unit33 A Phenomenal Memory 惊人的记忆

I have a phenomenal memory for faces. There is no doubt about that. The only snag (潜在的困难) is that I can never remember the names that go with them. Only the other day, I raised my hat to one fellow, quite distinguished-looking he was, and I thought: “my bank manager…my broker¹ ?” I had to go and ask him. “I’m Rankin, your next-door neighbor, Mr. Peabody,” he said, rather acidly. It was through my awful memory for names that something unpleasant happened to me not long ago.

It was a Friday evening and I was in the train on my way home. It was not my regular train, for I had been kept late at work, and when got to Ruislip, three stops before mine, there were only two of us in the compartment². I can tell straight away he was an Oxbridge man. I’m an Oxbridge man, and I had definitely seen this fellow’s face there. But his name completely eluded³ me. It was most irritating. Who was he? I thought he might be one of the newcomers to the pretty little estate recently completed near to where I live.

I am not shy, so I began to talk in a very chatty manner. He was somewhat uncommunicative and certainly gave nothing away. I can see that he was rather worn out, as if he had had a bad day, and I put his reluctance⁴ to talk down to this.

“Is this your regular train?” I asked, hopefully. It usually works in my experience. “Not often,” he said. That was all. Well, that certainly told me a lot. I started to complain about railways, then the hooliganism (流氓行为) at football matches, inflation and a host of other topics. He only said “yes” or “no” now and then. Even my comment on the whether had no effect. I told him quite a lot about myself, how my ship had come that day, a friend had repaid me ￡200 in cash and many other details. He showed a flicker⁵ of interest, nothing more. I thought what a bore this fellow must be, and in the end I gave up. I opened my paper, and when next I glanced at him, he had fallen asleep.

As we were coming into Oxbridge, he was still snoozing (打呼). I gave him a pat. “Uxbridge, old chap.” “Thanks,” he said with a smile. Outside the station it was raining and the wind was blowing hard. It was freezing cold, too.

“Listen,” I said to him, “why don’t I gave you a lift home if you live on the new estate?” “I’d appreciate that very much,” he replied. I fetched my car from the parking lot and he got in with “Many thanks.” He said no more till we were well across the heath (荒野). Then, all of a sudden, he turned to me and said, “Ok. Pull up here.”

“Here?” I queried⁶. There was not a house in the sight; and the weather was shocking. Anyway, I pulled up. The only thing I could remember after that was something striking down hard on my head. I passed out. When I came to, I was lying on the ground, soaked to the skin, my head pounding, my car gone and my pockets empty.

I staggered into the police station to make a report. There was a light shining on the station wall and there, lit up, was a picture of my attacker. I had walked past it for the last seven days. I knew I had seen the face before. He was wanted by the police for armed robbery. I thanked my lucky stars it was not for murder. I looked at the name underneath⁷ the face, the face I will never forget. It was—er—it was---oh, dear! I can never remember names.

1 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

2 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

3 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

5 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

6 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

7 underneath   

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。