Room to Dance Again

1

On that Tuesday evening in August of 1965, Robert Kincaid looked?

steadily

?at Francesca Johnson. She looked back?

in kind

.

steadily /?sted?li/ adv.?穩(wěn)定地

in kind?以同樣的方法

2

From ten feet apart they were locked in to one another, solidly, intimately, and?

inextricably

.

inextricably /'?n?k'str?k?bli/ adv.?逃不掉地

3

The telephone rang. Still looking at him, she did not move on the first ring, or the second.

4

In the long silence after the second ring, and before the third, he took a deep breath and looked down at his camera bags.

5

With that she was able to move across the kitchen toward the phone hanging on the wall just behind his chair.

6

“Johnson’s…. Hi, Marge. Yes, I’m fine. Thursday night?” She?

calculated

: He said he’d be here a week, he came yesterday, this is only Tuesday. The decision to lie was an easy one.

calculate /?k?lkjule?t/ vt. & vi.?計(jì)算

7

She was standing by the door to the porch, phone in her left hand. He sat within touching distance, his back to her.

8

She reached out with her right hand and rested it on his shoulder, in the casual way that some women have with men they care for. In only twenty-four hours she had come to care for Robert Kincaid.

9

“Oh, Marge, I’m tied up then. I’m going shopping in Des Moines. Good chance to get a lot of things done I’ve been?

putting off

. You know, with Richard and the kids gone.”

put off?推遲

10

Her hand lay quietly upon him. She could feel the muscle running from his neck along his shoulder, just back of his?

collarbone

.

collarbone /'kɑl?bon/ n.?鎖骨

11

She was looking down on the thick gray hair, neatly parted. Saw how it drifted over his collar.

12

Marge?

babbled

?on.

babble /'b?bl/ vi.?喋喋不休

13

“Yes, Richard called a little while ago…. No, the judging’s not till Wednesday, tomorrow. Richard said it’d be late Friday before they’re home.

14

Something they want to see on Thursday. It’s a long drive, particularly in the?

stock

?truck…. No, football practice doesn’t start for another week. Uh-huh, a week. At least that’s what Michael said.”

stock /stɑ?k/ n.?家畜

15

She was?

conscious

?of how warm his body felt through the shirt.

conscious /?kɑ?n??s/ adj.?意識(shí)到的

16

The warmth came into her hand, moved up her arm, and from there spread through her to wherever it wanted to go, with no effort — indeed, with no control — from her.

17

He was still, not wanting to make any noise that might cause Marge to wonder. Francesca understood this.

18

“Oh, yes, that was a man asking directions.” As she guessed, Floyd Clark had gone right home and told his wife about the green pickup he had seen in the Johnsons’ yard on his way by yesterday.

19

“A photographer??

Gosh

, I don’t know. I didn’t pay much attention. Could have been.” The lies were coming easier now.

gosh /ɡɑ?/ int.?唉

20

“He was looking for Roseman Bridge…. Is that right? Taking pictures of the old bridges, huh? Oh, well, that’s?

harmless

?enough.

harmless /?hɑ?rml?s/ adj.?無(wú)害的

21

“Hippie?” Francesca giggled and watched Kincaid’s head shake slowly back and forth.

22

“Well, I’m not sure what a hippie looks like. This fellow was polite. He only stayed a minute or two and then was gone….

23

I don’t know whether they have hippies in Italy, Marge. I haven’t been there for eight years. Besides, like I said, I’m not sure I’d know a hippie if I saw one.”

24

Marge was talking on about free love and?

communes

?and?

drugs

?she’d read about somewhere.

commune /?kɑ?mju?n/ n.?公社

drugs /dr?gz/ n.?毒品

25

“Marge, I was just getting ready to step into my bath when you called, so I’d better run before the water gets cold…. Okay, I’ll call soon. ‘Bye.”

26

She disliked removing her hand from his shoulder, but there was no good excuse not to remove it.

