I AM AN IRONMAN

⊙ By Turia Pitt 翻譯：Wendy

I AM AN IRONMAN

我是鐵人

⊙ By Turia Pitt 翻譯：Wendy

聽(tīng)力難度

澳式發(fā)音 適合精聽(tīng)語(yǔ)速：150詞/分鐘

常人很難想象一個(gè)廣受歡迎的勵(lì)志演講人，一個(gè)參加各式長(zhǎng)跑為慈善事業(yè)募捐的人會(huì)是一個(gè)曾經(jīng)遭遇全身大面積燒傷，被醫(yī)生斷言愈后不可能再次行走的人。本文的主人公圖里亞·皮特是一個(gè)不信邪的人，先后經(jīng)歷了超過(guò)兩百次植皮和整容手術(shù)的她以樂(lè)觀向上的態(tài)度和頑強(qiáng)的精神感動(dòng)了澳大利亞。

Never tell Turia Pitt she can’t do something because she will quickly1)prove you very wrong.

Turia: We like our comfort zone because it feels warm inside, but you can’t improve if you always play it safe.

In September, 2011, Turia became trapped in a2)horrific grass fire, while running the 100-kilometre Kimberley Ultramarathon. She suffered burns to 65% of her body and has since3)undergone more than 1004)operations.

It was a5)miracle Turia survived, but she says she had too much to live for. Her6)unwavering determination has inspired the nation. When doctors told her she’d never run again, Turia7)vowed to prove them wrong. She8)swore one day she would complete an Ironman Triathlon, and this month, she did,9)smashing it in 1310)gruelling hours.

Announcer: Turia Pitt! You are an ironman!

On Pains

Interviewer A: Five years ago you were told that, perhaps, you would not walk again, and yet we just saw these pictures from the Ironman Ultramarathon.

Turia: Last Sunday I got told that I was an ironman. That’s what everybody gets told when they cross the line.

Interviewer B: You say it was the hardest thing you’ve ever done. How do you push yourself through for 13 hours, because, you’ve got a lot of11)reference in the pain department, and the draw on that inner string, haven’t you?

Turia: Yeah, so there’s a couple of different12)strategies I use. One is, I put it in perspective. I compare the pain that I’m experiencing to the pain that I’ve felt in hospital, and the other thing I do is I think about all of the things that I’m really grateful for. So, on that day I was, like, “Man, I’m so…so lucky that I’m alive, that I get to experience this race. My partner, Michael is here cheering for me. My whole triathlon club’s here, my coaches are here.” And all those sort of things just helped me to keep going.

On Fitness

Interviewer A: How is your level of13)fitness, Turia? Because, to come back from where you were at to…and I know you were really fit before, but your level of fitness must be just amazing.

1) prove [pru?v] v. 證明

2) horrific [h??r?f?k] adj. 極可怕的

3) undergo [?nd??g??] v. 經(jīng)受，經(jīng)歷，過(guò)去分詞為undergone。

4) operation [?p??re??（?）n] n. 手術(shù)

5) miracle [?m?r?k（?）l] n. 奇跡

6) unwavering [?n?we?v?r??] adj. 不動(dòng)搖的，毅然的

7) vow [va?] v. 發(fā)誓，立誓

8) swear [swe?（r）] v. 發(fā)誓，起誓，過(guò)去分詞為swore。

9) smash [sm??] v. 打碎，粉碎

10) gruelling [?gr??l??] adj. 使精疲力盡的

11) reference [?ref（?）r?ns] n. 參考

12) strategy [?str?t?d??] n. 策略

13) fitness [?f?tn?s] n. 健康，結(jié)實(shí)

Turia: The original goal for why I wanted to do the ironman was...I wanted to prove to everyone and to myself that I was fitter than I was in that ultramarathon. And I think now I am fitter. But I’ve also realized that fitness, there’s different14)metrics for fitness.

Interviewer A: Yeah.

Turia: Like, there’s fitness15)endurance, there’s fitness strength, fitness flexibility…

Interviewer B: You say that you feel lucky and that your quality of life is better than before the fire. Can you help us understand that?

