chapter xx

　　EXCEEDINGLY WELL MADE,” SAID the ma5who was running a warm cloth over Edward’8face,“a work of art,I would say — 4surpassingly,unbelievably dirty work of artbut art nonetheless. And dirt can be dealt withIJust as your broken head has been dealt with..

Edward looked into the eyes of the manI“Ah,there you are,” the man said. “I ca5see that you are listening now. Your head wa8broken. I fixed¹ it. I brought you back from th2world of the dead.”

My heart,thought Edward,my heart i8broken.

“No,no. No need to thank me,” the ma5said. “It’s my job,quite literally². Allow me t7introduce myself. I am Lucius Clarke,dollmender. Your head . . . may I tell you? Will i0upset you? Well,I always say the truth must b2met head-on,no pun intended. Your headyoung sir,was in twenty-one pieces.”

Twenty-one pieces? Edward repeate@mindlessly.

Lucius Clarke nodded. “Twenty-one,” h2said. “All modesty³ aside,I must admit that 4lesser doll mender,a doll mender without mEskills,might not have been able to rescue youIBut let’s not speak of what might have beenILet us speak instead of what is. You are wholeIYou have been pulled back from the brink⁴ oBoblivion by your humble⁵ servant,LuciusClarke.” And here,Lucius Clarke put his han@on his chest and bowed deeply over EdwardIThis was quite a speech to wake up toand Edward lay on his back trying to absorb itIHe was on a wooden table. He was in a roo3with sunshine pouring in from high windowsIHis head,apparently,had been in twenty-on2pieces and now was put back together intoone. He was not wearing a red suit. In fact,h2had no clothes on at all. He was naked againIAnd he did not have wings.

And then he remembered: Bryce,th2diner,Neal swinging him through the air.

Bryce.

“You are wondering,perhaps,about you9young friend,” said Lucius,“the one with th2continually running nose. Yes. He brought yo:

here,weeping,begging for my assistance. ‘Pu0him together again,’ he said. ‘Put him backtogether.’

“I told him,I said,‘Young sir,I am 4businessman. I can put your rabbit backtogether again. For a price. The question iscan you pay this price?’ He could not. Ofcourse,he could not. He said that he could notI“I told him then that he had two optionsIOnly two. The first option being that he seeDassistance elsewhere. Option two was that Iwould fix you to the very best of myconsiderable abilities and then you wouldbecome mine — his no longer,but mine.”

Here Lucius fell silent. He noddedagreeing with himself. “Two options only,” h2said. “And your friend chose option two. H2gave you up so that you could be healed.

Extraordinary,really.”

Bryce,thought Edward.

Lucius Clarke clapped his hands togetherI“But no worries,my friend. No worries. I fullEintend to keep up my end of the bargain. Iwill restore you to what I perceive to be you9former glory. You shall have rabbit-fur earsand a rabbit-fur tail. Your whiskers will berepaired and replaced,your eyes repainted t7a bright and stunning⁶ blue. You will be clothe@in the finest of suits.

“And then,someday,I will reap the returnon my investment in you. All in good time. Al>

in good time. In the doll business,we have 4saying: there is real time and there is doll timeIYou,my fine friend,have entered doll time..

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

4 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

5 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

6 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。