《Twilight 暮光之城Ⅰ——暮色》 （中英文对照·完结）

阿汤哥

我们循路走下沙滩，迈克在前头领路，把我们带向一圈圆浮木。显然，这圈浮木之前也曾为像我们这样的成群结队的旅人服务过。那里有个摆得恰到好处的篝火堆，上面铺满了黑色的灰烬。埃里克和另一个男孩——我想他的名字是本——从树林边缘干燥的木头堆里收集了不少破碎的浮木块，然后很快在那些经年累月的灰烬上垒起了一个摇摇晃晃的木架。

“你见过浮木篝火吗？”迈克问我。我坐在其中一张骨白色的长凳上，别的女孩都聚在一起，兴奋地说着闲话，坐在了我的另一边。迈克跪在篝火旁，正在用打火机点燃其中一根比较细的干枝。

“没有。”我说，看着他把那个熊熊燃烧着的细枝小心地放到那堆摇摇晃晃的木架上。

“那你一定会喜欢这个的——看它的颜色。”他点燃了另一根树枝，并排着放到刚才那根树枝旁。火焰开始迅速地吞没着干燥的木块。

“那是蓝色的！”我惊讶地说。

“因为有盐。很漂亮，对吧？”他又点燃了一片木屑，放到木架上火还没烧到的地方，然后过来坐到我旁边。谢天谢地，杰西坐在他的另一边。她转向他，努力吸引他的注意力。我看着那堆古怪的蓝绿色火焰冲着天空劈啪作响。

我们漫无边际地闲聊了半个小时后，有几个男孩想到潮汐池周围走走。这实在让人进退两难。一方面，我喜欢潮汐池。当我还是个孩子的时候，就开始对它们着迷了。从前当我到福克斯来的时候，它们是我唯一盼望着的事物。另一方面，我也常常掉进潮汐池里。当你只有七岁，和爸爸在一起的时候，这没什么大不了的。但这让我想起了爱德华的请求——别让我自己掉进海里。

是劳伦促使我最终作出了决定。她不想去远足，而且她显然穿着不适合徒步旅行的鞋子。除了安吉拉和杰西卡，大部分女孩都决定也留在沙滩上。我一直等到泰勒和埃里克被委托留下来陪她们以后，才默默地加入了去远足的那一组。当迈克看到我加入的时候，他给了我一个大大的笑脸。

===============================

We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of
driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like ours before.
There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric
and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood
from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a
teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked me. I was sitting on
one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping
excitedly, on either side of me. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one
of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.

"No," I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.

"You'll like this then — watch the colors." He lit another small branch
and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up
the dry wood.

"It's blue," I said in surprise.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it
where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by me. Thankfully,
Jess was on his other side. She turned to him and claimed his attention.
I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.

After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to the
nearby tidal pools. It was a dilemma. On the one hand, I loved the tide
pools. They had fascinated me since I was a child; they were one of the
only things I ever looked forward to when I had to come to Forks. On the
other hand, I'd also fallen into them a lot. Not a big deal when you're
seven and with your dad. It reminded me of Edward's request — that I not
fall into the ocean.

Lauren was the one who made my decision for me. She didn't want to hike,
and she was definitely wearing the wrong shoes for it. Most of the other
girls besides Angela and Jessica decided to stay on the beach as well. I
waited until Tyler and Eric had committed to remaining with them before I
got up quietly to join the pro-hiking group. Mike gave me a huge smile
when he saw that I was coming.

阿汤哥

这次远足不算太漫长，虽然我一向讨厌待在林子里，因为看不到天空。森林里的绿光和少年人的笑声有一种古怪的不协调感，这里太阴森了，有一种不祥的气氛，跟我周围的轻松的调笑一点儿也不搭调。我不得不留神看着自己踏下的每一步，提防着底下的树根和顶上的树枝，很快被落在了后头。最终，我冲出了森林里翡翠色的藩篱，重新看见了布满岩礁的海岸。正是落潮时分，一条潮汐河涌动着从我们面前流过，奔向大海。沿着布满砾石的海岸上，一湾湾浅浅的水池从未干涸过，总是盈满了生机

我非常谨慎，尽量离这些小海池远些。别的人就大胆多了，他们纵身跳过一块块礁石，准确地落在石头边上。在其中一个最大的潮汐池边上，我发现了一块看上去非常牢固的石头，便小心翼翼地坐到那里，被我脚边的天然鱼缸迷住了。一簇簇绚丽多彩的海葵在水流里永不止息地摇曳生姿，海星一动不动地粘在石头上和石缝里。一条小小的长满了白色斑纹的黑鳗鱼穿梭在绿意盎然的水草间，等着大海的归来。我完全沉浸在其中，只剩下脑海里的一小部分还在想着爱德华现在在做什么，试图幻想着如果他正在这里和我一起，他会说些什么。
男孩们最终觉得饿了，我僵直地站起来，跟着他们回去。这次我试图在穿越林子的时候跟紧些，所以很自然地，我摔倒了好几次。我的手腕上留下了一些浅浅的擦伤，我的牛仔裤的膝部被染成了绿色，但情况本可以更糟的。

当我们回到第一湾的时候，被我们留下来的那群人变多了。当我们走近些的时候，我们能看到新来者发亮的直发和红铜色的肌肤，他们是一群来自保留地的青少年，到这里来交朋友的。

他们已经开始分发食物了，当我们一个个走进浮木圈的时候，埃里克逐个介绍着我们的名字，男孩们却急不可耐地要求着自己那份食物。安吉拉和我是最后到的，当埃里克说出我们的名字时，我注意到一个坐在篝火旁的石头上，年纪比我小一些的男孩感兴趣地抬头看了过来。我坐到安吉拉身旁，迈克给我们拿来了三明治，还有一排苏打水任我们挑选。这时那群访客里看上去最年长的男孩开始喋喋不休地介绍起和他一起来的另外七个人的名字。我唯一能听进去的是其中一个女孩也叫杰西卡，而那个注意过我的男孩名叫雅克布。

