美国众神13 文本已添加

13

The man was almostas tall as Shadow: he looked like the father from a seventies sitcom, and hetapped something into a computer and told Shadow to run—run!—to a gate on thefar side of the terminal.

那人几乎和影子一样高，长相活脱脱是从一部70年代的连续剧里走出来的父亲形象。他把信息敲进电脑，然后告诉影子赶紧跑，快跑，赶到机场尽头的一个登机口。

Shadow ran throughthe airport, but the doors were already closed when he got to the gate. Hewatched the plane pull away from the gate, through the plate glass.

　影子穿过整个侯机大厅，一路狂奔。等他终于到达登机口时，机舱门已经关闭。他眼睁睁地看着窗外的飞机驶离登机口。

The woman at thepassenger assistance desk (short and brown, with a mole on the side of hernose) consulted with another woman and made a phone call

乘客服务柜台的那位女人（这是一个身材矮小、棕发、鼻翼上有一块胎记的女人）和另一个女人商量片刻，然后打了个电话。

(“Nope, that one’sout. they’ve just cancelled it.”), then she printed out another boarding card.“This will get you there,” she told him. “We’ll call ahead to the gate and tellthem you’re coming.”

（不，那一班不行，已经取消了。）接着她打印出另外一张登机牌。“拿着它去那边，”她告诉他，“我们会通知登机口，说你正在赶过去。”

Shadow felt like apea being flicked between three cups, or a card being shuffled through a deck.Again he ran through the airport, ending up near where he had gotten offoriginally.

影子觉得自己仿佛是一颗豌豆，正被人在三个杯子之间倒来倒去，或者是牌桌上洗牌掉出来的一张扑克牌。他再次跑着穿越候机大厅，来到他最初出发的地方。

A small man at thegate took his boarding pass. “We’ve been waiting for you,” he confided, tearingoff the stub of the boarding pass, with Shadow’s seat assignment—17D—on it.Shadow hurried onto the plane, and they closed the door behind him.

登机口处，一个小个子男人检查他的登机牌。“我们正等着你呢。”他说着，撕下登机牌的存根，上面有影子的座位号码，17D。影子匆忙走进机舱，他们在他身后关上舱门。

He walked throughfirst class—there were only four first-class seats, three of which wereoccupied.

　他穿过头等舱，这里只有四个座位，已经坐满三个。

The bearded man ina pale suit seated next to the unoccupied seat at the very front grinned atShadow as he got onto the plane, then raised his wrist and tapped his watch asShadow walked past.

前排空座位旁边就座的一个穿浅色西服、留胡须的男人冲他一笑。影子从他身边经过时，他抬起手腕，敲敲手表。

Yeah, yeah, I’mmaking you late, thought Shadow. Let that be the worst of your worries.

　知道，知道，我耽误你的时间了。影子心想。但愿你此生最大的担心不过是迟到而已。

The plane seemedpretty full, as he made his way down toward the back. Actually, Shadow found,it was completely full, and there was a middle-aged woman sitting in seat 17D.Shadow showed her his boarding card stub, and she showed him hers: theymatched.

前往机舱后部的一路上，他发现这班飞机似乎坐得很满。事实上，普通舱完全坐满了。17D坐着一位中年妇女。影子给她看他的登机牌存根，她也把自己的给他看：两张票一模一样！

 “Can you take your seat, please?” asked the flightattendant.

“请您坐到座位上，谢谢。”空姐跑过来。

“No,” he said, “I’m afraid I can’t.”

　“恐怕我没有座位。”影子说。

She clicked hertongue and checked their boarding cards, then she led him back up to the frontof the plane and pointed him to the empty seat in first class.

　她检查他们的登机牌，啧啧连声，然后把他领回飞机前舱，让他坐在头等舱空着的那个位置上。

“Looks like it’syour lucky day,” she told him. “Can I bring you something to drink? We’ll justhave time before we take off. And I’m sure you need one after that.”

“看来今天是你的幸运日。”她开玩笑说，“需要喝点什么？距离起飞还有一点时间，您肯定需要来点儿什么。”