【饥饿游戏】39

What did you think of that costume?”

Cinna raises one eyebrow¹ at me. Be honest. “You mean after

I got over my fear of being burned alive?” I ask.

Big laugh. A real one from the audience.

“Yes. Start then,” says Caesar.

Cinna, my friend, I should tell him anyway. “I thought Cinna

was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I’d ever

seen and I couldn’t believe I was wearing it. I can’t believe I’m

wearing this, either.” I lift up my skirt to spread it out. “I mean,

look at it!”

As the audience oohs and ahs, I see Cinna make the tiniest

circular motion with his finger. But I know what he’s saying.

Twirl for me.

I spin in a circle once and the reaction is immediate².

“Oh, do that again!” says Caesar, and so I lift up my arms

and spin around and around letting the skirt fly out, letting

the dress engulf³ me in flames. The audience breaks into

cheers. When I stop, I clutch Caesar’s arm.

“Don’t stop!” he says.

“I have to, I’m dizzy!” I’m also giggling⁴, which I think I’ve

done maybe never in my lifetime. But the nerves and the

spinning have gotten to me.

Caesar wraps a protective arm around me. “Don’t worry,

I’ve got you. Can’t have you following in your mentor’s footsteps.”

Everyone’s hooting⁵ as the cameras find Haymitch, who is

by now famous for his head dive at the reaping, and he waves

them away good-naturedly and points back to me.

“It’s all right,” Caesar reassures⁶ the crowd. “She’s safe with

me. So, how about that training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint

what happened in there.”

I glance at the Gamemakers on the balcony and bite my lip.

“Um . . . all I can say, is I think it was a first.”

The cameras are right on the Gamemakers, who are chuckling⁷

and nodding.

“You’re killing⁸ us,” says Caesar as if in actual pain. 

“Details. Details.”

I address the balcony. “I’m not supposed to talk about it, right?”

The Gamemaker who fell in the punch bowl shouts out,

“She’s not!”

“Thank you,” I say. “Sorry. My lips are sealed.”

“Let’s go back then, to the moment they called your sister’s

name at the reaping,” says Caesar. His mood is quieter now.

“And you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?”

No. No, not all of you. But maybe Cinna. I don’t think I’m

imagining the sadness on his face. “Her name’s Prim⁹. She’s just

twelve. And I love her more than anything.”

You could hear a pin drop in the City Circle now.

“What did she say to you? After the reaping?” Caesar asks.

Be honest. Be honest. I swallow hard. “She asked me to try

really hard to win.” The audience is frozen, hanging on my

every word.

“And what did you say?” prompts Caesar gently.

But instead of warmth, I feel an icy rigidity¹⁰ take over my body. 

My muscles tense as they do before a kill. When I speak,

my voice seems to have dropped an octave. “I swore I would.”

“I bet you did,” says Caesar, giving me a squeeze. The buzzer¹¹

goes off. “Sorry we’re out of time. Best of luck, Katniss

Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve.”

The applause continues long after I’m seated. I look to Cinna

for reassurance¹². He gives me a subtle thumbs-up.

I’m still in a daze¹³ for the first part of Peeta’s interview. He

has the audience from the get-go, though; I can hear them

laughing, shouting out. He plays up the baker’s son thing,

comparing the tributes to the breads from their districts. Then

has a funny anecdote¹⁴ about the perils¹⁶ of the Capitol showers.

“Tell me, do I still smell like roses?” he asks Caesar, and then

there’s a whole run where they take turns sniffing¹⁷ each other

that brings down the house. I’m coming back into focus 

when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home.

Peeta hesitates, then gives an unconvincing shake of his head.

“Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl.

Come on, what’s her name?” says Caesar.

Peeta sighs. “Well, there is this one girl. I’ve had a crush on

her ever since I can remember. But I’m pretty sure she didn’t

know I was alive until the reaping.”

Sounds of sympathy from the crowd. Unrequited love they

can relate to.

“She have another fellow?” asks Caesar.

“I don’t know, but a lot of boys like her,” says Peeta.

“So, here’s what you do. You win, you go home. She 

can’t turn you down then, eh?” says Caesar encouragingly.

“I don’t think it’s going to work out. Winning . . . won’t 

help in my case,” says Peeta.

“Why ever not?” says Caesar, mystified.

Peeta blushes beet¹⁸ red and stammers¹⁹ out. “Because . . . because

. . . she came here with me.”

octave n. 八度音阶；八行诗；十四行诗的前八行；八个一组的事物

anecdote n. 轶事；奇闻；秘史

peril¹⁵ n. 危险；冒险

1 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

4 giggling   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑，叫我真受不了，那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

6 reassures   

v.消除恐惧或疑虑，恢复信心( reassure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A significant benefit of Undo is purely psychological: It reassures users. 撤销的一个很大好处纯粹是心理上的，它让用户宽心。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Direct eye contact reassures the person that you are confident and honest. 直接的目光接触让人相信你的自信和诚实。 来自口语例句

7 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

8 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。

9 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

10 rigidity   

adj.钢性，坚硬

参考例句：

• The rigidity of the metal caused it to crack.这金属因刚度强而产生裂纹。
• He deplored the rigidity of her views.他痛感她的观点僵化。

11 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

12 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

13 daze   

v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏

参考例句：

• The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
• I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。

14 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

15 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

16 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

17 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 beet   

n.甜菜；甜菜根

参考例句：

• He farmed his pickers to work in the beet fields. 他出租他的摘棉工去甜菜地里干活。
• The sugar beet is an entirely different kind of plant.糖用甜菜是一种完全不同的作物。

19 stammers   

n.口吃，结巴( stammer的名词复数 )v.结巴地说出( stammer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She stammers when she feels nervous. 她紧张时就口吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The little child stammers in the presence of strangers. 那小孩在陌生人面前说话就结巴。 来自辞典例句