Chapter 21

 Dazed and numb¹, Cudyk felt the universe moving under him like a gigantic pendulum². He saw faces appear and vanish, felt someone push him aside, heard voices faintly.

 

After a long time his head cleared, and there was silence. He was lying at the foot of the stairs, one arm flung over the first step. Rack was not there; no one was there but himself.

 

He moved cautiously and was rewarded by an astonishing number and variety of pains. But apparently³ he had broken no bones. He felt weak and hollow; he was afraid he might vomit⁴. He hoisted⁵ his torso up slowly, sat on the lowest step and then put his head between his trembling knees.

 

He heard a foot scuff⁶ on the concrete floor, and looked up. It was Seu.

 

The Chinese looked at him anxiously. "You're all right?"

 

"Yes. I think so. I have felt better in my life."

 

"Do you want to get up? Did you jump or fall?"

 

Cudyk leaned forward, trying the strength of his thighs⁷ to raise him, and Seu put a hand under his arm to help. "I jumped," Cudyk said. "What happened, afterward⁸?"

 

"The mob came down, me in the middle, and I couldn't stop to see if you were all right. They took Rack with them. He was unconscious then; he may have been dead."

 

"And?"

 

"They tore him apart," said Seu.

 

They moved toward the exit from the kitchen, Seu holding Cudyk's arm firmly.

 

"I don't know if you felt this," the mayor said stiffly, "but the way it seemed to me was that Rack suddenly represented all of it—not only the bombings, but the Quarter, the Galaxy⁹, Earth—everything we hated. It was a feeling of release, a kind of ecstasy¹⁰. Watch out for the sill."

 

"Scapegoat," Cudyk said, indistinctly.

 

"Yes.... Zydh Oran saw it, you know. He was there when the mob came out. He saw it all. This finishes the Quarter, Laszlo. After this there won't be any more reprieves¹¹."

 

Cudyk glanced down at Seu's plump fingers. There was a thin film of blood on the skin, and a dark line of it around each finger-nail.

1 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

2 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

5 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

6 scuff   

v. 拖着脚走；磨损

参考例句：

• Polly,bewildered and embarrassed,dropped her head and scuffed her feet.波莉既困惑又尴尬，低下头拖着脚走开了。
• Constant wheelchair use will scuff almost any floor surface.任何地板上经常有轮椅走动几乎都会有所磨损。

7 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

10 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

11 reprieves   

n.（死刑）缓期执行令( reprieve的名词复数 )；暂缓，暂止v.缓期执行（死刑）( reprieve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Death: You all say that. But I grant no reprieves. 死神：你总是这样说，但是，我不再容许拖延。 来自互联网