VOA慢速英语2017-- 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' by Edgar Allen Poe, Part One

 

Paris! It was in Paris during the summer of 1840. There and then, I met a strange and interesting young man named August Dupin. Dupin was the last member of a well-known family, a family which had once been rich and famous. August Dupin, however, was far from rich.

He cared little about money. He had enough to buy necessities¹ — and a few books. That was all. Just books. With books, he was happy.

In fact, we first met in an old bookstore. A few more chance meetings at such stores followed. Soon, we began to talk.

I was deeply² interested in the family history he told me. I was surprised, too, at how much and how widely he had read; more important, the force of his busy mind was like a bright light in my soul. I felt that the friendship of such a man would be, for me, riches without price.

So, I told him how I felt and asked him to come and live with me.

He would enjoy using my many fine books. And I would have the pleasure of company, for I was not happy alone.

We passed the days reading, writing and talking. But Dupin was a lover³ of the night. So, often, we walked the streets of Paris after dark.

I soon noticed that Dupin had a special way of understanding people. Using it gave him great pleasure. He told me once, with a soft laugh, that he could see through the windows that most men have over their hearts. He could look into their souls.

Then, he surprised me by telling what he knew about my own soul. He knew things about me that I had thought only I could possibly know. At these times, he acted cold and emotionally⁴ distant. His eyes looked empty and far away. His voice became high and nervous.

At such times it seemed to me that I saw not just Dupin, but two Dupins — one who coldly put things together, and another who just as coldly took them apart.

One night we were walking down one of Paris’s long, dirty streets. We were quiet, both busy in our own thoughts.

But, suddenly Dupin spoke⁶: “You’re right,” he said. “He is a very little fellow, that’s true, and he would be more successful if he acted in lighter⁷, less serious plays.”

“Yes, there can be no doubt of that!” I said.

At first I saw nothing strange in this. Dupin had agreed with me. This, of course, seemed to me quite natural. A few moments passed. Then it hit me. Dupin had not agreed with something I had said. He had agreed directly⁸ with my thoughts. I had not spoken a word!

Dupin had read my mind. I stopped walking.

“Dupin,” I said, “Dupin, I don’t understand. How could you know that I was thinking of…?”

Here, I stopped speaking. If he really had heard my thoughts, he would have to prove it.

And he did. He said, “How did I know you were thinking of Chantilly? You were thinking that Chantilly is too small for the plays in which he acts.”

“That is indeed what I was thinking. But, tell me, in Heaven’s name, how did you know?”

“It was the fruit-seller,” Dupin answered.

“Fruit-seller!?”

“I mean the man who bumped⁹ into you as we entered this street. Maybe fifteen minutes ago.”

“Oh, yes…I remember, now. A fruit-seller, with a large basket of apples, bumped into me. But what does that have to do with you knowing I was thinking of Chantilly?”

“I will explain. Listen closely¹⁰ now. Let us follow your thoughts from the fruit-seller to the stage actor, Chantilly. Those thoughts must have gone like this: fruit-seller to cobblestones, cobblestones to stereotomy, stereotomy to Epicurus, to Orion, and then to Chantilly.”

He continued:

“As we turned onto this street the fruit-seller bumped you. You stepped on some uneven¹¹ cobblestones. I could see that it hurt your foot.

“You spoke a few angry words to yourself, and continued walking. But you kept looking at the cobblestones in the street, so I knew you were thinking of them.

“Then we came to a small street where they are putting down new street stones. Here your face became brighter. You were looking at these more even stones. And your lips¹² moved. I was sure they formed the word stereotomy, which is the name for how these new stones are cut. Stereotomy takes a large block and divides it evenly into smaller pieces. You will remember that we read about it in the newspaper only yesterday.

“I thought that the word stereotomy must make you think of the old Greek¹³ writer and thinker¹⁴ Epicurus. His ideas are also about dividing objects into smaller and smaller pieces called atoms¹⁵. He argued that the world and everything else are made of these atoms.

“You and I were talking about Epicurus and his ideas, his atoms, recently. We were talking about how much those old ideas are like today’s scientific study of the planets¹⁶ and stars. So, I felt sure that, now, as we walked, you would look up to the sky. And you did.

“I looked also at the sky. I saw that the group of stars we call Orion is very bright and clear tonight.

“I knew you would notice this and that you would think about the name Orion.

“Now, keep listening carefully. Only yesterday, in the newspaper, there was a report about the actor Chantilly. The critic¹⁷ did not praise him. And he used a Latin¹⁸ saying that had also been used to describe Orion. So I knew you would put together the two ideas of Orion and Chantilly.

“I saw you smile, remembering the article and the mean words in it.

“Then, I saw you straighten up, as tall as you could make yourself. I was sure you were thinking of Chantilly’s size, and especially his height. He is small; he is short. And so I spoke, saying that he is indeed a very little man, this Chantilly, and he would be more successful if he acted in lighter, less serious plays.”

I cannot say I was surprised by what Dupin had just reported. My reaction was much bigger than just surprise. I was astonished¹⁹.

Dupin was right, as right as he could be. Those were in fact my thoughts, my unspoken thoughts, as my mind moved from one thought to the next.