和安吉拉坐在一起是一件让人放松的事，她是那种能给周围的人休息的人——她不认为需要用闲聊来填满每一段沉默。当我们吃东西的时候，她让我不受干扰地自由地思索着。我在想着，在福克斯度过的时光是那么的支离破碎，有时候时间过得飞快，模糊了记忆中的一切，只有几幅简单的画面凸显出来，比别的画面显得更清晰些。然而，别的一些时候，每一秒都显得那么的重要，深深地烙在了我的心上。我清楚地知道是什么导致了不同，但这更让我感到困扰。

================================

The hike wasn't too long, though I hated to lose the sky in the woods.
The green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescent
laughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banter
around me. I had to watch each step I took very carefully, avoiding roots
below and branches above, and I soon fell behind. Eventually I broke
through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore
again. It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way to
the sea. Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely
drained were teeming with life.

I was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. The
others were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously on
the edges. I found a very stable-looking rock on the fringe of one of the
largest pools and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the natural
aquarium below me. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated
ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the
edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the
rocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripes
wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return. I was
completely absorbed, except for one small part of my mind that wondered
what Edward was doing now, and trying to imagine what he would be saying
if he were here with me.

Finally the boys were hungry, and I got up stiffly to follow them back. I
tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally I fell
a few times. I got some shallow scrapes on my palms, and the knees of my
jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.

When we got back to First Beach, the group we'd left behind had
multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black
hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation
come to socialize.

The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim a
share while Eric introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle.
Angela and I were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I
noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me
in interest. I sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought us sandwiches
and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the
oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with
him. All I caught was that one of the girls was also named Jessica, and
the boy who noticed me was named Jacob.

It was relaxing to sit with Angela; she was a restful kind of person to
be around — she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter.
She left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. And I was thinking
about how disjointedly time seemed to flow in Forks, passing in a blur at
times, with single images standing out more clearly than others. And
then, at other times, every second was significant, etched in my mind. I
knew exactly what caused the difference, and it disturbed me.

阿汤哥

在我们吃午饭的时候，云层开始向前推移，偷偷地蚕食着蓝天，随时都有可能冲到太阳跟前，在海滩上留下长长的阴影，让海浪变得一片漆黑。他们吃完东西以后，开始三三两两地散开。有些走下海滩走到海浪的边缘，试着跃过波涛起伏的海面跳到岩礁上。另一些人聚拢在一起，准备再来一次潮汐池远征。迈克——杰西卡像影子一样跟着他——起身向村里的一个商店走去。几个本地的孩子跟他们一起去。别的孩子则加入到远足中去。等到他们都七零八落地走光了的时候，我独自坐在我的那根圆浮木，劳伦和泰勒占据了那个不知是谁想着带来的随身听。三个来自保留区的青少年围着篝火坐着，包括那个名叫雅克布的男孩，还有那个最年长的表现得像个发言人一样的男孩。

过了几分钟，安吉拉和那帮远足的人一起走了，雅克布漫步过来，坐到了我身边她的位置上。他看上去只有十四岁，或者十五岁，一头光滑平直的黑发被拢到头后用橡胶圈束着放在颈背上。他的肌肤很美丽，像丝绸一样光滑，是赤褐色的。他的眼睛很黑，深深地嵌在他高高的颧骨上。他的下巴依然留着一点婴儿肥的痕迹。总的说来，是一张相当俊美的脸。但是，我对他长相的良好印象被他说出口的第一句话给毁了。
“你是伊莎贝拉?史温，对吧？”

就好像是到学校的第一天又历史重演了一样。

“贝拉。”我叹息道。

“我是雅克布?布莱克。”他友好地伸出了手。“你买下了我的车。”

“哦。”我如释重负地说着，握了握他光滑的手。“你是比利的儿子，我应该记得你的。”

“不，我是家里最小的孩子——你可能还记得我的姐姐们。”

“蕾切尔和丽贝卡。”我立刻想起来了。我到这里的时候，查理和比利常常把我们丢在一起，好让我们在他们钓鱼的时候忙个不停。我们都太害羞了，所以没能更进一步成为朋友。当然，当我十一岁的时候，我终于把我的怒火发作了出来，终结了钓鱼之旅。

=========================

During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky,
darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across the
beach, and blackening the waves. As they finished eating, people started
to drift away in twos and threes. Some walked down to the edge of the
waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy su**ce. Others were
gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike — with Jessica
shadowing him — headed up to the one shop in the village. Some of the
local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time
they all had scattered, I was sitting alone on my driftwood log, with
Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves by the CD player someone had
thought to bring, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around
the circle, including the boy named Jacob and the oldest boy who had
acted as spokesperson.

A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers, Jacob sauntered over to
take her place by my side. He looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, and had
long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his
neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet-colored; his eyes were
dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. He still had just
a hint of childish roundness left around his chin. Altogether, a very
pretty face. However, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the
first words out of his mouth.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

It was like the first day of school all over again.

"Bella," I sighed.

"I'm Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "You
bought my dad's truck."

"Oh," I said, relieved, shaking his sleek hand. "You're Billy's son. I
probably should remember you."

"No, I'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my older
sisters."

"Rachel and Rebecca," I suddenly recalled. Charlie and Billy had thrown
us together a lot during my visits, to keep us busy while they fished. We
were all too shy to make much progress as friends. Of course, I'd kicked
up enough tantrums to end the fishing trips by the time I was eleven.

