Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Mildew. Rotting paper. Amy smiled. There was nothing more intoxicating than the aroma of old books. In a small air-conditioned library room in Java, she set down a stack of music books from the library archives. The books were heavy, and they made a comforting thump on her table. Amy's backpack sat in a small puddle on the floor, and a young librarian rushed over with a towel to protect the cloth seats from Amy's wet clothes. She frowned, scolding Amy softly in Indonesian. "Thanks," Amy said. "S-s-sorry." Sheepishly she concentrated on the books, opening the top one first: Glees, Shanties, Fight Songs, Madrigals, and Motets. Just inside the cover was a stamp— the book had been donated by a

第六章霉变。腐烂的纸。 艾米笑了。没有什么比旧书的香气更令人陶醉的了。 在爪哇一间有空调的小图书馆里，她从图书馆的档案室里拿出一摞音乐书。 书很重，它们在她的桌子上发出安慰的声音。 艾米的背包落在地板上的一个小水坑里，一个年轻的图书管理员拿着一条毛巾冲了过来，以防艾米的湿衣服溅到布椅上。 她皱起眉头，用印尼语轻声斥责艾米。 “谢谢，”艾米说。“S-s-sorry。” 她不好意思地把注意力集中在书上，先打开最上面那本：《欢乐合唱团》、《棚屋》、《战斗歌曲》、《牧歌》和《圣歌》。 书的封面里面有一张邮票——这本书是由一位朋友捐赠的

local Harvard graduate. As she opened the book, she heard a commotion by the door. The librarian and Nellie were chasing Saladin around the room. Dan skulked behind them. He shrugged at Amy. "Sorrrrry… I took him out for dinner and a cleaning. Now he's frisky." "Got 'im!" Nellie said, snatching Saladin by the collar. As Nellie scooted outside, Amy turned to her brother. "How is Saladin feeling?" "Angry," Dan said. "After the bath, we found an Internet café. I checked a Mau-lovers' listserv? Oops, no red snapper in this area. He had to eat tuna." But Amy didn't hear a word. She was too busy staring at a song title on page 47. Fewer than a hundred miles away, on a highway outside the airport, Bae Oh watched his nephew in the throes of heart failure. "Eccckkkk… Unc… Uncle…" Alistair cried

本地的哈佛毕业生。当她打开书时，她听到门边一阵骚动。 图书管理员和内莉在房间里追着萨拉丁。 丹躲在他们后面。他对艾米耸了耸肩。 “对不起……我带他出去吃饭和打扫卫生了。” 现在他很活泼。”“有我!”内莉说着，一把抓住萨拉丁的衣领。 内莉跑出去时，艾米转向她哥哥。 “萨拉丁感觉怎么样？”“生气，”丹说。 “洗完澡后，我们找到了一家网吧。 我查了maut爱好者的邮件列表？ 哦，这里没有红鲷鱼。 他不得不吃金枪鱼。”但艾米一个字也没听见。 她正忙着盯着第47页的歌名。 不到一百英里外，在机场外的一条高速公路上，裴·吴（Bae Oh）看着他的侄子在心脏衰竭的痛苦中挣扎。 “咯咯……叔叔……叔叔……”阿利斯泰尔叫道

out. The driver was kneeling over Alistair, urgently talking on a cell phone while trying to hold his nephew still. The officer who had been cuffed to Alistair was fumbling with the keys to the cuffs. "Good grief, men, do something!" Bae shouted. Alistair reached up with trembling hands. He was gagging, his body contorted. Seeing him this way shocked Bae. Alistair had always carried himself with dignity. He had survived deadly explosions and massive collapses with nary a hair out of place. How ironic that his own heart would do him in. And nothing to show for it, Bae thought, but a life frittered away. College, business, and now health—Alistair had failed in everything. If only he hadn't been so soft. So ignorant of the uses of power. So willing to put others first. College is needlessly competitive, Uncle… I want my own business to feed people at reasonable prices, Uncle… By now he could have been something in the Ekaterina branch. Instead of a constant problem. Ah, well, Bae thought, watching the life ebb

出去了。司机跪在阿利斯泰尔面前，一边急切地讲着电话，一边努力拉住他的侄子。 被铐在阿利斯泰尔身上的警官正在摸索手铐的钥匙。 “天哪，伙计们，想想办法吧！”Bae喊道。 阿利斯泰尔伸出颤抖的双手。 他在呕吐，身体扭曲。 看到他这样，裴很震惊。 阿利斯泰尔一向举止端庄。 他从致命的爆炸和大规模坍塌中幸存下来，毫发未伤。 多么讽刺的是，他自己的心也会把他杀死。 没有什么可显示的，裴想，但生命被浪费了。 上大学、做生意，现在是健康——阿利斯泰尔样样都失败了。 要是他不那么软弱就好了。 对权力的使用如此无知。 所以愿意把别人放在第一位。 大学竞争太激烈了，叔叔，我希望我自己的生意能以合理的价格养活人们，叔叔，到现在他可能已经在叶卡捷琳娜分部干得不错了。 而不是一个持续的问题。 “啊，好吧，”裴想，看着生命的退潮

