“Nice and warm,” she said, gazing into the fire, as happy as she had been that first night in front of the fireplace. Again he was transfixed by her appearance in the firelight, drowned in emotions he had never felt before, as if he was a bonfire himself and the only purpose of his existence was to give her warmth.

“真暖和，真好！”她看著火，像那一夜在壁爐前那樣高興起來，羅輯也再一次被火光中的她迷住了，他被一種從未有過的柔情所淹沒，感覺自己和這篝火一樣，活著的唯一目的就是給她帶來溫暖。

“Are there wolves?” she asked, looking around at the growing darkness.

“這里有狼嗎？”她看看周圍越來越濃的黑暗問。

“No. Northern China is still in the interior. It just looks desolate, but it’s actually one of the most densely?populated regions. Look at the road. A car drives past every two minutes, on average.”

“沒有，這兒是華北，是內(nèi)地，僅僅是看著荒涼，其實是人口最稠密的地區(qū)之一，你看就這條路，平均兩分鐘就有一輛車通過?！?/p>

“I was hoping you’d say there were wolves,” she said with a sweet smile, then looked off at the cloud of sparks flying off like stars into the night.

“我希望你說有狼的?！彼鹛鸬匦χ粗笕旱幕鹦窍蛞箍罩械男切秋w去。

“Okay. There are wolves, but I’m right here.”

“好吧，有狼，但有我?！?/p>

They said nothing more, but sat silently before the fire, occasionally feeding it another bunch of straw.

然后他們再也沒有說話，在火邊默默地坐著，不時將一把秸稈放進火堆中維持著它的燃燒。

Later--he didn’t know how much later--his phone rang. Bai Rong.

不知過了多長時間，羅輯的手機響了，是白蓉打來的。

“Are you with her?” she asked gently.

“和她在一起嗎？”白蓉輕輕地問

“No, I’m alone.” he said as he looked up. He wasn’t lying. He truly was by himself, next to a bonfire along a road in the Taihang Mountains. The firelight revealed stones him, and overhead was only a starry sky.

“不，我一個人?！绷_輯說著抬頭看看，他沒有騙誰，自己真的是一個人，在太行山中的一條公路邊的一堆篝火旁，周圍只有火光中若隱若現(xiàn)的山石，頭上只有滿天的繁星。

“I know you’re alone. But are you with her?”

“我知道你是一個人，但你和她在一起。”

He paused and softly said, ”Yes,” and when he looked beside him, there she was, feeding straw into the fire and smiling at the flames that lit up the area where they sat.

“……是?！绷_輯低聲說，再向旁邊看，她正在把秸稈放進火中，她的微笑同躥起的火苗一起使周圍亮了起來。

“Now do you believe that the love I write about in my novels really exists?”

“現(xiàn)在你應該相信，我在小說中寫的那種愛情是存在的吧？”

“Yes, I believe it.”

“是，我信了?！?/p>

When he said those four words, he immediately realized how great the distance between the two of them really was. They were silent for a long time, during which radio waves spun?their gossamer?strands through the mountains to sustain?this final contact.

羅輯說完這四個字，立刻意識到自己和白蓉之間的距離也真的有實際的這么遠了，他們沉默良久，這期間，細若游絲的電波穿過夜中的群山，維系著他們最后的聯(lián)系。

“You have one of your own, don’t you?” he asked.

“你也有這樣一個他，是嗎？”羅輯問道。

“Yes. For a long time.”

“是，很早的事了。”

“Where is he now?”

“他現(xiàn)在在哪兒？”

He could hear her laugh softly. “Where else would he be?”

羅輯聽到白蓉輕笑了一聲，“還能在哪兒？”

He laughed too. “Yes, where else?”

羅輯也笑了笑，“是啊，還能在哪兒……”

“Well. Take it easy. Good-bye.” Bai Rong hung up, snapping the thread that stretched across the night sky and leaving the people at the two ends a little saddened, but nothing more than that.

