[英中] 小說翻譯練習-Alan Wake~第二章
自我挑戰翻譯， 歡迎批評、討論、轉載 (請註明譯者、出處)，絕對嚴禁任何形式的商業
使用謝謝。
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WHO AM I supposed to get the key to the cabin from?” said Wake.
“A Mr. Carl Stucky.” Alice stopped at the traffic light, the only one they
had seen in the town. “He said he was at the Oh Deer Diner every afternoon
about this time.”
Wake looked around as the car idled, waiting for the light to change. Nothing
here but a dozen storefronts of dull, weathered brick, the whole downtown
located on one street that ran along the water. Bright Falls was a tidy,
small town, with no litter, no graffiti and no parking meters. On one side of
the street a hardware store touted deals on chain saws and generators, on the
other side a shoe store announced a sale on steel-toed
boots. A banner over the intersection declared, JUST TWO WEEKS UNTIL DEERFEST!
“Welcome to Mayberry,” he said.
「那我要找誰拿小屋鑰匙？」偉克問說。
「一位叫卡爾．史塔基的先生」。艾莉絲將車停在紅綠燈前，這個紅綠燈也是偉克夫婦進
到鎮來後看到的唯一一座。「他說他通常下午這個時間都會在一家叫『喔～美鹿大餐』的
餐廳裡。」
偉克趁著車子在等待紅綠燈燈號轉換的期間四下打量小鎮。這小鎮沒什麼東西，只有幾十
家看起來老舊又不太吸引人的商店；整個小鎮建在一條平行於河流的街上。亮瀑鎮是一個
小巧整潔的小鎮；地上沒垃圾、牆上沒塗鴉、路邊沒停車計費器。在街的一邊有一家五金
行兜售鏈鋸和發電機；另一邊有一家鞋店外頭廣告寫著販售鋼頭靴。在鎮中央的十字路口
上方掛著一個大橫幅上面寫著：「獵鹿節就在兩週後！」
「歡迎來到梅伯里鎮*。」偉克說。
*註：原文Mayberry是一電視劇和電影中的虛構鄉下鎮名，此處偉克大概也是用來諷刺亮
瀑鎮的簡陋偏僻。
“Don’t be such a snob,” said Alice. “It’s quaint. Very quaint.”
Wake watched a dog amble across the street. “Quaint means no Starbucks, no
deli, no cable, and the film playing at the single screen movie theater has
been out on DVD in the real world for six months.”
“Some people would find that a relief.”
Wake sighed. “It’s just hard for me to relax.”
Alice squeezed his hand. “That’s why we’re here.”
“You’re right.” Wake smiled in spite of himself. “I’m an idiot. I don’t
know why you put up with me.”
“Well…you do have your charms.” The light changed, but Alice ignored it.
Wake watched her in the soft, late afternoon light. She was long and lean
beside him, her movements languid and sensuous as a cat stretching in the
sunlight. “Let’s pick up the key and I’ll do my best to make it up to you.
”
「別這樣笑別人。」艾莉絲說。「這個地方很純樸，非常地古雅純樸。」
偉克看著一條狗狗漫步過了街道後說：「純樸是指沒有星巴克、沒有速食店、沒有第四台
；而且電影院還在播著已經下線發行DVD都六個月的片子。」
「有些人在這種環境能很放鬆。」
「可我就不太會放鬆。」偉克嘆口氣說。
艾莉絲握住偉克的手說：「那就是為什麼我們會來這裡渡假阿。」
「妳說的對。」偉克自嘲地笑了笑說。「我真是個傻瓜，真不知道妳是怎麼忍受我的？」
「這個嘛…你還是有你的魅力在啦。」紅綠燈號已轉綠，不過艾莉絲選擇暫時忽視它。
偉克看著浸在柔和的晚午陽光下的艾莉絲。跟偉克相比艾莉絲顯得修長又纖細，她的一舉
一動像隻在陽光下伸展肢體的貓；帶著慵懶的美感。
「我們趕快去拿小屋鑰匙吧。等拿到之後，我會盡我所能地好好補償妳的。」
Alice glanced over at him. “It’s a deal,” she said, starting through the
intersection. A block later, she slowed and came to a stop in front of the Oh
Deer Diner, leaving the engine running. “You get the key from Stucky and I’
ll pick you up after I get some gas.”
