I finally was able to speak, though my voice was faint. "In the hospital?"
我终于可以说话了，虽然我的声音是那么的微弱。“在医院里？”
His eyes flashed up to mine. "I was appalled. I couldn't believe I had put us in danger after all, put myself in your power — you of all people. As if I needed another motive to kill you." We both flinched as that word slipped out. "But it had the opposite effect," he continued quickly. "I fought with Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper when they suggested that now was the time… the worst fight we've ever had. Carlisle sided with me, and Alice." He grimaced when he said her name. I couldn't imagine why. "Esme told me to do whatever I had to in order to stay." He shook his head indulgently.
他的眼睛飞快地转向我的眼睛。“我心惊胆寒。我不敢相信自己居然把我们放到了如此危险的境地，把自己置于你的股掌之下——在所有人中，偏偏选中了你。就好像我需要另一个动机来杀了你一样。”当这话说出口的时候，我们都畏缩了一下。“但这却起了反作用。”他紧接着继续说道。“我跟罗莎莉，艾美特还有贾斯帕大吵一架，因为他们提议现在正是时候……那是我们争辩得最激烈的一次。但卡莱尔站在我这边，还有爱丽丝。”当他说到她的名字时，他做了个鬼脸。我想不出为什么。“艾思梅告诉我，我可以做任何我想做的事，只要我肯留下来。”他宠溺地摇了摇头。
"All that next day I eavesdropped on the minds of everyone you spoke to, shocked that you kept your word. I didn't understand you at all. But I knew that I couldn't become more involved with you. I did my very best to stay as far from you as possible. And every day the perfume of your skin, your breath, your hair… it hit me as hard as the very first day."
“第二天，我一直在偷听所有和你说话的人的想法。我很震惊，你居然遵守了诺言。我根本无法理解你。但我知道我不能和你再有任何牵连了。我竭尽全力，尽可能地远离你。可每一天你的肌肤上散发出来的香气，你的呼吸，你的头发……这一切都像第一天那样深深地撼动着我。”
He met my eyes again, and they were surprisingly tender.
他又一次对上了我的眼睛，他的眼神温柔得惊人。
"And for all that," he continued, "I'd have fared better if I had exposed us all at that first moment, than if now, here — with no witnesses and nothing to stop me — I were to hurt you."
“而在经历了这一切之后，”他继续说道。“我确实有所改进。虽然最初我暴露了我们所有人的真面目，虽然此时，此地——没有目击者，也没有什么能阻止我——我还是有可能伤害你。”
I was human enough to have to ask. "Why?"
我的人类本能让我不得不问道：“为什么？”
"Isabella." He pronounced my full name carefully, then playfully ruffled my hair with his free hand. A shock ran through my body at his casual touch. "Bella, I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you. You don't know how it's tortured me." He looked down, ashamed again. "The thought of you, still, white, cold… to never see you blush scarlet again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretenses… it would be unendurable." He lifted his glorious, agonized eyes to mine. "You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever."
“伊莎贝拉。”他仔细地拼读出我的全名，然后开玩笑地用他空着的手弄乱了我的头发。他不经意的触碰让一阵震撼传遍了我的全身。“贝拉，如果我伤害了你，我绝对不会让自己活下去。你不知道这将会怎样地折磨着我。”他垂下头，再次羞愧起来。“只要想到你将变得僵硬，苍白，冰冷……再也看不到你羞怯的红晕，再也看不到当你看穿我的伪装时眼里一闪而过的直觉……这一切简直让人无法忍受。”他抬起那双明亮的，充满歉意的眼睛，看着我的眼眸。“现在你是这个世界上对我来说最重要的事情了。至少对我来说是最重要的。”
《暮光之城》与图书题目相得益彰的是，“暮光之城”系列别具匠心的封面设计则很好地传达出了每本书内在的深远寓意。斯蒂芬妮·梅尔指出《暮色》封面上的苹果代表“创世纪” 内善恶树上的禁果。象征贝拉和爱德华之间人类与吸血鬼禁忌的爱恋。在书的开头引用了“创世纪”217页的内容：“只是分别善恶树上的果子，你不可吃，因为你吃的日子必定死。”这同时也代表了贝拉如何分辨善恶——选择是否吃下那颗禁忌的果实，这比喻了选择跟爱德华在一起或远离他。
