-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Now the Special English program "American Stories".
Our story today is called "The Gatewood Caper1". It was written by Dashiell Hammett, Here is Harry2 Monroe with the story.
Millionaire3 Harvey Gatewood had a desk as big as a bed in the middle of his office. He looked almost as big as his desk. Gatewood had become rich by knocking down anyone who stood in his way. Now, he leaned4 across his desk and began shouting at me. "My daughter was kidnapped last night; I want you to find her and the people who did this." "Tell me about it," I suggested. Gatewood said his daughter Audrey had gone out for a walk, the night before at 7 o'clock. She never came home. The next morning, Gatewood received a letter from her kidnappers5. They asked 50,000 dollars for her and put one of her favorite rings in the envelope to prove they had her. Gatewood had called the police immediately, but a few minutes later he decided6 to hire his own private detectives. That's when he called me at my Continental7 Detective Agency8. "Find her!" he barked at me.
I left his office and went to his home. The servants told me Audrey was 19 years old and Gatewood's only child. They said her mother was dead and Audrey and her father did not like each other. I went to her room where I found a picture of her. She was a pretty girl with big blue eyes and a small pointed9 chin10. I took the photograph with me when I went back to my office. I decided to call the police detectives. Elgar and Selden who were working on the case. They said that I could take a look at the letter the kidnappers had sent. The envelope had been mailed from San Francisco on September 20th. The same night Audrey had disappeared. The postmark on the envelope was stamped 8:00 pm. While I was at the police station, a young policeman stuck his head into the room. "Gatewood just called," he said, "He wants all of you in his office right away."
I ran out with Elgar and Selden and jumped into one of their police cars. Gatewood was walking up and down in his office. His face was red with anger. "She just phoned me," Shouted as soon as he saw us, she said, "Oh, daddy! Do something. I can't stand this. They're killing11 me. Then I heard a man's voice yell12 something and someone hung up the phone." Gatewood began banging13 his desk with his huge hands. "Have you people done anything?" We had to admit that we had discovered nothing yet. That night, I went home with Gatewood. At 2:30 in the morning, the telephone rang. I listened on the telephone downstairs while Gatewood talked on the telephone by his bed upstairs. A man's voice said "Gatewood, put the money in a bag and leave the house with it immediately, walk down Clay14 Street to the river. You'll meet someone with a handkerchief over his face, drop the money and go back home. You'll get your daughter back in an hour or two." The stranger hung up the telephone. "Do what he told you to do?" I said to Gatewood, "And don't try any tricks."
A few minutes later, Gatewood left his house carrying a white bag of money in his left hand. I followed him as he walked down the dark streets for about 10 minutes. No one was around. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tall woman appeared; she was wearing black clothes and holding a handkerchief to her face. Gatewood stopped. He dropped the bag of money, turned around and walked quickly away. The woman ran to the bag. Picked it up and disappeared down a dark side street. The side street was empty when I reached it. I looked for an open window or door that would show me which building the woman had run into. Nothing. All the doors and windows were locked. I picked one door and broke the lock. I was lucky. Inside I found a woman's skirt, coat and hat, all black on the floor near the door. I knocked on a few doors in the building and one of the people told me that a tall man named Lytton had rented an apartment there only 3 days earlier. Lytton was not home when I knocked on his door. But now I understood how the mysterious woman had disappeared. Lytton had put on women's clothing over his own, then he had gone out the back door of the apartment building leaving the door open. After getting the money, he ran back into the building, locked the door and took off his disguise15. Then he must have left the apartment building through the front door.