“好了，早些睡吧，再見?！卑兹卣f完掛斷了電話，那跨越漫漫黑夜的細絲中斷了，絲兩端的人都有些悲哀，但也僅此而已。

“It’s too cold outdoors. Let’s sleep in the car,” he said to her.

“外面太冷了，你到車里去睡好嗎？”羅輯對她說。

She gently shook her head. “I want to be with you here. You like me by the fire, right?”

她輕輕搖搖頭，“我要和你在這兒，你喜歡火邊兒的我，是嗎？”

It was midnight by the time the repair truck arrived from Shijiazhuang. The repairmen were surprised to find him setting beside a fire. “Sir, you’re gotta be freezing. The engine’s not busted. Wouldn’t it be warmer to sit in the car with the heat turned on?”

從石家莊趕來的維修車半夜才到，那兩個師傅看到坐在篝火邊的羅輯很是吃驚：“先生，你可真經(jīng)凍啊，引擎又沒壞，到車里去開著空調(diào)不比這么著暖和？”

After the car was repaired, Luo Ji dashed home through the night, out of the mountains and back onto the plain, reaching Shijizhuang by dawn. It was already ten in the morning by the time he got back to Beijing.

車修好后，羅輯立刻全速向回開，在夜色中沖出群山再次回到大平原上。清晨時他到達石家莊，回到北京時已是上午十點了。

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

transfix： vt.使呆住;使(因恐懼、驚愕等而)動彈不得;使驚呆

drown： v.(使)淹死，溺死;浸透;淹沒;浸泡;壓過;蓋沒

bonfire： n.篝火

interior：

n.內(nèi)部;里面;內(nèi)陸;內(nèi)地;腹地;(國家的)內(nèi)政，內(nèi)務

adj.內(nèi)部的;里面的

desolate：

adj.無人居住的;荒無人煙的;荒涼的;孤獨凄涼的;不幸的;憂傷的

vt.使感到悲慘;使感到凄涼;使悲傷絕望

densely： adv.濃密地，稠密地；密集地

on average： 基本上;大體上;平均起來;按平均值

cloud： n.一團

occasionally： adv.偶爾地;偶爾;偶然;有時候

gently： adv.輕輕地;溫柔地;溫和地;文靜地;和緩地

reveal： v.揭示;顯示;透露;顯出;露出;展示

starry： adj.布滿星星的;像星星的;閃閃發(fā)光的;明亮的

spin：

v.(使)快速旋轉(zhuǎn);(使)急轉(zhuǎn)身，猛轉(zhuǎn)回頭，急轉(zhuǎn)彎;紡(線);吐（絲）;駕車飛馳;

n.高速旋轉(zhuǎn);(飛機的)尾旋，螺旋式下墜;兜風;旋轉(zhuǎn)

gossamer：

n.蛛絲;薄紗;精細織物

adj.薄弱的;幻影似的

strand：

vt.擱淺;使滯留

n.(線、繩、金屬線、毛發(fā)等的)股;縷

sustain： vt.維持(生命、生存);遭受;蒙受;使保持

hang up： 掛斷;懸掛;吊掛;突然掛斷…的電話;結(jié)束

snap：

v.(使喀嚓)斷裂，繃斷;(使啪地)打開，關上，移到某位置;厲聲說;怒氣沖沖地說;不耐煩地說;咬;拍照;

n.(尤指關上或斷裂的聲音)啪嗒聲，咔嚓聲

adj.匆忙的;倉促的

thread：

n.(棉、毛、絲等的)線;線索;脈絡;思緒;線狀物;細細的一條

v.穿(針);紉(針);穿過;通過;穿行;穿成串;串在一起;給…裝入;用…線縫

by the time： 到…的時候

在文中相當于when

bust：

vt.打破;摔碎

n.(石或金屬的)半身像

adj.破碎;毀壞;破產(chǎn)