Catching Fire - Chapter 1(6)

FISZKOTEKA

The shoes pinch my toes as I crunch along the cinder street. Cutting down
alleys and through backyards gets me to Gale's house in minutes. His mother,
Hazelle, sees me through the window, where she's bent over the kitchen sink.
She dries her hands on her apron and disappears to meet me at the door.

I like Hazelle. Respect her. The explosion that killed my father took out her
husband as well, leaving her with three boys and a baby due any day. Less
than a week after she gave birth, she was out hunting the streets for work. The
mines weren't an option, what with a baby to look after, but she managed to get
laundry from some of the merchants in town. At fourteen, Gale, the eldest of the
kids, became the main supporter of the family. He was already signed up for
tesserae, which entitled them to a meager supply of grain and oil in exchange
for his entering his name extra times in the drawing to become a tribute. On top
of that, even back then, he was a skilled trapper. But it wasn't enough to keep a
family of five without Hazelle working her fingers to the bone on that washboard.
In winter her hands got so red and cracked, they bled at the slightest
provocation. Still would if it wasn't for a salve my mother concocted. But they
are determined, Hazelle and Gale, that the other boys, twelve-year-old Rory
and ten-year-old Vick, and the baby, four-year-old Posy, will never have to sign
up for tesserae.

uciskać - pinch,
chrzęścić - crunch,
przemykam - cut down,
pochylać się nad - bent over,
wytrzeć ręcę o - dry hands on,
także - as well,
zajmować się kimś - look after,
udało się jej - managed to,
handlowiec - merchant,
zgłosić się po - sign up for,
uprawniać do - entitled to,
chudy - meager,
zapas, zaopatrzenie - supply,
zboże - grain,
na dodatek - on top of sth,
wykwalifikowany, zręczny - skilled,
łowca - trapper,
popękany - cracked,
krwawić - bleed,
pewnie do dziś by tak było - still would if,
maść, smarować nią - salve,
upichcić, przyrządzić - concoct,

Catching Fire - Chapter 1 (5)

FISZKOTEKA


worn hunting boots for a pair of expensive machine-made shoes that my mother
thinks are more appropriate for someone of my status. I've already stowed my
bow and arrows in a hollow log in the woods. Although time is ticking away, I
allow myself a few minutes to sit in the kitchen. It has an abandoned quality with
no fire on the hearth, no cloth on the table. I mourn my old life here. We barely
scraped by, but I knew where I fit in, I knew what my place was in the tightly
interwoven fabric that was our life. I wish I could go back to it because, in
retrospect, it seems so secure compared with now, when I am so rich and so
famous and so hated by the authorities in the Capitol.

A wailing at the back door demands my attention. I open it to find Buttercup,
Prim's scruffy old tomcat. He dislikes the new house almost as much as I do
and always leaves it when my sister's at school. We've never been particularly
fond of each other, but now we have this new bond. I let him in, feed him a
chunk of beaver fat, and even rub him between the ears for a bit. “You're
hideous, you know that, right?” I ask him. Buttercup nudges my hand for more
petting, but we have to go. “Come on, you.” I scoop him up with one hand, grab
my game bag with the other, and haul them both

worn - znoszony
appropriate - stosowny
stow - umieścić, spakować, składać(bagaż)
bow - łuk
hollow - dziurawy
time is ticking away - czas przemija
abandoned - opuszczony
hearth - palenisko
mourn - opłakiwać
scrape by - wiązać koniec z końcem
barely - ledwo
wpasować się - fit in
ciasno - tightly
wpleciony - interwoven
fabric - materiał
Chciałabym do niego wrócić - I wish I could go back into it.
z perspektywy czasu - in retrospect
bezpieczny - secure
w porównaniu z - compared with
zawodzenie, wycie - wailing
za drzwiami z tyłu - at the back door
wymagać uwagi - demand attention
brudny, niechlujny - scruffy
nie lubić - dislike
prawie - almost
tak bardzo jak ja - as much as I do
przepadać za sobą nawzajem - be fond of each other
wpuścić - let sb in
kawał - chunk
pocierać - rub
ohydny - hideous
szturchnąć - nudge
Podnoszę go jedną ręką - I scoop him up with one hand.
chwytać - grab
chwytam drugą ręką - grab it with the other