The next morning there was no word from Audrey. We still had heard nothing by afternoon. I began to wonder about some things. I checked with Audrey's girlfriends and found that one of them was the last person to see Audrey before the kidnapping. Agnes Danger Field told me, she saw Audrey walking down Market Street alone the night of the kidnapping between 8:15 and 8:45. I took a taxi to the shopping district where there were a lot of large department stores. I went into each one asking if a tall man had bought clothing that would fit Audrey. At the fifth department store I got good news. A tall man had come in the day before buying clothing in Audrey's size. He had bought a lot of clothing and arranged17 for it to be delivered to his apartment on 14th street. He signed his name, Theodore Alfred. When I arrived at the address he gave, I saw a fat lady leaving the building. I told her I was a private detective and asked her about Alfred. She said he and his wife had rented apartment 202 only a week ago. She stopped talking suddenly as a tall man walked past me into the building. She said he was Mr. Alfred. But I recognized him as Penny18 Quail19, an unimportant20 little thief. I knew he recognized me, too. I followed him into the building and ran up the stairs to apartment 202. I rang the doorbell, 3 gunshots answered and the middle of the door had 3 bullet21 holes in it. Those bullets22 would have been in my stomach if I hadn't learned23 years ago to stand to one side of strange doors. I kicked at the door and the lock broke. As I ran into the room, I saw Quail and a woman struggling on the floor. The woman was Audrey Gatewood. She had a gun in her hand. I grabbed24 it and yelled25. "That's enough! Get up, both of you." Quail sat down in a chair trying to catch his breath26, but the woman stood in the center of the room. "You are just lucky I didn't shoot you." She said angrily, "How did you discover the truth?" "In several ways," I answered. "First, one of your friends said she saw you on Market Street between 8:15 and 8:45 the night you disappeared. But the postmark on the letter to your father read 8:00 pm. Quail, here, should have waited longer before mailing the letter. When you didn't come home after the money was paid. I had an idea you kidnapped yourself, then I thought you would need to buy clothing. You left home that night just to take a walk. You couldn't bring a suitcase full of clothing with you. I knew you had a man helping27 you. I thought perhaps the man would buy what you needed. And it turned out that he did. But he was too lazy to carry the packages from the store himself. So he had the store send the clothing to this place. That's how I knew where to find you."
Gatewood met his daughter at the police station. I had never seen him so angry when he learned the truth. Gatewood told the police to lock up his daughter. But Audrey threatened to tell some of his business secrets to the newspapers. Gatewood must have believed she really would do it, too. Because he told the police he had changed his mind. And the father and daughter left for home. I could see the hate they had for each other, not a very happy reunion. The police were still holding Quail, but he wasn't worried. He knew if Audrey was free, he wouldn't be punished either. I was glad it was over. It had been a rough16 job and a strange adventure, The Gatewood Caper.
Our story today is called "The Gatewood Caper1". It was written by Dashiell Hammett, Here is Harry2 Monroe with the story.
Millionaire3 Harvey Gatewood had a desk as big as a bed in the middle of his office. He looked almost as big as his desk. Gatewood had become rich by knocking down anyone who stood in his way. Now, he leaned4 across his desk and began shouting at me. "My daughter was kidnapped last night; I want you to find her and the people who did this." "Tell me about it," I suggested. Gatewood said his daughter Audrey had gone out for a walk, the night before at 7 o'clock. She never came home. The next morning, Gatewood received a letter from her kidnappers5. They asked 50,000 dollars for her and put one of her favorite rings in the envelope to prove they had her. Gatewood had called the police immediately, but a few minutes later he decided6 to hire his own private detectives. That's when he called me at my Continental7 Detective Agency8. "Find her!" he barked at me.
I left his office and went to his home. The servants told me Audrey was 19 years old and Gatewood's only child. They said her mother was dead and Audrey and her father did not like each other. I went to her room where I found a picture of her. She was a pretty girl with big blue eyes and a small pointed9 chin10. I took the photograph with me when I went back to my office. I decided to call the police detectives. Elgar and Selden who were working on the case. They said that I could take a look at the letter the kidnappers had sent. The envelope had been mailed from San Francisco on September 20th. The same night Audrey had disappeared. The postmark on the envelope was stamped 8:00 pm. While I was at the police station, a young policeman stuck his head into the room. "Gatewood just called," he said, "He wants all of you in his office right away."
I ran out with Elgar and Selden and jumped into one of their police cars. Gatewood was walking up and down in his office. His face was red with anger. "She just phoned me," Shouted as soon as he saw us, she said, "Oh, daddy! Do something. I can't stand this. They're killing11 me. Then I heard a man's voice yell12 something and someone hung up the phone." Gatewood began banging13 his desk with his huge hands. "Have you people done anything?" We had to admit that we had discovered nothing yet. That night, I went home with Gatewood. At 2:30 in the morning, the telephone rang. I listened on the telephone downstairs while Gatewood talked on the telephone by his bed upstairs. A man's voice said "Gatewood, put the money in a bag and leave the house with it immediately, walk down Clay14 Street to the river. You'll meet someone with a handkerchief over his face, drop the money and go back home. You'll get your daughter back in an hour or two." The stranger hung up the telephone. "Do what he told you to do?" I said to Gatewood, "And don't try any tricks."