But if I was astonished by this, I would soon be more than astonished. One morning this strangely interesting man showed me once again his unusual reasoning power. We heard that an old woman had been killed by unknown persons. The killer²⁰, or the killers²¹, had cut her head off — and escaped into the night. Who was this killer, this murderer²²? The police had no answer. They had looked everywhere and found nothing that helped them. They did not know what to do next. And so — they did nothing. But not Dupin. He knew what to do.

Words in This Story

soul – n. the spiritual²³ part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever

nervous – adj. having or showing feelings of being worried and afraid about what might happen

fellow – n. (informal) a male person

moment(s) – n. a very short period of time

Heaven – n. the place where God lives and where good people go after they die, according²⁴ to some religions

bump(ed) – v. to move into or against someone or something in a sudden⁵ and forceful way

stage actor – term. a person who acts in a theater play

cobblestone(s) – n. a round stone used in paving²⁵ streets

block – n. a solid²⁶ piece of material that has flat sides and is usually square or rectangular²⁷ in shape

astonish(ed) – v. to cause a feeling of great wonder or surprise in someone

1 necessities   

必要（性）( necessity的名词复数 )； （迫切）需要； 必需品； 自然规律

参考例句：

• They also supply other daily necessities to the city population. 他们也向城市居民提供其他日常必需品。
• Provide the bare necessities of life, especially food; keep away hunger. 供给生活必需品，特别是食物，以免于饥饿。

2 deeply   

adv.深刻地，在深处，深沉地

参考例句：

• I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
• We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们，我们感到很荣幸。

3 lover   

n.情人，恋人；爱好者

参考例句：

• Every lover sees a thousand graces in the beloved object.情人眼里出西施。
• Mr.Smith was a lover of poetry.史密斯先生是一名诗歌爱好者。

4 emotionally   

adv.感情上，情绪上，冲动地

参考例句：

• a special school for emotionally disturbed children 为精神异常儿童开办的特殊学校
• A wide range of emotionally stressful events may trigger a relapse. 多种令人情绪紧张的事情都可能引起旧病复发。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

8 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

9 bumped   

凸起的，凸状的

参考例句：

• In the dark I bumped into a chair. 我在黑暗中撞上了一把椅子。
• I bumped against an old friend in town today. 我今天在城里偶然碰见了一个老朋友。

10 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

11 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

12 lips   

abbr.logical inferences per second 每秒的逻辑推论n.嘴唇( lip的名词复数 )；（容器或凹陷地方的）边缘；粗鲁无礼的话

参考例句：

• Her lips compressed into a thin line. 她的双唇抿成了一道缝。
• the fullness of her lips 她丰满的双唇

13 Greek   

adj.希腊(人)的，希腊语的；n.希腊人；希腊语

参考例句：

• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。
• Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.δ是希腊字母中的第四个字母。

14 thinker   

n.思想家，思考者

参考例句：

• There lived in Greece a great thinker named Aristotle.希腊有一个名叫亚里斯多德的伟大思想家。
• He is a loose thinker.他是个思维不严密的人。

15 atoms   

原子( atom的名词复数 )； 原子能； 微粒； 微量

参考例句：

• A molecule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. 水分子由两个氢原子和一个氧原子构成。
• A nuclear reactor is the apparatus in which atoms are split. 核反应堆是分裂原子的装置。

16 planets   

行星( planet的名词复数 )； 地球（尤指环境）

参考例句：

• Does life exist on other planets? 其他行星上有生命吗？
• the planets of our solar system 太阳系的行星

17 critic   

n.批评家，评论家；爱挑剔的人

参考例句：

• The critic classed him with the best writers of the age.评论家把他列入当代第一流的作家的行列之中。
• He became a fierce critic of the tobacco industry.他成了烟草业的强烈反对者。

18 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

19 astonished   

adj.惊讶的

参考例句：

• The news astonished everyone. 这消息使大家十分惊讶。
• He was astonished to learn he'd won the competition. 他听说他比赛赢了，感到很惊讶。

20 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

21 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

22 murderer   

n.杀人犯，凶手

参考例句：

• How long should a murderer be kept in prison?犯了谋杀罪的人应在监狱关多少年？
• They discovered the murderer to have run away.他们发现凶手已逃之夭夭。

23 spiritual   

adj.精神上的，神圣的，崇高的，高尚的，鬼的，招魂论的&n.有关教会的事

参考例句：

• His spiritual nature is good.他心灵本质上是善良的。
• Their friendship was strictly spiritual.他们的友情完全是精神上的。

24 according   

adj.按照，根据

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• We must cut our coat according to our cloth this year.今年我们必须学会量入为出。

25 paving   

n.块石面路v.铺( pave的现在分词 )；为…铺平道路

参考例句：

• Weeds grew through the cracks in the paving. 杂草从铺石路面的缝隙中长出来。
• a firm that does paving and walling 从事铺地砌墙的公司

26 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。

27 rectangular   

adj.矩形的，成直角的

参考例句：

• He put a rectangular box on the table.他把一个长方形的箱子放在桌子上。
• The equations are written in rectangular coordinates.这些方程是在直角座标系中写出的。