读者文摘:顿悟时刻(1)

SIMON LOVELL WAS 31 and a professional con¹ man who had spun² the gambling³ tricks he'd learned from his grandfather into a lucrative⁴ business fleecing strangers.

西蒙·洛弗尔今年31岁，是一名职业骗子，他把从祖父那里学来的赌博技巧，变成了一门从陌生人那里骗钱的行当。

Without hesitation⁵ or remorse⁶, he left his marks broken in hotels all over the world.

他的足迹遍布世界各地的旅馆，没有一丝的犹豫和后悔。

Nothing suggested that this day in 1988 would be any different.

没有任何迹象表明1988年的这一天会有什么不同。

Lovell was in Europe when he spotted⁷ his next victim in a bar, plied⁸ him with drinks,

洛弗尔在欧洲的一家酒吧里瞄准了下一个受害者，不停地给他灌酒，

and drew him into a "cross"—a classic con in which the victim is made to believe he or she is part of a foolproof get-rich scheme.

然后把他带入一个经典的骗局，让他相信自己能为他带来财富。

The con went perfectly⁹. "I took him for an extremely large amount of money," Lovell says.

骗局进行得很顺利。洛弗尔说：“我骗了他一大笔钱。”

After he was done, Lovell hustled¹⁰ the drunk man out of the hotel room where the fleecing had occurred,

完成后，洛弗尔把醉汉推搡出诈骗的旅馆房间。

intending to leave him in the hallway for security to deal with.

打算把他留在走廊里让保安处理。

But then something unexpected happened.

但是后来意想不到的事情发生了。

The mark went to pieces. "I'd never seen a man break down that badly, ever," Lovell says.

这人彻底崩溃了，洛弗尔回忆说：“我从没见过一个男人如此不堪。”

"He was just sliding down the wall, weeping and wailing¹¹."

“他从墙上滑落下来，哭泣、哀号。”

What followed was a moment Lovell would look back on as the hinge point of his life.

接下来，洛弗尔把这一时刻视为自己生命中的关键点。

"It was as if a light suddenly went on. I thought, This. Is. Really. Bad.

“就好像一盏灯突然亮了起来，我想，真的要不好了。

Bad for the first time, I actually felt sorry for someone."

第一次感觉很糟糕，我真的为某人感到难过。”

1 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

2 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

3 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

4 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

5 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

6 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

8 plied   

v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

11 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。