阿汤哥

“她们在这儿吗？”我审视着海边的那群女孩，想知道我现在还能不能把她们认出来。

“不，”雅克布摇着头说道。“蕾切尔拿到了一份奖学金，到华盛顿州念书去了。瑞贝卡和一个萨摩

亚冲浪运动员结了婚——她现在住在夏威夷。”

“结婚，哇哦。”我大吃一惊。这对双胞胎只比我大一年多一点而已啊。

“那么，你觉得那辆卡车怎么样？”他问道。

“我很喜欢，它跑得好极了。”
“是的，但真的太慢了。”他大笑起来。“查理把它买下来的时候我简直如释重负，当我们家拥有这

样一辆出色的好车时，我爸是不会让我再装配一辆车的。”
“它没那么慢。”我伉仪道。

“你试过开到时速六十英里以上吗？”

“没有。”我承认。

“很好，千万别这样做。”他龇牙咧嘴地笑了起来。
我不禁向他露齿一笑。“在事故里它表现得相当好。”我为自己的卡车辩护道。

“我认为就算是一辆坦_克也摧毁不了这个老怪物。”他又一次大笑起来，赞同道。

“那么，你会组装车子？”我对此印象深刻，于是问道。

“那得是我有空的时候，而且只是局部装配。你不会碰巧知道我能上哪儿弄一个1986年产的大众兔子

的制动缸吧？”他打趣地补充道。他有着亲切沙哑的声线。

“抱歉，”我大笑起来。“我最近没见过这种东西，不过我会替你留意的。”就好像我知道那是什么

东西一样。他实在是个容易攀谈的人。


===========================

"Are they here?" I examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if I
would recognize them now.

"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington
State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer — she lives in Hawaii now."

"Married. Wow." I was stunned. The twins were only a little over a year
older than I was.

"So how do you like the truck?" he asked.

"I love it. It runs great."

"Yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "I was so relived when Charlie
bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we
had a perfectly good vehicle right there."

"It's not that slow," I objected.

"Have you tried to go over sixty?"

"No," I admitted.

"Good. Don't." He grinned.

I couldn't help grinning back. "It does great in a collision," I offered
in my truck's defense.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with
another laugh.

"So you build cars?" I asked, impressed.

"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I
could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he
added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.

"Sorry," I laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes
open for you." As if I knew what that was. He was very easy to talk with.

阿汤哥

灿烂的笑容在他脸上一闪而过，他看着我的眼神，显然是我正在学会辨别的那种。我不是唯一一个注

意到这一点的人。

“你认识贝拉，雅克布？”劳伦从篝火那边发问道，我想她说话的腔调可以称得上是粗野无礼了。

“可以这么说，从我出生时起，我们就相识了。”他大笑着说，又一次冲着我微笑。

“真棒。”她的声音听起来一点儿也不像是觉得这很棒的样子，她暗淡无光的死鱼眼眯缝起来。
“贝拉，”她一边唤着我的名字，一边仔细地盯着我的脸看。“我刚才还在和泰勒说着，今天卡伦家

没有一个人来实在是太糟了。没有人想要邀请他们吗？”她关切的表情看上去很假。

“你是指卡莱尔?卡伦医生一家吗？”我还没来得及对劳伦的挑衅进行反击，那个高大的年长的男孩

忽然开口问道。他真的更接近于一个成年男子而不是男孩，他的声音非常地低沉。

“是的，你认识他们？”她带着几份优越感问道，半路转过头去看着他。

“卡伦家的人不会来这里的。”他的语气里带着这个话题到此为止的意味，毫不理睬她的问题。

泰勒试图夺回她的注意，他问了劳伦对他手上的一张CD的意见。她被分了神，不再继续这个话题了。

我注视着那个声音低沉的男孩，对他所说的话震惊不已。但他已经移开了视线，凝视着我们身后的黑

暗的森林。他说卡伦家的人不会来这里，但他的语气暗示了更多的信息——他们不被认可，他们是被

禁止的存在。他的态度给我留下了一个奇怪的印象，我试着不去注意这一点，但没有成功。

雅克布打断了我的沉思。“那么，福克斯已经让你发狂了吗？”

“哦，我得说这是一种保守的描述。”我做了个鬼脸。他心领神会地咧嘴一笑。


==================================

He flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way I was
learning to recognize. I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"You know Bella, Jacob?" Lauren asked — in what I imagined was an
insolent tone — from across the fire.

"We've sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed, smiling at
me again.

"How nice." She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her
pale, fishy eyes narrowed.

"Bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying
to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today.
Didn't anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was
unconvincing.

"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked before
I could respond, much to Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a
man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.

"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway
toward him.

"The Cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject,
ignoring her question.

Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren's opinion on a CD
he held. She was distracted.

I stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away
toward the dark forest behind us. He'd said that the Cullens didn't come
here, but his tone had implied something more — that they weren't
allowed; they were prohibited. His manner left a strange impression on
me, and I tried to ignore it without success.

Jacob interrupted my meditation. "So is Forks driving you insane yet?"

"Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I grimaced. He grinned
understandingly.

