評論
打印
"What happened to them?" I wondered aloud, my fingertip hovering a centimeter from the figures on the canvas.
“他們發生了什么事？”我大聲提問道，我的指尖在離油畫上的人物只有一公分的地方徘徊著。
"They're still there." He shrugged. "As they have been for who knows how many millennia. Carlisle stayed with them only for a short time, just a few decades. He greatly admired their civility, their refinement, but they persisted in trying to cure his aversion to 'his natural food source,' as they called it. They tried to persuade him, and he tried to persuade them, to no avail. At that point, Carlisle decided to try the New World. He dreamed of finding others like himself. He was very lonely, you see.
“他們還在那里?！彼柭柤??！八麄冊谀抢锊恢来藥浊辍？ㄈR爾只和他們待了很短的一段時間，只有幾十年。他非常地欽佩他們的禮貌，他們的高尚，但他們固執地試圖治愈他對‘他天生的食物來源’的厭惡，他們是這樣稱呼的。他們試圖說服他，而他也試圖說服他們，但雙方都沒有收到效果。在那時，卡萊爾決定去新世界試試。他夢想著能找到別的像他自己這樣的人。他非常地孤獨，你知道。
"He didn't find anyone for a long time. But, as monsters became the stuff of fairy tales, he found he could interact with unsuspecting humans as if he were one of them. He began practicing medicine. But the companionship he craved evaded him; he couldn't risk familiarity.
在很長一段時間里，他沒有找到任何人。但是，隨著怪物逐漸成為神話故事的內容，他發現自己可以毫無芥蒂地和沒有戒心的人類相處，就好像他是他們之間的一員一樣。他開始實踐自己的醫術。但他所渴望的伙伴關系依然躲著他，他不敢冒任何風險，去嘗試親密的關系?！?/p>
"When the influenza epidemic hit, he was working nights in a hospital in Chicago. He'd been turning over an idea in his mind for several years, and he had almost decided to act — since he couldn't find a companion, he would create one. He wasn't absolutely sure how his own transformation had occurred, so he was hesitant. And he was loath to steal anyone's life the way his had been stolen. It was in that frame of mind that he found me. There was no hope for me; I was left in a ward with the dying. He had nursed my parents, and knew I was alone. He decided to try…"
“當西班牙流感開始蔓延的時候，他在芝加哥的一家醫院里上夜班。他心里有一個想法，已經形成了許多年了，他也幾乎已經決定要去付諸行動了——既然他找不到志同道合的人，他可以自己創造一個。他不能完全肯定自己的轉變是否能夠順利進行，所以他一直猶豫著。而且他不情愿去偷走別人的人生，就像他自己被偷走了人生一樣。在他發現我的時候，他的想法成型了。我已經沒救了，和一群奄奄一息的人待在一個病房里。他看護過我的父母，知道我已經成了孤兒。他決定試一試……”
His voice, nearly a whisper now, trailed off. He stared unseeingly through the west windows. I wondered which images filled his mind now, Carlisle's memories or his own. I waited quietly.
他的聲音，現在幾近耳語，終于停住了。他視若無睹地向西邊的窗外望去。我想知道充斥在他腦子里的是什么樣的畫面，是卡萊爾的回憶還是他自己的。我安靜地等待著。
《暮光之城》
與圖書題目相得益彰的是，“暮光之城”系列別具匠心的封面設計則很好地傳達出了每本書內在的深遠寓意。斯蒂芬妮·梅爾指出《暮色》封面上的蘋果代表“創世紀” 內善惡樹上的禁果。象征貝拉和愛德華之間人類與吸血鬼禁忌的愛戀。在書的開頭引用了“創世紀”217頁的內容：“只是分別善惡樹上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。”這同時也代表了貝拉如何分辨善惡——選擇是否吃下那顆禁忌的果實，這比喻了選擇跟愛德華在一起或遠離他。
