1、Outside of what was left of Atlanta, they discovered the great brick house, hidden in a thick grove of walnut trees. The grass was so high in the yard around it that the blades had fallen over into brown clumps beneath their own weight.在殘垣斷墻的亞特蘭大城外，他們發現了那座高大的磚房，隱藏在一片濃密的核桃樹林里。房子周圍院子里的草長得很高，葉子因為承受不了自身

2、的重量，歪倒在棕黃色的泥土里。They assumed it was abandoned, a prime target for a hiatus from the monotonous routine of marching and standing for reveille three times daily to identify stragglers. Since the young lieutenant was away tending to another small matter, they drifted closer and found themselves in an al

3、ternative world of silence and loneliness.他們猜想這座房子已經荒棄。正好可以用來歇個腳，打破 一下每天三次為了查掉隊士兵而列隊操練的單調。年輕的中尉 此刻正在別處處理另一件事，士兵們便漫無目的地走近房子， 發現置身在另一個寂靜凄涼的世界。The war had not touched the house with slugs or shells. Rather, an invisible icy hand had peeled paint away and wilted flowers, leaving a dead flavor to it, as

4、if it were somehowlike one of the thousands of soldier corpses left on the battlefield to slowly rot away.戰爭并沒有在這座房子上留下任何槍彈的痕跡。但是，似 有一只無形冰冷之手剝落了墻上的油漆，使花朵凋謝，留下腐 unburied朽死寂的氣息，仿佛戰場上來不及掩埋的成千具士兵尸體中的 一具，留在那里慢慢腐爛。They walked right up to the porticoed entrance and started to open the oak door.士兵們朝有門廊的大門徑直

5、走去，正要推開橡木門。里面Someone inside, however, plucked it open first.有人卻先把門打開了。"What do you want?"A withered, languorous old woman stared at them blankly.“你們想干嗎？”一個行動遲緩的干癟老婦人目無表情地瞪著他們'What do you want?" she said again, more irritably.“你們想干什么？”她又說了一遍，這次語氣有些急躁。hallway smelled卡布一腳跨過門檻，把她推開。昏暗

6、的走廊里彌漫著肉桂 和羊毛脂的味道。這兩種氣味混雜在一起讓他想起了埃及的木 乃伊。他推斷廚房可能在房子的后部，就向那個方向走去，一 邊留心著腳下不要踩到任何障礙物。老婦人拉著他的袖子，想阻止他，“后面什么東西也沒 有。”卡布甩開胳膊，不理她。走廊那頭有一盞黃色的燈，預示 something著那里藏著一些東西。Cabe pushed a door open and discovered the kitchen, a bright room filled pots, a long bare table, and a cavernous stone fireplace which didn'

7、t appear to have been used in a great deal of time.He also discovered a remarkable creature standing in the corner beside a large cupboard, poised as if about to climb inside. She was frozen in a moment of unbridled fear, though Cabe could see immediately that she was unusually beautiful, on the cus

8、p of blooming.“吃的都在地窖里，"她的聲音嘶啞，帶著一絲絕望。with hanging卡布推開一扇門，發現了廚房。廚房里很明亮，掛滿了瓶 瓶罐罐，有一張長桌，桌上什么也沒有。還有一個又大又深的 石砌壁爐，看起來很長時間沒有用過了。他還發現大櫥柜邊上的角落里站著一個尤物，從她的姿勢 a rare flower看，她正準備爬到碗櫥里去。無邊的恐懼使她愣在那里，盡管 如此卡布還是立刻就注意到她非同尋常的美麗，象是一枝正在 盛開的珍貴花朵。Cabe stepped across the threshold and brushed her aside. The darkened

9、of cinnamon and lanolin, a combination that made him think of Egyptian mummies. He reasoned that the kitchen would probably be near the back of the house, so he started that direction, careful not to trip over any hidden obstacles."There's nothing back there," the old woman protested,

10、pulling at his sleeve.Cabe ripped his arm away and ignored her. There was a yellow light further along that contained the promise of something hidden."The only food I have is out in the cellar," she said, her voice cracking, dying in it.He stopped to study her and found that all thoughts a

11、nd desires for food had他停下來仔細打量著她，發現自己對食物所有的渴望和想念全都消失在這一片寂靜之中。他已經有幾個月沒有看見任何 可以激起他最深處本能的東西了，而現在這種本能如此強烈地 爆發出來。確切地說，上一次激情的爆發是他休假在家的時候。Nowhe looked at the sun colored dress, which madeher velvet hair disk surrounded by daisy petals, and he realized that it was absurd to ignore it. He moved several step

