The Black Cat (2)
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2010-01-04 01:25 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
But, as the weeks passed, I began to dislike the animal more and more. I do not know why, but I hated the way he loved me. Soon, I began to hate him—but I was never unkind1 to him. Yes, I was very careful about that. I kept away from him because I remembered what I did to my poor Pluto2. I also hated the animal because he only had one eye. I noticed this the morning after he came home with me. Of course, this only made my dear wife love him more!
    But the more I hated the cat, the more he seemed to love me. He followed me everywhere, getting under my feet all the time. When I sat down, he always sat under my chair. Often he tried to jump up on my knees. I wanted to murder him when he did this, but I did not. I stopped myself because I remembered Pluto, but also because I was afraid of the animal.
    How can I explain this fear? It was not really a fear of something evil3 . . . but then how else can I possibly describe it? Slowly, this strange fear grew into horror4. Yes, horror. If I tell you why, you will not believe me. You will think I am mad.
    Several times, my wife took the cat and showed me the white shape on his chest5. She said the shape was slowly changing. For a long time I did not believe her, but slowly, after many weeks, I began to see that she was right. The shape was changing. Its sides were becoming straighter and straighter. It was beginning to look more and more like an object6 . . . After a few more weeks, I saw what the shape was. It was impossible not to see! There, on his front, was the shape of an object I am almost too afraid to name ... It was that terrible machine of pain and death—yes, the GALLOWS7绞刑架! (gallows - The place where criminals8 are hanged.) I no longer knew the meaning of happiness9, or rest. During the day, the animal never left me. At night he woke me up nearly every hour. I remember waking from terrible dreams and feeling him sitting next to my face, his heavy body pressing down on my heart!
    I was now a very different man. There was not the smallest piece of good left in me. I now had only evil thoughts—the darkest and the most evil thoughts. I hated everyone and everything, my dear wife too.
    One day she came down into the cellar地窖 with me to cut some wood (we were now too poor to have a servant). Of course, the cat followed me down the stairs and nearly made me fall. This made me so angry, that I took the axe11 and tried to cut the animal in two. But as I brought the axe down, my wife stopped my arm with her hand. This made me even more angry, and I pulled her hand away from my wrist12, lifted the tool again, brought it down hard and buried13 it in the top of her head.
    I had to hide the body. I knew I could not take it out of the house. The neighbours14 noticed everything. I thought of cutting it into pieces and burning it. I thought of burying15 it in the floor of the cellar10. I thought of throwing it into the river at the end of the garden. I thought of putting it into a wooden box and taking it out of the house that way. In the end, I decided16 to hide the body in one of the walls of the cellar.
    It was quite an old building, near the river, so the walls of the cellar were quite wet and the plaster17 was soft. There was new plaster on one of the walls, and I knew that underneath18 it the wall was not very strong. I also knew that this wall was very thick. I could hide the body in the middle of it.
    It was not difficult. I took off some plaster灰泥,石膏, took out a few stones and made a hole in the earth that filled the middle of the wall. I put my wife there, put back the stones, made some new plaster and put it on the wall. Then I cleaned the floor, and looked carefully round. Everything looked just as it did before. Nobody would ever know.
    Next, I went upstairs to kill the cat. The animal was bringing me bad luck. I had to kill it. I searched everywhere, but I could not find him. I was sure it was because of my wife's murder; he was too clever to come near me now.
    I waited all evening, but I did not see the evil animal. He did not come back during the night either. And so, for the first time in a long time, I slept well. When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that the cat still was not there. Two, three days passed, and there was still no cat. I cannot tell you how happy I began to feel. I felt so much better without the cat. Yes, it was he who brought me all my unhappiness. And now, without him, I began to feel like a free man again. It was wonderful—no more cat! Never again!
    Several people came and asked about my wife, but I answered their questions easily. Then, on the fourth day, the police came. I was not worried when they searched the house. They asked me to come with them as they searched. They looked everywhere, several times. Then they went down into the cellar. I went down with them, of course. I was not a bit一点也不,丝毫不 afraid. I walked calmly up and down, watching them search.
    They found nothing, of course, and soon they were ready to go. I was so happy that I could not stop talking as they went up the stairs. I did not really know what I was saying. 'Good day to you all, dear sirs.' I said. 'Yes, this is a well-built old house, isn't it? Yes, a very well-built old house. These walls—are you going, gentlemen? — these walls are strong, aren't they?' I knocked hard on the part of the wall where my wife was.