27

So she walked to the sink and turned on the radio. More country music. She adjusted the dial until the sound of a big?

band

?came on and left it there.

band /b?nd/ n.?樂(lè)隊(duì)

28

“ ‘

Tangerine

,’ ” he said.

tangerine /'t?nd??'rin/ n.?柑橘

29

“What?”

30

“The song. It’s called ‘Tangerine.’ It’s about an Argentinian woman.” Talking around the edges of things again.

31

Saying anything, anything. Fighting for time and the sense of it all, hearing somewhere back in his mind the faint click of a door shutting behind two people in an Iowa kitchen.

32

She smiled softly at him. “Are you hungry? I have supper ready whenever you want.”

33

“It was a long, good day. I wouldn’t mind another beer before I eat. Will you have one with me?”?

34

Stalling

, looking for his center, losing it moment by moment.

stall /st??l/ v.?停頓

35

She would. He opened two and set one on her side of the table.

36

Francesca was pleased with how she looked and how she felt.?

Feminine

. That’s how she felt. Light and warm and feminine.

feminine /?fem?n?n/ adj.?有女性氣質(zhì)的

37

She sat on the kitchen chair, crossed her legs, and the hem of her skirt rode up well above her right knee.

38

Kincaid was leaning against the refrigerator, arms folded across his chest, Budweiser in his right hand.?

39

She was pleased that he noticed her legs, and he did. He noticed all of her. He could have walked out on this earlier, could still walk.?

Rationality

?shrieked at him.

rationality /?r???n'?l?ti/ n.?合理的行動(dòng)

40

“Let it go, Kincaid, get back on the road. Shoot the bridges, go to India. Stop in?

Bangkok

?on the way and look up the silk?

merchant’s

?daughter who knows every?

ecstatic

?secret the old ways can teach.

Bangkok /?b???kɑk/ n.?曼谷（泰國(guó)首都）

merchant /?m??rt??nt/ n.?商人

ecstatic /?k?st?t?k/ adj.?狂喜的

41

Swim naked with her at dawn in?

jungle

?pools and listen to her scream as you turn her inside out at?

twilight

. Let go of this” — the voice was hissing now— “it’s?

outrunning

?you.”

jungle /?d???ɡl/ n. (熱帶)叢林

twilight /'twa?la?t/ n.?黃昏

outrun /?a?t'r?n/ vt.?從......逃脫

42

But the slow?

street

?

tango

?had begun. Somewhere it played; he could hear it, an old?

accordion

. It was far back, or far ahead, he couldn’t be sure. Yet it moved toward him steadily.

street /strit/ adj.?街道的

tango /'t??ɡo/ n.?探戈舞曲

accordion /?'k?rd??n/ n.?手風(fēng)琴

43

And the sound of it blurred his?

criteria

?and?

funneled

?down his?

alternatives

?toward?

unity

.

criteria /kra??t?r??/ n.?標(biāo)準(zhǔn)

funnel /'f?nl/ vi.?穿過(guò)狹隘通道

alternatives /?:l't?:n?tiv/?供選方案

unity /?ju?n?ti/ n.?統(tǒng)一

44

Inexorably

?it did that, until there was nowhere left to go, except toward Francesca Johnson.

inexorably /in'eks?r?bli/ adv.?無(wú)情地

45

“We could dance, if you like. The music’s pretty good for it,” he said in that serious, shy way of his.

46

Then he quickly?

tacked

?on his?

caveat

: “I’m not much of a dancer, but if you’d like to, I can probably handle it in a kitchen.”

tack /t?k/ v.?附加

caveat /'k?v?'?t/ n.?警告

47

Jack scratched at the porch door, wanting in. He could stay out.

48

Francesca blushed only a little. “Okay. But I don’t dance much, either… anymore. I did as a young girl in Italy, but now it’s just pretty much on New Year’s?

Eve

, and then only a little bit.”

eve /i?v/ n. (宗教節(jié)日或假日的)前日

49

He smiled and put his beer on the counter. She rose, and they moved toward each other.

