一天一頁原版書：綠里奇蹟 12-13/376

第13頁只有四行字，咱們就跟第12頁並一起算了，第一章第二節到此結束。

"Your time here can be easy or hard, big boy, it alldepends on you. I"m here to sayyou might as well make it easy on all of us,because it comes to the same in the end.We"ll treat you as right as youdeserve. Do you have any questions?"

「日子好不好過，全看你的表現，大塊頭。你聽話，我們也舒心，所以要我說，你不如讓大家的日子都好過一點。我們根據你的表現給予相應的待遇。有問題嗎？」

You might as well make it easy on all of us：Might as well，俗語，表示此處提出建議，而且是那種「可聽可不聽，但實在沒什麼理由不聽，所以不如就聽了吧」的建議。例如：

Since you"re gonna clean the kitchen, you might as well take the trash out.（既然你要打掃廚房，不如順手把垃圾也扔了吧。）

It comes to the same in the end：「說到底都是一碼事」。大家的利益是一樣的，你聽話我們就順心，不用額外做什麼。

"Do you leave a light on after bedtime?" he askedright away, as if he had only been waiting for the chance.

「你們晚上留燈嗎？」他馬上問，好像已經憋了很久，一直在等機會。

I blinked at him. I had been asked a lot of strangequestions by newcomers to E Block — once about the size of my wife"s tits — butnever that one.

我對他眨眨眼。我在五號區見識過千奇百怪的問題，有一次還有人問我老婆的奶子大小。但這問題可是頭一回見。

Ilooked at him — the pure size of him — and felt strangely touched. They didtouch you, you know; you didn"t see them at their worst,hammering out theirhorrors like demons at a forge.

我看著他那麼大的塊頭，不知怎的有些被觸動。有時候犯人就是會讓人感到觸動。你是沒見過他們最脆弱的樣子，毫無掩飾地散發著恐懼。

Hammering out their horrors like demons at a forge：Hammer out可以有三種意思，其一就是字面意思「用鎚子塑造」，其二是「艱苦卓絕地達成共識或得到結果」，其三是「奮力的奏響音符」，此處作第三種解。Demons at a forge是就著前面的字面意思做的比喻，前面說到鎚子，喻體就是在鍛造廠揮錘打鐵的惡魔。如同中文表達「紅得發紫」。此處紅並非顏色，而是引申義「流行」，「發紫」跟流行就更沾不上邊兒，只是借紅的字面意思所做的額外發揮。

"Yes, it"s pretty bright in here all night long,"I said. "Half the lights along the Mile burn from nine until five everymorning." Then I realized he wouldn"t have any idea of what I was talkingabout — hedidn"t know the Green Mile from Mississippi mud— and so I pointed."In the corridor."

「有啊。這兒整夜都挺亮堂的。」我說，「晚上九點之後綠里兩側的燈留一半，一直亮到早上五點。」接著我意識到他大概聽不懂我說什麼，綠里紅里的對他來說都是天書。所以我指給他看：「就是走廊。」

Didn"t know the Green Mile from Mississippi mud：此處「Mississippi mud」可以替換成其他任何東西，總之意思就是「他根本不知道綠里是啥東西，不管是綠里還是【全不相干的其他什麼玩意兒】在他看來都一樣」。

He nodded, relieved. I"m not sure he knew what a corridorwas, either, but he could see the 200-watt bulbs in their wire cages.

他點點頭，釋然的樣子。我覺得他可能連「走廊」是什麼也不知道，但看到鐵絲罩子里那些200瓦的大燈泡就明白了。

I did something I"d never done to a prisoner before, then -I offered him my hand. Even now I don"t know why. Him asking about the lights,maybe. It made Harry Terwilligerblink, I can tell you that. Coffey took myhand with surprising gentleness, my handall but disappearing into his, andthat was all of it.I had another moth in my killing bottle. We were done.

接著我做了一件從未對其他犯人作過的事，伸出手去和他握手。直到如今我也不知道為什麼。也許因為他問了燈的事吧。這麼說吧，Harry Terwilliger被驚得滿臉茫然。Coffey的大手幾乎把我的手完全包住，動作出奇的溫柔。到此為止，我的收藏中又添了一件標本，邂逅結束。

Blink：和前文一樣，驚訝得不知道該做什麼反應、傻獃獃干眨眼的樣子。

All but disappearing into his：All but表示「幾乎、非常接近、差一丁點兒」，比almost程度更重。

I had another moth in my killing bottle：Killing bottle是製作昆蟲標本時把抓來的蟲子弄死用的那個毒氣瓶。此處把五號區比作昆蟲標本箱，新來了個John Coffey等於又弄死一隻蛾子。

Istepped out of the cell. Harry pulled the door shut on its track and ran bothlocks. Coffey stood where he was a moment or two longer, as if he didn"t knowwhat to do next, and then he sat down on his bunk, clasped his giant"s handsbetween his knees, and lowered his head like a man who grieves or prays. He saidsomething then in his strange, almost Southern voice. I heard it with perfectclarity, and although I didn"t know much about what he"d done then — you don"tneed to know about what a man"s done in order to feed him and groom him untilit"s time for him to pay off what he owes — it still gave me a chill.

我走出囚室。Harry關上牢門，上了兩道鎖。Coffey原地站了一會兒，似乎不知該何去何從，接著坐在床上，兩隻巨手在雙膝間交握。他用那種幾乎是南方腔調的奇怪口音說了些什麼，我聽得一清二楚。當時我還不知道他犯的什麼罪，照顧犯人日常生活嘛，不用知道太多，最後算總賬的時候再補課就夠了。即便如此，他的話還是讓我覺得毛毛的。

"I couldn"t help — it, boss," he said. "I triedto take it back, but it was too late!"

「我做不到啊，老闆，」他說，「我想停止，但來不及了！」

此處是全書最關鍵的一個梗，說太細就劇透了……這麼說吧，couldn"t help，字面意思是「情不自禁、難以自制」。此處按字面意思理解完全說得通，到很後面才知道不能那麼理解。

第一章第二節，結束嘍。慶祝一下到達第二個小里程碑。

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