Turia: I guess maybe because I can realize all of the things that I’m grateful for, because I never really did that before the fire. And, you know, I live in a beautiful part of Australia, in Mollymook…

Interviewer B: Yeah.

Turia: I’ve got a really awesome job, I’m a motivational speaker, I get to do stuff like this today, I do ironmans.

On Inner Strength

Turia: Yeah, I often hear that at home:“You’re so amazing, and I couldn’t do what you do.” And I just think no one really knows how strong they are because we never get tested. Our lives are so safe. We get up, we get dressed, we drive to work, we tap away at a computer, we drive home, we watch TV. You know, there’s not much in our life where we have to rise to the challenge or rise above. And I think a lot of people do have that inner strength, they just never get tested. And, either way, I’m…I’m grateful for what’s happened to me because I know how strong I really am.

◆ marathon 馬拉松：國(guó)際上非常普及的長(zhǎng)跑比賽項(xiàng)目，全程距離42.195公里；分全程馬拉松（full marathon）、半程馬拉松（half marathon）和四分馬拉松（quarter marathon）三種。

◆ ultramarathon 超級(jí)馬拉松：簡(jiǎn)稱超馬，通常分成兩種，一種有固定距離，常見(jiàn)的距離有50公里、100公里、50英里（80.46公里）或100英里（160.92公里）。其中100公里的完成時(shí)間是國(guó)際田徑聯(lián)合會(huì)承認(rèn)的世界記錄。另一種有固定時(shí)間，常見(jiàn)的時(shí)間有6小時(shí)跑、12小時(shí)跑和24小時(shí)跑，參賽者在固定時(shí)間內(nèi)奔跑距離最長(zhǎng)者獲勝。

◆ triathlon 鐵人三項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)：一個(gè)綜合性運(yùn)動(dòng)競(jìng)賽項(xiàng)目，由天然水域游泳、公路自行車、公路長(zhǎng)跑三項(xiàng)組成，運(yùn)動(dòng)員需要一鼓作氣按此順序賽完全程。鐵人三項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)在2000年成為奧運(yùn)會(huì)項(xiàng)目，2006年成為亞運(yùn)會(huì)項(xiàng)目。

作文素材常積累：圖里亞·皮特——You can let experiences destroy you or mould you. I chose to let them mould me. 我們的人生掌握在自己手里。如果圖里亞都可以從她的非人遭遇中走出來(lái)，不僅成為體育運(yùn)動(dòng)上的鐵人，更成為生活的“鐵人”，那我們還有什么可抱怨的呢？

Never tell Turia Pitt she can’t do something because she will quickly prove you very wrong.

這是一個(gè)懸念式開頭，它以讀者意想不到的結(jié)論式陳述句調(diào)動(dòng)讀者思維，促使其迫不及待地繼續(xù)往下讀。同時(shí)，句子以表示絕對(duì)否定的never開頭，使句子表達(dá)的意思更為“驚人”，刺激讀者的好奇心。同學(xué)們?cè)趯懽鲿r(shí)可以借用這種簡(jiǎn)便但效果極佳的方法，為自己的文章增色。

14) metrics [?metr?ks] n. 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)

15) endurance [?n?dj??r?ns] n. 忍耐力

永遠(yuǎn)都不要對(duì)圖里亞·皮特說(shuō)她做不了某件事，因?yàn)樗芸炀蜁?huì)證明你大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。

圖里亞：我們都喜歡安逸的狀態(tài)，那會(huì)感覺(jué)舒適，但如果你從不冒險(xiǎn)，你就不會(huì)進(jìn)步。

2011年9月，圖里亞在參加澳洲的100公里金伯利超級(jí)馬拉松大賽時(shí)遭遇了一場(chǎng)可怕的草地大火，身體燒傷面積達(dá)65%，此后她經(jīng)歷了100多次手術(shù)。

圖里亞能活下來(lái)已經(jīng)是一個(gè)奇跡，但她說(shuō)她的人生還有很多未竟之事。她堅(jiān)韌不拔的精神感動(dòng)了整個(gè)澳洲。當(dāng)醫(yī)生告訴她以后再也不能跑步時(shí)，圖里亞發(fā)誓要證明他們是錯(cuò)的，她發(fā)誓終有一天自己會(huì)完成鐵人三項(xiàng)比賽。就在這個(gè)月（2016年5月），她成功了。她用異常難熬的13個(gè)小時(shí)的努力粉碎了醫(yī)生關(guān)于她不能再跑步的預(yù)言。