阿汤哥

我依然反复思索着那个针对卡伦一家的简短评论，然后灵光一闪。这实在是个愚蠢的计划，但我想不

出更好的办法了。我衷心希望年轻的雅克布对应付女孩子还没有太多的经验，这样他就不会看穿我显

然是出于同情的，另有企图的调情了。
“你想和我一起去沙滩上走走吗？”我问道，试图模仿爱德华做过的那样，从眼睫毛下往上看。我当

然知道，自己不可能做到和爱德华所做的相同的效果，但雅克布已经足够心甘情愿地跳起来了。

当我们一路向北，穿过多孔的礁石向浮木海堤走去的时候，云层最终铺满了天空，让海水变得黑暗起

来，气温也下降了。我把手深深地揣进我夹克衫的口袋里。


“那么，你，满十六了吗？”我问道，学着我在电视上看过的那些女孩的样子眨巴着眼睛，尽量不让

自己看起来像个傻瓜。

“我刚满十五岁。”他承认道，显然对我的奉承很是满意。

“真的？”我脸上堆满了虚伪的惊讶。“我还以为你的年纪会更大些。”

“就我的年纪而言，我的个子比较高。”他解释道。

“你常去福克斯吗？”我狡猾地问道，就好像我在期盼着一个肯定的回答一样。我觉得自己的声音听

起来像个白痴一样。我很害怕他最终会嫌恶我，指责我的虚情假意。但他还是很高兴。

“不太常去。”他皱着眉承认道。“但等我把我的车弄好以后，我就能想去就去了——等我拿到驾照

以后。”他稍微修正了一下。

“刚刚和劳伦说话的那个男孩是谁？他似乎老了些，不像是跟我们一起玩的年纪。”我刻意地把自己

归类为年轻人，试图更明白地表示出我更喜欢雅克布。

===============================
I was still turning over the brief comment on the Cullens, and I had a
sudden inspiration. It was a stupid plan, but I didn't have any better
ideas. I hoped that young Jacob was as yet inexperienced around girls, so
that he wouldn't see through my sure-to-be-pitiful attempts at flirting.

"Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" I asked, trying to imitate
that way Edward had of looking up from underneath his eyelashes. It
couldn't have nearly the same effect, I was sure, but Jacob jumped up
willingly enough.

As we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood
seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea
to darken and the temperature to drop. I shoved my hands deep into the
pockets of my jacket.

"So you're, what, sixteen?" I asked, trying not to look like an idiot as
I fluttered my eyelids the way I'd seen girls do on TV.

"I just turned fifteen," he confessed, flattered.

"Really?" My face was full of false surprise. "I would have thought you
were older."

"I'm tall for my age," he explained.

"Do you come up to Forks much?" I asked archly, as if I was hoping for a
yes. I sounded idiotic to myself. I was afraid he would turn on me with
disgust and accuse me of my fraud, but he still seemed flattered.

"Not too much," he admitted with a frown. "But when I get my car finished
I can go up as much as I want — after I get my license," he amended.

"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to
be hanging out with us." I purposefully lumped myself in with the
youngsters, trying to make it clear that I preferred Jacob.

阿汤哥

“那是山姆——他十九岁了。”他告诉我。

“为什么他要那样说医生一家呢？”我一脸天真地问。

“卡伦一家？哦，他们不被允许来保留区。”他看向别处，望着远处的詹姆士岛。但他已经证实了我

所认为的自己从山姆的语气里听出的东西。

“为什么不能呢？”

他回过头看着我，咬住了唇。“噢，我不应该说这些的。”

“哦，我不会告诉任何人的，我只是有点好奇而已。”我试图让自己的笑容显得更诱人些，但想着自

己是不是做得有些过火了。

但他向我微笑着，显然已经上钩了。然后他挑起一侧眉头，声音变得比之前更为沙哑了。

“你喜欢听惊悚故事吗？”他用一种不祥的语气问道。

“我太喜欢了。”我热切地说着，竭力用眼神鼓励着他。

雅克布溜达着向旁边的一根浮木走去。这根浮木的根须张牙舞爪地伸展着，像是一只巨大的苍白的蜘

蛛的无数只细腿。他轻巧地跳到其中一根扭曲的树根上坐下来，我坐在他的下方，坐到了树干上。他

俯视着岩礁，一抹笑意在他宽厚的唇边上徘徊着。我看得出他正在努力组织语言。我专注地让自己的

眼睛流露出兴致勃勃的神情。

“你听说过我们的古老故事吗？我是指，关于我们的来源——奎鲁特族？”他开始了。

“没有。”我承认道。

“嗯，这里面有很多传说，其中有些的内容可以追溯到大洪水时期——按照推测，古代的奎鲁特族人

把他们的独木舟绑在了山上最高的一棵树的树顶，像诺亚方舟一样幸存了下来。”他微笑着，向我表

明了他并不太相信这些历史。“另一个传说则声称我们是狼的后裔——现在这些狼依然是我们的兄弟

。捕杀狼是违背部落法律的行为。”

=========================

"That's Sam — he's nineteen," he informed me.

"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked
innocently.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He
looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought
I'd heard in Sam's voice.

"Why not?"

He glanced back at me, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say
anything about that."

"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I tried to make my smile
alluring, wondering if I was laying it on too thick.

He smiled back, though, looking allured. Then he lifted one eyebrow and
his voice was even huskier than before.

"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.

"I love them," I enthused, making an effort to smolder at him.

Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out
like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on
one of the twisted roots while I sat beneath him on the body of the tree.
He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his
broad lips. I could see he was going to try to make this good. I focused
on keeping the vital interest I felt out of my eyes.

"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the
Quileutes, I mean?" he began.

"Not really," I admitted.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to
the Flood — supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the
tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the
ark." He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories.
"Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the
wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.

