"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously. “你喜欢听惊悚故事吗？”他用一种不祥的语气问道。

"I love them," I enthused, making an effort to smolder at him. “我太喜欢了。”我热切地说着，竭力用眼神鼓励着他。

Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. 雅克布溜达着向旁边的一根浮木走去。这根浮木的根须张牙舞爪地伸展着，像是一只巨大的苍白的蜘蛛的无数只细腿。

He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while I sat beneath him on the body of the tree. 他轻巧地跳到其中一根扭曲的树根上坐下来，我坐在他的下方，坐到了树干上。

He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his broad lips. 他俯视着岩礁，一抹笑意在他宽厚的唇边上徘徊着。

I could see he was going to try to make this good. 我看得出他正在努力组织语言。

I focused on keeping the vital interest I felt out of my eyes. 我专注地让自己的眼睛流露出兴致勃勃的神情。

"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" he began. “你听说过我们的古老故事吗？我是指，关于我们的来源——奎鲁特族？”他开始了。

"Not really," I admitted. “没有。”我承认道。

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood — “嗯，这里面有很多传说，其中有些的内容可以追溯到大洪水时期——

supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." 按照推测，古代的奎鲁特族人把他们的独木舟绑在了山上最高的一棵树的树顶，像诺亚方舟一样幸存了下来。”

He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. 他微笑着，向我表明了他并不太相信这些历史。

"Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. “另一个传说则声称我们是狼的后裔——现在这些狼依然是我们的兄弟。

It's against tribal law to kill them. 捕杀狼是违背部落法律的行为。”

"Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower. “然后是关于冷族的故事。”他的声音压得更低了。

"The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now. “冷族？”我问道，不再掩饰自己的阴谋了。