VOA慢速英语2020--The Cask of Amniterado

Our story today is called "The Cask of Amontillado." It was written by Edgar Allan Poe. Here is Larry West with the story.

Storyteller: Fortunato and I both were members of very old and important Italian families. We used to play together when we were children.

Fortunato was bigger, richer and more handsome than I was. And he enjoyed making me look like a fool. He hurt my feelings a thousand times during the years of my childhood. I never showed my anger, however. So, he thought we were good friends. But I promised myself that one day I would punish Fortunato for his insults² to me.

Many years passed. Fortunato married a rich and beautiful woman who gave him sons. Deep in my heart I hated him, but I never said or did anything that showed him how I really felt. When I smiled at him, he thought it was because we were friends.

He did not know it was the thought of his death that made me smile.

Everyone in our town respected Fortunato. Some men were afraid of him because he was so rich and powerful³. He had a weak spot, however. He thought he was an excellent judge of wine. I also was an expert on wine. I spent a lot of money buying rare⁴ and costly⁵ wines. I stored the wines in the dark rooms under my family's palace.

Our palace was one of the oldest buildings in the town. The Montresor family had lived in it for hundreds of years. We had buried our dead in the rooms under the palace. These tombs⁶ were quiet, dark places that no one but myself ever visited.

Late one evening during carnival⁷ season, I happened to meet Fortunato on the street. He was going home alone from a party. Fortunato was beautiful in his silk suit made of many colors: yellow, green, purple and red. On his head he wore an orange cap, covered with little silver bells. I could see he had been drinking too much wine. He threw his arms around me. He said he was glad to see me.

I said I was glad to see him, too because I had a little problem.

"What is it?" he asked, putting his large hand on my shoulder.

"My dear Fortunato," I said, "I'm afraid I have been very stupid. The man who sells me wine said he had a rare barrel⁸ of Amontillado wine. I believed him and I bought it from him. But now, I am not so sure that the wine is really Amontillado."

"What!" he said, "A cask of Amontillado at this time of year. An entire barrel? Impossible!"

"Yes, I was very stupid. I paid the wine man the full price he wanted without asking you to taste the wine first. But I couldn't find you and I was afraid he would sell the cask of Amontillado to someone else. So I bought it."

"A cask of Amontillado!" Fortunato repeated. "Where is it?"

I pretended⁹ I didn't hear his question. Instead I told him I was going to visit our friend Lucresi. "He will be able to tell me if the wine is really Amontillado," I said.

Fortunato laughed in my face. "Lucresi cannot tell Amontillado from vinegar¹⁰."

I smiled to myself and said "But some people say that he is as good a judge of wine as you are."

Fortunato grabbed¹¹ my arm. "Take me to it," he said. "I'll taste the Amontillado for you."

"But my friend," I protested¹², "it is late. The wine is in my wine cellar¹³, underneath¹⁴ the palace. Those rooms are very damp and cold and the walls drip¹⁵ with water."

"I don't care," he said. "I am the only person who can tell you if your wine man has cheated you. Lucresi cannot!"

Fortunato turned, and still holding me by the arm, pulled me down the street to my home. The building was empty. My servants were enjoying carnival. I knew they would be gone all night.

I took two large candles, lit them and gave one to Fortunato. I started down the dark, twisting¹⁶ stairway with Fortunato close behind me. At the bottom of the stairs, the damp air wrapped¹⁷ itself around our bodies.

"Where are we?" Fortunato asked. "I thought you said the cask of Amontillado was in your wine cellar."

"It is," I said. "The wine cellar is just beyond these tombs where the dead of my family are kept. Surely¹⁸, you are not afraid of walking through the tombs.

He turned and looked into my eyes. "Tombs?" he said. He began to cough. The silver bells on his cap jingled¹⁹.

"My poor friend," I said, "how long have you had that cough?"

"It's nothing," he said, but he couldn't stop coughing.