阿汤哥

“然后是关于冷族的故事。”他的声音压得更低了。

“冷族？”我问道，不再掩饰自己的阴谋了。

“是的。关于冷族的故事和狼的传说一样古老，有些则更近些。根据传说的内容，我的曾祖父曾经认

识他们中的一些人。他和他们订下了条约，让他们远离我们的土地。”他转了转眼睛。

“你的曾祖父？”我鼓励着他说下去。
“他是部落的长老，和我爸爸一样。你知道，冷族和狼是天生的死敌——嗯，好吧，不是普通的狼，

而是那些可以化成人形的狼，比方说我们的祖先。你可以称他们为狼人。”

“狼人会有敌人吗？”

“只有一个。”

我诚恳地看着他，希望能掩饰住自己不安，让他理解为钦佩。

“所以，你看，”雅克布继续说道。“冷族向来是我们的敌人。但在我曾祖父的时候，我们的领地里

来了一群不太一样的冷族。他们不像别的冷族一样狩猎——他们也不会威胁到我们的部族。所以我的

曾祖父和他们签下了休战协定。只要他们保证离我们的领土远远的，我们就不拆穿他们苍白的真面目

。”他向我眨着眼睛。

“如果他们并不危险，那为什么……？”我试图理解他的话，但努力不让他发现我在认真地思考着他

的幽灵故事。

“人类和冷族靠得太近总是有风险的，即使他们像这个小团体一样已经文明开化了。你永远不能知道

他们什么时候会忍耐不住饥饿。”他故意让自己的口吻里带上了浓浓的恐吓的味道。

“你说的‘文明开化’是什么意思？”

“他们声称他们不会狩猎人类。以此类推，他们大概能在某种程度上用捕食动物来替代。”

我试图让自己的声音显得漫不经心些：“那这跟卡伦一家有什么关系呢？他们很像你的曾祖父所遇到

的那群冷族吗？”

============================

"Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a
little lower.

"The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and
some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew
some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our
land." He rolled his eyes.

"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the
natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves
that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one."

I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.

"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our
enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my
great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others
of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe.
So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to
stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked
at me.

"If they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" I tried to understand,
struggling not to let him see how seriously I was considering his ghost
story.

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if
they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get
too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into
his tone.

"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"

"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow
able to prey on animals instead."

I tried to keep my voice casual. "So how does it fit in with the Cullens?
Are they like the cold ones your greatgrandfather met?"

阿汤哥

“不是的。”他故意顿了顿。“他们是同一群人。”

他一定认为，我脸上恐惧的表情纯粹是被他的故事吓出来的。他开心地笑了，然后继续说道。

“现在他们的人数增加了，又增加了一个新来的女性和一个新来的男性，但剩下的还是原来那帮人。

在我曾祖父的时代，他们就已经听说过那个领导者，卡莱尔。他来过这里，然后在你们的人到达以前

就走了。”他抗拒地一笑。

“他们究竟是什么？”我最终问道。“冷族到底是什么？”

他阴郁地笑了。

“饮血者。”他用冷漠的语气答道。“你们的人称他们为吸血鬼。”

在他回答以后，我看向起伏不定的海面，不敢肯定我的表情是否已经泄露了一切。

“你浑身都起了鸡皮疙瘩。”他兴高采烈地大笑着。

“你是个很棒的说故事的人。”我称赞他，依然盯着阵阵浪涛。

“不过，确实是相当疯狂的内容，不是吗？难怪我爸不让我们跟任何人说这些。”

我依然没法控制自己的表情，只好不去看他。“别担心，我不会出卖你的。”

“我想，我刚刚违背了条约。”他大笑起来。（一语成谶）

“我会把它带进坟墓的。”我保证道，然后哆嗦起来。

“不过，说真的，什么都别跟查理说。当他听说我们中的一些人自从卡伦医生开始在医院里工作以后

就再也没去过医院的时候，他对我爸大发雷霆。”
======================
"No." He paused dramatically. "They are the same ones."

He must have thought the expression on my face was fear inspired by his
story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.

"There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest
are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the
leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even
arrived." He was fighting a smile.

"And what are they?" I finally asked. "What are the cold ones?"

He smiled darkly.

"Blood drinkers," he replied in a chilling voice. "Your people call them
vampires."

I stared out at the rough surf after he answered, not sure what my face

was exposing.

"You have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.

"You're a good storyteller," I complimented him, still staring into the
waves.

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us
to talk about it to anyone."

I couldn't control my expression enough to look at him yet. "Don't worry,
I won't give you away."

"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.

"I'll take it to the grave," I promised, and then I shivered.

"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at
my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since
Dr. Cullen started working there."

阿汤哥

“我不会说的，当然不会。”

“那么，你会觉得我们是一群迷信的土著还是别的什么吗？”他开玩笑地问道，却有些许担心的意味

。我始终没把视线从海上移开。

我回过头，尽可能正常地冲他一笑。

“不会。但我觉得你很擅长说惊悚故事。我还在起鸡皮疙瘩，看见了吗？”我抬起我的胳膊。

“好极了。”他笑了起来。

然后，海滩上的碎石发出的喀拉喀拉声提醒我们有人来了。我们同时猛地回过头去，看见迈克和杰西

卡在十五码外的地方，向我们走来。
“原来你在这里，贝拉。”迈克如释重负地喊道，把手举过头顶用力地挥舞着。

“那是你的男朋友吗？”雅克布留意到了迈克的语气带着嫉妒的味道，于是问道。我很惊讶，原来这

是那么的明显。

“不是，显然不是。”我耳语道。我对雅克布充满了感激之情，想要让他尽可能更高兴些。我转过脸

去不再看迈克，向他眨了眨眼睛。他笑了，我笨拙的调情让他很是高兴。

“那等我拿到驾照以后……”他开口说道。

“你一定要来福克斯看我。我们得找时间聚一下。”当我说这些的时候，我感到一阵内疚，知道自己

纯粹是在利用他。但我真的很喜爱雅克布，他是那种很容易和我成为朋友的人。

现在迈克已经走到我们跟前了，把杰西卡落在了几步之外。我能看出他的眼睛正在估量着雅克布，看

上去对他明摆着的年幼感到很满意。

===========================

"I won't, of course not."