50

“It’s your Tuesday night dance party from WGN, Chicago,” said the?

smooth

?

baritone

. “We’ll be back after these messages.”

smooth /smu?e/ adj.?流暢的

baritone /'b?r?'ton/ n.?男中音

51

They both laughed. Telephones and?

commercials

. Something there was that kept?

inserting

?reality between them. They knew it without saying it.

commercial /k??m??r?l/ n.?商業(yè)廣告

insert /?n?s??rt/ vt.?插入

52

But he had?

reached out

?and taken her right hand anyway, in his left. He leaned easily against the counter, legs crossed at the ankles, right one on top.

reach out?伸出

53

She?

rested

?beside him, against the sink, and looked out the window near the table, feeling his slim fingers around her hand.

rest /r?st/ vt. & vi.（使）倚靠

54

There was no breeze, and the corn was growing.

55

“Oh, just a minute.” She?

reluctantly

?removed her hand from his and opened the bottom right cupboard.

reluctantly /r??l ?kt?ntl?/ adv.?不情愿地

56

From it she took two white candles she had bought in Des Moines that morning, along with a small brass?

holder

?for each candle. She put them on the table.

holder /?ho?ld?r/ n.?（臺(tái)、架等）支持物

57

He walked over,?

tilted

?each one, and lit it, while she snapped off the overhead light. It was dark now, except for the small flames pointing straight upward, barely fluttering on a windless night.

tilt /t?lt/ vt.?使傾斜

58

The plain kitchen had never looked this good.

59

The music started again. Fortunately for both of them, it was a slow?

rendition

?of “Autumn Leaves.”

rendition /ren?d??n/ n.?演唱

60

She felt awkward. So did he. But he took her hand, put an arm around her waist, she moved into him, and the?

awkwardness

?vanished. Somehow it worked in an easy kind of way.

awkwardness /? ?k w?dn?s/ n.?尷尬

61

He moved his arm farther around her waist and?

pulled

?her closer.

fundamental /?f?nd??mentl/ adj.?基本的

62

She could smell him, clean and soaped and warm. A good,?

fundamental

?smell of a civilized man who seemed, in some part of himself,?

aboriginal

.

aboriginal /??b?'r?d??nl/ adj.?土著的

melody /?mel?di/ n.?旋律

63

“Nice perfume,” he said, bringing their hands in to lie upon his chest, near his shoulder.

64

“Thank you.”

65

They danced, slowly. Not moving very far in any direction. She could feel his legs against hers, their stomachs touching occasionally.

66

The song ended, but he held on to her, hummed the?

melody

?that had just played, and they stayed as they were until the next song began.

melody /?mel?di/ n.?歌曲

67

He?

automatically

?led her into it, and the dance went on, while?

locusts

?complained about the coming of September.

automatically /???t??m?t?kli/ adv.?不自覺(jué)地

locust /'lok?st/ n.?蝗蟲(chóng)

68

She could feel the muscles of his shoulder through the light?

cotton

?shirt. He was?

real

, more real than anything she’d ever known. He bent slightly to put his cheek against hers.

cotton /?kɑ?tn/ adj.?棉制的

real /'ri?l/ adj.?實(shí)在的

69

During the time they spent together, he once?

referred

?to himself as one of the last?

cowboys

. They had been sitting on the grass by the pump out back. She didn’t understand and asked him about it.

refer /r??f??r/ vi.?提到

cowboy /?ka?b??/ n.?牛仔

70

“There’s a?

certain

?

breed

?of man that’s?

obsolete

,” he had said.

certain /?s??rtn/ adj.?某些

breed /bri?d/ n. (人的)類型

obsolete /?ɑ?bs??li?t/ adj.?（生物特征的一部分）退化的

71

“Or very nearly so. The world is getting organized, way too organized for me and some others. Everything in its place, a place for everything.

72

Well, my camera equipment is pretty well organized, I admit, but I’m talking about something more than that.

73

Rules and?

regulations

?and laws and social?

conventions

.?

regulation /?reɡju?le??n/ n.?規(guī)章

convention /k?n?ven?n/ n.?慣例

74

Hierarchies

?of authority,?

spans

?of control, long-range plans, and?

budgets

.?