They watched as a lone parade float drove slowly down the street, a
heavy-duty logging truck decorated like a gigantic deer, antlers impossibly
large.
“You’re not just going to drive away and leave me here, are you?” teased
Wake.
“It might do you some good,” said Alice. “Give you a taste of the simple
life.”
“Not without you. What kind of fun would that be?”
Alice pointed at the news rack beside the door, change glistening on the
stack of newspapers. “Look at that. The honor system. When was the last time
you saw that in New York, Alan?”
“Right around the moment that the Dutch settlers swindled the Indians out of
Manhattan.” Wake kissed her and got out.
艾莉絲瞥了偉克一眼。「說話要算話喔。」她說，同時將車往前開過路口。經過一個街區
的距離後，她將車慢了下來然後沒熄火地停在 「喔～美鹿大餐」 餐廳前。「你先去跟史
塔基拿鑰匙，我加完油後再來接你。」
在兩人談話間，他們看到一列遊行花車隊伍緩緩地沿著街往前開去；在其中有一輛原本是
裝載原木的卡車，現在在後車廂擺上一具有一對大到不可思議的鹿角的巨大假鹿。
「妳等等不會車子開了就跑，丟我一個人在這吧？」偉克開玩笑地說。
「那樣對你好像也不錯，」艾莉絲說。「你可以在這嘗嘗看樸實生活的滋味。」
「沒有妳，生活哪還有滋味。」偉克說。
艾莉絲突然指著餐廳門邊的販報架；金屬製的架子在陽光底下閃閃發光。「看看這個，一
個沒上鎖沒人看管的販報架；艾倫，你還記得上次在紐約看到這種東西是多久以前嗎？」
「差不多是在荷蘭來的拓荒客欺騙印第安人的土地趕他們離開曼哈頓的時候吧。」偉克說
完親了艾莉絲一下便下車了。
He watched as she drove down the street toward the single gas pump down the
street. A smear of something pink lay melting on the sidewalk, surrounded by
tiny black ants. Some kid must have dropped strawberry ice cream off his
cone. Wake watched the line of ants streaming from under the diner to the
smear, ravenous, more and more of them pouring out from the to feed. He
hurried into the diner, stopping just inside the doorway, feeling like a man
who had just realized he was standing in the middle of a minefield.
偉克目送著艾莉絲離開前往位於小鎮盡頭處的唯一一座加油站。正當他想走進餐廳時，他
的目光被一個黏在人行道上且被黑螞蟻圍繞的粉紅汙點吸引住了；大概是某個小鬼弄掉了
他的草莓口味的冰淇淋球，偉克這麼想。他看著螞蟻成排的隊伍不斷地從餐廳地基下的裂
縫冒出，如狼似虎地擠向冰淇淋球。偉克猛然想起他還有正事要做，趕緊走進餐廳，但當
他一進門，他就停在入口處了，因為他突然有種與當一個人驚覺他人就身在地雷區中央同
樣的感覺。
Not two feet away was a life-size cardboard standup of himself looking
haunted and sensitive, a blowup of the author photo that Alice had taken for
his last novel, The Sudden Stop. Basic promotion, but in their condescending
review of the book, the New York Times had found room to say it—“while Wake
’s sleek good looks undoubtedly contribute to his massive sales, the current
author photo, so redolent of the archetypal tortured artiste, signals an
attempt to cross over into literary territory.” Yeah, thought Wake, next
photo shoot I’ll wear a frilly dress and hockey mask so no one thinks I’m
putting on airs.
He stared at his frozen image and thought of the frantic book tour, the
missed connecting flights and crowded bookstores, the gushing television and
radio interviews.
