for the sake of her art

I'm glad you're here,? Dan told Mystery as she ran her chewed-on, yellow-nailed fingers through his fashionably tousled hair. By total coincidence he and Mystery had arrived at the Rivington Rover Poetry club at the same time, and for the last fifteen minutes they?d been smoking unfiltered Camels and groping each other in a stall in the graffiti-ridden ladies? room, trying to get psyched up for their reading. ?I?m kind of nervous.? ?Don?t be,? Mystery loosened his narrow black tie and clasped his hand. ?Come on. Let?s see what we?ve got.? They emerged from the ladies? room hand in hand, Mystery in a transparent¹ canary yellow silk sheath through which her black cotton underwear was completely visible, and Dan in his new black suit: the Bonnie and Clyde of poetry. The small, dark basement club was already crowded with people sipping² coffee and lounging on the tattered³ old sofas haphazardly⁴ dotting the room. A random⁵ disco ball spun⁶ from the black ceiling and over the sound system Morrissey whined⁷ a depressing song from his latest album. The lights blinked on and off twice and a tiny Japanese girl wearing a black leotard and pink ballet tights took the stage. ?Welcome all to open mike at Rivington Rover. It is so special to have you here,? she whispered into the microphone. ?Tonight two of New York?s most special poets will recite for us simultaneously⁸. I?m honored to give the stage to Mystery Craze and Daniel Humphrey!? The dark, crowded room erupted in applause. ?I heard they stayed up all night on E and wrote a book together,? somebody whispered. ?I heard they were husband and wife.? ?I heard they?re fraternal twins, separated at birth,? remarked someone else. Vanessa slipped into the back of the club unnoticed. ?What kind of name is Mystery Craze?? she wondered as she put her camera to her eye and zoomed⁹ in on the stage. Dan?s entire body was covered in a cold, freaked-out sweat. Everything was happening so fast. He hadn?t even had a chance to contemplate¹⁰ how he?d gone from writing strange, morose¹¹ poetry in notebooks no one ever read to performing onstage with an almost-famous girl in a cool club, wearing a fancy designer suit. But there was no time to doubt himself. He?d acted in plays, performed in Vanessa?s movies. He was the new Rilke. He peeled off his jacket, and rolled up his sleeves. He could do this. Mystery was already waiting for him onstage, her bony fingers clenching¹² the microphone in white-knuckled anticipation¹³. Dan could see now that there were two mikes, one for him and one for her. ?What?s your favorite noun?? Mystery asked the audience in her low, husky voice. ?Pie!? an obviously shitfaced ponytailed guy in the front row shouted back. ?You?re the antithesis¹⁴ of pie,? Mystery hissed¹⁵ at Dan as he took the stage. ?I want to eat you alive.? Dan cleared his throat and reached for the microphone stand to steady himself. ?What?s your favorite verb?? he asked in response, surprised by how sure of himself he sounded. ?Sex,? Mystery answered coolly. She dropped to her hands and knees, slithering toward him with the microphone between her teeth. ?Sex,? she repeated, crawling between his legs and clawing her way up his body until their faces were only a centimeter apart. The yellow dress made her teeth look even yellower. The camera wobbled in Vanessa?s hands. Sothis was why she hadn?t heard a peep out of Dan lately, not even to work onMaking Poetry . Dan had been making poetry with Mystery Craze. And as much as it hurt to watch the boy she?d been in love with for almost three years fall under the spell of a girl whose real name was probably something totally boring and unpoetic like Jane James, Vanessa couldn?t bring herself to stop filming. Something was happening to Dan that she had to get on film. He seemed to be discovering himself, right before her eyes. ?Feed me,? Dan growled¹⁶ into the mike as Mystery writhed¹⁷ beneath him. ?Bare your naked body on my plate.? The crowded whooped¹⁸ and shrieked¹⁹ in delight. Dan couldn?t believe what a total blast he was having. He was a rock?n?roll poet, a sex god! Forget Rilke, he was Jim Morrison! He dragged Mystery off the floor and dove at her mouth in a hard and hungry rock-god kiss. Vanessa kept filming, hot tears streaming down her pale cheeks. She couldn?t stop, and she wasn?t doing it to torture herself. She was doing it for the sake of her art. Onstage, Dan unbuttoned his shirt and Mystery licked his chest. ?Oh, Daddy,? she whispered huskily.  Oh,brother .

1 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

2 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

3 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

4 haphazardly   

adv.偶然地，随意地，杂乱地

参考例句：

• The books were placed haphazardly on the shelf. 书籍乱七八糟地堆放在书架上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is foolish to haphazardly adventure. 随便冒险是愚蠢的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

7 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

9 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

11 morose   

adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的

参考例句：

• He was silent and morose.他沉默寡言、郁郁寡欢。
• The publicity didn't make him morose or unhappy?公开以后，没有让他郁闷或者不开心吗？

12 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

13 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

14 antithesis   

n.对立；相对

参考例句：

• The style of his speech was in complete antithesis to mine.他和我的讲话方式完全相反。
• His creation was an antithesis to academic dogmatism of the time.他的创作与当时学院派的教条相对立。

15 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

16 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。

18 whooped   

叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起

参考例句：

• The bill whooped through both houses. 此提案在一片支持的欢呼声中由两院匆匆通过。
• The captive was whooped and jeered. 俘虏被叱责讥笑。

19 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城