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1、【国外文学】暮光之城：月食 EclipsePrefaceALL OUR ATTEMPTS AT SUBTERFUGE HAD BEEN IN VAIN.With ice in my heart, I watched him prepare to defend me. His intense concentration betrayed no hint ofdoubt, though he was outnumbered. I knew that we could expect no help at this moment, his family wasfighting for their li
2、ves just as surely as he was for ours.Would I ever learn the outcome of that other fight? Find out who the winners and the losers were? WouldI live long enough for that?The odds of that didnt look so great.Black eyes, wild with their fierce craving for my death, watched for the moment when my protec
3、torsattention would be diverted. The moment when I would surely die.Somewhere, far, far away in the cold forest, a wolf howled.序幕我们设下的所有圈套都白费了。冰冷的感觉紧紧地攫住我的心，我注视着他摆出保护我的姿势。尽管他寡不敌众，他高度聚精会神的表情没有流露出任何迟疑的痕迹。我知道我们不能指望有救兵此刻，我肯定他的家人正在为他们的生命而战，就像我肯定他正在为我们的生命而战一样。我还有机会了解另一场战斗的结局吗？还有机会弄清楚谁是赢家，谁是输家吗？我还能活到那一刻吗？这
4、种可能性似乎没那么大。他们漆黑的眼睛狂野而凶猛，虎视眈眈地想置我于死地。他们在等待着我的保护者走神的那一刻，一旦那一刻真的来临，我将必死无疑。在这片寒冷的森林中的很远很远的地方，一匹狼咆哮起来Chapter 1 UltimatumBella,I dont know why youre making Charlie carry notes to Billy like were in second grade if Iwanted to talk to you I would answer theYou made the choice here, okay? You cant have it bo
5、th ways whenWhat part of mortal enemies is too complicated for you toLook, I know Im being a jerk, but theres just no way aroundWe cant be friends when youre spending all your time with a bunch ofIt just makes it worse when I think about you too much, so dont write anymoreYeah, I miss you, too. A lo
6、t. Doesnt change anything. Sorry.JacobI ran my fingers across the page, feeling the dents where he had pressed the pen to the paper so hard that ithad nearly broken through. I could picture him writing this scrawling the angry letters in his roughhandwriting, slashing through line after line when th
7、e words came out wrong, maybe even snapping the pen inhis too-big hand; that would explain the ink splatters. I could imagine the frustration pulling his black eyebrowstogether and crumpling his forehead. If Id been there, I might have laughed. Dont give yourself a brainhemorrhage, Jacob, I would ha
8、ve told him. Just spit it out.Laughing was the last thing I felt like doing now as I reread the words Id already memorized. His answerto my pleading note passed from Charlie to Billy to him, just like second grade, as hed pointed out wasno surprise. Id known the essence of what it would say before I
9、d opened it.What was surprising was how much each crossed-out line wounded me as if the points of the lettershad cutting edges. More than that, behind each angry beginning lurked a vast pool of hurt; Jacobs pain cut medeeper than my own.While I was pondering this, I caught the unmistakable scent of
10、a smoking burner rising from the kitchen. Inanother house, the fact that someone besides myself was cooking might not be a cause for panicking.I shoved the wrinkled paper into my back pocket and ran, making it downstairs in the nick of time.The jar of spaghetti sauce Charlied stuck in the microwave
11、was only on its first revolution when I yankedthe door open and pulled it out.“What did I do wrong?” Charlie demanded.“Youre supposed to take the lid off first, Dad. Metals bad for microwaves.” I swiftly removed the lid asI spoke, poured half the sauce into a bowl, and then put the bowl inside the m
12、icrowave and the jar back in thefridge; I fixed the time and pressed start.Charlie watched my adjustments with pursed lips. “Did I get the noodles right?”I looked in the pan on the stove the source of the smell that had alerted me. “Stirring helps,” I saidmildly. I found a spoon and tried to de-clum
13、p the mushy hunk that was scalded to the bottom.Charlie sighed.“So whats all this about?” I asked him.He folded his arms across his chest and glared out the back windows into the sheeting rain. “Dont knowwhat youre talking about,” he grumbled.I was mystified. Charlie cooking? And what was with the s
14、urly attitude? Edward wasnt here yet; usuallymy dad reserved this kind of behavior for my boyfriends benefit, doing his best to illustrate the theme of“unwelcome” with every word and posture. Charlies efforts were unnecessary Edward knew exactly whatmy dad was thinking without the show.The word boyf
15、riend had me chewing on the inside of my cheek with a familiar tension while I stirred. Itwasnt the right word, not at all. I needed something more expressive of eternal commitment. . . . But wordslike destiny and fate sounded hokey when you used them in casual conversation. Edward had another word
16、in mind, and that word was the source of the tension I felt. It put my teeth onedge just to think it to myself.Fiancée. Ugh. I shuddered away from the thought.“Did I miss something? Since when do you make dinner?” I asked Charlie. The pasta lump bobbed in theboiling water as I poked it. “Or try
