英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' by Edgar Allen Poe, Part Two

时间:2019-09-14 04:37来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

 

It was in Paris in the summer of 1840 that I met August Dupin.

Dupin was a strangely interesting young man with a busy, forceful mind. He seemed to look right through a person and uncover their deepest thoughts. Sometimes Dupin seemed to be not one, but two people — one who coldly put things together, and another who just as coldly took them apart. One morning, in the heat of the summer, Dupin showed me once again his special mental power.

We read in the newspaper about a terrible killing1. An old woman and her daughter, living alone in an old house in the Rue2 Morgue, had been killed in the middle of the night.

The story in the paper went:

Paris, July 7, 1840 -- Early this morning, cries of terror were heard in the western part of the city. They reportedly came from a house on the Rue Morgue, in which the only occupants were a Mrs. L’Espanaye, and her daughter Camille.

Several neighbors and a policeman ran to the house. By the time they reached it, the cries had stopped. They forced the door open.

As they entered, they heard two voices, apparently3 from above. The group searched but found nothing until the fourth floor. There, they came to a door, locked from the inside. Quickly they forced it open. Before them was a bloody4 horror scene!

The room was in total disorder5 — broken chairs and tables and the mattress6 pulled from the bed. Blood was everywhere; on the walls, the floor, the bed. A sharp knife lay on the floor in a pool of blood. In front of the fireplace7 was a clump8 of long gray hair, also bloodied9; it seemed to have been pulled straight out of a head. On the floor were four pieces of gold, an earring10, several silver objects, and two bags containing a large amount of money in gold. Clothes had been thrown around the room. A lock box was found left open with just a few old letters and papers inside.

There was no one there. But, when the group inspected the fireplace, they discovered another horror. A still-warm body had been forced up the chimney. It was the old woman’s daughter.

There was blood on the face, and dark, deep finger marks on the neck, suggesting a strangling.

After searching the house thoroughly11, the group went outside. They found the body of the old woman behind the building. Her neck had been cut so severely12 that when they tried to lift the body, the head fell off.

The next day the newspaper offered to its readers these new facts:

Paris, July 8, 1840-- The police have questioned many people about the vicious13 murders in the old house on the Rue Morgue. But none of the answers revealed the identity of the killers14.

Pauline Dubourg, a washwoman, said she has known both of the victims for more than three years, and washed their clothes. She said the two seemed to love each other dearly. They always paid her well. She did not know where their money came from, she said. She never met anyone in the house. Only the two women lived on the fourth floor.

Pierre Moreau, a shopkeeper, said Mrs. L’Espanaye had bought food at his shop for almost four years. She owned the house and had lived in it for more than six years. He never saw anyone enter the door except the old lady and her daughter, and a doctor eight or ten times, perhaps.

Many other persons, neighbors, said the same thing. Almost no one ever went into the house. Mrs. L’Espanaye and her daughter were not often seen.

Banker Jules Mignaud said that Mrs. L’Espanaye had put money in his bank, beginning eight years before. Three days before the killings15, she withdrew a large amount in gold. A man from the bank carried it to her house for her.

Isidore Muset, a policeman, said that he was with the group that first entered the house. While he was going up the stairs, he heard two voices, one low and soft, and one hard, high, and very strange — the voice of someone who was surely not French, the voice of a foreigner, maybe Spanish.

It was not a woman’s voice, he said, although he could not understand what it said. But the other voice, said softly, in French, “My God!”

Alfonso Garcia, who is Spanish and lives on the Rue Morgue, says he entered the house but did not go up the stairs. A nervous man, he was afraid he might be sick. He heard the voices. He believes the high voice was not that of a Frenchman. Perhaps it was English; but he said he doesn’t understand English, so he is not sure.

William Bird, an Englishman who has lived in Paris for two years, also entered the house. He said the low voice was that of a Frenchman, he was sure, because he heard it say, in French, “My God!”

The high voice was very loud, he said. He is sure it was not the voice of an Englishman, nor the voice of a Frenchman. It seemed to be that of an Italian, a language he does not understand. He said it might have been a woman’s voice.

Mr. Alberto Montani, an Italian, was passing the house at the time of the cries. He said the screams lasted for about two minutes. Montani, who speaks Spanish but not French, says that he also heard two voices. He thought both voices were French. But he could not understand any of the words spoken.

All who went in the house agreed that the door to the room on the fourth floor was locked from the inside. It was quiet. They saw no one. The windows were closed and locked from the inside. There is only one stairway to the fourth floor.

They said that the chimney opening is too small for escape that way. It took four or five people to pull the daughter’s body out of the chimney. It was four or five minutes from the time they heard the voices to the moment they entered the room.

Paul Dumas, a doctor, says that he was called to inspect the bodies soon after they were found. They were in a horrible condition, badly marked and broken. He said only a man could have caused such injury. The daughter had been strangled, he said.

When we had finished reading the newspaper’s report of the murders, we were quiet for a while. Dupin had that cold, empty look that I know means his mind is working busily. He asked me what I thought of the crime. I said I considered it a mystery with no answer.

But Dupin responded, “No, no. No. I think you are wrong. A mystery, yes. But there must be an answer. Let us go to the house and see what we can see. There must be an answer. There must!”

Words in This Story

lock(ed) – v. to fasten something with a lock

scene – n. the place or event of an action

mattress – n. a cloth case that is filled with material and used as a bed

clump – n. a small ball or mass of something

earring - n. a piece of jewelry16 that is worn on the ear and especially on the earlobe

lock box – n. a box that locks, usually for storing money or valuables

fireplace – n. a specially17 built place in a room where a fire can be built

chimney – n. a part of a building through which smoke rises into the outside air

strangling – gerund. the killing of a person or animal by squeezing the throat

vicious – adj. very violent and cruel

reveal(ed) – v. to make something known

shopkeeper – n. someone who owns or manages a shop or store

stairs – n. a series of steps that go from one level or floor to another

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

stairway – n. a set of stairs that go from one level or floor to another


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
2 rue 8DGy6     
n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔
参考例句:
  • You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
  • You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。
3 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
4 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染
参考例句:
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
5 disorder Et1x4     
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调
参考例句:
  • When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
  • It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
6 mattress Z7wzi     
n.床垫,床褥
参考例句:
  • The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
  • The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。
7 fireplace YjUxz     
n.壁炉,炉灶
参考例句:
  • The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
  • I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。
8 clump xXfzH     
n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句:
  • A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
  • It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。
9 bloodied f2573ec56eb96f1ea4f1cc51207f137f     
v.血污的( bloody的过去式和过去分词 );流血的;屠杀的;残忍的
参考例句:
  • his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
  • His pants leg was torn and bloodied when he fell. 他跌交时裤腿破了,还染上了血。 来自辞典例句
10 earring xrOxK     
n.耳环,耳饰
参考例句:
  • How long have you worn that earring?你戴那个耳环多久了?
  • I have an earring but can't find its companion.我现在只有一只耳环,找不到另一只了。
11 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
12 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
13 vicious lUFzR     
adj.恶毒的,恶意的,凶残的,剧烈的,严重的
参考例句:
  • He gave the dog a vicious blow with his stick.他朝着那只狗狠狠地打了一棍子。
  • The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard.作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。
14 killers c1a8ff788475e2c3424ec8d3f91dd856     
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。
15 killings 76d97e8407f821a6e56296c4c9a9388c     
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发
参考例句:
  • His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
16 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
17 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