“Of course,” he says. “And you don’t need to worry: you have a beautiful voice, Willem.”
“當(dāng)然可以，”他說，“你不必?fù)?dān)心，你的嗓子很棒，威廉?！?
“It’s thin.”
“我的聲音很單薄?！?
“It’s sweet.”
“很甜美?！?
Willem laughs, and squeezes his hand. “Tell Kit that,” he says. “He’s already freaking out.” He sighs. “How was your day?” he asks.
威廉大笑，捏緊他的手?！澳闳ジ卣f，”他說，“他已經(jīng)抓狂了。”他嘆氣，“你今天過得怎么樣？”他問。
“Fine,” he says.
“還好?！彼f。
They begin to kiss, which he still has to do with his eyes open, to remind himself that it is Willem he is kissing, not Brother Luke, and he is doing well until he remembers the first night he had come back to the apartment with Caleb, and Caleb’s pressing him against the wall, and everything that followed, and he pulls himself abruptly away from Willem, turning his face from him. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry.” He has not taken off his clothes tonight, and now he pulls his sleeves down over his hands. Beside him, Willem waits, and into the silence, he hears himself saying, “Someone I know died yesterday.”
他們開始接吻。他還是得睜著眼睛，提醒自己吻的是威廉，不是盧克修士。他本來表現(xiàn)得很好，直到他想起跟凱萊布回到公寓的第一夜，凱萊布把他壓在墻上，以及隨之而來的一切，他忽然推開威廉，別過頭去?！皩Σ黄穑彼f，“對不起?！彼裉焱砩蠜]脫衣服，現(xiàn)在他還把袖子拉下來蓋住手。威廉在他旁邊默默等著，然后他聽到自己說：“我認(rèn)識的一個人昨天死了。”
“Oh, Jude,” says Willem. “I’m so sorry. Who was it?”
“啊，裘德，”威廉說，“真是遺憾。是誰呢？”
He is silent for a long time, trying to speak the words. “Someone I was in a relationship with,” he says at last, and his tongue feels clumsy in his mouth. He can feel Willem’s focus intensify, can feel him move an inch or two closer to him.
他沉默了好久，試著說出話來?！拔医煌^的一個人?！弊詈笏K于說，覺得舌頭變得很笨拙。他可以感覺到威廉專心起來，感覺到他湊近了一兩英寸。
“I didn’t know you were in a relationship,” says Willem, quietly. He clears his throat. “When?”
“我都不知道你有跟誰交往過，”威廉低聲說，然后清了清嗓子，“什么時候？”
“When you were shooting The Odyssey,” he says, just as quietly, and again, he feels the air change. Something happened while I was away, he remembers Willem saying. Something’s wrong. He knows Willem is remembering the same conversation.
“你在拍《奧德賽》的時候。”他說，同樣小聲，又一度，他感覺氣氛變了。我不在的時候出了一些事，他還記得威廉這么說過，是很糟糕的事。他知道威廉也記得這段對話。
“Well,” says Willem, after a long pause. “Tell me. Who was the lucky person?”
“好吧，”威廉沉默了好一會兒說，“告訴我吧。是誰這么幸運(yùn)？”
He can barely breathe now, but he keeps going. “It was a man,” he begins, and although he’s not looking at Willem—he’s concentrating on the chandelier—he can feel him nod, encouragingly, willing him to continue. But he can’t; Willem will have to prompt him, and he does.
這會兒他幾乎無法呼吸，但還是說下去。“是一個男人。”他開口。盡管沒看威廉，專心盯著枝狀吊燈，他仍可以感覺到威廉鼓勵地點點頭，希望他繼續(xù)說。但他沒辦法；威廉必須催促他，也真的催了。
“Tell me about him,” Willem says. “How long did you go out for?”
“告訴我他的事吧，”威廉說，“你們交往了多久？”
“Four months,” he says.
“四個月?！彼f。
“And why did it end?”
“那為什么結(jié)束？”
He thinks of how to answer this. “He didn’t like me very much,” he says at last.
他想著該如何回答?！八皇呛芟矚g我。”他終于說。
He can feel Willem’s anger before he hears it. “So he was a moron,” Willem says, his voice tight.
威廉還沒開口，他就感覺到他的怒氣?！澳撬褪潜康??！蓖f，聲音緊繃。
“No,” he says. “He was a very smart guy.” He opens his mouth to say something else—what, he doesn’t know—but he can’t continue, and he shuts it, and the two of them lie there in silence.
“不，”他說，“他非常聰明?！彼麖堥_嘴巴還想說別的（要說什么，他也不知道），但就是說不下去。于是他閉上嘴巴，兩個人沉默地躺在那里。
Finally, Willem prompts him again. “Then what happened?” he asks.
最后，威廉又催促他?！昂髞戆l(fā)生了什么事？”他問。
He waits, and Willem waits with him. He can hear them breathing in tandem, and it is as if they are bringing all the air from the room, from the apartment, from the world, into their lungs and then releasing it, just the two of them, all by themselves. He counts their breaths: five, ten, fifteen. At twenty, he says, “If I tell you, Willem, do you promise you won’t get mad?” and he feels Willem shift again.
他等著，威廉也陪他等。他可以聽到兩人的呼吸此起彼落，就好像他們把這個房間、這戶公寓、這個世界的所有空氣都吸進(jìn)肺里又吐出來，只有他們兩個，沒有其他人。他數(shù)著兩人的呼吸：五次，十次，十五次。到了二十次，他說：“威廉，如果我告訴你，你能保證不生氣嗎？”他感覺威廉又挪動了一下。
