【饥饿游戏】27

Chapter 7

My slumbers¹ are filled with disturbing dreams. The face of

the redheaded girl intertwines with gory² images from earlier

Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn³ and unreachable,

with Prim⁴ emaciated⁵ and terrified. I bolt up screaming for my

father to run as the mine explodes into a million deadly bits of

light.

Dawn is breaking through the windows. The Capitol has a

misty⁶, haunted air. My head aches and I must have bitten into

the side of my cheek in the night. My tongue probes the

ragged⁷ flesh and I taste blood.

Slowly, I drag myself out of bed and into the shower. I arbitrarily

punch buttons on the control board and end up hopping⁸

from foot to foot as alternating jets of icy cold and steaming

hot water assault me. Then I’m deluged⁹ in lemony foam¹⁰

that I have to scrape off with a heavy bristled¹¹ brush. Oh, well.

At least my blood is flowing.

When I’m dried and moisturized with lotion¹², I find an outfit¹³

has been left for me at the front of the closet. Tight black

pants, a long-sleeved burgundy tunic¹⁴, and leather shoes. I put

my hair in the single braid down my back. This is the first time

since the morning of the reaping that I resemble myself. No

fancy hair and clothes, no flaming capes¹⁵. Just me. Looking like

I could be headed for the woods. It calms me.

Haymitch didn’t give us an exact time to meet for breakfast

and no one has contacted me this morning, but I’m hungry so I

head down to the dining room, hoping there will be food. I’m

not disappointed. While the table is empty, a long board off to

the side has been laid with at least twenty dishes. A young

man, an Avox, stands at attention by the spread. When I ask if

I can serve myself, he nods assent¹⁶. I load a plate with eggs,

sausages, batter¹⁷ cakes covered in thick orange preserves, slices

of pale purple melon. As I gorge¹⁸ myself, I watch the sun rise

over the Capitol. I have a second plate of hot grain smothered¹⁹

in beef stew²⁰. Finally, I fill a plate with rolls and sit at the table,

breaking oil bits and dipping them into hot chocolate, the way

Peeta did on the train.

My mind wanders to my mother and Prim. They must be

up. My mother getting their breakfast of mush. Prim milking

her goat before school. Just two mornings ago, I was home.

Can that be right? Yes, just two. And now how empty the

house feels, even from a distance. What did they say last night

about my fiery²¹ debut²² at the Games? Did it give them hope, or

simply add to their terror when they saw the reality of twenty-

four tributes circled together, knowing only one could live?

Haymitch and Peeta come in, bid me good morning, fill

their plates. It makes me irritated that Peeta is wearing exactly

the same outfit I am. I need to say something to Cinna. This

twins act is going to blow up in out faces once the Games begin.

Surely, they must know this. Then I remember Haymitch telling 

me to do exactly what the stylists tell me to do. If it was anyone 

but Cinna, I might be tempted²³ to ignore him. But after last night’s 

triumph, I don’t have a lot of room to criticize his choices.

I’m nervous about the training. There will be three days in

which all the tributes practice together. On the last afternoon,

we’ll each get a chance to perform in private before the 

Gamemakers. The thought of meeting the other tributes 

face-to-face makes me queasy²⁴. I turn the roll I have just taken 

from the basket over and over in my hands, but my appetite is 

gone. When Haymitch has finished several platters of stew, he

pushes back his plate with a sigh. He takes a flask²⁵ from his

pocket and takes a long pull on it and leans his elbows on the

table. “So, let’s get down to business. Training. First off, if you

like, I’ll coach you separately. Decide now.”

“Why would you coach us separately?” I ask.

“Say if you had a secret skill you might not want the other

to know about,” says Haymitch.

I exchange a look with Peeta. “I don’t have any secret

skills,” he says. “And I already know what yours is, right? I

mean, I’ve eaten enough of your squirrels.”

I never thought about Peeta eating the squirrels I shot.

Somehow I always pictured the baker²⁶ quietly going off and

frying them up for himself. Not out of greed. But because town

families usually eat expensive butcher meat. Beef and chicken

and horse.

“You can coach us together,” I tell Haymitch. Peeta nods.

“All right, so give me some idea of what you can do,” says Haymitch.

“I can’t do anything,” says Peeta. “Unless you count baking bread.”

“Sorry, I don’t. Katniss. I already know you’re handy with a

knife,” says Haymitch.

“Not really. But I can hunt,” I say. “With a bow and arrow.”

1 slumbers   

睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His image traversed constantly her restless slumbers. 他的形象一再闯进她的脑海，弄得她不能安睡。
• My Titan brother slumbers deep inside his mountain prison. Go. 我的泰坦兄弟就被囚禁在山脉的深处。

2 gory   

adj.流血的；残酷的

参考例句：

• I shuddered when I heard the gory details.我听到血淋淋的详情，战栗不已。
• The newspaper account of the accident gave all the gory details.报纸上报道了这次事故中所有骇人听闻的细节。

3 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

4 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

5 emaciated   

adj.衰弱的，消瘦的

参考例句：

• A long time illness made him sallow and emaciated.长期患病使他面黄肌瘦。
• In the light of a single candle,she can see his emaciated face.借着烛光，她能看到他的被憔悴的面孔。

6 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

7 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

8 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

9 deluged   

v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付

参考例句：

• The minister was deluged with questions. 部长穷于应付像洪水般涌来的问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They deluged me with questions. 他们向我连珠发问。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

11 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

12 lotion   

n.洗剂

参考例句：

• The lotion should be applied sparingly to the skin.这种洗液应均匀地涂在皮肤上。
• She lubricates her hands with a lotion.她用一种洗剂来滑润她的手。

13 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

14 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

15 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

16 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

17 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

18 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

19 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

20 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

21 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

22 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

23 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

24 queasy   

adj.易呕的

参考例句：

• I felt a little queasy on the ship.我在船上觉得有点晕眩想呕吐。
• He was very prone to seasickness and already felt queasy.他快晕船了，已经感到恶心了。

25 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。

26 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。