A few minutes later, Gatewood left his house carrying a white bag of money in his left hand. I followed him as he walked down the dark streets for about 10 minutes. No one was around. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tall woman appeared; she was wearing black clothes and holding a handkerchief to her face. Gatewood stopped. He dropped the bag of money, turned around and walked quickly away. The woman ran to the bag. Picked it up and disappeared down a dark side street. The side street was empty when I reached it. I looked for an open window or door that would show me which building the woman had run into. Nothing. All the doors and windows were locked. I picked one door and broke the lock. I was lucky. Inside I found a woman's skirt, coat and hat, all black on the floor near the door. I knocked on a few doors in the building and one of the people told me that a tall man named Lytton had rented an apartment there only 3 days earlier. Lytton was not home when I knocked on his door. But now I understood how the mysterious woman had disappeared. Lytton had put on women's clothing over his own, then he had gone out the back door of the apartment building leaving the door open. After getting the money, he ran back into the building, locked the door and took off his disguise15. Then he must have left the apartment building through the front door.
The next morning there was no word from Audrey. We still had heard nothing by afternoon. I began to wonder about some things. I checked with Audrey's girlfriends and found that one of them was the last person to see Audrey before the kidnapping. Agnes Danger Field told me, she saw Audrey walking down Market Street alone the night of the kidnapping between 8:15 and 8:45. I took a taxi to the shopping district where there were a lot of large department stores. I went into each one asking if a tall man had bought clothing that would fit Audrey. At the fifth department store I got good news. A tall man had come in the day before buying clothing in Audrey's size. He had bought a lot of clothing and arranged17 for it to be delivered to his apartment on 14th street. He signed his name, Theodore Alfred. When I arrived at the address he gave, I saw a fat lady leaving the building. I told her I was a private detective and asked her about Alfred. She said he and his wife had rented apartment 202 only a week ago. She stopped talking suddenly as a tall man walked past me into the building. She said he was Mr. Alfred. But I recognized him as Penny18 Quail19, an unimportant20 little thief. I knew he recognized me, too. I followed him into the building and ran up the stairs to apartment 202. I rang the doorbell, 3 gunshots answered and the middle of the door had 3 bullet21 holes in it. Those bullets22 would have been in my stomach if I hadn't learned23 years ago to stand to one side of strange doors. I kicked at the door and the lock broke. As I ran into the room, I saw Quail and a woman struggling on the floor. The woman was Audrey Gatewood. She had a gun in her hand. I grabbed24 it and yelled25. "That's enough! Get up, both of you." Quail sat down in a chair trying to catch his breath26, but the woman stood in the center of the room. "You are just lucky I didn't shoot you." She said angrily, "How did you discover the truth?" "In several ways," I answered. "First, one of your friends said she saw you on Market Street between 8:15 and 8:45 the night you disappeared. But the postmark on the letter to your father read 8:00 pm. Quail, here, should have waited longer before mailing the letter. When you didn't come home after the money was paid. I had an idea you kidnapped yourself, then I thought you would need to buy clothing. You left home that night just to take a walk. You couldn't bring a suitcase full of clothing with you. I knew you had a man helping27 you. I thought perhaps the man would buy what you needed. And it turned out that he did. But he was too lazy to carry the packages from the store himself. So he had the store send the clothing to this place. That's how I knew where to find you."
Gatewood met his daughter at the police station. I had never seen him so angry when he learned the truth. Gatewood told the police to lock up his daughter. But Audrey threatened to tell some of his business secrets to the newspapers. Gatewood must have believed she really would do it, too. Because he told the police he had changed his mind. And the father and daughter left for home. I could see the hate they had for each other, not a very happy reunion. The police were still holding Quail, but he wasn't worried. He knew if Audrey was free, he wouldn't be punished either. I was glad it was over. It had been a rough16 job and a strange adventure, The Gatewood Caper.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
caper
|
|
| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
harry
|
|
| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
millionaire
|
|
| n.百万富翁，大富豪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
leaned
|
|
| v.（使）倾斜，屈身( lean的过去式和过去分词 )；倚；依赖；使斜靠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
kidnappers
|
|
| n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
continental
|
|
| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
agency
|
|
| n.经办；代理；代理处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
chin
|
|
| n.下巴，下颚，不气馁，不灰心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
yell
|
|
| vi./n.号叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
banging
|
|
| vt.猛击，猛撞（bang的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
clay
|
|
| n.黏土；泥土 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
disguise
|
|
| vt.把...假扮起来；n.伪装物，假装，伪装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rough
|
|
| adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
arranged
|
|
| adj.安排的v.安排，准备( arrange的过去式和过去分词 )；把…（系统地）分类；整理；改编（剧本等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
penny
|
|
| n.（英）便士，美分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
quail
|
|
| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
unimportant
|
|
| adj.不重要的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
bullet
|
|
| n.枪弹，子弹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
bullets
|
|
| n.弹药；军火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
learned
|
|
| adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
grabbed
|
|
| v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
yelled
|
|
| v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
breath
|
|
| n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索