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Secrets
秘密
Bernard Maclaverty
伯纳德•麦克莱弗蒂
He had been called to be there at the end. His Great Aunt Mary had been dying for some days now and the house was full of relatives.
他是最后被叫去那里的。他的叔祖母玛丽已经病危好几天了，满屋子都是亲戚。
He knelt at the bedroom door to join in the prayers. His knees were on the wooden threshold and he edged them forward onto the carpet. They had tried to wrap her fingers around a crucifix but they kept loosening. She lay low on the pillow and her face seemed to have shrunk by half since he had gone out earlier in the night. Her white hair was damped and pushed back from her forehead. She twisted her head from side to side, her eyes closed. The prayers chorused on, trying to cover the sound she was making deep in her throat. Someone said about her teeth and his mother leaned over her and took her dentures from her mouth. The lower half of her face seemed to collapse. She half opened her eyes but could not raise her eyelids enough and showed only crescents of white.
他跪在卧室门口，和众人一同祷告。他的膝盖跪在了木头门槛上，于是他慢慢向前移动到了地毯上。他们试图让她的手拿住耶稣受难像的十字架，然而她的手却松开着。她平躺在枕头上，和他晚上早些时候出去时相比，她的脸看上去皱缩了一半。她的白发被弄湿了，从前额梳到了后面。她来回扭动着头，眼睛闭着。祷告者们继续合唱着，尽力压过她喉咙深处发出的声音。有人说到她的牙齿，他的妈妈便倾身向前，从她的嘴里取出了假牙。她的脸的下半部分似乎要凹陷了。她的眼睛半睁着，眼皮却无法抬高，只露着月牙状的眼白。