from Alistair. Often problems have unexpected solutions. The officer finally unlocked the cuff. As it fell away, Alistair's arm thudded heavily to the roadbed. His head lolled to the side. The officers were dumbfounded. "Mati?" one of them muttered. Dead, Bae translated silently. He steadied himself on the police van. Alistair's eyes were open, staring. Accusing. In repose, he looked like his father. "Gordon…" Bae whispered. Stop. It's not Gordon. It's the boy. Struggling to stand, Bae walked farther into the road's shoulder, away from the noise of traffic. Leaning on his cane, he spoke into his cell. "Hello… I am calling to report the natural death of Alistair Oh…." "AAAAAAAGHHHH!" At the sound of an officer's scream, Bae hurried back toward the car. He stopped short, dropping his phone and his cane. The two officers were flat on the ground,

阿利斯泰尔。问题往往有意想不到的解决方案。 警察终于解开了手铐。 当它落下时，阿利斯泰尔的手臂重重地落在路基上。 他的头歪向一边。 军官们目瞪口呆。 “马蒂？”其中一个咕哝着。 “死了。”裴默默地翻译着。 他稳住身子坐在警车上。 阿利斯泰尔睁着眼睛凝视着。 指责。休息时，他看起来像他的父亲。 “戈登……”小裴低声说。 停止。不是戈登。是那个男孩。 裴挣扎着站起来，走到更远的路肩，远离交通的噪音。 他拄着手杖，对着牢房说话。 “你好…我打电话来报告阿利斯泰尔自然死亡....” “AAAAAAAGHHHH !”听到一名军官的尖叫声，裴俊浩急忙向汽车跑去。 他突然停了下来，扔掉了手机和手杖。 两名军官平躺在地上，

writhing in pain. Alistair Oh stood between them, brushing himself off. He turned to Bae, nodded cheerfully, then scooped Bae's cane off the ground. "You dropped this, Uncle?" Bae reached out. "But… but you were…" "I may have been expelled from Harvard, but I got an A in acting," Alistair said, flipping open the top of Bae's cane to reveal a collection of small black switches. "My, what have we here?" Bae lurched forward. "No, Alistair, you don't know what you're doing!" "Watch me," Alistair said. He swung the hilt of the cane toward Bae, releasing a black cloud of pepper spray. Bae dropped to the road in a fit of coughing. His leg twisted. He heard a snap below the knee. Pain shot upward from his leg and downward through his lungs, and he felt as if his body were exploding. He screamed, fighting to keep consciousness. Alistair approached, the cane raised. "You look distressed, my dear, compassionate uncle." Breathe. Eyes open. Focus. Bae stared at his

痛苦地扭动。阿利斯泰尔站在他们中间，掸了掸身上的毛。 他转向小贝，高兴地点点头，然后把小贝的手杖从地上捡了起来。 “你把这个掉了，叔叔？”Bae伸出了援手。 “我虽然被哈佛大学开除了，但我的表演成绩是A。”阿利斯泰尔说着打开了小贝的手杖，露出一堆黑色的小开关。 “天哪，这是什么？”裴蹒跚地向前走。 “不，阿利斯泰尔，你不知道自己在做什么！”“看着我，”阿利斯泰尔说。 他把手杖柄朝裴挥去，喷出一团胡椒喷雾。 裴一阵咳嗽，倒在路上。 他的腿扭了。他听到膝盖下面啪的一声。 疼痛从他的腿向上，向下穿过他的肺部，他觉得自己的身体好像要爆炸了。 他尖叫着，努力保持清醒。 阿利斯泰尔走近，举起了手杖。 “你看上去很难过，我亲爱的、慈悲的叔叔。” 呼吸。眼睛睁开。的焦点。 小贝盯着他的眼睛。

nephew. Alistair had the perfect chance. One rap to the head was all it would take. "AAGHH!" Alistair raised the cane over his head. Bae closed his eyes. He heard a thump on the ground. He felt his hand being pulled upward. His back sliding against the grass. A cuff clanking shut on his wrist. Another on the car door handle. Over the sound of his own shrieking, he was vaguely aware of a distant police siren piercing the air. And his nephew's voice, growing fainter and fainter. Alistair was singing. "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together…."

侄子。阿利斯泰尔本来有绝好的机会。 只要在脑袋上敲一下就够了。 “AAGHH !”阿利斯泰尔把手杖举过头顶。 裴闭上了眼睛。他听到地上砰的一声。 他感到他的手被往上拉。 他的背滑到草地上。 一个袖口在他手腕上叮当作响。 另一个在车门把手上。 在他自己的尖叫声之外，他模糊地意识到远处的警笛刺破了空气。 他侄子的声音越来越微弱。 阿利斯泰尔在唱歌。“我和你在一起，你和我在一起，所以我们都在一起....”