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he
asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry. I still hadn't looked
away from the ocean.

I turned and smiled at him as normally as I could.

"No. I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still
have goose bumps, see?" I held up my arm.

"Cool." He smiled.

And then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other
warned us that someone was approaching. Our heads snapped up at the same
time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward us.

"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his
head.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge in
Mike's voice. I was surprised it was so obvious.

"No, definitely not," I whispered. I was tremendously grateful to Jacob,
and eager to make him as happy as possible. I winked at him, carefully
turning away from Mike to do so. He smiled, elated by my inept flirting.

"So when I get my license…" he began.

"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." I felt
guilty as I said this, knowing that I'd used him. But I really did like
Jacob. He was someone I could easily be friends with.

Mike had reached us now, with Jessica still a few paces back. I could see
his eyes appraising Jacob, and looking satisfied at his obvious youth.

阿汤哥

“你上哪儿去了？”他问道，尽管答案就摆在他面前。
“雅克布刚刚和我讲了几个当地的故事，”我主动说道。“相当地有趣。”
我温和地向雅克布笑了笑，他冲我眨了眨眼睛。
“嗯，”迈克顿了顿，在看到我们的友谊之后，他重新评估了情况。“我们正在收拾东西——看上去
快要下雨了。”
我们都抬起头，看着阴森森的天际。看起来确实是要下雨的样子。
“好吧。”我跳下来。“我来了。”
“很高兴再次见到你。”雅克布说道，我敢说他是在小小地奚落了一下迈克。
“我确实很开心。下次查理来看比利的时候，我也会过来的。”我保证道。
他咧开大嘴，开心地笑了。“那一定很棒。”
“还有，谢谢。”我真挚地补充道。
当我们踩着碎石向停车场走去的时候，我拉上了兜帽。几滴雨水开始落下来，打在石块上，染出了一
个个小黑点。我们走到巨无霸那里的时候，别的人已经把所有的东西都放上车了。我宣称自己已经坐
过副驾驶座了，这次便爬进后座，跟安吉拉和泰勒坐在一块儿。安吉拉只是盯着窗外，看着越下越大
的暴雨。劳伦从中座扭过头来，占据着泰勒的注意力。所以我可以单纯地把头靠在座位上，闭上双眼
，努力不再去想任何东西。

========================

"Where have you been?" he asked, though the answer was right in front of
him.
"Jacob was just telling me some local stories," I volunteered. "It was
really interesting."
I smiled at Jacob warmly, and he grinned back.
"Well," Mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watched
our camaraderie. "We're packing up — it looks like it's going to rain
soon."
We all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.
"Okay." I jumped up. "I'm coming."

"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said, and I could tell he was
taunting Mike just a bit.
"It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come,
too," I promised.
His grin stretched across his face. "That would be cool."
"And thanks," I added earnestly.
I pulled up my hood as we tramped across the rocks toward the parking
lot. A few drops were beginning to fall, making black spots on the stones
where they landed. When we got to the Suburban the others were already
loading everything back in. I crawled into the backseat by Angela and
Tyler, announcing that I'd already had my turn in the shotgun position.
Angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm, and Lauren
twisted around in the middle seat to occupy Tyler's attention, so I could
simply lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes and try very hard
not to think.


CHAPTER SIX END

阿汤哥

第七章 梦魇

我告诉查理我有很多作业要做，什么也不想吃。电视上正在直播一场让他情绪激昂的篮球赛——尽管理所当然地，我根本不知道精彩在那里。所以，他完全没有注意到我的表情或是语气有什么不对劲。

一进房间，我就把门锁上了。我在书桌里一阵乱翻，直到找到我的旧耳机为止。我把它们塞进了我的小随身听的插孔里，然后选了一张圣诞节时菲尔送给我的CD。这是他最喜欢的乐队之一，但就我的品味而言，他们歌里的低吼和尖叫用得有点太多了。我啪地一下把它放进随身听，然后躺倒在床上。我戴上耳机，按下播放键，把声音调大到让我的耳朵刺痛为止。我闭上眼睛，但还是觉得太亮了，于是我又加了一个枕头，压在脸上。（原文是脸的上半部。。。外国人好精确。。。）

我专心致志地听着歌，试图听懂那些歌词，弄懂那些复杂的鼓点和节拍。当我听着这张CD听第三遍的时候，至少，我已经知道合唱部分的所有歌词了。我惊奇地发现，当我忽略那些嘈杂的噪音时，我真的喜欢上这支乐队了。我得再次感谢菲尔。

这很有效。毁灭性的节拍让我没办法思考——这正是我要这样练习的所有意图。我一遍又一遍地听着这张CD，直到我能唱出里面所有的歌，直到，最后，我终于沉沉睡去。

我睁开了眼睛，发现自己在一个熟悉的地方。我的意识里的某些部分告诉我自己正在做梦。我认出了这座森林里的绿光。我能听到，在附近的某个地方，海浪正在撞击着岩礁。我知道，如果我能找到海，我就能看见太阳。我试图循声找去，但这时候，雅克布?布莱克出现了。他拽着我的手，拖着我向森林里最幽暗的地方走去。

==========================

7. NIGHTMARE


I told Charlie I had a lot of homework to do, and that I didn't want
anything to eat. There was a basketball game on that he was excited
about, though of course I had no idea what was special about it, so he
wasn't aware of anything unusual in my face or tone.

