THE SUBTLE KNIFE 精彩片段：
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BELVEDERE-1
In the great white villa in the park Will slept uneasily, plagued with dreams that were filled with anxiety and with sweetness in equal measure, so that he struggled to wake up and yet longed for sleep again. When his eyes were fully open, he felt so drowsy that he could scarcely move, and then he sat up to find his bandage loose and his bed crimson.
He struggled out of bed and made his way through the heavy, dust-filled sunlight and silence of the great house down to the kitchen. He and Lyra had slept in servants rooms under the attic, not feeling welcomed by the stately four-poster beds in the grand rooms farther down, and it was a
long unsteady walk.
"Will—" she said at once, her voice full of concern, and she turned from the stove to help him to a chair.
He felt dizzy. He supposed hed lost a lot of blood; well, there was no need to suppose, with the evidence all over him. And the wounds were still bleeding.
"I was just making some coffee," she said. "Do you want that first, or shall I do another bandage? I can do whichever you want. And theres eggs in the cold cabinet, but I cant find any baked beans."
"This isnt a baked beans kind of house. Bandage first. Is there any hot water in the tap? I want to wash. I hate being covered in this..."
She ran some hot water, and he stripped to his underpants.
He was too faint and dizzy to feel embarrassed, but Lyra became embarrassed for Mm and went out. He washed as best he could and then dried himself on the tea towels that hung on a line by the stove.
When she came back, shed found some clothes for him, just a shirt and canvas trousers and a belt. He put them on, and she tore a fresh tea towel into strips and bandaged him tightly again.
She was badly worried about his hand; not only were the wounds bleeding freely still, but the rest of the hand was swollen and red. But he said nothing about it, and neither did she.
Then she made the coffee and toasted some stale bread, and they took it into the grand room at the front of the house, overlooking the city. When hed eaten and drunk, he felt a little better.
"You better ask the alethiometer what to do next," he said. "Have you asked it anything yet?"
"No," she said. "Im only going to do what you ask, from now on. I thought of doing it last night, but I never did. And I wont, either, unless you ask me to."