Corporate

?power; in ‘Bud’ we trust.

hierarchy /?ha??rɑ?rki/ n.?等級(jí)制度

span /sp?n/ n.?范圍

budget /?b?d??t/ n.?預(yù)算

corporate /?k??rp?r?t/ adj.?公司的

75

A world of?

wrinkled

?suits and?

stick-on

?name tags.

wrinkled /'r??kld/ adj.?有皺紋的

stick-on /'st?k,?n/ adj.?粘貼上去的

76

“Not all men are the same. Some will do okay in the world that’s coming. Some, maybe just a few of us, will not.

77

You can see it in computers and robots and what they?

portend

. In older worlds, there were things we could do, were designed to do, that nobody or no machine could do.

portend /p??r?tend/ vt.?預(yù)示

78

We run fast, are strong and quick,?

aggressive

?and?

tough

.?

aggressive /??ɡres?v/ adj.?侵略性的

tough /t?f/ adj.?吃苦耐勞的

79

We were given courage. We can throw?

spears

?long distances and fight in?

hand-to-hand

?

combat

.

spears /spi?/ n.?長(zhǎng)矛

hand-to-hand /?h?ndt??h?nd/ adj.?肉搏的

combat /?kɑ?mb?t/ n.?戰(zhàn)斗

80

“Eventually, computers and robots will?

run

?things. Humans will manage those machines, but that doesn’t require courage or strength, or any?

characteristics

?like those.

run /r?n/ vt. & vi.?管理

characteristic /?k?r?kt??r?st?k/ n.?品質(zhì)

81

In fact, men are?

outliving

?their?

usefulness

. All you need are?

sperm banks

?to keep the species going, and those are?

coming along

?now.

outlive /?a?t?l?v/ vt.?比…活得長(zhǎng)

usefulness /?jusf?ln?s/ n.?可用性

sperm bank n.?精子庫(kù)

come along?出現(xiàn)

82

Most men are?

rotten

?lovers, women say, so there’s not much loss in replacing sex with science.

rotten /?rɑ?tn/ adj.?腐爛的

83

“We’re giving up free range, getting organized,?

feathering

?our emotions.?

Efficiency

?and?

effectiveness

?and all those other pieces of intellectual?

artifice

.

feather /?fee?r/ v.?如羽毛般浮動(dòng)（或移動(dòng)、飄動(dòng)）

efficiency /??f??nsi/ n.?效率

effectiveness /??fekt?vn?s/ n.?有效

artifice /?ɑ?rt?f?s/ n.?巧妙的辦法

84

And with the loss of free range, the cowboy disappears, along with the mountain lion and gray wolf. There’s not much room left for?

travelers

.

traveler /'tr?vl?/ n.?旅行者

85

“I’m one of the last cowboys. My job gives me free range of a sort. As much as you can find nowadays.

86

I’m not sad about it. Maybe a little?

wistful

, I guess. But it’s got to happen; it’s the only way we’ll keep from destroying ourselves.

wistful /?w?stfl/ adj.?（對(duì)不可能發(fā)生之事）神往的

87

My?

contention

?is that male?

hormones

?are the?

ultimate

?cause of trouble on this planet.

contention /k?n?ten?n/ n.?論點(diǎn)

hormone /?h??rmo?n/ n. <生化>(刺激生長(zhǎng)的)荷爾蒙

ultimate /??lt?m?t/ adj.?終極的

88

It was one thing to dominate another?

tribe

?or another?

warrior

. It’s quite another to have?

missiles

. It’s also quite another to have the power to destroy nature the way we’re doing.

tribe /tra?b/ n.?部落

warrior /?w??ri?r/ n.?戰(zhàn)士

missile /?m?sl/ n.?導(dǎo)彈

89

Rachel Carson is right. So were John Muir and Aldo Leopold.