播報(bào)員：圖里亞·皮特！你是一個(gè)鐵人！圖里亞：是的，我用了兩個(gè)不同的策略。一，我客觀地看待比賽中經(jīng)受的痛苦，我將比賽時(shí)感覺(jué)到的痛苦與我在醫(yī)院所遭受的痛苦作比較。我做的另一件事是在心里想著所有讓我心存感激的事。所以，比賽那天我在想：“我覺(jué)得我還活著……是多么地幸運(yùn)，我還可以參與這項(xiàng)比賽。我的伴侶邁克爾在這里為我加油，我們鐵人三項(xiàng)俱樂(lè)部的全體人員都在這里，我的教練也在這里。”所有這些都是幫助我堅(jiān)持下去的力量。

關(guān)于體能

關(guān)于痛苦

采訪者甲：五年前有人告訴你，可能你再也不能走路了，然而我們剛剛看到你在鐵人超級(jí)馬拉松賽上比賽的畫面。

圖里亞：上個(gè)星期天，我被告知我是一個(gè)鐵人。這是每個(gè)跨過(guò)終點(diǎn)線的人都會(huì)聽(tīng)到的一句話。

采訪者乙：你說(shuō)這是你所做過(guò)最艱難的事，這13個(gè)小時(shí)你是如何堅(jiān)持過(guò)來(lái)的？因?yàn)槟阍谔弁捶矫嬗泻芏嘟?jīng)歷，你當(dāng)時(shí)在尋求內(nèi)心的精神支持，對(duì)嗎？

采訪者甲：圖里亞，你的體能水平如何？因?yàn)閺哪銦齻蟮臓顟B(tài)到……我知道你以前身體很強(qiáng)壯，但現(xiàn)在你的體能一定很棒。

圖里亞：我參加鐵人三項(xiàng)的最初目的是想向所有人及自己證明，我的體能比參加超級(jí)馬拉松時(shí)還要好，我覺(jué)得我現(xiàn)在身體更好了。但我也意識(shí)到……衡量體能有不同的指標(biāo)。

采訪者甲：是的。

圖里亞：這些體能指標(biāo)包括耐力、力量強(qiáng)度、柔韌性……

采訪者乙：你說(shuō)你感到幸運(yùn)，你的生活質(zhì)量比燒傷前還要好，你能向我們解釋一下嗎？

圖里亞：我想，也許是因?yàn)槲椰F(xiàn)在能體會(huì)到讓我心存感激的一切，因?yàn)樵谠馐芑馂?zāi)前我并未真正意識(shí)到這些事。還有，你知道，我住在莫里莫科——澳大利亞一個(gè)美麗的地方……

采訪者乙：沒(méi)錯(cuò)。

圖里亞：我有一份非常棒的工作，我去做勵(lì)志演講……我有機(jī)會(huì)像今天這樣做采訪，我還參加鐵人三項(xiàng)比賽。

關(guān)于意志力

圖里亞：我在澳大利亞常常聽(tīng)到這樣的話：“你真了不起，我可做不到像你這樣?！蔽抑皇怯X(jué)得，沒(méi)有人真正知道自己到底有多大能耐，因?yàn)槲覀儚奈唇?jīng)受考驗(yàn)。我們的生活是如此地安逸：我們起床，穿好衣服，開車去上班，在電腦前工作，開車回家，看電視。你知道，在我們的生活中沒(méi)有多少必須迎接挑戰(zhàn)或者克服困難的事。我認(rèn)為很多人都有這種強(qiáng)大的意志力，只不過(guò)從未有機(jī)會(huì)接受考驗(yàn)罷了。不管怎樣，我……我對(duì)發(fā)生在我身上的事心存感激，因?yàn)檫@讓我知道了自己究竟有多堅(jiān)強(qiáng)。

