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VOA慢速英语2018--'William Wilson,' by Edgar Allan Poe, Part Two

时间:2018-10-13 14:48来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

 

In the first part of my story I spoke1 about my life at my first school, and about the other boys — over whom I gained firm control. But there was one boy who would not follow my commands, who would not do what I told him to, as the other boys did. His name was the same as mine — William Wilson — although he did not belong to my family in any way. He seemed to feel some love for me, and had entered the school the same day as I had. Many of the boys thought we were brothers. I soon discovered that we had been born on the same day: January nineteenth, eighteen hundred and nine.

Wilson continued his attempts to command me, while I continued my attempts to rule him. The strange thing is that, although I did not like him, I could not hate him. We had a battle nearly every day, it is true. In public it would seem that I had been proved the stronger; but he seemed somehow able to make me feel that this was not true, and that he himself was stronger. Nevertheless2, we continued to talk to each other in a more or less friendly way. On a number of subjects we agreed very well. I sometimes thought that if we had met at another time and place we might have become friends.

It is not easy to explain my real feelings toward3 him. There was no love, and there was no fear. Yet I saw something to honor4 in him, and I wanted to learn more about him. Anyone experienced5 in human nature will not need to be told that Wilson and I were always together.

This strange appearance6 of friendship — although we were not friends — caused, no doubt, the strangeness of the battle between us. I tried to make the others laugh at him; I tried to give him pain while seeming to play a lighthearted game. My attempts were not always successful, even though my plans were well made. There was much about his character that simply could not be laughed at.

I could find, indeed, but one weakness. Perhaps he had been born with it, or perhaps it had come from some illness. No one but me would have made any use of it against him. He was able to speak only in a very, very soft, low voice. This weakness I never failed to use in any way that was in my power.

Wilson could fight back, and he did. There was one way he had of troubling me beyond measure. I had never liked my name. Too many other people had the same name; I would rather have had a name that was not so often heard. The words sickened me. When, on the day I arrived at the school, a second William Wilson came also, I felt angry with him for having the name. I knew I would have to hear the name each day a double number of times. The other William Wilson would always be near. The other boys often thought that my actions and my belongings7 were his, and his were mine.

My anger grew stronger with every happening that showed that William Wilson and I were alike8, in body or in mind. I had not then discovered the surprising fact that we were of the same age; but I saw that we were of the same height, and I saw that in form and in face we were also much the same. Nothing could trouble me more deeply9 (although I carefully tried to keep everyone from seeing it) than to hear anyone say anything about the likeness10 between us of mind, or of body, or of anything else. But, in truth, I had no reason to believe that this likeness was ever noticed by our schoolfellows. He saw it, and as clearly as I; that, I knew well. He discovered that in this likeness he could always find a way of troubling me. This proved the more than usual sharpness of his mind.

His method, which was to increase the likeness between us, lay both in words and in actions; and he followed his plan very well indeed. It was easy enough to have clothes like mine. He easily learned11 to walk and move as I did. His voice, of course, could not be as loud as mine, but he made his manner of speaking the same.

How greatly this most careful picture of myself troubled me, I will not now attempt to tell. It seemed that I was the only one who noticed it. I was the only one who saw Wilson’s strange and knowing smiles. Pleased with having produced in my heart the desired result, he seemed to laugh within himself and cared nothing that no one laughed with him.

I have already spoken of how he seemed to think he was better and wiser than I. He would try to guide me; he would often try to stop me from doing things I had planned. He would tell me what I should and should not do; and he would do this not openly, but in a word or two in which I had to look for the meaning. As I grew older I wanted less and less to listen to him.

As it was, I could not be happy under his eyes, that always watched me. Every day I showed more and more openly that I did not want to listen to anything he told me. I have said that, in the first years when we were in school together, my feelings might easily have been turned into friendship; but in the later months, although he talked to me less often then, I almost hated him.

Yet, let me be fair to him. I can remember no time when what he told me was not wiser than would be expected from one of his years. His sense of what was good or bad was sharper than my own. I might, today, be a better and happier man if I had more often done what he said.

It was about the same period, if I remember rightly, that by chance he acted more openly than usual and I discovered in his manner something that deeply interested me. Somehow he brought to mind pictures of my earliest years — I remembered, it seemed, things I could not have remembered. These pictures were wild, half-lighted, and not clear, but I felt that very long ago I must have known12 this person standing13 before me. This idea, however, passed as quickly as it had come.

It was on this same day that I had my last meeting at the school with this other, strange William Wilson. That night, when everyone was sleeping, I got out of bed, and with a light in my hand, I went quietly through the house to Wilson’s room. I had long been thinking of another of those plans to hurt him, with which I had until then had little success. It was my purpose now to begin to act according14 to this new plan.

