铺开毯子的时候，我努力控制住了想伸手抚摸她垂在双臂上金色长发的冲动。

 

“太感谢你了！” 我恭敬的接过热水瓶，像里面装的是圣水似得。我把人字拖甩到草坪一边，和克莱尔一起在毯子上面坐好。我倒了一杯咖啡，抿了一口。实在是又浓又苦得厉害。

 

"呜哇！这是惊喜吗？克莱尔，你给我喝的是火箭燃料（一种烈性鸡尾酒名）。"

 

”太浓了吗？”她看起来有点沮丧了，于是我赶快安慰她。

 

“嗯，没有太浓，是很浓，但我很喜欢，咖啡是你煮的吗？”

 

“嗯哼，我以前从没有煮过咖啡，然后马克又跑进来捣乱，所以可能做糟了。”

 

“没有，做得很好呢。” 我吹了吹咖啡，然后全喝了下去，立刻感觉精神了很多。我又倒了一杯。克莱尔从我手中接过水瓶，给自己倒了一杯，小心翼翼的抿了一口。

“呸，”她说，“这太难喝了，咖啡尝起来都是这样的吗？”

“嗯，通常没有苦得这么厉害。你喜欢喝的是加糖和奶的。”

克莱尔把她喝剩的咖啡全都倒在草场上，然后拿了一个甜圈圈。

 

 “你要把我教成怪物了。”  克莱尔说。我不知道怎么回答这句话了，因为我以前从未想过这个问题。

“呃，我没有。。。”  

“你有。” 

“我没有。”我顿了一下，“你是说我把你教成怪人了吗，可我什么也没有教你啊。”

1 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 thermos   

n.保湿瓶，热水瓶

参考例句：

• Can I borrow your thermos?我可以借用你的暖水瓶吗？
• It's handy to have the thermos here.暖瓶放在这儿好拿。

3 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

4 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

5 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

6 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

7 bugging   

[法] 窃听

参考例句：

• Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句
• Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

8 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。