Once in my room, I locked the door. I dug through my desk until I found
my old headphones, and I plugged them into my little CD player. I picked
up a CD that Phil had given to me for Christmas. It was one of his
favorite bands, but they used a little too much bass and shrieking for my
tastes. I popped it into place and lay down on my bed. I put on the
headphones, hit Play, and turned up the volume until it hurt my ears. I
closed my eyes, but the light still intruded, so I added a pillow over
the top half of my face.

I concentrated very carefully on the music, trying to understand the
lyrics, to unravel the complicated drum patterns. By the third time I'd
listened through the CD, I knew all the words to the choruses, at least.
I was surprised to find that I really did like the band after all, once I
got past the blaring noise. I'd have to thank Phil again.

And it worked. The shattering beats made it impossible for me to think —
which was the whole purpose of the exercise. I listened to the CD again
and again, until I was singing along with all the songs, until, finally,
I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to a familiar place. Aware in some corner of my
consciousness that I was dreaming, I recognized the green light of the
forest. I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks somewhere
nearby. And I knew that if I found the ocean, I'd be able to see the sun.
I was trying to follow the sound, but then Jacob Black was there, tugging
on my hand, pulling me back toward the blackest part of the forest.

阿汤哥

“雅克布？怎么了？”我问道。他的脸上写满了恐惧，他拉着我，用尽全身的力气来制止我的反抗。我不想走进黑暗中。

“跑，贝拉，你得跑！”他恐惧地低声说道。

“这边，贝拉！”我认出了迈克的声音，那是从树林里黑暗的中心传来的。但我看不见他。

“为什么？”我问道，依然反抗着雅克布的紧握，渴望着去寻找太阳。

但雅克布放开了我的手，大叫着，忽然倒在了森林中灰扑扑的地面上。他躺在地上，抽搐着，我惊恐地看着他。

“雅克布！”我尖叫起来。但他不见了。在他的位置上出现了一只巨大的红棕色的狼，眼睛是黑色的。那只狼转过身去背对着我，冲着海岸的方向。他背上的毛发全都竖了起来，低低的嚎叫声从他露出的尖牙间传出来。

“贝拉，跑！”迈克又一次在我身后大声喊着。但我没有跑。我看见一道光从海滩那边向着我过来了。

然后，爱德华从树林中走出来。他的肌肤微微发着光，他的双眸漆黑而危险。他举起一只手，示意我到他那里去。狼在我的脚边咆哮着。

我向着爱德华的方向，向前迈了一步。于是他微笑起来，露出尖锐锋利的牙齿。

“相信我。”他愉快地低声说道。

我又踏了一步。

那匹狼让自己横亘在了我和吸血鬼之间的空地上，尖牙瞄准了他的颈动脉。

“不！”我尖叫着，猛地从床上弹起来。
========================================

"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked. His face was frightened as he yanked with
all his strength against my resistance; I didn't want to go into the dark.

"Run, Bella, you have to run!" he whispered, terrified.

"This way, Bella!" I recognized Mike's voice calling out of the gloomy
heart of the trees, but I couldn't see him.

"Why?" I asked, still pulling against Jacob's grasp, desperate now to
find the sun.

But Jacob let go of my hand and yelped, suddenly shaking, falling to the
dim forest floor. He twitched on the ground as I watched in horror.

"Jacob!" I screamed. But he was gone. In his place was a large red-brown
wolf with black eyes. The wolf faced away from me, pointing toward the
shore, the hair on the back of his shoulders bristling, low growls
issuing from between his exposed fangs.

"Bella, run!" Mike cried out again from behind me. But I didn't turn. I
was watching a light coming toward me from the beach.

And then Edward stepped out from the trees, his skin faintly glowing, his
eyes black and dangerous. He held up one hand and beckoned me to come to
him. The wolf growled at my feet.

I took a step forward, toward Edward. He smiled then, and his teeth were
sharp, pointed.

"Trust me," he purred.

I took another step.

The wolf launched himself across the space between me and the vampire,
fangs aiming for the jugular.

"No!" I screamed, wrenching upright out of my bed.

阿汤哥

我的忽然移动让耳机把随身听扯下了桌子，咔哒一声落到了地板上。

灯还开着，我和衣坐在床上，连鞋都没脱。我迷惑地张望着，看见了梳妆台上的时钟。现在是早上五点半。

我呻吟着，倒回床上，翻个身变成趴着的姿势，把靴子给踢掉了。但是，我太难受了，连睡觉的边缘都够不着（根本睡不着）。我又翻过身来，拉开牛仔裤的拉连，平躺着很不雅观地把裤子脱掉。我能感觉到我的发辫在脑袋后面拱成了一个很不舒服的小包。我转过头，把橡胶圈扯下来，用手指很快地梳了几下头发。我把枕头拉回来，压到我的眼睛上。

当然，一切都毫无作用。我的潜意识把我拼命想要忘掉的画面发掘出来。现在，我不得不面对它们了。

我坐起来，头晕目眩了一会儿，血液才开始向下涌动。重要的事先做，我自忖着，很高兴能把这件事尽可能地往后推。我抓起了我的洗漱包。

但是，沐浴并没有像我所希望的那样耗时间。尽管花了不少时间吹干头发，我还是很快把在浴室里能做的事都做完了。我裹上一块浴巾，走回我的房间。我说不准查理是还在睡呢，还是已经出去了。我走到窗前看出去，发现巡逻车已经开走了。又开始钓鱼了。

我慢慢地穿上自己最舒适的汗衫，（sweats。。。贝拉。。。你真的是老气横秋啊。。。）把床铺好——我很少这样做的。我再也不能把这事往后推了。我走到书桌前，打开了我的旧电脑。

我讨厌在这里上网。我的调制解调器相当过时了，我的免费上网服务完全在标准之下。光是拨号就得花上很长一段时间，所以在等待的时候，我决定先去给自己弄一碗麦片粥。

我吃得很慢，每一口都细细咀嚼。吃完以后，我把碗和勺子洗好，擦干，然后放回去。上楼时我故意磨磨蹭蹭地拖着步子走路。我先走向我的随身听，把它从地上捡起来，精确地放到桌子正中央。我把耳机拔下来，放回抽屉里。然后我把原来那张CD公放，把声音调低到刚刚好能成为背景音乐的那个点上。

===================================
My sudden movement caused the headphones to pull the CD player off the
bedside table, and it clattered to the wooden floor.

