英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第107期:第七章 梦魇(12)

 That had always been my way, though.  不过，这通常是我的风格。

Making decisions was the painful part for me, the part I agonized¹ over.  做决定对我来说是一个痛苦的过程，一个让我饱受煎熬的过程。

But once the decision was made, I simply followed through  不过一旦我作出了决定，我就只会坚持到底

usually with relief that the choice was made.  通常还会因为已经做出了选择而倍感宽慰。

Sometimes the relief was tainted² by despair, like my decision to come to Forks.  有时这种宽慰会被失望所破坏，正如我来福克斯的决定。

But it was still better than wrestling with the alternatives. 但这仍比为作出选择而苦苦斟酌要好得多。

This decision was ridiculously easy to live with. Dangerously easy. 现在带着这个决定住下来要容易多了，荒谬可笑的容易。危机重重的容易。

And so the day was quiet, productive — I finished my paper before eight. 这一天就这样平静地过去了，而且效率很高——我在八点前就把论文写完了。

Charlie came home with a large catch,  查理到家的时候简直就是大丰收。

and I made a mental note to pick up a book of recipes for fish while I was in Seattle next week.  我做了一个备忘录，提醒自己下周到西雅图去的时候记得买一本烹鱼食谱。

The chills that flashed up my spine³ whenever I thought of  无论何时我一想到这趟旅程，一阵寒意就会飞快地掠过我的脊柱。

that trip were no different than the ones I'd felt before I'd taken my walk with Jacob Black.  但这和我跟雅克布·布莱克散步以前所感到过的寒意没什么不同。

They should be different, I thought. I should be afraid, 我想，它们本来应该有所不同的。我本来应该觉得害怕，

I knew I should be, but I couldn't feel the right kind of fear. 我知道我应该这样做的，但我确实感觉不到这种正确的恐惧感。

I slept dreamlessly that night, exhausted⁴ from beginning my day so early,  那天夜里我一夜无梦，睡得很好。因为那一天我起得太早，

and sleeping so poorly the night before.  前一天晚上又睡得太少，耗尽了我的精力。

I woke, for the second time since arriving in Forks, to the bright yellow light of a sunny day.  这是我到福克斯以后的第二次，在一个晴朗的早上，在明黄色的光线中醒来。

I skipped to the window, stunned⁵ to see that there was hardly a cloud in the sky,  我跳到窗前，惊奇地发现天空里甚至没有半点云影，

and those there were just fleecy little white puffs⁶ that couldn't possibly be carrying any rain.  只有几片小小的羊毛般纯白蓬松的云彩，它们根本不可能带来任何雨水。

I opened the window — surprised when it opened silently, without sticking,  我推开窗子，惊讶地发现当它打开的时候相当安静，完全没有卡住，

not having opened it in who knows how many years — and sucked in the relatively⁷ dry air.  一点儿也不像谁知道多少年没开过的样子。我深吸了一口相对比较干爽的空气。

It was nearly warm and hardly windy at all. My blood was electric in my veins⁸. 外面很暖和，一丝风也没有。我的血液在血管里沸腾着。

Charlie was finishing breakfast when I came downstairs, and he picked up on my mood immediately. 当我下楼的时候，查理已经吃完早餐了，他立刻领会到了我的心情。

"Nice day out," he commented. “适合外出的好天气。”他评价道。

"Yes," I agreed with a grin. “是的。”我露齿一笑，赞同道。

He smiled back, his brown eyes crinkling around the edges.  他冲我一笑，棕色的眼睛弯成了两道弧线。

When Charlie smiled, it was easier to see why he and my mother had jumped too quickly into an early marriage.  当查理微笑的时候，很容易就能看出来为什么当初他和我妈会闪电般地早婚。

Most of the young romantic he'd been in those days had faded before I'd known him, as the curly brown hair， 那段日子里他曾有过的年轻人的浪漫，大部分在我记事以前就消失殆尽了。正如他卷曲的棕发，

the same color, if not the same texture⁹, as mine — had dwindled¹⁰,  和我一样的颜色，即使质地有所不同——已经开始减少了，

slowly revealing more and more of the shiny skin of his forehead.  渐渐显露出越来越多的前额上发亮的肌肤。

But when he smiled I could see a little of the man who had run away with Renée  但当他微笑的时候，我依然可以看到那个和蕾妮一起私奔的男人的影子，

when she was just two years older than I was now. 那时候她只比我现在大两岁。

I ate breakfast cheerily, watching the dust moats stirring in the sunlight that streamed in the back window.  我兴高采烈地吃着早餐，看着点点纤尘在从后窗射入的阳光里轻舞飞扬。

Charlie called out a goodbye, and I heard the cruiser pull away from the house.  查理喊了一声再见，然后我听到了巡逻车开走的声音。

I hesitated on my way out the door, hand on my rain jacket.  出门的时候我拿着我的防水夹克，犹豫了一下。

It would be tempting¹¹ fate to leave it home.  把它留在家里是个诱人却关乎命运的举措。

With a sigh, I folded it over my arm and stepped out into the brightest light I'd seen in months. 我叹了口气，把它搭在手臂上，走进了数月以来我见过的最明媚的阳光里。

1 agonized   

v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦

参考例句：

• All the time they agonized and prayed. 他们一直在忍受痛苦并且祈祷。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She agonized herself with the thought of her loss. 她念念不忘自己的损失，深深陷入痛苦之中。 来自辞典例句

2 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

6 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

10 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。