聽(tīng)力難度英式發(fā)音 適合精讀語(yǔ)速：155詞/分鐘

Inkheart墨水心

⊙ By Cornelia Funke 翻譯：劉興華

“有些書必須品嘗，有些書可以囫圇吞下，只有少數(shù)的書要細(xì)嚼慢咽，好好消化?！保⊿ome books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.）

這句刻在美琪家書房門上的格言在整個(gè)故事的開篇部分就突出了“墨水世界”三部曲（心·血·死）的主題——這是一段關(guān)于文字、關(guān)于書本、關(guān)于閱讀的奇幻旅程。12歲的美琪與父親莫·弗爾查特相依為命，父女倆都是書迷，被閱讀所環(huán)繞的生活平靜無(wú)波，但這一切在一個(gè)雨夜被徹底打破了：一個(gè)名叫“臟手指”的陌生人突然出現(xiàn)在兩人面前，讓美琪第一次意識(shí)到自己家族具有神秘力量，而這正是她母親失蹤的原因。危險(xiǎn)隨之而來(lái)，為了拯救家人，美琪踏上了冒險(xiǎn)之路……

作者柯奈莉亞·芳珂被媒體譽(yù)為“德國(guó)的羅琳”，其作品在全球的銷量突破千萬(wàn)，獲得多項(xiàng)少兒圖書大獎(jiǎng)，2005年還入選《時(shí)代周刊》“影響世界一百人”榜單。大概是因?yàn)榉肩嬖缒暌恢睆氖虏瀹嫻ぷ?，她的文字帶有一種非常強(qiáng)烈的畫面感，閱讀時(shí)有如身臨其境，分外扣人心弦。

故事就從改變所有人命運(yùn)的這個(gè)雨夜講起……

Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the1)windowpane. A dog barked somewhere in the darkness, and however often she2)tossed and turned, Meggie couldn’t get to sleep.

The book she had been reading was under her pillow, pressing its cover against her ear as if to lure her back into its printed pages. “I’m sure it must be very comfortable sleeping with a hard, rectangular thing like that under your head,” her father had teased her the first time he found a book under her pillow. “Go on, admit it, the book whispers its story to you at night.”

“Sometimes, yes,” Meggie had said. “But it only works for children.” Which made Mo3)tweak her nose. Mo. Meggie had never called her father anything else.

That night—when so much began and so many things changed forever—Meggie had one of her favorite books under her pillow, and since the rain wouldn’t let her sleep she sat up, rubbed the4)drowsiness from her eyes, and took it out. Its pages5)rustled6)promisingly when she opened it. Meggie thought this first whisper sounded a little different from one book to another, depending on whether or not she already knew the story it was going to tell her. But she needed light. She had a box of matches hidden in the7)drawer of her bedside table. Mo had forbidden her to light candles at night. He didn’t like fire.“Fire8)devours books,” he always said, but she was twelve years old, she surely could be trusted to keep an eye on a couple of candle flames. Meggie loved to read by candlelight. She had five candlesticks on the9)windowsill, and she was just holding the lighted match to one of the black10)wicks when she heard footsteps outside. She blew out the match in alarm—oh, how well she remembered it, even many years later—and11)knelt to look out of the window, which was wet with rain. Then she saw him.

The rain cast a kind of12)pallor on the darkness, and the stranger was little more than a shadow. Only his face13)gleamed white as he looked up at Meggie. His hair14)clung to his wet forehead. The rain was falling on him, but he ignored it. He stood there,15)motionless, arms crossed over his

1) windowpane [?w?nd??pe?n] n. 窗玻璃

2) toss and turn 輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)

3) tweak [twi?k] v. 擰，捏（耳朵、鼻子等）

4) drowsiness [?dra?z?n?s] n. 睡意

5) rustle [?r?s（?）l] v. 沙沙地響；n. 沙沙聲

6) promisingly [?pr?m?s??l?] adv. 有希望地，有前途地

7) drawer [?dr???（r）] n. 抽屜

8) devour [d??va??（r）] v. 吞食

9) windowsill [?w?nd??s?l] n. 窗沿，窗臺(tái)

10) wick [w?k] n. 蠟燭芯，燈芯

11) kneel [ni?l] v. 跪下，跪著，過(guò)去式為knelt。

12) pallor [?p?l?（r）] n. 蒼白，灰白

13) gleam [gli?m] v. 閃爍，發(fā)出微光

14) cling [kl??] v. 粘著，緊貼（常與to連用），過(guò)去式為clung。

15) motionless [?m???（?）nl?s] adj. 不動(dòng)的，靜止的chest as if that might at least warm him a little. And he kept on staring at the house.