My light was still on, and I was sitting fully dressed on the bed, with
my shoes on. I glanced, disoriented, at the clock on my dresser. It was
five-thirty in the morning.

I groaned, fell back, and rolled over onto my face, kicking off my boots.
I was too uncomfortable to get anywhere near sleep, though. I rolled back
over and unbuttoned my jeans, yanking them off awkwardly as I tried to
stay horizontal. I could feel the braid in my hair, an uncomfortable
ridge along the back of my skull. I turned onto my side and ripped the
rubber band out, quickly combing through the plaits with my fingers. I
pulled the pillow back over my eyes.

It was all no use, of course. My subconscious had dredged up exactly the
images I'd been trying so desperately to avoid. I was going to have to
face them now.

I sat up, and my head spun for a minute as the blood flowed downward.
First things first, I thought to myself, happy to put it off as long as
possible. I grabbed my bathroom bag.

The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would, though. Even
taking the time to blow-dry my hair, I was soon out of things to do in
the bathroom. Wrapped in a towel, I crossed back to my room. I couldn't
tell if Charlie was still asleep, or if he had already left. I went to
look out my window, and the cruiser was gone. Fishing again.

I dressed slowly in my most comfy sweats and then made my bed — something
I never did. I couldn't put it off any longer. I went to my desk and
switched on my old computer.

I hated using the Internet here. My modem was sadly outdated, my free
service substandard; just dialing up took so long that I decided to go
get myself a bowl of cereal while I waited.

I ate slowly, chewing each bite with care. When I was done, I washed the
bowl and spoon, dried them, and put them away. My feet dragged as I
climbed the stairs. I went to my CD player first, picking it up off the
floor and placing it precisely in the center of the table. I pulled out
the headphones, and put them away in the desk drawer. Then I turned the
same CD on, turning it down to the point where it was background noise.

阿汤哥

我又叹了口气，这才转向我的电脑。自然，屏幕上全是弹窗广告。我坐到我那张硬邦邦的扶手椅上，开始把所有的小窗口关掉。最后，我打开了我最喜欢的搜索引擎。我又关掉了另外几个弹窗广告，然后键入了一个词。

吸血鬼。
当然，这花了简直让人气愤的相当长的时间。当结果出来的时候，还有很多内容需要进行筛选——那些内容从电影电视节目到角色扮演游戏，黑市金属，以及哥特妆伴游。

然后，我发现了一个看上去比较可信的网址——吸血鬼A-Z。我迫不及待地等着它打开页面，飞快地关闭屏幕上一闪而过的每个广告。最后，整个屏幕都清空了——简洁的白色背景和黑色标题，看上去很有学术氛围。主页上的两段引述首先映入了我的眼帘。

“自始至终，那个属于幽灵与恶魔的浩瀚的黑暗世界根本没有那么可怕，根本没有那么令人畏惧和憎恶，只是经过了太多充满恐惧的幻想的修饰。正如吸血鬼，他既不属于幽灵，也不属于恶魔，但还是带着几份着黑暗的本质，兼有着那两者的神秘与恐怖的特质。——蒙塔古?萨默斯”

“如果这个世界上有一份屡经证实的报告，那一定是关于吸血鬼的。没有任何东西能被遗漏掉：官方报道，知情者的口供，外科医生的证明，牧师的证词，法官的证言。所有司法上的证据都完备了。但是，即使知道这一切，有人会相信吸血鬼的存在吗？——卢梭”

余下部分是一张依字母表排列的清单，囊括了全世界所有关于吸血鬼的各种各样的传说。我首先点开了“丹拿”，这是一种菲律宾的吸血鬼，很多年以前是负责在岛上种植芋头的。这个传说里讲到，丹拿为人类工作了很多年，直到有一天，这样的合作关系却破裂了。一个女人不小心切到了手指，而一个丹拿为她吮吸伤口，因为觉得滋味太好了，最后它把她体内所有的血都喝干了。

================================

With another sigh, I turned to my computer. Naturally, the screen was
covered in pop-up ads. I sat in my hard folding chair and began closing
all the little windows. Eventually I made it to my favorite search
engine. I shot down a few more pop-ups and then typed in one word.

Vampire.

It took an infuriatingly long time, of course. When the results came up,
there was a lot to sift through — everything from movies and TV shows to
role-playing games, underground metal, and gothic cosmetic companies.

Then I found a promising site — Vampires A—Z. I waited impatiently for it
to load, quickly clicking closed each ad that flashed across the screen.
Finally the screen was finished — ** white background with black
text, academic-looking. Two quotes greeted me on the home page:



Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure
so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such
fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor
demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious
and terrible qualities of both. — Rev. Montague Summers



If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of the
vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known
people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is
most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires?
— Rousseau



The rest of the site was an alphabetized listing of all the different
myths of vampires held throughout the world. The first I clicked on, the
Danag, was a Filipino vampire supposedly responsible for planting taro on
the islands long ago. The myth continued that the Danag worked with
humans for many years, but the partnership ended one day when a woman cut
her finger and a Danag 禁用词语ed her wound, enjoying the taste so much that
it drained her body completely of blood.