CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

When he quietened down she asked: 'How many times did you leave the room?' The knife. Oh, no, the knife. 'Twice. No, three times. I had to get some water yesterday. But I wasn't trying to escape, Annie. I'm writing a book.' 'You didn't try the telephone. I suppose, or investigate the locks. No, you were such a good little boy.' 'Of course I did.' He was beginning to wish she would go 51 away, The drug was making him partly tell the truth, but he also badly wanted to sleep. 'How many times did you go out?' 'I told you. Three times.' 'How many times?' Her voice was rising. 'Tell the truth.' 'I am telling the truth. Three times!' 'You're treating me like a fool.' 'Annie, I swear —' 'Oh, yes, you swear. People who tell lies love to swear. Let me tell you, Mister Clever. I stretched hairs all over the place — upstairs, downstairs, out in the barn — and a lot of them have gone.' Annie, how could I have gone upstairs? How could I have gone outside to the barn? But she didn't give him time to protest; she went straight on. 'So you tell me that you left the room only three times, Mister Clever, and I'll tell you that you're the fool, not me. How many times?' 'Three.' 'Once for medicine.' 'Yes.' 'Once for food.' 'Yes.' 'And once for water.' 'Yes. Yes, I told you.' She reached into her pocket again and brought out the butcher's knife. 'I looked under your mattress¹ just before I gave you the injection for your operation, and see what I found.' What did she mean by 'operation'? He was suddenly sure that she intended to use the knife on him. 'But you didn't get it out of the kitchen, did you? You only went for medicine, food and water. The knife must have flown here all by itself. What kind of fool do you think I am, Paul? How many times?' 'All right, all right. I got the knife when I went for water. But, Annie, what did you mean by "operation"?' 'I think you went seven times,' she said. 'Yes, if that's what you want to bear, I left the room seven times,' Paul said. He was angry now, because be was frightened. Then she started to speak softly and he began to drift, almost into sleep. 'Do you know what the British used to do to workers in their diamond mines who tried to escape, Paul?' 'They killed them, I suppose,' he said, still with his eyes closed. 'Oh, no,' she replied. 'That would be like throwing away a whole car just because some little thing went wrong. No, they still needed them for the mines, so they just made sure that they couldn't run away again. They performed a little operation, Paul, and that's what I'm going to do to you. It's for your own good. Please try to remember that.' The ice-cold wind of fear blew over Paul's body and his eyes flew open. She got up from the bed and pulled back the blankets so that his legs and feet were uncovered. 'No,' he said. 'No . . . Annie . . . whatever it is you're planning, we can talk about it, can't we? Please . . . you don't have to . . .' She bent² over and picked up some things from the floor. When she straightened up she was holding an axe³ in one hand and a blowlamp in the other. The blade of the axe shone dully. She bent down again and picked up the box of matches and a bottle of dark liquid. 'Annie, no!' he screamed. 'Annie, I'll stay here, I promise. I won't even get out of bed. I'll do whatever you say!' 'It's all right,' she said, and her face now had that blank look. Some part of his mind which was not filled with fear knew that when this was over she would remember hardly anything at all about it. This was the woman who graduated in 1966 and now, in 1987, told him that she had been a nurse for only ten years. 53 She probably hardly remembered killing⁴ all those babies. He suddenly knew that this was the axe she had used on Pomeroy. He continued to scream. He tried to turn over, as if he could get away from her, but his broken legs and drugged body refused to obey. Annie poured some of the liquid on to his left ankle and some more on to the blade of the axe. The smell reminded Paul of doctors' offices in his childhood. 'There won't be much pain, Paul. It won't be bad.' 'Annie Annie oh Annie please no please don't Annie I swear to you I'll be good I swear to Cod⁵ I'll be good please give me a chance to be good ANNIE PLEASE LET ME BE GOOD -' 'Just a little pain, Paul, and then this unpleasant matter will be behind us.' She threw the empty bottle over her shoulder, her face completely blank now. She seized the axe in both hands and moved her feet so that she was standing⁶ firmly on the floor. 'ANNIE OH PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!' 'Don't worry,' she said, and her eyes were gentle. 'I'm a nurse.' The axe whistled through the air and buried itself in Paul Sheldon's left leg just above the ankle. Pain exploded in his body. Blood splashed⁷ her face and the wall. He heard the blade rub against the bone as she pulled it free. He looked down and saw his toes moving. Then he saw her raising the axe again; drops of blood were falling off it. Her hair was hanging loosely around her blank, calm face. He tried to pull back in spite⁸ of the pain, but he realized that, although his leg was moving, his foot wasn't. All he was doing was widening the cut, making it open like a mouth. He realized that his foot was joined to his leg by only a little flesh - and then the axe whistled down again. It cut through his leg and sank deep into the mattress. Annie pulled the axe out of the mattress and threw it on to the ground. She picked up the blowlamp and lit it with a match. 54 She seized the axe in both hands and moved her feet so that she was standing firmly on the floor. 'There isn't time to sew all this up,' she explained. 'You're losing blood too fast.' She turned the flame on to the stump⁹ of his leg. Fresh pain seized Paul's body. Sweet-smelling smoke drifted up to his nose. 'Nearly finished,' she said. The blankets were burning now. Annie bent down again and picked up the yellow bucket. She poured water over the flames. Paul screamed again. Annie stood and looked at him. 'You'll be all right,' she said. Her eyes seemed to move round the room aimlessly. It was a relief for her to notice something on the floor. 'I'll just get rid of the rubbish,' she said. She picked up Paul's foot. The toes were still moving. She started to walk out of the room and then turned and said, 'Don't blame me for this. It was your own fault.' Paul dived into the cloud, hoping that it would bring death this time, not just unconsciousness. He dimly heard himself screaming and smelled his burned flesh. As his thoughts faded, he thought: Dragon Lady!' Kill you! Dragon Lady! Kill you! Then there was nothing except nothing.

1 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 splashed   

v.使（液体）溅起( splash的过去式和过去分词 )；（指液体）溅落

参考例句：

• Water splashed onto the floor. 水哗的一声泼洒在地板上。
• The cowboy splashed his way across the shallow stream with his cow. 牧童牵着牛淌过浅溪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

9 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。