CHAPTER FIVE

Two days later she came into his room early in the morning. Her fact was grey. Paul was alarmed. 'Miss Wilkes? Annie? Are you all right?' 'No.' She's had a heart attack, thought Paul, and the alarm was replaced by joy. I hope it was a big one. She came and stood over his bed, looking down at him out of her paper-white face. Her neck was tense and she opened her hands and then closed them into tight¹ fists, again and again. 'You ... you . . . you dirty bird! she stammered². 'What? I don't understand.' But suddenly he did understand. He remembered that yesterday she was three-quarters of the way through Misery³'s Child. Now she knew it all. She knew that Ian and Misery could not have children; she knew that Misery gave birth to Geoffrey's child and died in the process. 'She can't be dead!' Annie Wilkes screamed at him. Her hands opened and closed faster and faster. 'Misery Chastain cannot be dead!' 11 'Annie, please . . . She picked up a heavy jug⁴ of water from the table next to his bed. Cold water spilled on to him. She brought it down towards his head, but at the last second turned and threw it at the door instead of breaking his head open. She looked at him and brushed her hair off her face. Two red marks had appeared on her checks, 'You dirty bird,' she said. 'Oh, you dirty bird, how could you do that: You killed her.' 'No, Annie, I didn't. It's just a book.' She punched⁵ her fists down into the pillows⁶ next to his head. The whole bed shook and Paul cried out in pain. He knew that he was close to death. 'I didn't kill her!' he shouted. She stopped and looked at him with that narrow black expression - that gap⁷. 'Oh no, of course you didn't. Well, just tell me this, then, Mister⁸ Clever; if you didn't kill her, who did? Just tell me that. You tell lies. I thought you were good, but you're just dirty and bad like all the others.' She went blank then. She stood up straight, with her hands hanging down by her sides, and looked at nothing. Paul realized that he could kill her. If there had been a piece of broken glass from the jug in his hand, he could have pushed it into her throat. She came back a little at a time and the anger, at least, was gone. She looked down at him sadly. 'I think I have to go away for a while,' she said. 'I shouldn't be near you. If I stay here I'll do something stupid.' 'Where will you go? What about my medicine?' Paul called after her as she walked out of the room and locked the door. But the only reply was the sound of her car as she drove⁹ away. He was alone in the house. Soon the pain came.

1 tight   

adj.紧的；难解的；紧密的

参考例句：

• Time is going to be tight,so you'd better hurry.时间很紧，你最好抓紧一点。
• The box is so tight that I can't open it.这个盒子太紧，我打不开。

2 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

3 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

4 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

5 punched   

v.用拳猛击( punch的过去式和过去分词 )；打孔

参考例句：

• He punched me with his fist. 他用拳头猛击我。
• She was punched and kicked by her attackers. 她遭到袭击者的拳打脚踢。

6 pillows   

n.枕头( pillow的名词复数 )；用作枕头的东西

参考例句：

• She lay back against the pillows. 她半躺半坐靠在枕头上。
• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gap   

n.缺口；间隔；差距；不足，缺陷

参考例句：

• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
• There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。

8 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

9 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。