儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Music CHAPTER 7 Violet’s Lesson

At lunchtime, the orchestra¹ stopped practicing. Most of the members went back to the hotel. Bob Weldon suggested that he and Victor make one last search for the score. The Aldens looked for Melody² to ask her to have lunch with them, but she had disappeared.

They walked to a nearby coffee shop.

After they had placed their orders, Violet said, “Melody looked upset when Victor corrected her.”

“You mean about the violins coming in late?” Henry asked.

Violet nodded. “Maybe that’s why she disappeared like she did after the rehearsal³.”

“But Victor corrected everyone,” Soo Lee piped up.

“Right,” Benny agreed. “If they all got upset about it, the whole orchestra would have disappeared.”

“Benny’s right. Something else is bothering Melody,” Jessie said. “If only we could figure out what it is.”

Just then, the waiter brought their lunches, big sandwiches with potato chips on the side. Although Benny’s sandwich was larger than the others, he was the first one finished.

“Let’s go,” he said as he wiped his chin.

“We have plenty of time,” Henry told him. “The workshop won’t start for half an hour.”

“But it might be filled up if we don’t get there early,” Benny said.

He had a point. The auditorium⁴ had been nearly full during rehearsal.

The Aldens finished their lunches and hurried back to the Civic⁵ Center.

Abner Medina, the percussionist⁶ they’d seen the day before, was in charge of the Make Your Own Instruments workshop. “I’m very happy to see so many eager faces,” he said.

He went on to demonstrate some home-made instruments. He showed them a harmonica made from a comb and wax paper; a cigar box guitar; paper plate tambourines⁷; and drinking glass chimes.

“You can even make music with a rubber band,” he said and looped a rubber band over two fingers. He spread them wide and strummed the rubber band with the fingers of his other hand.

“How about drums?” Benny asked. “I want to make drums.”

Abner Medina looked pleased. “Everything you need is on this table,” he said. “Get to work. Use your imaginations. See what you can come up with.”

Violet was selecting her materials when Melody came into the room. Smiling warmly, she no longer seemed upset.

“Violet,” she said, “why don’t you come back to the hotel with me now? I’d like to hear you play.”

Violet was thrilled by the invitation. At the same time, she was nervous about it. What if she froze and couldn’t play? What if Melody didn’t think she played well?

“Oh, I’d love to,” she said, “but I didn’t bring my violin.”

“I’m sure I can find one for you,” Melody told her. “I’ll go see what I can do and meet you in the lobby⁸. How’s that sound?”

It sounded wonderful. “All right,” Violet said.

Melody turned to the Aldens’ new cousin. “Would you like to come along, Soo Lee?” she asked.

“Oh, yes,” Soo Lee answered.

Saying, “Give me five minutes,” Melody left the room.

“She’s being awfully⁹ nice,” Jessie commented.

“She is nice,” Violet said.

“But this morning when we came back from the hotel, she hardly said a word to us,” Henry reminded his sister.

“She was upset about Victor,” Violet said. “We already decided¹⁰ that.”

“Maybe we were wrong,” Benny said. “Maybe she did take the music, and she’s being nice now because she’s afraid we suspect her.”

“That isn’t true!” Violet cried. Taking Soo Lee’s hand, she hurried out to the lobby.

Except for the decorating, Melody’s hotel room was much like Victor’s. Violet and Soo Lee liked this room better. It was done in shades of purple.

“Try this for size,” Melody said as she handed Violet a violin.

Violet secured the instrument between her left shoulder and her chin. “It seems fine,” she said.

“It looks fine, too.” Melody handed Violet a bow. “Now let’s hear how it sounds.” She sat down beside Soo Lee on the small couch¹¹.

Violet ran the bow across the strings¹². The violin squeaked¹⁴. She lifted the bow. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s an awful sound.”

“I make sounds like that all the time,” Soo Lee said.

Melody laughed. “Don’t feel bad,” she said. “Even the best violinists manage a squeak¹³ now and then.”

Violet tried again. This time the sound was not noise but music. At the end of the piece, Melody came to stand beside her. She adjusted Violet’s hand on the bow.

“Relax your wrist, Violet,” she instructed. “There. That’s much better. Now play another — ”

The telephone rang. Melody picked it up. “Hello.” After a few seconds, she said, “Oh — uh — yes, I’m glad you called, but” — She turned her back on the girls and lowered her voice — “I — uh — can’t talk now … As I said this morning, we should meet … About what we discussed, yes …”

Violet felt uncomfortable. She knew she and Soo Lee shouldn’t be hearing this conversation, but they couldn’t help it. She motioned her cousin over to the far window, where they stood looking out on Greenfield’s Main Street.

“The sooner the better,” Melody was saying. “The whole thing makes me nervous … But what if someone finds out?”

A wave of doubt washed over Violet. Could her sister and brothers be right? Was Melody the thief?

Lowering her voice until it was almost a whisper, Melody said, “Yes, all right. The town square. Eight-thirty tomorrow morning…. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

Melody hung up and turned around. She took a deep breath. “All right,” she said, smiling uneasily¹⁵. “Let’s get back to our lesson.”

1 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

2 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

3 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

4 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 percussionist   

n.打击乐器演奏者

参考例句：

• She overcame her deafness and eventually became a successful percussionist. 她克服了耳聋的毛病，最后当了打击乐队敲打手。 来自辞典例句
• For many years I practiced these techniques as a professional percussionist in jazz and new music. 许多年来作为一个职业的爵士乐和新音乐演奏者我不断实践着。 来自互联网

7 tambourines   

n.铃鼓，手鼓( tambourine的名词复数 )；（鸣声似铃鼓的）白胸森鸠

参考例句：

• The gaiety of tambourines ceases, The noise of revelers stops, The gaiety of the harp ceases. 赛24:8击鼓之乐止息、宴乐人的声音完毕、弹琴之乐也止息了。 来自互联网
• The singers went on, the musicians after them, In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines. 诗68:25歌唱的行在前、乐的随在后、在击鼓的童女中间。 来自互联网

8 lobby   

n.前厅，（剧院的）门廊

参考例句：

• As he walked through the lobby,he skirted a group of ladies.他穿过门厅时，绕过了一群女士。
• The delegates entered the assembly hall by way of the lobby.代表们通过大厅进入会场。

9 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

12 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

13 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

14 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

15 uneasily   

adv. 不安地, 局促地

参考例句：

• I wondered uneasily if anything had happened to the children. 我忐忑不安地揣测孩子们是不是出了什么事。
• They looked unsure and shifted uneasily from foot to foot. 他们看上去没有把握，站在那儿左右脚换来换去不安地晃着。