在離他不到兩步遠的地方有一個「他自己」的真人尺寸立牌；立牌中的他看起來既詭異又
多愁善感。這張放大的照片是艾莉絲當時替他最後一本小說－驟停，作宣傳而拍的。在那
些眾多且尖酸刻薄的書評中，紐約時報說的特別精彩－「偉克俊俏的外貌無疑地替他書的
銷售量貢獻良多；但在此同時，這張照片卻會令人感覺像是看到一位飽受內心折磨的藝術
家典範，傳達出作者希望能從通俗進入到真正的文學領域。」「哼，是阿，」偉克心想：
「下次再拍照我會穿上百褶裙再戴個曲棍球面具，看還會有誰說我只是個花瓶作家。」偉
克看著立牌不禁陷入了回憶中，想起那趟瘋狂的巡迴簽書會、那些沒趕上的班機、擠滿人
潮的書店、上各種虛偽的電視與電台訪談節目。
He remembered settling into the plush silence of a waiting limo after a long
day, looking out at the world through thick smoked glass and wondering which
side of the fishbowl he was on. Worse than all that, though, was the constant
sense that the famous Alan Wake was a total fraud. The praise, the flattery,
the first-class jets and four-star hotels…it would all come to a crashing
halt when the world realized that he hadn’t been able to write a word since
The Sudden Stop. He had spent months now staring at the blank sheet of paper
in his typewriter. All he had to show for it was the title: Departure. It was
just a matter of time until he ran out of excuses to his publisher, his
agent, his wife…himself. What good was a writer who couldn’t write?
他還想起有一次在一整天的忙碌後，坐進大型豪華轎車裡享受奢侈的寧靜，他當時在車上
還想像自己是待在一個大金魚缸裡透過深色厚玻璃往外看世界。不過想起這些回憶卻也連
帶著使偉克想起那不間斷地對自己訴說的聲音－著名的大作家艾倫．偉克其實早已成了個
大騙子。不管是讚美也好奉承也罷，飛機的頭等艙或是四星級的大飯店等等這些，都會在
當世界知道了偉克在驟停之後連下部作品的一個字都寫不出時，一切成空。
“Oh. My. God,” a female voice said.
Wake wanted to bolt out the door and chase Alice down, wanted to beg her to
drive away, back to a city big enough that he could disappear in.
“Omigod, omigod, omigod,” said a young woman, coming out from behind the
counter, wiping her hands on her apron. A pretty girl in a waitress uniform,
with light brown hair and a face like an eager mouse. “This is so amazing. I
almost didn’t come to work today, if you can believe that. I would have just
died if I had missed you.” She pumped his hand like a desperate wildcatter.
“I am your absolute biggest fan. Honest.”
Wake slowly disengaged his hand from her grip. “I didn’t know there was a
contest.”
“I’ve read all your books, Mr. Wake,” she said. “Every one of them.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Rose Marigold,” said the girl, shaking his hand again. “I got the
standup from your publisher. I put it up so I can see you all day while I
work.”
“Nice to meet you, Rose,” said Wake, looking around to see if anyone was
watching the scene. They weren’t. The only people in the diner was a park
ranger in uniform at the counter, and two white-haired old coots sitting in
one of the back booths. One wall was covered with dusty trophy heads—deer,
elk, and antelope—but their dull glass eyes didn’t see a thing.
「喔！我的天阿！」一個女性的聲音說。
偉克突然有股念頭想衝出門口去找艾莉絲，求她開車載他們回大都市；至少在那裏有足夠
多的人可以讓他混入其中。
「天阿！天阿！天阿！，」說話的人是一名年輕女性，正從櫃檯後方走出來邊用工作裙擦
拭雙手。在偉克面前的是一名漂亮的年輕女孩，身上穿著一套女侍制服留著一頭淡棕色的
頭髮，她現在的神情就像一隻發現美食的小老鼠，興奮不已。
「這真的是太驚人了！你相信嗎？我今天本來差一點就不會來上班了！真是太險了，如果
我錯過你的話，我一定會嘔死。」她握住偉克手的模樣就像是溺水者抓住救命繩那般拼命
。
「跟你說真的，我絕對是你粉絲中的第一名。」
偉克小心慢慢地將手抽離她的魔爪後說：「我還不知道我有個書迷排行榜呢。」
「偉克先生，我讀過了您全部的作品，」她繼續說。「真的是每一本都有喔。」
「謝謝」偉克客套的說。
「我叫蘿絲．梅洛葛」女孩說，邊又一次地抓起偉克的手猛握。「我是從您的出版商那裡
拿到立牌的，我把它擺在店裡，這樣的話就算我在工作也能一整天都看到您呢！」
「很高興認識妳，蘿絲。」偉克說，邊四處張望看有沒有人在注意這邊的鬧劇，不過答案
是沒有。在餐廳裡還有一名穿著國家公園管理員制服的男子坐在櫃台邊和兩名白髮蒼蒼的
怪老頭坐在裡面的雅座。除了這些人外，餐廳裡還有一面牆被沾滿灰塵的動物頭標本戰利
品給滿滿地佔據；有花鹿頭、麋鹿頭和羚羊頭，不過當然牠們晦暗的玻璃眼珠什麼也看不
到就是了。
“Mr. Wake?” Rose peered at him. “I know at the end of The Sudden Stop you
killed off Alex Casey, but he’s not really dead, is he? I mean, not like
forever dead. Alex Casey’s my favorite character in the whole world.”