90

“The curse of modern times is the?

preponderance

?of male hormones in places where they can do?

long-term

damage.

preponderance /pr?'pɑnd?r?ns/ n.?占優(yōu)勢(shì)

long-term /?l?????t??rm/ adj.?長(zhǎng)期的

91

Even if we’re not talking about wars between nations or?

assaults

?on nature, there’s still that?

aggressiveness

?that keeps us apart from each other and the problems we need to be working on.

assault /??s??lt/ n.?襲擊

aggressiveness /?'gresivnis/?進(jìn)攻性

92

We have to somehow?

sublimate

?those male hormones, or at least get them under control.

sublimate /?s?bl?me?t/ vt.?升華

93

“It’s probably time to?

put away

?the things of childhood and grow up.

put away vt.?處理掉(吃,?把...收好,?拿開(kāi),?排斥)

94

Hell, I recognize it. I admit it. I’m just trying to make some good pictures and get out of life before I’m totally?

obsolete

or do some serious damage.”

obsolete /?ɑ?bs??li?t/ adj.?淘汰的

95

Over the years, she had thought about what he’d said. It seemed right to her, somehow, on the?

surface

?of it. Yet the ways of him?

contradicted

?what he said.

surface /'s?f?s/ n.?表面

contradict /?kɑ?ntr??d?kt/ vt.?與…發(fā)生矛盾

96

He had a certain?

plunging

?

aggressiveness

?to him, but he seemed to be able to control it, to turn it on and then let go of it when he wanted.

plunging /'pl?nd???/ adj.?突進(jìn)的

aggressiveness /?'gresivnis/?進(jìn)攻性

97

And that’s what had both confused and attracted her — incredible?

intensity

, but?

controlled

,?

metered

, arrowlike intensity that was mixed with warmth and no hint of?

meanness

.

intensity /?n?tens?ti/ n.?強(qiáng)烈

controlled /k?n?trold/ adj.?克制的

meter /?mi?t?r/ vi.?用表計(jì)量

meanness /?minn?s/ n.?卑鄙

98

On that Tuesday night,?

gradually

?and without?

design

, they had moved closer and closer together, dancing in the kitchen.

gradually /?ɡr?d?u?li/ adv.?漸漸地

design /d??za?n/ n.?計(jì)劃

99

Francesca was pressed close against his chest, and she wondered if he could feel her breasts through the dress and his shirt and was certain he could.

100

He felt so good to her. She wanted this to run forever. More old songs, more dancing, more of his body against hers.

101

She had become a woman again. There was room to dance again. In a slow,?

unremitting

?way, she was turning for home, toward a place she’d never been.

unremitting /??nr??m?t??/ adj.?不懈的

102

It was hot. The?

humidity

?was up, and thunder rolled far in the southwest.?

Moths

?

plastered

?themselves on the?

screens

, looking in at the candles, chasing the fire.

humidity /hju??m?d?ti/ n.?潮濕

moth /m?θ/ n.?蛾

plaster /?pl?st?r/ vt.?使緊貼

screen /skrin/ n.?紗窗

103

He was falling into her now. And she into him. She moved her cheek away from his, looked up at him with dark eyes, and he kissed her, and she kissed back, longtime soft kissing, a river of it.

104

They gave up the?

pretense

?of dancing, and her arms went around his neck. His left hand was on her waist behind her back, the other brushing across her neck and her cheek and her hair.

pretense /?pri?tens/ n.?假裝

105

Thomas Wolfe talked about the “ghost of the old?

eagerness

.”?

eagerness / ?iɡ?n?s/ n.?渴望

106

The ghost had?

stirred

?in Francesca Johnson. In both of them.

stir /st??r/ vt. & vi.?攪拌

107

Sitting by the window on her sixty-seventh birthday, Francesca watched the rain and remembered.