17、 to make dinner, I should say.”Charlie shrugged. “Theres no law that says I cant cook in my own house.”“You would know,” I replied, grinning as I eyed the badge pinned to his leather jacket.“Ha. Good one.” He shrugged out of the jacket as if my glance had reminded him he still had it on, andhung it
18、on the peg reserved for his gear. His gun belt was already slung in place he hadnt felt the need towear that to the station for a few weeks. There had been no more disturbing disappearances to trouble thesmall town of Forks, Washington, no more sightings of the giant, mysterious wolves in the ever-r
19、ainy woods. . .I prodded the noodles in silence, guessing that Charlie would get around to talking about whatever wasbothering him in his own time. My dad was not a man of many words, and the effort he had put into trying toorchestrate a sit-down dinner with me made it clear there were an uncharacte
20、ristic number of words on hismind.I glanced at the clock routinely something I did every few minutes around this time. Less than a halfhour to go now.Afternoons were the hardest part of my day. Ever since my former best friend (and werewolf), JacobBlack, had informed on me about the motorcycle Id be
21、en riding on the sly a betrayal he had devised inorder to get me grounded so that I couldnt spend time with my boyfriend (and vampire), Edward Cullen Edward had been allowed to see me only from seven till nine-thirty p.m., always inside the confines of myhome and under the supervision of my dads unf
22、ailingly crabby glare.This was an escalation from the previous, slightly less stringent grounding that Id earned for anunexplained three-day disappearance and one episode of cliff diving.Of course, I still saw Edward at school, because there wasnt anything Charlie could do about that. Andthen, Edwar
23、d spent almost every night in my room, too, but Charlie wasnt precisely aware of that. Edwardsability to climb easily and silently through my second-story window was almost as useful as his ability to readCharlies mind.Though the afternoon was the only time I spent away from Edward, it was enough to
24、 make me restless,and the hours always dragged. Still, I endured my punishment without complaining because for one thing I knew Id earned it, and for another because I couldnt bear to hurt my dad by moving out now,when a much more permanent separation hovered, invisible to Charlie, so close on my ho
25、rizon.My dad sat down at the table with a grunt and unfolded the damp newspaper there; within seconds hewas clucking his tongue in disapproval.“I dont know why you read the news, Dad. It only ticks you off.”He ignored me, grumbling at the paper in his hands. “This is why everyone wants to live in a
26、small town!Ridiculous.”“What have big cities done wrong now?”“Seattles making a run for murder capital of the country. Five unsolved homicides in the last two weeks.Can you imagine living like that?”“I think Phoenix is actually higher up the homicide list, Dad. I have lived like that.” And Id never
27、comeclose to being a murder victim until after I moved to his safe little town. In fact, I was still on several hit lists. . . The spoon shook in my hands, making the water tremble.“Well, you couldnt pay me enough,” Charlie said.I gave up on saving dinner and settled for serving it; I had to use a s
28、teak knife to cut a portion of spaghettifor Charlie and then myself, while he watched with a sheepish expression. Charlie coated his helping withsauce and dug in. I disguised my own clump as well as I could and followed his example without muchenthusiasm. We ate in silence for a moment. Charlie was
29、still scanning the news, so I picked up my much-abused copy of Wuthering Heights from where Id left it this morning at breakfast, and tried to lose myself inturn-of-the-century England while I waited for him to start talking.I was just to the part where Heathcliff returns when Charlie cleared his th
30、roat and threw the paper to the floor.“Youre right,” Charlie said. “I did have a reason for doing this.” He waved his fork at the gluey spread. “Iwanted to talk to you.”I laid the book aside; the binding was so destroyed that it slumped flat to the table. “You could have justasked.”He nodded, his ey
31、ebrows pulling together. “Yeah. Ill remember that next time. I thought taking dinner offyour hands would soften you up.”I laughed. “It worked your cooking skills have me soft as a marshmallow. What do you need, Dad?”“Well, its about Jacob.”I felt my face harden. “What about him?” I asked through sti
32、ff lips.“Easy, Bells. I know youre still upset that he told on you, but it was the right thing. He was beingresponsible.”“Responsible,” I repeated scathingly, rolling my eyes. “Right. So, what about Jacob?”The careless question repeated inside my head, anything but trivial. What about Jacob? What wa