"Come," I said firmly, "we will go back upstairs. Your health is important.You are rich, respected, admired, and loved. You have a wife and children. Many people would miss you if you died. We will go back before you get seriously ill. I can go to Lucresi for help with the wine."

"No!" he cried. "This cough is nothing. It will not kill me. I won't die from a cough."

"That is true," I said, "but you must be careful." He took my arm and we began to walk through the cold, dark rooms. We went deeper and deeper into the cellar.

Finally, we arrived in a small room. Bones were pushed high against one wall. A doorway²⁰ in another wall opened to an even smaller room, about one meter wide and two meters high. Its walls were solid²¹ rock.

"Here we are," I said. "I hid the cask of Amontillado in there." I pointed²² to the smaller room. Fortunato lifted his candle and stepped into the tiny room. I immediately followed him. He stood stupidly staring at two iron²³ handcuffs chained to a wall of the tiny room. I grabbed his arms and locked them into the metal handcuffs. It took only a moment. He was too surprised to fight me.

I stepped outside the small room.

"Where is the Amontillado?" he cried.

"Ah yes," I said, "the cask of Amontillado." I leaned²⁴ over and began pushing aside the pile of bones against the wall. Under the bones was a basket of stone blocks, some cement²⁵ and a small shovel²⁶. I had hidden the materials there earlier. I began to fill the doorway of the tiny room with stones and cement.

By the time I laid the first row of stones Fortunato was no longer drunk²⁷. I heard him moaning²⁸ inside the tiny room for ten minutes. Then there was a long silence.

I finished the second and third rows of stone blocks. As I began the fourth row, I heard Fortunato begin to shake the chains that held him to the wall. He was trying to pull them out of the granite²⁹ wall.

I smiled to myself and stopped working so that I could better enjoy listening to the noise. After a few minutes, he stopped. I finished the fifth, the sixth and the seventh rows of stones. The wall I was building in the doorway was now almost up to my shoulders.

Suddenly, loud screams burst³⁰ from the throat of the chained man. For a moment I worried. What if someone heard him? Then I placed my hand on the solid rock of the walls and felt safe. I looked into the tiny room, where he was still screaming. And I began to scream, too. My screams grew louder than his and he stopped.

It was now almost midnight. I finished the eighth, the ninth and the tenth rows. All that was left was a stone for the last hole in the wall. I was about to push it in when I heard a low laugh from behind the stones.

The laugh made the hair on my head stand up. Then Fortunato spoke³¹, in a sad voice that no longer sounded like him.

He said, "Well, you have played a good joke on me. We will laugh about it soon over a glass of that Amontillado. But isn't it getting late. My wife and my friends will be waiting for us. Let us go."

"Yes," I replied, "let us go."

I waited for him to say something else. I heard only my own breathing. "Fortunato!" I called. No answer. I called again. "Fortunato!" Still no answer.

I hurried to put the last stone into the wall and put the cement around it. Then I pushed the pile of bones in front of the new wall I had built.

That was fifty years ago. For half a century now, no one has touched those bones. "May he rest in peace!"

Words in this Story

carnival - n. a festival held before Lent that includes music and dancing

cask - n. a container that is shaped like a barrel and is used for holding liquids ("an oak³² cask for wine")

palace - n. a very large and impressive³³ house

cellar - n. the part of a building that is entirely³⁴ or partly below the ground

insult¹ - v. to do or say something that is offensive to (someone) : to do or say something that shows a lack of respect for (someone) ("She felt they had insulted her by repeatedly ignoring her

1 insult   

vt.侮辱，凌辱；n.侮辱的言词或行为

参考例句：

• You will insult her if you don't go to her party. 你要是不去参加她举办的聚会，就对她太无礼了。
• I can't sit down with that insult.我不能忍受那种侮辱。

2 insults   

侮辱，辱骂，侮辱性的言论( insult的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He shouted insults at the boy who had kicked him. 他大声辱骂那个踢了他的男孩。
• I will by no manner of means put up with such insults. 我绝不会容忍这种侮辱。