108

She carried her brandy into the kitchen and stopped for a moment, staring at the?

exact

?spot where the two of them had stood. The feelings inside of her were?

overwhelming

; they always were.

exact /?ɡ?z?kt/ adj.?準(zhǔn)確的

overwhelming /?o?v?r?welm??/ adj.?勢(shì)不可擋的

109

Strong enough that over the years she had dared do this in detail only once a year or her mind somehow would have?

disintegrated

?at the?

sheer

?

emotional

?

bludgeoning

?of it all.

disintegrate /d?s??nt?ɡre?t/ vt. & vi. (使)崩潰

sheer /??r/ adj.?十足的

emotional /??mo???nl/ adj.?感情的

bludgeon /'bl?d??n/ vi.?重?fù)?/p>

110

Her?

abstinence

?from her?

recollections

?had been a matter of?

survival

. Though in the last few years, the detail was coming back more and more often. She had?

ceased

?trying to stop him from coming into her.

abstinence /'?bst?n?ns/ n.?節(jié)制

recollection /?rek??lek?n/ n.?回憶

survival /s?r?va?vl/ n.?生存

cease /si?s/ vt. & vi.?終止

111

The images were clear, and real, and?

present

. And so far back. Twenty-two years back. But slowly they were becoming her reality once again, the only one in which she?

cared

?to live.

present /?preznt/ adj.?歷歷在目的

care /k?r/ v.?想要

112

She knew she was sixty-seven and accepted it, but she could not imagine Robert Kincaid being nearly seventy-five.

113

Could not think of it, could not?

conceive

?of it or even conceive of the conceiving of it.

conceive /k?n?si?v/ vt.?構(gòu)思

114

He was here with her, right in this kitchen, in his white shirt, long gray hair, khaki slacks, brown sandals, silver bracelet, and silver chain around his neck. He was here with his arms around her.

115

She finally pulled back from him, from where they stood in the kitchen, and took his hand, leading him toward the stairs, up the stairs, past Carolyn’s room, past Michael’s room,

116

and into her room, turning on a small reading lamp by the bed.

117

Now, all these years later, Francesca carried her brandy and walked slowly up the stairs,

118

her right hand?

trailing

?behind her to bring along the memory of him up the stairs and down the hallway into the bedroom.

trail /tre?l/ vt. & vi. (使某物)被拖在后面

119

The physical images were?

inscribed

?in her mind so clearly that they might have been?

razor-edged

?photographs of his.

inscribe /?n?skra?b/ vt.?銘記

razor-edged adj.?極其深刻的

120

She remembered the dreamlike?

sequence

?of clothes coming off and the two of them naked in bed.

sequence /?si?kw?ns/ n.?順序

121

She remembered how he held himself just above her and moved his chest slowly against her belly and across her breasts.

122

How he did this again and again, like some animal?

courting

?

rite

?in an old?

zoology

?

text

.

court /k??rt/ vt.?追求

rite /ra?t/ n.?儀式

zoology /zu?ɑ?l?d?i/ n.?動(dòng)物學(xué)

text /t?kst/ n.?課本

123

As he moved over her, he?

alternately

?kissed her lips or ears or ran his tongue along her neck, licking her as some fine?

leopard

?might do in long grass out on the?

veld

.

alternately /?:l't?:nitli/ adv.?交替地

leopard /'l?p?d/ n.?豹

veld /velt/ n. (南非洲的)草原

124

He was an animal. A graceful, hard, male animal who did nothing?

overtly

?to dominate her yet dominated her completely, in the exact way she wanted that to happen at this moment.

overtly /o?v?..tl?/ adv.?明顯地

125

But it was far beyond the physical, though the fact that he could make love for a long time without tiring was part of it.

126

Loving him was — it sounded almost?

trite

?to her now, given the attention paid to such matters over the last two decades —?

spiritual

. It was spiritual, but it wasn’t trite.

trite /tra?t/ adj.?老一套的

spiritual /?sp?r?t?u?l/ adj.?精神上的

127

In the?

midst

?of it, the lovemaking, she had whispered it to him,?

captured

?it in one sentence: “Robert, you’re so powerful it’s?

frightening

.”

midst /m?dst/ n.?當(dāng)中

capture /?k?pt??r/ v.?體現(xiàn)

frightening /?fra?tn??/ adj.?嚇人的

128

He was powerful physically, but he used his strength carefully. It was more than that, however.