“That’s very flattering,” said Wake.
“You’re full of tricks, aren’t you?” said Rose, grinning as she wagged a
finger. “You can tell me. It’s not like I’m going to post it on my blog.
Unless you want me to, of course!”
“I…I really have to…,” said Wake, backing away. “I’m supposed to meet
someone here—”
“Who?”
“A Mr.…Carl Stucky,” said Wake. “He’s got the key to the cabin my wife
and I will be staying in.”
“You’re staying in Bright Falls?” Rose fanned her flushed face. “This is
the best day of my life.” She turned to the deputy sitting at the counter.
“Rusty, did you hear that?”
“Yup. Best day of your life, Rose.” Park Ranger Rusty hoisted his coffee
cup to Wake. “Best cup of coffee in town too, sir.”
“Rusty, this is Alan Wake, the famous novelist,” said Rose. “Mr. Wake,
this here’s Rusty. He’s no longer human. Nothing but black coffee under a
thin layer of skin.”
Rusty sipped from his cup, smacked his lips. “Pleased to make your
acquaintance, Mr. Wake.”
“Back at you,” said Wake. “Do you know where I can find Carl Stucky?”
Rusty jerked a thumb toward the corridor in the back. “I believe he’s using
the facility.”
「那個…偉克先生？」蘿絲有些緊張地看著偉克。「我知道您在最後一部小說－驟停裡結
束了艾力克斯．凱西這個角色，但那應該不是真的結束，對嗎？嗯我的意思是，不是永遠
的死亡這種吧？艾力克斯．凱西是我這世界上最喜歡的角色人物。」
「妳真是太恭維了。」
「你腦中一定還構思了很多故事情節，對不對？」蘿絲說，邊笑著擺擺食指。「你可以偷
偷告訴我沒關係，我可不是那種會隨便將別人的秘密寫在部落格裡的人；不過如果您希望
我幫您宣傳下的話當然就另當別論。」
「恩…我…我真的該……」偉克說，有些招架不住地退後幾步。「該去找應該會在這裡出
現的一個人。」
「哪位？」
「一位叫…卡爾．史塔基的先生，」偉克說。「我要跟他拿我太太跟我這幾天要住的小屋
的鑰匙。」
「您會待在亮瀑鎮！？」蘿絲興奮到臉都紅了起來。「今天真是我生命中最棒的一天！」
她突然轉身向坐在櫃檯的男子發話。
「洛斯提，你剛剛聽到了嗎？」
「有阿，蘿絲。今天是妳生命中最棒的一天嘛。」公園管理員洛斯提轉身舉起咖啡杯朝向
偉克說：「而我手上的是這鎮上最棒的一杯咖啡，先生。」
「洛斯提，這位是著名的小說家，艾倫．偉克，」蘿絲說。「偉克先生，而他是洛斯提，
不算是人類了，他皮膚底下血管流的都是黑咖啡。」
洛斯提品了咖啡一口咂了下嘴說：「很高興認識你，偉克先生。」
「我也是，」偉克說。「你知道哪裡找的到卡爾．史塔基嗎？」
洛斯提彈出大拇指比比後方的一條通道說：「我相信他正在裡面方便中。」
“Thanks,” said Wake, starting toward the corridor. As he passed the two old
men sitting in the booth, one of them pointed at the nearby jukebox.
“How about some tunes, mister?” demanded one of the old men, clawing at his
white beard.
“Play B2,” said the other one, a cheerful type with a black eye patch, his
lone eye bright and blue as a sapphire.
“ ‘Coconut ’ !”