12、s closer and she still remained motionless, a statue of unknown substance, though definitely warm and alive."What are you doing?" Cabe asked her softly.look like a flowery 現在，他看著那條金黃色的裙子，它使她那絲絨般的頭發看起來象雛菊花瓣圍繞的花盤。他意識到不可能不注意到它。他朝她走近了幾步，而她仍然站在那里一動不動，像一尊不知為何物的雕塑，只不過肯定是溫熱鮮活的。“你在干什么？”卡布輕聲問她。evapo

13、rated into the silence. It had been months since he had seen anything that could stir that deeply buried portion of his instinct that now cried out so dramatically. In fact, he had been at home, on leave, when the last such surge occurred.<2>clenched“別碰她！”老婦人突然出現在他身后，緊握著拳頭，瞪著黑眼珠。戰爭是如此的瘋狂。沒有絲毫的

14、良知；沒有任何道德原則 或事業值得人去忍受如此巨大的痛苦。在某種極限之后，是非 都已經無關緊要，一個人的行為完完全全地印證了周圍環境的 混亂。沒有人應該得到他所得的，無論是好還是壞。“你很美。”他低語道。她轉過身，面對著墻，好像不愿意直面現實。她這么做讓卡布很不高興，他伸出手，有點粗魯地去掰她 的肩膀，直到她轉過身來。當她那琥珀色的眼睛不情愿地但卻無法避免地與他的眼 睛對視，卡布突然可感到一種既突然又興奮的震撼。她眼睛的 顏色是如此迷人，如此出人意料，幾乎將他置于戰場上的那種"Leave her alone!" the old woman said, appearing b

15、ehind him suddenly with fists and black marble eyes."Get her out of here," Cabe said, and the other soldiers complied, the door shutting "把她弄出去。”卡布說。其他幾個士兵把老婦人弄了出behind them as they left. Cabe moved another step closer.去，并且隨手把門關上。卡布又朝女孩走近了步。”你在干什么？”他又問。"What are you doing?"

16、he asked again.她仍然拒絕看他，但他現在可以看到一些動作了：她纖細She still refused to look at him, though he could see movement now; her slender hands 的手顫抖著，嘴唇微張，試圖想說些什么。 trembling and her lips mouthing attempts at some kind of speech.“我只是在照顧我的祖母。”她突然說。"I'm just looking after my grandmother,"she said suddenly.

17、卡布鼻子里哼了一聲，“怎么我看到的情況好像恰好相Cabe snorted. "It looks the other way around to me."反。”他又朝前挪了一步。He moved one more step closer.The war was so insane. There was nothing good about it; no redeeming ethic or cause worthy of so much suffering. Beyond a certain impossibleness, right and wrong didn't

18、 matter anymore, and behavior was strictly a manifestation of the chaos around it.No one deserved what they got, good or bad."You're very beautiful," he whispered.She turned away from him to face the wall, as if unwilling to confront reality straight on.It bothered Cabe that she did th

19、at. He reached out with one hand and pulled on her shoulder somewhat roughly until she spun around.When her amber eyes finally made unwilling but inevitable contact with his, Cabe felt a shock that was both terrible and thrilling. In her eyes was a color so startling,震撼中。她很快低下頭，但是那魅力的力量已經抓住了他的心。so u

20、npredicted, that it almost threw him into a kind of battlefield shock. She quickly looked down, but the magnetic force had already taken hold.“你差不多是我在這周圍看到的惟一不用照著就開槍的東西。”他把步槍小心地放在桌上，眼睛卻一刻沒有離開她。他用"You're about the only damn thing I've seen around here that's not worth putting a slug

21、into without any questions."手指穿過她的頭發，又一次將她的頭扳了過來。He carefully set his rifle down on the table, without taking his gaze off her. He ran his fingers through her hair and turned her head around again.“你哪來的這雙眼睛？”從她的雙手到她的脖子，她的"Where did you get those eyes?"臉和她的唇都在哆嗦。背后是墻，面前就直挺挺地站著他。The wal

22、lThe shaking moved from her hands up through her neck to her face and lips.was behind her; Cabe solidly in front of her."What do you want?" she said, her voice trembling like everything else."What do all men want?" he said brusquely, reaching for bright yellow petals.At that mome

23、nt someone else entered the room. Cabe had the sixth sense common to survivors of war, and he turned around to reach for his weapon."What are you doing?" the young lieutenant asked, picking up Cabe's rifle and holding it in a neutral position.<3>“你想干什么？"她說,聲音也一樣在顫抖。"Looking for food, sir.&