I must go and wake Mo, thought Meggie. But she16)stayed put, her heart17)thudding, and went on gazing out into the night as if the stranger’s stillness had infected her. Suddenly, he turned his head, and Meggie felt as if he were looking straight into her eyes. She shot off the bed so fast the open book fell to the floor, and she ran barefoot out into the dark18)corridor. This was the end of May, but it was very19)chilly in the old house.

There was still a light on in Mo’s room. He often stayed up reading late into the night. Meggie had20)inherited her love of books from her father. When she21)took refuge from a bad dream with him, nothing could22)lull her to sleep better than Mo’s calm breathing beside her and the sound of the pages turning. Nothing chased23)nightmares away faster than the rustle of printed paper. But the figure outside the house was no dream.

The book Mo was reading that night was24)bound in pale blue25)linen. Later, Meggie remembered that, too. What unimportant little details stick in the memory.

“Mo, there’s someone out in the yard!”

Her father raised his head and looked at her with the usual26)absent expression he

16) stay put 固定不動(dòng)

17) thud [θ?d] v. 發(fā)出砰砰聲

18) corridor [?k?r?d??（r）] n. 通道，走廊

19) chilly [?t??l?] adj. 寒冷的

20) inherit [?n?her?t] v. 繼承，遺傳

21) take refuge 避難，擺脫困境

22) lull [l?l] v. 使入睡，使休息

23) nightmare [?na?tme?（r）] n. 夢(mèng)魘，噩夢(mèng)

24) bind [ba?nd] v. 裝訂，過(guò)去分詞為bound。

25) linen [?l?n?n] n. 亞麻布

26) absent [??bs?nt] adj. 心不在焉的，茫然的wore when she interrupted his reading. It always took him a few moments to find his way out of that other world, the27)labyrinth of printed letters.

“Someone out in the yard? Are you sure?”

“Yes. He’s staring at our house.”

Mo put down his book. “So what were you reading before you went to sleep? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”

Meggie frowned. “Please, Mo! Come and look.”

He didn’t believe her, but he went anyway. Meggie28)tugged him along the corridor so impatiently that he29)stubbed his toe on a pile of books, which was hardly surprising.30)Stacks of books were piled high all over the house—not just arranged in neat rows on bookshelves, the way other people kept them, oh no! The books in Mo and Meggie’s house were stacked under tables, on chairs, in the corners of the rooms. There were books in the kitchen and books in the31)lavatory. Books on the TV set and in the32)closet, small piles of books, tall piles of books, books thick and thin, books old and new. They welcomed Meggie down to breakfast with invitingly opened pages; they33)kept boredom at bay when the weather was bad. And sometimes you fell over them.

“He’s just standing there!” whispered Meggie, leading Mo into her room.

“Has he got a hairy face? If so he could be a34)werewolf.”

“Oh, stop it!” Meggie looked at him35)sternly, although his jokes made her feel less scared. Already, she hardly believed anymore in the figure standing in the rain—until she knelt down again at the window.“There! Do you see him?” she whispered. Mo looked out through the raindrops running down the pane and said nothing.

“Didn’t you promise36)burglars would never break into our house because there’s nothing here to steal?” whispered Meggie.

“He’s not a burglar,” replied Mo, but as he stepped back from the window his face was so37)grave that Meggie’s heart thudded faster than ever. “Go back to bed, Meggie,”he said. “This visitor has come to see me.”

