Catching Fire - Chapter 1 (2)

If it were up to me, I would try to forget the Hunger Games entirely. Never speak
of them. Pretend they were nothing but a bad dream. But the Victory Tour
makes that impossible. Strategically placed almost midway between the annual
Games, it is the Capitol's way of keeping the horror fresh and immediate. Not
only are we in the districts forced to remember the iron grip of the Capitol's
power each year, we are forced to celebrate it. And this year, I am one of the
stars of the show. I will have to travel from district to district, to stand before the
cheering crowds who secretly loathe me, to look down into the faces of the
families whose children I have killed...

The sun persists in rising, so I make myself stand. All my joints complain and
my left leg has been asleep for so long that it takes several minutes of pacing to
bring the feeling back into it. I've been in the woods three hours, but as I've
made no real attempt at hunting, I have nothing to show for it. It doesn't matter
for my mother and little sister, Prim, anymore. They can afford to buy butcher
meat in town, although none of us likes it any better than fresh game. But my
best friend, Gale Hawthorne, and his family will be depending on today's haul
and I can't let them down. I start the hour-and-a-half trek it will take to cover our
snare line. Back when we were in school, we had time in the afternoons to
check the line and hunt and gather and still get back to trade in town. But now
that Gale has gone to work in the coal mines — and I have nothing to do all
day—I've taken over the job.

zupełnie - entirely
udawać - pretend
niemożliwy - impossible
strategicznie - strategically
prawie - almost
w połowie drogi - midway
pomiędzy - between
coroczne - annual
utrzymywać horror - keeping the horror
bezpośredni, natychmiastowy - immediate
Jestem zmuszana do. - I am forced to
rządy żelaznej ręki - iron grip
wiwatujący tłum - cheering crowds
w tajemnicy - secretly
nienawidzić - loathe
spoglądać z góry na - look down into
Słońce wschodzi. - The sun persist in rising.
stawy - joints
ścierpnięty - asleep
wrócić do czegoś - get back into
próbować - attempt
Nic z tego nie mam. - I have nothing to show for it.
Nikt z nas - None of us.
dziczyzna - game
łup - haul
Nie mogę ich zawieść. - I can't let them down.
półgodzinny - hour_and_a_half
obchód - trek
zbieractwo - gather
powrót - get back
handel - trade
wydobycie węgla - coal mines
Przejęłam obowiązki - I have taken over the job.