【饥饿游戏】47

Eleven dead, but none from District 12. I try to work out

who is left. Five Career Tributes. Foxface. Thresh and Rue¹. Rue

. . . so she made it through the first day after all. I can’t help

feeling glad. That makes ten of us. The other three I’ll figure

out tomorrow. Now when it is dark, and I have traveled far,

and I am nestled high in this tree, now I must try and rest.

I haven’t really slept in two days, and then there’s been the

long day’s journey into the arena². Slowly, I allow my muscles

to relax. My eyes to close. The last thing I think is it’s lucky I

don’t snore. . . .

Snap! The sound of a breaking branch wakes me. How long

have I been asleep? Four hours? Five? The tip of my nose is icy

cold. Snap! Snap! What’s going on? This is not the sound of a

branch under someone’s foot, but the sharp crack of one coming

from a tree. Snap! Snap! I judge it to be several hundred

yards to my right. Slowly, noiselessly, I turn myself in that 

direction. For a few minutes, there’s nothing but blackness and

some scuffling. Then I see a spark and a small fire begins to

bloom. A pair of hands warms over flames, but I can’t make

out more than that.

I have to bite my lip not to scream every foul³ name I know

at the fire starter. What are they thinking? A fire I’ll just at

nightfall would have been one thing. Those who battled at the

Cornucopia⁴, with their superior strength and surplus of 

supplies, they couldn’t possibly have been near enough to spot

the flames then. But now, when they’ve probably been combing

the woods for hours looking for victims. You might as well be 

waving a flag and shouting, “Come and get me!”

And here I am a stone’s throw from the biggest idiot in

the Games. Strapped⁵ in a tree. Not daring to flee since my

general location has just been broadcast to any killer⁶ who

cares. I mean, I know it’s cold out here and not everybody

has a sleeping bag. But then you grit⁷ your teeth and stick it

out until dawn!

I lay smoldering⁸ in my bag for the next couple of hours really

thinking that if I can get out of this tree, I won’t have the least 

problem taking out my new neighbor. My instinct has been to 

flee, not fight. But obviously this person’s a hazard. Stupid 

people are dangerous. And this one probably doesn’t have 

much in the way of weapons while I’ve got this excellent knife.

The sky is still dark, but I can feel the first signs of dawn

approaching. I’m beginning to think we — meaning the person

whose death I’m now devising and me — we might actually

have gone unnoticed. Then I hear it. Several pairs of feet

breaking into a run. The fire starter must have dozed⁹ off.

They’re on her before she can escape. I know it’s a girl now, I

can tell by the pleading, the agonized¹⁰ scream that follows.

Then there’s laughter and congratulations from several voices.

Someone cries out, “Twelve down and eleven to go!” which

gets a round of appreciative¹¹ hoots¹².

So they’re fighting in a pack. I’m not really surprised. Often

alliances are formed in the early stages of the Games. The

strong band together to hunt down the weak then, when the

tension becomes too great, begin to turn on one another. I

don’t have to wonder too hard who has made this alliance. It’ll

be the remaining Career Tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4.

Two boys and three girls. The ones who lunched together.

For a moment, I hear them checking the girl for supplies. I

can tell by their comments they’ve found nothing good. I 

wonder if the victim is Rue but quickly dismiss the thought. 

She’s much too bright to be building a fire like that.

“Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts

stinking¹³.” I’m almost certain that’s the brutish boy from District

2. There are murmurs¹⁴ of assent¹⁵ and then, to my horror, I

hear the pack heading toward me. They do not know I’m here.

How could they? And I’m well concealed¹⁶ in the clump¹⁷ of trees.

At least while the sun stays down. Then my black sleeping bag

will turn from camouflage¹⁸ to trouble. If they just keep moving,

they will pass me and be gone in a minute.

But the Careers stop in the clearing about ten yards from

my tree. They have flashlights, torches. I can see an arm here,

a boot there, through the breaks in the branches. I turn to

stone, not even daring to breathe. Have they spotted¹⁹ me? No,

not yet. I can tell from their words their minds are elsewhere.

“Shouldn’t we have heard a cannon²⁰ by now?”

“I’d say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately.”

“Unless she isn’t dead.”

“She’s dead. I stuck her myself.”

“Then where’s the cannon?”

“Someone should go back. Make sure the job’s done.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to have to track her down twice.”

“I said she’s dead!”

An argument breaks out until one tribute silences the others.

“We’re wasting time! I’ll go finish her and let’s move on!”

I almost fall out of the tree. The voice belongs to Peeta.

a stone’s throw 一箭之遥

1 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

2 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。

3 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

4 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。

5 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

8 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

9 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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

11 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

12 hoots   

咄，啐

参考例句：

• His suggestion was greeted with hoots of laughter. 他的建议引起了阵阵嗤笑。
• The hoots came from the distance. 远处传来呜呜声。

13 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

14 murmurs   

n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕

参考例句：

• They spoke in low murmurs. 他们低声说着话。 来自辞典例句
• They are more superficial, more distinctly heard than murmurs. 它们听起来比心脏杂音更为浅表而清楚。 来自辞典例句

15 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。

16 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

17 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。

18 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

19 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

20 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。