27) labyrinth [?l?b?r?nθ] n. 迷宮

28) tug [t?g] v. 用力拉，使勁拖

29) stub [st?b] v. 絆腳，碰傷腳

30) stack [st?k] n. 摞，疊，大堆；v. 堆放

31) lavatory [?l?v?t??r?] n. 衛(wèi)生間，廁所

32) closet [?kl?z?t] n. 壁櫥，衣櫥

33) keep sb./sth. at bay 控制，使無(wú)法近身

34) werewolf [?we?w?lf] n. 狼人

35) sternly [?stз?nl?] adv. 嚴(yán)厲地，嚴(yán)格地，堅(jiān)決地

36) burglar [?bз?gl?（r）] n. 夜盜，竊賊

37) grave [gre?v] adj. 嚴(yán)肅的，莊重的

本期選段雖然篇幅較長(zhǎng)，但語(yǔ)言難度不大，而且情節(jié)比較完整，講述了美琪在一個(gè)雨夜發(fā)現(xiàn)屋外有人，趕緊找父親來(lái)察看的故事——大家在生活中可能也會(huì)有類似的經(jīng)歷吧？這種熟悉感一下子拉近了書中人物與讀者的距離，讓讀者迅速代入故事當(dāng)中，作為一部小說(shuō)的開頭不可謂不巧妙。建議大家反復(fù)閱讀這個(gè)選段，注意作者如何用英語(yǔ)描述各種充滿生活感的場(chǎng)景與細(xì)節(jié)，這種敘事手法值得我們好好學(xué)習(xí)。

另外，本文朗讀者為已故英國(guó)著名演員Lynn Redgrave，她的精湛演繹將美琪、莫和旁白三個(gè)角色詮釋得非常到位，有興趣的同學(xué)可以進(jìn)行跟讀練習(xí)。

◆ Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

《化身博士》：出版于19世紀(jì)末的哥特風(fēng)科幻小說(shuō)，是英國(guó)作家斯蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson，1850–1894）最有名的代表作之一。故事講述杰基爾醫(yī)生喝了一種試驗(yàn)藥劑，結(jié)果每逢入夜就會(huì)化身成邪惡的海德先生四處作惡，令他飽受折磨。整部小說(shuō)帶有濃厚的哥特文學(xué)風(fēng)格，對(duì)人性善惡兩面的描寫深刻入骨，是心理小說(shuō)的先驅(qū)，“Jekyll and Hyde”這個(gè)詞組后來(lái)更成了心理學(xué)中對(duì)雙重人格的代稱。

那晚下著雨，低吟的細(xì)雨。許多年后，美琪只需閉上眼睛，就能聽(tīng)到那像細(xì)小的手指敲著窗戶般的雨聲。夜里某處，有只狗吠叫著，美琪無(wú)法入睡，不時(shí)輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)。

她的枕頭下擱著她正在看的一本書。書冊(cè)緊緊貼著她的耳朵，仿佛在引誘她重回書海?！芭?，頭底下有這樣四四方方的硬東西，睡起來(lái)一定很舒服，”她的父親第一次在她枕頭下發(fā)現(xiàn)書時(shí)打趣道?！皠e不承認(rèn)，這本書在晚上會(huì)輕輕在你耳朵旁述說(shuō)它的故事?！?/p>

“有時(shí)候會(huì)，”美琪回答，“但只對(duì)小孩有效。”這話讓莫捏了捏她的鼻子。莫——美琪只會(huì)這樣稱呼她父親。

在那個(gè)有許多事情開始，又有許多事情永遠(yuǎn)改變的夜晚，美琪的枕頭下擱著一本她的愛(ài)書。雨聲讓她無(wú)法入睡，她便坐起來(lái)，揉掉眼中的倦意，從枕頭下拿出那本書。在她翻開書時(shí)，書頁(yè)窸窣作響，讓人期待無(wú)比。美琪發(fā)現(xiàn)，每本書的第一聲低語(yǔ)聽(tīng)起來(lái)都有點(diǎn)不同，這完全取決于她是否知道這本書將要述說(shuō)的是怎樣一個(gè)故事。但她需要光線。她在床頭柜的抽屜中藏了一盒火柴。莫不準(zhǔn)她在晚上點(diǎn)蠟燭，他不喜歡火。“火會(huì)吞書，”他老這樣說(shuō)。但她畢竟十二歲了，要照看幾點(diǎn)燭火自然不成問(wèn)題。美琪喜歡在燭光中閱讀。她在窗臺(tái)上擱了五個(gè)燭臺(tái)，正要拿亮起的火柴點(diǎn)燃黑色的燭芯時(shí)，屋外傳來(lái)了腳步聲。多年以后，她還記得自己嚇得吹滅了火柴，跪在被雨打濕的窗前往外張望。然后，她看到他了。