His hair was as white as the other man’s, and so was his beard. He had an
adhesive name tag on his chest with Tor Anderson scrawled in red crayon. The
other man had a similar tag with Odin Anderson on it. “I’d play it myself,
but my legs fell asleep.”
“ ‘Coconut’?” said Tor. “Again? You call yourself a rock and roller? You
disgust me, you demented has-been.”
“Don’t worry about them,” called Rusty. “They wandered off from the
Cauldron Lake Clinic, er, Lodge. Dr. Hartman will be by to pick them up any
time now.”
“Coconut, coconut, coconut,” chanted Odin, snapping his fingers.
“Shut up!” shouted Tor. “Just because we’re brothers, don’t think I won’
t strangle you in your sleep.”
“Come on, mister, be a buddy,” Odin pleaded with Wake. “B2.”
“What’s the matter, mister, you don’t like music?” said Tor, his
opposition to the song evidently forgotten now.
“B2 will change your life,” said Odin.
“Change your sheets, anyway,” snarled Tor.
“Three sheets to the wind,” cackled Odin. “God, we used to get drunk back
in the day.”
Wake put a couple of quarters in the jukebox, punched B2.
“Hammered,” agreed Tor, stroking his beard. “Hammer of the gods.”
An elderly woman stood at the entrance to the dimly lit corridor holding up a
battery-powered lantern.
Wake started around her. As Alice had said, Bright Falls was just a quaint
little town…filled with senile lunatics.
The woman squinted at Wake, her mouth a prim line. “I wouldn’t go in the
corridor if I were you, young man.” She clutched at him, tried to block his
path. “It’s dark in there!”
Wake kept walking. The corridor was dark and shadowy, lit only by a
flickering light in the far corner. “Mr. Stucky?”
No answer.
「謝謝。」偉克說完便往通道走去。他在經過兩名老人的時候，其中一位伸手指了指附近
一台唱片點唱機。
「來點音樂吧，先生。」一位老人要求說道，邊用手抓抓白花花的山羊鬍。
「選B2盤，」另一名老頭興高采烈地說。老頭臉上戴了一個黑色眼罩，而剩下的那隻眼睛
有著明亮的天藍色瞳孔就像一顆藍寶石。
「『椰子』！」老頭喊道。
他的頭髮與鬍子與另一名老人的同樣蒼白。老人身上有一張有黏性的名牌貼在胸前，上面
用紅色蠟筆潦草地寫著一個名字－托爾．安德森；而另一位老頭也有一張相同的名牌寫著
－奧丁．安德森。
「我是想自己去放，可是我的腿睡著了。」奧丁說。
「『 椰子 』？」托爾說。「又放這首？你這樣還敢自稱是搖滾歌手？你真讓我噁心，你
這老瘋子。」
「不用管他們啦。」洛斯提從櫃檯那邊喊說。「他們是從巨釜湖的療養院，呃，我是指集
會所溜出來的；哈特曼醫生應該隨時會經過這裡接他們回去。」
「椰子、椰子、椰子。」奧丁邊唱邊用手指劈啪作響。
「閉嘴！」托爾吼道。「別以為你是我兄弟，我就不會在你睡覺的時候勒死你！」
「拜託，先生，幫個小忙嘛。」奧丁對偉克懇求說。「選Ｂ２喔。」
「怎麼了阿？先生，快點阿，你不喜歡音樂嗎？」托爾說，顯然已經忘了剛剛他還在反對
選那首歌。
「Ｂ２會讓你的人生煥然一新。」奧丁說。
「或是讓你的床單，隨便啦快放啦。」托爾咆嘯說道。
「三帆船迎風起航，」l奧丁喃喃地說。「老天阿，在以前我們可是常常喝的爛醉阿。」
偉克在點唱機投了幾枚硬幣，選了B2。
「神槌，」托爾附和道。「眾神之槌。」
偉克繼續往前走，卻看到了一位剛才沒注意到老婦人手裡抱著電池供電的提燈站在昏暗走
道的入口處。
偉克看著她心想：「就跟艾莉絲說的一樣，亮瀑鎮真不愧是個古雅淳樸的鄉下小鎮……到
處都有老瘋癲。」
老婦人瞇著眼看著偉克，嘴巴都抿成一條線。「我如果是你就不會走進這條走道，年經人
。」她抓著偉克的衣服想阻止他。「裡面太暗了！」
偉克沒理他進入走道裡。走道內相當昏暗，唯一的光源只有走道內轉角處一顆閃爍不定的
燈泡。「史塔基先生？」
沒有回應。
“Mr. Stucky?” called Wake, louder now. Twirls of flypaper hung from the
ceiling, dotted with unwary insects. Probably could use a few ant traps too.