129

Sex was one thing. In the time since she’d met him, she had?

settled into

?the?

anticipation

?—?

settle into?習(xí)慣于

anticipation /?n?t?s??pe??n/ n.?預(yù)期

130

the possibility, anyway — of something?

pleasurable

, a breaking with a?

routine

?of?

hammering

?

sameness

.

pleasurable /'ple??r?bl/ adj.?令人快樂(lè)的

routine /ru??ti?n/ n.?日常工作

hammer /?h?m?r/ v.?反復(fù)敲打

sameness /'semn?s/ n.?千篇一律

131

She hadn’t counted on his curious power.

132

It was almost as if he had taken possession of her, in all of her?

dimensions

. That’s what was?

frightening

.

dimension /d??men?n/ n.?部分

frightening /?fra?tn??/ adj.?令人恐懼的

133

She never had doubted at the beginning that one part of her could?

remain

?

aloof

?from whatever she and Robert Kincaid did, the part that belonged to her family and life in Madison County.

remain /r?'men/ v.?留下

aloof /??lu?f/ adv.?分開(kāi)地

134

But he?

simply

?took it away, all of it. She should have known when he first stepped out of his truck to ask directions. He had seemed?

shamanlike

?then, and her?

original

?judgment was correct.

simply /?s?mpli/ adv.?簡(jiǎn)單地

shaman /'??m?n/ n.?巫師

original /??r?d??nl/ adj.?最初的

135

They would make love for an hour, maybe more, then he would pull slowly away and look at her, lighting a cigarette and one for her.?

136

Or sometimes he would just lie beside her, always with one hand moving on her body.

137

Then he was inside her again, whispering soft words into her ear as he loved her, kissing her between phrases, between words, his arm around her waist, pulling her into him and him into her.

138

And she would begin to turn in her mind, breathing heavier, letting him take her where he lived, and he lived in strange,?

haunted

?places, far back along the?

stems

?of Darwin’s logic.

haunted /'h?nt?d/ adj.?（地方，場(chǎng)所）幽靈出沒(méi)的

stem /stem/ v.?起源于

139

With her face buried in his neck and her skin against his, she could smell rivers and?

wood-smoke

, could hear?

steaming

?trains?

chuffing

?out of winter stations in long-ago nighttimes,

wood-smoke?木材煙霧

steaming /'stim??/ adj.?冒熱氣的

chuff /t??f/ v.?（蒸汽機(jī)）噗噗地開(kāi)動(dòng)

140

could see travelers in black robes moving steadily along frozen rivers and through summer meadows, beating their way toward the end of things.

141

The?

leopard

?swept over her, again and again and yet again, like a long?

prairie

?wind,

leopard /'l?p?d/ n.?豹

prairie /'pr?ri/ n.?大草原

142

and rolling beneath him, she rode on that wind like some temple?

virgin

?toward the sweet,?

compliant

?fires marking the soft?

curve

?of?

oblivion

.

virgin /?v??rd??n/ n.?處女

compliant /k?m?pla??nt/ adj.?順從的

curve /k??rv/ n.?曲線

oblivion /??bl?vi?n/ n.?遺忘

143

And she murmured, softly, breathlessly, “Oh, Robert… Robert… I am losing myself.”

144

She, who had ceased having?

orgasms

?years ago, had them in long?

sequences

?now with a half-man, half-something-else creature.

orgasm /'?rɡ?z?m/ n.?性高潮

sequence /?si?kw?ns/ n.?連續(xù)

145

She wondered about him and his?

endurance

, and he told her that he could reach those places in his mind as well as physically, and that the orgasms of the mind had their own special?

character

.

endurance /?n?d?r?ns/ n.?忍耐力

character /?k?r?kt?r/ n.?特性

146

She had no idea what he meant.