    A voice came from inside the wall, in answer to my knock. It was a cry, like a child's. Quickly, it grew into a long scream19 of pain and horror. I saw the policemen standing20 on the stairs with their mouths open. Suddenly, they all ran down in a great hurry and began breaking down the wall. It fell quickly, and there was my wife, standing inside. There she was, with dried blood all over her head, looking at them. And there was the cat, standing on her head, his red mouth wide open in a scream, and his one gold eye shining like fire. The clever animal! My wife was dead because of him, and now his evil voice was sending me to the gallows.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 unkind QkXwX     
adj.不仁慈的,不和善的
参考例句:
  • He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
  • Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。
2 Pluto wu0yF     
n.冥王星
参考例句:
  • Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
  • Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。
3 evil KiHzS     
n.邪恶,不幸,罪恶;adj.邪恶的,不幸的,有害的,诽谤的
参考例句:
  • We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
  • Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。
4 horror DdUzN     
n.惊骇,恐怖,惨事,极端厌恶
参考例句:
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
  • The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。
5 chest sUMyW     
n.胸,大箱子,金库,资金,一箱,密封室,衣橱
参考例句:
  • The bear's chest is hairy.那只熊的胸部毛茸茸的。
  • Mother has a pain in her chest.母亲胸口疼.。
6 object qHNxV     
n.物,物体,目标,宾语;v.反对
参考例句:
  • Now he had no object in life.现在他没有生活的目标。
  • I object strongly to the idea.我坚决反对这种主张。
7 gallows UfLzE     
n.绞刑架,绞台
参考例句:
  • The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
  • Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。
8 criminals 12155eb878bd85f68aaf59dac6e65b2d     
n.罪犯,犯人( criminal的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He is not one of your garden-variety criminals. 他不是个普通的罪犯。
  • All citizens should help the police in tracking the criminals down. 所有市民都应该帮助警察追捕罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 happiness Ke3xG     
n.幸福感;快乐;幸运
参考例句:
  • I wish you the life of happiness and prosperity.我祝你生活幸福、万事如意。
  • We all desire happiness and health.我们都想得到幸福和健康。
10 cellar JXkzo     
n.地窖,地下室,酒窖
参考例句:
  • He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
  • The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。
11 axe 2oVyI     
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减
参考例句:
  • Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利,你要当心。
  • The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。
12 wrist fMbzH     
n.手腕,腕关节
参考例句:
  • They took her by the wrist.他们握住她的手腕。
  • He received a bullet in the wrist.他手腕上中了一弹。
13 buried buried     
v.埋葬( bury的过去式和过去分词 );掩埋;原谅;沉溺于
参考例句:
  • They found the body buried beneath a pile of leaves. 他们发现尸体被埋在一堆树叶下面。
  • He was buried in Highgate Cemetery. 他被安葬在海格特墓地。
14 neighbours a13ac3b7f65f15af479f775d5a2559ff     
邻居( neighbour的名词复数 ); 邻近的人[物]; 邻国; 世人
参考例句:
  • The neighbours' kids are the bane of my life . 街坊邻居的孩子让我生活得很不安宁。
  • He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
15 burying burying     
n.埋,埋葬v.埋葬( bury的现在分词 );掩埋;原谅;沉溺于
参考例句:
  • The old man is burying his money. 老头正在埋藏他的钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She began to sob again, burying her face in the pillow. 她把脸埋在枕头里,又开始啜泣起来。 来自辞典例句
16 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
17 plaster LO7xz     
n.石膏,灰泥,膏药;v.涂以灰泥,敷以膏药,使...平
参考例句:
  • He mixed up some plaster to repair the wall.他和了一些灰泥去补墙。
  • She applied the plaster on his shoulder.她将膏药贴在他的膀子上。
18 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
19 scream 0ZEx6     
n.尖叫声;vi. 尖叫,大笑,尖啸,令人震惊;vt.尖叫着说,大叫大嚷着要求
参考例句:
  • Don't scream,I can hear what you are saying.别喊,我听得见你说些什么。
  • He was so funny,he made us scream with laughter.他很有趣,逗得我们哈哈大笑。
20 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
上一篇:The Black Cat 下一篇:狼和小羊
TAG标签: cat cellar gallows
发表评论
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:点击我更换图片