【饥饿游戏】46

As I refill my pack I have an awful thought. The lake. The one

I saw while I was waiting for the gong to sound. What if that's

the only water source in the arena¹? That way they'll guarantee

drawing us in to fight. The lake is a full day's journey from

where I sit now, a much harder journey with nothing to drink.

And then, even if I reach it, it's sure to be heavily guarded by

some of the Career Tributes. I'm about to panic when I remember

the rabbit I startled earlier today. It has to drink, too.

I just have to find out where.

Twilight² is closing in and I am ill at ease. The trees are too

thin to offer much concealment³. The layer of pine needles that

muffles⁴ my footsteps also makes tracking animals harder

when I need their trails to find water. And I'm still heading

downhill, deeper and deeper into a valley that seems endless.

I’m hungry, too, but I don’t dare break into my precious

store of crackers⁵ and beef yet. Instead, I take my knife and go

to work on a pine tree, cutting away the outer bark and scraping 

off a large handful of the softer inner bark. I slowly chew

the stuff as I walk along. After a week of the finest food in the

world, it’s a little hard to choke down. But I’ve eaten plenty of

pine in my life. I’ll adjust quickly.

In another hour, it’s clear I’ve got to find a place to camp.

Night creatures are coming out. I can hear the occasional hoot⁶

or howl, my first clue that I’ll be competing with natural 

predators⁷ for the rabbits. As to whether I’ll be viewed as a 

source of food, it’s too soon to tell. There could be any number 

of animals stalking me at this moment.

But right now, I decide to make my fellow tributes a priority.

I’m sure many will continue hunting through the night.

Those who fought it out at the Cornucopia⁸ will have food, an

abundance of water from the lake, torches or flashlights, and

weapons they’re itching⁹ to use. I can only hope I’ve traveled

far and fast enough to be out of range.

Before settling down, I take my wire and set two twitch-up

snares¹⁰ in the brush. I know it’s risky¹¹ to be setting traps, but

food will go so fast out here. And I can’t set snares on the run.

Still, I walk another five minutes before making camp.

I pick my tree carefully. A willow¹², not terribly tall but set in

a clump¹³ of other willows¹⁴, offering concealment in those long,

flowing tresses. I climb up, sticking to the stronger branches

close to the trunk, and find a sturdy fork for my bed. It takes

some doing, but I arrange the sleeping bag in a relatively 

comfortable manner. I place my backpack in the foot of the bag,

then slide in after it. As a precaution, I remove my belt, loop it

all the way around the branch and my sleeping bag, and refasten 

it at my waist. Now if I roll over in my sleep, I won’t go

crashing to the ground. I’m small enough to tuck the top of the

bag over my head, but I put on my hood¹⁵ as well. As night falls,

the air is cooling quickly. Despite the risk I took in getting the

backpack, I know now it was the right choice. This sleeping bag, 

radiating back and preserving my body heat, will be invaluable¹⁶.

I’m sure there are several other tributes whose biggest concern 

right now is how to stay warm whereas I may actually be able to 

get a few hours of sleep. If only I wasn’t so thirsty

. . .

Night has just come when I hear the anthem¹⁷ that proceeds

the death recap. Through the branches I can see the seal of the

Capitol, which appears to be floating in the sky. I’m actually

viewing another screen, an enormous one that’s transported

by of one of their disappearing hovercraft. The anthem fades

out and the sky goes dark for a moment. At home, we would

be watching full coverage¹⁸ of each and every killing¹⁹, but that’s

thought to give an unfair advantage to the living tributes. For

instance, if I got my hands on the bow and shot someone, my

secret would be revealed to all. No, here in the arena, all we

see are the same photographs they showed when they televised

our training scores. Simple head shots. But now instead

of scores they post only district numbers. I take a deep breath

as the face of the eleven dead tributes begin and tick them off

one by one on my fingers.

The first to appear is the girl from District 3. That means

that the Career Tributes from 1 and 2 have all survived. No

surprise there. Then the boy from 4. I didn’t expect that one,

usually all the Careers make it through the first day. The boy

from District 5 . . . I guess the fox-faced girl made it. Both 

tributes from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9. Yes, 

there’s the boy who I fought for the backpack. I’ve run 

through my fingers, only one more dead tribute to go. Is it 

Peeta? No, there’s the girl from District 10. That’s it. The 

Capitol seal is back with a final musical flourish. Then 

darkness and the sounds of the forest resume.

I’m relieved Peeta’s alive. I tell myself again that if I get

killed, his winning will benefit my mother and Prim²⁰ the most.

This is what I tell myself to explain the conflicting emotions

that arise when I think of Peeta. The gratitude²¹ that he gave me

an edge by professing²² his love for me in the interview. The 

anger at his superiority on the roof. The dread²³ that we may 

come face-to-face at any moment in this arena.

recap vt. 扼要重述

 

1 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

2 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

3 concealment   

n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒

参考例句：

• the concealment of crime 对罪行的隐瞒
• Stay in concealment until the danger has passed. 把自己藏起来，待危险过去后再出来。

4 muffles   

v.压抑，捂住( muffle的第三人称单数 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• Snow muffles the shriek of metal and the rasp of motion. 大雪掩盖了金属的尖叫声和机器的刺耳声。 来自互联网

5 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cornucopia   

n.象征丰收的羊角

参考例句：

• The book is a cornucopia of information.书是知识的宝库。
• Our cornucopia is the human mind and heart.我们富足是由于人类的智慧和热情。

9 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 snares   

n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He shoots rabbits and he sets snares for them. 他射杀兔子，也安放陷阱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself fallen unawares into the snares of death. 我自己不知不觉跌进了死神的陷阱。 来自辞典例句

11 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

12 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

13 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

14 willows   

n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木

参考例句：

• The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

16 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

17 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

18 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

19 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

20 prim   

adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地

参考例句：

• She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板，不喜欢听粗野的笑话！
• He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨

21 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

22 professing   

声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉

参考例句：

• But( which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 只要有善行。这才与自称是敬神的女人相宜。
• Professing Christianity, he had little compassion in his make-up. 他号称信奉基督教，却没有什么慈悲心肠。

23 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。