Having reached his room, I entered without a sound, leaving the light outside. I advanced a step, and listened. He was asleep. I turned, took the light, and again went to the bed. I looked down upon his face.

The coldness of ice filled my whole body. My knees trembled15, my whole spirit was filled with horror16. I moved the light nearer to his face. Was this — this the face of William Wilson? I saw indeed that it was, but I trembled as if with sickness as I imagined that it was not. What was there in his face to trouble me so? I looked, and my mind seemed to turn in circles in the rush of my thoughts. It was not like this — surely17 not like this — that he appeared in the daytime. The same name, the same body; the same day that we came to school! And then there was his use of my way of walking, my manner of speaking! Was it, in truth, humanly possible that what I now saw was the result — and the result only — of his continued efforts to be like me? Filled with wonder and fear, cold and trembling18, I put out the light. In the quiet darkness I went from his room and, without waiting one minute, I left that old school and never entered it again.

Words in This Story

lighthearted - adj. having or showing a cheerful19 and happy nature

perhaps - adv. possibly but not certainly

height - n. a measurement20 of how tall a person or thing is

likeness - n. the quality or state of being alike or similar especially in appearance

schoolfellow(s) n. - a more formal word for schoolmate21 or classmate

tremble(d) - v. to shake slightly because you are afraid, nervous or excited


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 spoke XryyC     
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。
2 nevertheless dGQxD     
conj.然而,不过;adv.仍然,不过
参考例句:
  • The news may be unexpected;nevertheless,it is true.这消息可能是出乎意料的,然而是真实的。
  • We are going nevertheless we shall return.我们要走了,不过我们还要回来。
3 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
4 honor IQDzL     
n.光荣;敬意;荣幸;vt.给…以荣誉;尊敬
参考例句:
  • I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
  • It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。
5 experienced ntPz2t     
adj.有经验的;经验丰富的,熟练的
参考例句:
  • Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
  • Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好,你比我更有经验。
6 appearance 2V7zL     
n.出现,露面;容貌
参考例句:
  • In appearance, he was a little like his father.他看起来有点像他的父亲。
  • She was a young woman of good appearance.她是一位年轻貌美的女子。
7 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
8 alike kLUyz     
adj.同样的,相像的;adv.一样地;同程度地 
参考例句:
  • The twins are so alike that I can't tell which is which.这对双胞胎一模一样,我分辨不出谁是谁。
  • All stories seemed dreadfully alike,no matter who told them.看来,不管谁讲,故事都是千篇一律的。
9 deeply Ru7zyZ     
adv.深刻地,在深处,深沉地
参考例句:
  • I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
  • We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们,我们感到很荣幸。
10 likeness P1txX     
n.相像,相似(之处)
参考例句:
  • I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
  • She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。
11 learned m1oxn     
adj.有学问的,博学的;learn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
  • In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里,他被视为有学问的人。
12 known hpKzdc     
adj.大家知道的;知名的,已知的
参考例句:
  • He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
  • He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。
13 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
14 according YzQztq     
adj.按照,根据
参考例句:
  • According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的,我们都是亚当的后裔。
  • We must cut our coat according to our cloth this year.今年我们必须学会量入为出。
15 trembled 9baa2ba21005de744c61dfd847c51428     
v.发抖( tremble的过去式和过去分词 );焦虑;颤动;轻轻摇晃
参考例句:
  • They all trembled at the prospect of an enemy invasion. 他们想到敌人可能入侵都不寒而栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The whole house trembled as the train went by. 火车开过时,整座房子都颤动了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 horror DdUzN     
n.惊骇,恐怖,惨事,极端厌恶
参考例句:
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
  • The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。
17 surely yrRwj     
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。
18 trembling omTwh     
n.发抖adj.发抖的v.发抖( tremble的现在分词 );焦虑;颤动;轻轻摇晃
参考例句:
  • My legs were trembling with fear. 我吓得双腿直发抖。
  • Daddy was trembling with anxiety as to how the talks would go. 爸爸为那些商谈的进展而焦虑不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 cheerful SU0yQ     
adj.快活的,高兴的,兴高采烈
参考例句:
  • Yellow is a cheerful colour.黄色是令人高兴的颜色。
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
20 measurement xC6xu     
n.测量,衡量;(量得的)尺寸,大小
参考例句:
  • I can find the size of something by means of measurement.我可以用测量法求得某物的体积。
  • He has made an accurate measurement of my garden.他准确地丈量了我的花园。
21 schoolmate IjczMY     
n.校友;同学
参考例句:
  • He met an old schoolmate at the party.他在宴会上遇见了一位老同学。
  • My father still keeps in touch with his old schoolmate.我父亲仍和他的老同学保持联系。
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TAG标签:   VOA英语  慢速英语
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