33、s Igoing to do about him? My former best friend who was now . . . what? My enemy? I cringed.Charlies face was suddenly wary. “Dont get mad at me, okay?”“Mad?”“Well, its about Edward, too.”My eyes narrowed.Charlies voice got gruffer. “I let him in the house, dont I?”“You do,” I admitted. “For brief p
34、eriods of time. Of course, you might let me out of the house for briefperiods now and then, too,” I continued only jokingly; I knew I was on lockdown for the duration of theschool year. “Ive been pretty good lately.”“Well, thats kind of where I was heading with this. . . .” And then Charlies face st
35、retched into anunexpected eye-crinkling grin; for a second he looked twenty years younger.I saw a dim glimmer of possibility in that smile, but I proceeded slowly. “Im confused, Dad. Are wetalking about Jacob, or Edward, or me being grounded?”The grin flashed again. “Sort of all three.”“And how do t
36、hey relate?” I asked, cautious.“Okay.” He sighed, raising his hands as if in surrender. “So Im thinking maybe you deserve a parole forgood behavior. For a teenager, youre amazingly non-whiney.”My voice and eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Im free?”Where was this coming from? Id been positive I would be
37、 under house arrest until I actually moved out,and Edward hadnt picked up any wavering in Charlies thoughts. . . .Charlie held up one finger. “Conditionally.”The enthusiasm vanished. “Fantastic,” I groaned.“Bella, this is more of a request than a demand, okay? Youre free. But Im hoping youll use tha
38、t freedom. . . judiciously.”“What does that mean?”He sighed again. “I know youre satisfied to spend all of your time with Edward ”“I spend time with Alice, too,” I interjected. Edwards sister had no hours of visitation; she came and wentas she pleased. Charlie was putty in her capable hands.“Thats t
39、rue,” he said. “But you have other friends besides the Cullens, Bella. Or you used to.”We stared at each other for a long moment.“When was the last time you spoke to Angela Weber?” he threw at me.“Friday at lunch,” I answered immediately.Before Edwards return, my school friends had polarized into tw
40、o groups. I liked to think of those groupsas good vs. evil. Us and them worked, too. The good guys were Angela, her steady boyfriend Ben Cheney,and Mike Newton; these three had all very generously forgiven me for going crazy when Edward left. LaurenMallory was the evil core of the them side, and alm
41、ost everyone else, including my first friend in Forks,Jessica Stanley, seemed content to go along with her anti-Bella agenda.With Edward back at school, the dividing line had become even more distinct. Edwards return had taken its toll on Mikes friendship, but Angela was unswervingly loyal, and Benf
42、ollowed her lead. Despite the natural aversion most humans felt toward the Cullens, Angela sat dutifullybeside Alice every day at lunch. After a few weeks, Angela even looked comfortable there. It was difficult notto be charmed by the Cullens once one gave them the chance to be charming.“Outside of
43、school?” Charlie asked, calling my attention back.“I havent seen anyone outside of school, Dad. Grounded, remember? And Angela has a boyfriend, too.Shes always with Ben. If Im really free,” I added, heavy on the skepticism, “maybe we could double.”“Okay. But then . . .” He hesitated. “You and Jake u
44、sed to be joined at the hip, and now ”I cut him off. “Can you get to the point, Dad? Whats your condition exactly?”“I dont think you should dump all your other friends for your boyfriend, Bella,” he said in a stern voice.“Its not nice, and I think your life would be better balanced if you kept some
45、other people in it. Whathappened last September . . .”I flinched.“Well,” he said defensively. “If youd had more of a life outside of Edward Cullen, it might not have beenlike that.”“It would have been exactly like that,” I muttered.“Maybe, maybe not.”“The point?” I reminded him.“Use your new freedom
46、 to see your other friends, too. Keep it balanced.”I nodded slowly. “Balance is good. Do I have specific time quotas to fill, though?”He made a face, but shook his head. “I dont want to make this complicated. Just dont forget yourfriends . . .”It was a dilemma I was already struggling with. My frien
47、ds. People who, for their own safety, I wouldnever be able to see again after graduation.So what was the better course of action? Spend time with them while I could? Or start the separation nowto make it more gradual? I quailed at the idea of the second option.“. . . particularly Jacob,” Charlie add
48、ed before I could think things through more than that.A greater dilemma than the first. It took me a moment to find the right words. “Jacob might be . . .difficult.”“The Blacks are practically family, Bella,” he said, stern and fatherly again. “And Jacob has been a very,very good friend to you.”“I know that.”“D