名人名篇-红色酋长的赎金（打印版）

03 The Ransom of Red Chief

We were down South, in Alabama-Bill Driscoll and myself - when this kidnapping idea struck us.

We selected for our victim the only child of a 1)prominent citizen named Ebenezer Dorset. The kid was a boy of ten, with 2)bas-relief 3)freckles, and hair the color of the cover of the magazine you buy at the 4)news-stand when you want to catch a train.

One evening after sundown, we drove in a 5)buggy past old Dorset’s house. The kid was in the street, throwing rocks at a kitten on the opposite fence.

“Hey, little boy!” says Bill, “would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?”

The boy catches Bill neatly in the eye with a piece of brick.

That boy 6)put up a fight like a 7)welterweight 8)cinnamon bear; but, at last, we got him down in the bottom of the buggy and drove away. We took him up to the cave, and I 9)hitched the horse in the cedar brake. After dark I drove the buggy to the little village, three miles away, where we had hired it, and walked back to the mountain.

I opened the note, got near the lantern, and read it to Bill.

Two Desperate Men.

Gentlemen: I received your letter today by post, in regard to the ransom you ask for the return of my son. I think you are a little high in your demands, and I hereby make you a counter-proposition, which I am inclined to believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands. You had better come at night, for the neighbors believe he is lost, and I couldn’t be responsible for what they would do to anybody they saw bringing him back. Very respectfully,

Ebenezer Dorset.

We took him home that night. We got him to go by telling him that his father had bought a silver-mounted rifle and a pair of 10)moccasins for him, and we were to hunt bears the next day.

It was just twelve o’clock when we knocked at Ebenezer’s front door.

When the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl like a calliope and fastened himself as tight as a leech to Bill’s leg. His father peeled him away gradually, like a 11)porous 12)plaster.

“How long can you hold him?” asks Bill.

“Well, I’m not as strong as I used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can promise you ten minutes.”

“Enough,” says Bill. “In ten minutes I shall cross the Central, Southern, and Middle Western States, and be 13)legging it trippingly for the Canadian border.”

1、prominent a. 突起的，显著的

2、bas-relief n. 浅浮雕

3、freckle n. 雀斑

4、news-stand n. 报摊，报刊柜

5、buggy n.（俚语）旧汽车；（一匹马拉的）轻便马车

6、put up 进行，作

7、welterweight n. 重骑师；次中量级拳击手

8、cinnamon n. 黄棕色

9、hitch v. 急拉，急推

10、moccasin n. 鹿皮鞋；软拖鞋

11、porous a.多孔的，能渗透的

12、plaster n. 硬膏，膏药

13、leg v. 疾走、急跑（一般用于leg it的短语中）

03 红色酋长的赎金

当比尔•德里斯科尔和我顺着阿拉巴马州南下的时候-想到了一个绑架的主意。

我们挑选了一个叫埃比尼泽•多塞特的出名人物的独子作为对象。这是个十岁大的男孩，脸上布满雀斑，头发是那种你在等火车时在报摊上买的那种杂志的封面的颜色。

一天晚上，太阳下山后，我们驾着一辆轻便马车经过老多塞特的房子。这孩子正在街上玩，朝对面篱笆上的一只小猫扔石子。

“嘿，小孩！”比尔说道，“想不想要一袋糖果，想不想坐车？”

男孩利索地给了比尔一块石子，正中他眼睛。

男孩就像一头中量级拳击手的棕熊与我们搏斗了一番，但最后我们还是将他弄进了马车然后开走了。我们将他带到了一个山洞，我将马栓在雪松丛上。天黑后我将车赶回三里外的一个小村，车是在那儿租的，然后再走回山上。

我打开纸条，凑近提灯读给比尔听。

两个亡命的人

先生们：关于你们索要赎金来换回我儿子一事，今天我收到了你们寄来的信。我认为你们的要求有一点高，这里我倒想向你们提一条建议，我想你们一定会接受。你们带约翰尼回家，付给我250美元现金，我就同意从你们手中接管他。你们最好晚上过来，因为邻居们都认为他丢了，我不敢保证他们会对送他回来的人有怎样的举动。

此致

敬礼！

埃比尼泽•多塞特

当晚我们带他回家。我们告诉他他的父亲给他买了一把镶银的步枪和一双鹿皮鞋，还有我们第二天得去猎熊之类的。

我们敲响埃比尼泽•多塞特的前门的时候正是12点。

当那孩子发觉我们要将他留在家里的时候，他像一架风琴一样嚎啕大哭起来，像一条水蛭一样紧紧粘在比尔的腿上。他父亲一点一点将他剥下来，像剥一块膏药。

“你能坚持多久？”比尔问道。

“我不像年轻时那么强壮了，”老埃比尼泽•多塞特说道，“但我可以向你保证10分钟。”

“足够了，”比尔说，“10分钟我可以穿过美国的中部、南部、中西部，然后一路疾走直抵加拿大边境。”

名人名篇-红色酋长的赎金（在线收听）