黑暗因?yàn)橛甓@得蒼白，那名陌生人模糊得像個(gè)影子，只有往美琪這里看的臉露出些光亮。他的頭發(fā)貼在濕漉漉的額頭上。雨水落在他身上，但他毫不理會(huì)，只是一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地站在那兒，手臂抱胸，仿佛這樣就能保暖似的。他就這樣盯著他們的屋子。

我得叫醒莫！美琪心想，但她動(dòng)彈不得，心撲通撲通地跳著，眼睛緊緊盯著外面的夜色，好像被那位陌生人的紋絲不動(dòng)傳染了一樣。突然間，他轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭，美琪覺(jué)得他直視著她。她一下蹦下床，把翻開的書本震落在地，光著腳跑到外面陰暗的走廊里。盡管現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是五月末，這棟老房子還是冷颼颼的。

莫的房間還亮著燈。他經(jīng)常熬夜看書。美琪正是從父親身上遺傳了這種對(duì)書的熱愛(ài)。每當(dāng)她在噩夢(mèng)過(guò)后躲到他身邊，沒(méi)什么比莫那平靜的呼吸和翻頁(yè)的聲音更能讓她安心入睡，沒(méi)什么比印刷紙的窸窣聲可以更快地驅(qū)散夢(mèng)魘。但是，屋子外面那個(gè)身影并不是夢(mèng)。

莫在這一晚念的書是淡藍(lán)色布面裝幀的——美琪后來(lái)依然記得這一點(diǎn)，人的記憶中怎會(huì)有這么多無(wú)關(guān)緊要的東西呢。

“莫，院子里有人！”

父親抬起頭，心不在焉地瞧著她，就像往常被她打斷閱讀時(shí)一樣。每次，他都要緩上那么一會(huì)兒才能從另一個(gè)世界——從文字的迷宮中回歸人間。

“那里有人？你確定？”

“是的，他盯著我們的房子。”

莫擱下書?！澳闼霸诳词裁磿俊痘聿┦俊罚俊?/p>

美琪皺起眉頭。“別這樣，莫！過(guò)來(lái)看看。”

他并不相信，但還是跟過(guò)來(lái)瞧瞧。美琪焦急地拉著他，害得他在走廊里一腳踢到書堆上。這一點(diǎn)都不稀奇，因?yàn)樗麄兊奈葑永锏教幎加懈吒叩臅?，而且不像其他人那樣把書整整齊齊地排在書架上，喔不，在他們這兒，書堆在桌子下、椅子上、房屋角落里、廚房里、廁所里，電視機(jī)上和衣柜中都有書。小小的一堆，高高的一堆，厚的、薄的、舊的、新的……它們敞開著書頁(yè)，在早餐桌上向美琪發(fā)出邀請(qǐng)，在天氣糟糕的日子里打發(fā)無(wú)聊——有時(shí)候，你還會(huì)被它們絆倒。

“他就站在那里！”美琪將莫帶到房間，小聲說(shuō)著。

“他的臉是毛茸茸的嗎？那說(shuō)不定是狼人?！?/p>

“哎呀，別鬧！”美琪嚴(yán)厲地看著父親，不過(guò)這個(gè)玩笑確實(shí)讓她沒(méi)這么害怕了，她幾乎不相信雨中那個(gè)身影的存在——直到她再次跪在窗前。“在那兒！你看見(jiàn)了嗎？”她輕聲說(shuō)道。莫透過(guò)玻璃上滑落的雨滴往外看去，一聲不吭。

“你不是保證過(guò)不會(huì)有小偷到我們家來(lái)嗎，因?yàn)檫@里沒(méi)東西可偷？”美琪小聲說(shuō)。

“那不是小偷，”莫回答，他離開窗邊，神色凝重，這讓美琪的心跳得更加劇烈了。“上床去，美琪，”他說(shuō)，“他是來(lái)找我的?！?/p>

（選自人民文學(xué)出版社版本，有改動(dòng)）