He pulled open the men’s room door and stuck his head inside. No one there.
Just a damp towel beside the sink and a machine that dispensed squirts of
cologne for twenty-five cents. He closed the door, turned around, and jerked.
A woman stood there, right beside him. A woman in a black dress, wearing a
pillbox hat, her face veiled. On her way to church or a funeral, or maybe
just another one of the local crazies. “Excuse me,” said Wake, stepping
back. “I’m looking for Carl Stucky.”
“Carl couldn’t make it.” Through the veil it looked like she was smiling.
“Poor man was taken sick.”
“He was…” Wake had a hard time looking at her. He felt disoriented. Even
through the veil her eyes were so dark that he felt like he was falling into
them, losing himself. “Carl was supposed to give me—”
“I know what you need. Carl sent me to give you the key to the cabin,” said
the woman in black, her voice cracking as though she hadn’t spoken in years.
She handed him a key and a map drawn on a paper napkin. Her fingers brushing
against him were cold.
“Thanks.”
“I hope you enjoy your stay in my cabin,” said the woman in black. “I’ll
come by later to see how you’ve settled in. I’m looking forward to meeting
that wife of yours.”
“That won’t be necessary—”
“No bother,” said the woman in black. “I insist.”
「史塔基先生？」偉客更大聲地叫道。天花板掛了幾張捕蠅紙，上面佈滿了租心的昆蟲，
偉克心想：「這大概也可以拿來捕外面那些螞蟻。」他打開了男廁的門探頭進去，沒有人
在；裡面只有一個洗手槽旁邊掛著一條濕毛巾和一台投25分錢會噴古龍水的機器。偉克關
上了門轉身想往回走，卻反而被嚇的向後跳了一步。有一名中年女子就站在他身旁，她身
穿一襲黑色洋裝，頭戴頂圓筒狀女帽，臉部披著面紗。偉客心想：「她大概是剛上完教堂
或參加完葬禮，不然的話就是本地的又一個瘋子。」「不好意思，」偉克說，又退了一小
步。「我正在找卡爾．史塔基。」「卡爾不能過來了，」婦人說，面紗底下的表情好像在
微笑。「那可憐的人生病了。」「卡爾他……」偉克無法直視著婦人，他突然不知道自己
身在何處；那婦人的雙眼就算透過面紗還是讓人覺得有種無底的黑暗，偉克有種會被吸入
將要迷失自我的感覺。「卡爾他應該要給我…」
「我知道你需要什麼。卡爾讓我來交給你這把小屋鑰匙，」那婦人在陰暗中說道，她的聲
音聽起來相當刺耳，仿佛她已經好幾年沒有講過話。她交給他一把鑰匙和一張畫在餐巾紙
上的地圖；她的手指擦碰到他時偉克只覺得一陣冰冷。
「謝謝。」
「希望你們在我的小屋能待的舒適，」婦人在陰暗中說道。「晚點我會過去探望你們住的
如何，我也很期待與你的太太見個面。」
「不用麻‥」
「不麻煩，」婦人在陰暗中說道。「我堅持去。」
Wake didn’t intend to argue the point. Her laugh echoing in his ears, he
started back down the corridor, back into the light of the diner. He turned
around, but the lady in black was gone. He was glad that she wasn’t watching
him behind that veil anymore, but it was almost as though she had disappeared.
The lady he had seen earlier raised the lamp high as he passed her. “You’re
a lucky man.”
“That’s me,” said Wake.
“You got lucky this time,” called the lady of the lamp. “You can hurt
yourself in the dark.”
Wake looked into the dead eyes of the trophy heads as he headed toward the
front door of the diner. One elk had a piece of its antler broken off, and
someone had stuck a cigarette into the mouth of one of the deer.
