[table=100%,#000000,#000000,1][tr][td] [color=#ffffff]1. PREFACE 前言 [/color] [table=100%,#ffffff,#ffffff,1][tr][td] [size=2]I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING nightmares, the one where you
have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough. My legs seemed to move slower and slower as I fought my way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the huge clock tower didn’t slow. With relentless, uncaring force, they turned inexorably toward the end—the end of everything.
我为梦魇折磨得烦躁不安,恶梦中,总是需要竭尽所能的跑,甚至肺都要燃烧起来,而你还是感觉自己速度不够快,在冷漠的人群间穿梭,我的步调越来越慢,可大钟针盘上指针移动的速度却不见减速。(时间)毫不留情地,冷酷地一步一步移向终结点——那是所有事物的终结点。
But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn’t running for my life; I was racing to save
something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.
然而这不作梦,更不像是梦魇,我并不是为我的生命在奔波,而是为了保住(比生命)更重要上万倍的东西。今时今日,活着已毫无意义。
Alice had said there was a good chance we would both die here. Perhaps the outcome would be
different if she weren’t trapped by the brilliant sunlight; only I was free to run across this bright, crowded square.
艾丽丝曾说过,如果我们亡于此地会更好。或许,她没有被阳光束缚,而不是我在人潮穿流的广场心情奔跑,独自享受阳光的话,能得到不同的结论;
And I couldn’t run fast enough.
但是,我仍旧跑得不够快。
So it didn’t matter to me that we were surrounded by our extraordinarily dangerous enemies. As the clock began to toll out the hour, vibrating under the soles of my sluggish feet, I knew I was too late—and I was glad something bloodthirsty waited in the wings. For in failing at this, I forfeited any desire to live.
即便被极度有威胁的强敌包围也无所谓。完结的时钟已经敲响,振得我迟钝双脚下的地面不停颤抖着,我知道已经来不及了——真希望有什么嗜血的活物近在咫尺。逃不出魔掌也罢,我已丧失了活着的欲望。
The clock tolled again, and the sun beat down from the exact center point of the sky.
钟再次敲响,太阳从天空正中央被击落。