147

All she knew was that he had pulled in a?

tether

?of some kind and?

wound

?it around both of them so tightly she would have?

suffocated

?had it not been for the?

vaulting

?freedom from herself she felt.

tether /'t?e?/ n.?拴繩

wind /w?nd/ vt.?纏繞

suffocate /?s?f?ke?t/ vt. & vi. (使某人)窒息而死

vaulting /'v?lt??/ adj.?跳躍的

148

The night went on, and the great?

spiral

?dance continued. Robert Kincaid?

discarded

?all sense of anything?

linear

?and moved to a part of himself that?

dealt

?only with shape and sound and shadow.

spiral /?spa?r?l/ adj.?盤(pán)旋的

discard /d??skɑ?rd/ vt.?放棄

linear /?l?ni?r/ adj.?線的

dealt /d?lt/ v.?處理（deal的過(guò)去式和過(guò)去分詞）

149

Down the paths of the old ways he went, finding his direction by?

candles

?of?

sunlit

?

frost

?melting upon the grass of summer and the red leaves of autumn.

candle /'k?ndl/ n.?燭光

sunlit /?s?nl?t/ adj.?陽(yáng)光照射的

frost /fr??st/ n.?霜凍

150

And he heard the words he whispered to her, as if a voice other than his own were saying them.?

Fragments

?of a Rilke poem, “around the ancient tower… I have been?

circling

?for a thousand years.”

fragment /?fr?ɡm(xù)?nt/ n.?片斷或不完整部分

circle /'s?kl/ vt. & vi.?環(huán)繞

151

The lines to a Navajo sun?

chant

.

chant /t??nt/ n.?贊美詩(shī)

152

He whispered to her of the visions she brought to him — of blowing sand and?

magenta

?winds and brown?

pelicans

riding the backs of dolphins moving north along the?

coast

?of Africa.

magenta /m??d?ent?/ n.?洋紅

pelican /'p?l?k?n/ n. [動(dòng)]鵜鶘

coast /k??st/ n.?海岸

153

Sounds, small,?

unintelligible

?sounds, came from her mouth as she?

arched

?herself toward him.

unintelligible /??n?n?tel?d??bl/ adj.?難懂的

arch /ɑ?rt?/ vt. & vi. (使)彎成拱形

154

But it was a language he understood completely, and in this woman beneath him, with his belly against hers, deep inside her, Robert Kincaid’s long search came to an end.

155

And he knew finally the meaning of all the small footprints on all the?

deserted

?beaches he had ever walked,

deserted /d?'z?t?d/ adj.?荒蕪的

156

of all the secret?

cargoes

?carried by ships that had never sailed, of all the?

curtained

?faces that had watched him pass down winding streets of twilight cities.

cargo /?kɑ?rɡo?/ n.?貨物，船貨

curtain /?k??rtn/ v. (用簾子)隔開(kāi)

157

And, like a great hunter of old who has traveled distant miles and now sees the light of his home?

campfires

, his loneliness dissolved. At last. At last. He had come so far… so far.

campfire /'k?mpfa??/ n.?篝火

158

And he lay upon her, perfectly formed and?

unalterably

?complete in his love for her. At last.

unalterably adv.?堅(jiān)定不移地

159

Toward morning, he raised himself slightly and said, looking straight into her eyes,

160

“This is why I’m here on this planet, at this time, Francesca. Not to travel or make pictures, but to love you. I know that now.

161

I have been falling from the rim of a great, high place, somewhere?

back in time

, for many more years than I have lived in this life. And through all of those years, I have been falling toward you.”

back in time?回到從前

162

When they came downstairs, the radio was still on. Dawn had come up, but the sun lay behind a thin?

cloud cover

.

cloud cover?云層

163

“Francesca, I have a?

favor

?to ask.” He smiled at her as she?

fussed

?with the coffeepot.

favor /?fe?v?/ n.?幫助

fuss /f?s/ v.?瞎忙活

164

“Yes?” She looked at him. Oh, God, I love him so, she thought,?

unsteady

, wanting even more of him, never stopping.

unsteady /?n'st?di/ adj.?無(wú)常的

165

“Slip on the jeans and T-shirt you wore last night, along with a pair of sandals. Nothing else. I want to make a picture of you as you look this morning. A photograph just for the two of us.”

166

She went upstairs, her legs?

weak

?from being wrapped around him all night, dressed, and went outside with him to the?

pasture

. That’s where he had made the photograph she looked at each year.

weak /wik/ adj.?疲軟的

pasture /?p?st??r/ n.?牧場(chǎng)

167