The jukebox was playing the coconut song while one of old coots, Tor, bounced
and bobbed along to the music. The other one, Odin, rested his head on the
table of the booth.
Odin jerked slightly as Wake passed, then grabbed for him. “Tommy! Hey, you
wouldn’t happen to have a bottle on you, would you?” he said, speech
slurred. “Tommy, you get back here and pour me a drink!”
“Me too,” mumbled Tor. He pounded a fist on the table. “Barkeep! Set ’em
up for me and my baby brother!”
“Can’t see what’s in front of your nose without a few drinks,” said Odin.
“Easy, boys,” chided Rusty. “Save it for Dr. Hartman.”
“Can I get you a cup of coffee, Mr. Wake?” called Rose. “On the house!”
“No, thanks,” said Wake, heading for the door. His cardboard standup seemed
to watch him as he approached. Wake was tempted to draw glasses and a
handlebar moustache on the damned thing.
“Making a big mistake, Mr. Wake,” said Rusty, slurping his coffee. “Rose
here serves only a hundred percent pure Colombian.”
Wake stepped outside and immediately felt better. A cool breeze rolled off
the water and he just stood there for a few minutes catching his breath.
Alice pulled up in the car, giving a happy beep of the horn.
Wake quickly got in.
“You get the key?” said Alice.
Wake nodded.
“Everything okay?”
“Just happy to see you.”
偉克不想繼續跟她爭論，她的笑聲讓他的耳朵嗡嗡作響。偉克退回到走道，走回到餐廳內
的燈光下。他回頭看，那黑暗中的婦人已經離開了。偉克很高興不用再被她從面紗後面那
雙眼睛盯著瞧，不過偉克覺得她離開地也太迅速了，就好像是消失在黑暗中一樣。
那先前阻止偉克的老婦人在偉克經過她時將提燈高高舉起。
「你是個幸運的人。」
「是阿，你說的是。」偉克說。
「你這次很走運，」提燈女士喊說。「你在黑暗中會傷到自己的。」
偉克沒理她，繼續往餐廳前門的方向走。他在經過標本牆時慢下腳步看了一下；其中有一
個麋鹿頭的角斷了一根，另外有一個花鹿頭的嘴裡不知道被誰塞了一根香菸。
點唱機還在放著椰子歌；兩名老瘋子的其中一位，托爾，正跟著音樂拍子在手舞足蹈，而
另一位，奧丁，正將頭擺在桌面上休息。
奧丁在偉克經過他們兩時，先是輕輕地拉了偉克一下接著猛地將整個人給抓住。「湯米！
嘿，你不會身上剛好有帶一瓶酒吧？有嗎？」他口齒含糊地說。「湯米你快過這裡幫我倒
一杯！」
「加我一個，」托爾在旁邊咕噥地說。他突然用拳頭敲了一下桌面喊道：「酒保！快幫我
和我的小老弟備酒！」
「不喝個幾杯的話，就算有東西近在鼻前都看不見呢。」奧丁說。
「冷靜點，先生們，」蘿絲說，邊用眼神責怪洛斯提不幫下她。「等哈特曼醫生來了再喝
吧。」
「偉克先生，我可以請您喝杯咖啡嗎？」蘿絲喊說。「算我的。」
「不了，謝謝。」偉克徑直向門口走去。偉克在接近門口的時候總覺得他的立牌也在盯著
他瞧，他真的很想在這鬼東西上畫付眼鏡和翹八字鬍。
「你可是犯了大錯喔，偉克先生，」洛斯提說，邊又嘗了一口咖啡。「只有蘿絲這裡才有
提供百分之百香醇的哥倫比亞咖啡喔。」
偉克說了告辭話離開餐廳，他一出到外面就覺得好多了。一股冷風吹過滾滾的湖面，偉克
在那裏待了幾分鐘調整氣息。
艾莉絲緩緩將車停靠在路邊，按了按喇叭。
偉克迅速地上了車。
「你拿到鑰匙了嗎？」艾莉絲問說。
偉克點點頭，沒有說話。
「一切還順利嗎？」艾莉絲有些擔心地問。
「沒事，只是很高興又見到妳。」
--
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◆ From: 220.136.17.233
※ 編輯: justicedead 來自: 220.136.17.233 (06/17 13:02)
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06/19 22:04, 1F