3 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！

4 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 tombs   

墓穴( tomb的名词复数 )； 墓葬； 墓群

参考例句：

• Many things left by the ancient Egyptians in tombs have been brought to light. 在古埃及的古陵墓中发掘出很多东西。
• They began to walk between rows of uniquely constructed tombs. 他们开始在一排排构造特殊的坟墓中间行走。

7 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

8 barrel   

n.圆桶；一桶的量；枪管；vt.把...装桶

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel.我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。
• The man rolled the barrel into the yard.那个人把圆桶滚进院子。

9 pretended   

adj.假装的；徒有外表的；传说的；号称的v.假装( pretend的过去式和过去分词 )；伪装；（尤指儿童）（在游戏中）装扮；自诩

参考例句：

• He pretended that resigning was part of his long-term career strategy. 他假装辞职是他长远事业规划的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He politely pretended not to have heard this remark. 他有礼貌地假装没有听到这句话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vinegar   

n.醋

参考例句：

• Do we need some soy sauce and vinegar?我们需要酱油和醋吗？
• Vinegar is used in preserving food.醋可用来保存食物。

11 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：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

12 protested   

v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 cellar   

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。

14 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。

15 drip   

n.滴，点滴；水滴；乏味的人；v.滴下，漏水

参考例句：

• I hate this sort of drip.我讨厌这种无聊的闲话。
• A drip of water fell from the tap.从龙头滴下一滴水。

16 twisting   

n.翘曲，扭曲v.扭，搓，缠绕（ twist的现在分词 ）adj.缠绕的；曲折的；转动的

参考例句：

• The old peasant is twisting pieces of straw into a rope. 这位老农民正把稻草搓成绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Those children have been twisting the wreath off again. 那些孩子又把花冠扭了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 wrapped   

adj.有包装的，预先包装的v.包( wrap的过去式和过去分词 )；覆盖；用…包裹（或包扎、覆盖等）；卷起

参考例句：

• The chocolates are individually wrapped in gold foil. 巧克力用金箔纸一颗颗独立包装。
• Would you like the chocolates gift-wrapped? 你要把巧克力糖打成礼品包吗？

18 surely   

adv.确实地，无疑地；必定地，一定地

参考例句：

• It'should surely be possible for them to reach an agreement.想必他们可以达成协议。
• Surely we'll profit from your work.我们肯定会从你的工作中得到益处。

19 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

20 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

21 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。

22 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

23 iron   

n.铁，熨斗，坚强，烙铁，镣铐；vt.烫平，熨，用铁包；vi. 烫衣服

参考例句：

• The iron has lost its magnetic force.这块铁已失去了磁力。
• We need an electrician to mend the iron.我们要请电工修理熨斗。

24 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：

• He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. 他俯身向前，双手十字交错地紧握着。
• He leaned back, exulting at the success of his plan. 他向后一靠，为自己计划成功而得意扬扬。

25 cement   

n.水泥；胶结材料；vt.粘结；巩固

参考例句：

• We need 100 tons of cement at most for this project.这项工程满打满算有一百吨水泥就足够了。
• Let's cement the parts together.咱们来把这些部件粘接在一起吧。

26 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

27 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

28 moaning   

v.呻吟，悲叹( moan的现在分词 )；抱怨；发出萧萧声

参考例句：

• They were moaning over the death of their father. 他们正在哀悼他们的父亲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's always moaning that she has too much work to do. 她总是抱怨她有太多的事要做。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

30 burst   

vi.（burst，burst）爆炸；爆破；爆裂；爆发；vt.使…破裂；使…炸破；n.突然破裂；爆发

参考例句：

• We all held our breath till the bomb burst.我们屏住呼吸直到炸弹爆炸。
• She suddenly burst into song.她突然唱起歌来。

31 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

32 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

33 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

34 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。