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'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' by Edgar Allen Poe, Part Four

时间:2021-05-07 01:55来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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We present the fourth of five parts of the short story "The Murders in the Rue1 Morgue," by Edgar Allen Poe. The story was originally adapted and recorded by VOA Learning English.

Murder had come to the old house on the street called Rue Morgue! Murder had come and gone and left behind the dead bodies of an old woman and her daughter.

It was a perplexing2 crime scene. The damage to the daughter's body suggested a killer3 of superhuman strength. The knife that had killed the old woman, almost separating head from body, was in the room. But the old woman's body was outside, behind the house. The door and windows to the house all firmly closed, locked on the inside. Voices had been heard. One voice was speaking in French; the other voice had not spoken even one word that anyone could understand. And yet, there was no one in the room when police arrived moments after the attack.

My friend Dupin was now explaining to me what he had learned when we visited the scene of the crime.

"I knew that what seemed impossible must be proved possible. The killer, and I believe there was just one, escaped through one of these windows. After the murderer had left he could have closed the window from the outside; but he could not have fastened the nail. Yet anyone could see the nails which held the windows tightly4 closed. This was the fact that stopped the police. How could the murderer put the nail back in its place?"

"That's the problem, Dupin! Perhaps — perhaps if you pulled out the nail..."

"Yes! That is just what I thought. Two things seemed clear: first, there had to be something wrong with the idea that the nails were holding the windows closed. Second, if it was not the nails which were holding the windows closed, then something else was holding them closed, something hard to see, something hidden. So, I checked the first window again. I removed the nail. Then I again tried to raise the window. It was still firmly closed. There had to be a hidden lock, I thought, inside the window. I searched the window frame. Indeed, I found a button which, when I pressed it, opened an inner lock. I raised the window with ease.

"Now I knew that the killer could close the window from outside and the window would lock itself. But there was still the nail. So, I returned the nail, pressed the button and again tried to raise the window. The nail held the window closed!"

"Then...the window could not have been the means of escape!"

"That window, no. The killer did not escape through it. But I went again to the other window. The nail there looked the same as the one I had just seen. I moved the bed so that I could look closely. Yes. There was a button here, too. I was so sure I was right that without touching5 the nail I pressed the button and tried to raise the window. And guess what happened?"

I knew the answer but I let Dupin have the satisfaction of reporting. The window went up, he told me.

"As the window went up, it carried with it the top part of the nail, the head. When I closed the window, the head of the nail was again in its place. It looked just as it had looked before. The nail was broken but looked whole. And, what is impossible is proved otherwise."

"So the murderer went out that window. Did he arrive in the room by that path as well?"

Dupin answered, although it seemed he was speaking more to himself than me.

"It was a hot summer night. Would the victim have opened the window to get some fresh night air? Most likely."

"So, the killer found it open and entered, I said." Dupin nodded.

"And, as he came, the window locked when it closed. The lock held the window closed not the nail, as it appeared to investigators6. Again that which seemed impossible was actually possible."

Dupin's eyes were shining with the satisfaction discovery brings. He was analyzing7 evidence and his unusual reasoning ability had found a great purpose. I suddenly understood:This is why going to the house on the Rue Morgue seemed "pleasing" to Dupin. The use of his sharp mental abilities made him happy.

And, I had more work to provide that great brain.

"Dupin — the windows are on the fourth floor, far above the ground. Even an open window..."

Dupin shook his head up and down slowly.

"Yes...yes. That is an interesting question: how did the murderer go from the window down to the ground and vice-versa? But I had looked around carefully outside you recall. And I knew a way. And the answer to this question told me still more about the identity of the killer. Do you remember, friend, the lightning rod attached to the house?"

I paused. "Yyy...yes. A metal pole, and quite narrow. It protects the building from lightning strikes. But it is so tall and thin."

"True. It would take great strength and agility8 to get up the pole. Some kinds of animals might climb it easily, yes? But surely not every man could. In fact, maybe very few men. Those of very special strength and special training.

"This helped create a better picture of the murderer. But still not sharp enough to recognize. I still had the question: who?

"We know the killer climbed the pole, entered the room through the window, murdered and destroyed all order in the room. He managed to push one body up the chimney. He threw the other, almost headless, out the window. Then he left the way he came. We can answer the how of the crime. But who? Such unspeakable viciousness9...what human could do this to another?"

Dupin continued, trancelike again, seeming to speak to himself as much as to me.

"Perhaps we can come closer to answering the question of who by exploring the question of why."

"But Dupin, the police said the motive10 must have been robbery."

"But my friend, what was taken? The police said they could not answer the question. They said they did not know what the women had. Maybe clothes and jewelry11, the investigators proposed. But neighbors described the women as nearly hermits12, rarely if ever, leaving the house. Of what use would fine clothes and costly13 jewelry be to them?"

Dupin's eyes were glistening14, his brows pointing sharply15 down, as he circled me, thinking aloud.

"But, what is more telling than what the killer might have taken is what he left behind...conveniently in bags in the center of the room..."

"Of course, the money. You are right, Dupin. It makes no sense. All the money delivered from the bank to the old woman. Right there on the floor. Why would the attacker have passed on the riches? A thief certainly would not."

"So, I want you to forget the investigators' claim that the killer acted out of a desire for money. They thought this only because they knew the money had arrived just three days before the killings16. But that was just chance. If gold was the reason for the murders, the killer must have been quite a fool to forget and leave it there.

"No. I think that there was no reason for these killings...except, perhaps, fear. The wild nature of the attack leads me to a motive of fear."

"Hmm, an interesting theory, Dupin. Fear can bring out the crazed beast in a person..."

"In any living thing. Now let us look at the murders themselves. A girl is killed by powerful hands around her neck, then the body is placed in the opening over the fireplace17, head down. Unusual, even by the standards of the most terrible criminals. Think, also, of the great strength needed to put the body where it was found. It took several men to pull it out! Also the hair pulled from the head of the old woman. You saw it on the floor yourself, and you saw the blood and skin still attached. It takes great force to pull out even twenty or thirty hairs at a time. But this was hair AND scalp! And there was no reason to almost take off the woman's head just to kill her."

"It is extremely odd, I agree. Especially since there is no evidence that the killer knew the victims. No one could hate a stranger enough to carry out such torture."

Dupin's eyes narrowed.

"Exactly."

Words in This Story

superhuman – adj. greater than normal human power, size or ability

button – n. a small, usually round piece of plastic, glass, metal, etc., that is sewn to a piece of clothing and used for fastening one part of the clothing to another part

lightning rod – n. a metal pole often attached to homes or buildings used for attracting lightning

pole – n. a long, straight piece of wood, metal or some other material, that is often placed in the ground so that it stands straight up

trancelike – adj. to be (or seem to be) in a state where you are not aware of what is happening around you because you are thinking of something else

hermit(s) – n. a person who lives in a simple way apart from others especially for religious reasons

glistening – gerund. shining with light, as if reflected off a wet surface

brow(s) – n. the line of hair that grows over your eye

thief – n. a person who steals something

scalp – n. the skin on the top of your head where hair grows


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 rue 8DGy6     
n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔
参考例句:
  • You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
  • You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。
2 perplexing el9ztL     
adj.使人困惑的;令人费解的
参考例句:
  • This might seem very perplexing to those who know nothing about it. 这对那些对它一无所知的人来说可能显得很难理解。
  • The warmth and friendliness he felt toward him now were perplexing. 他不明白这会儿对他这样亲切这样友好。
3 killer rpLziK     
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者
参考例句:
  • Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
  • The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。
4 tightly ZgbzD7     
adv.紧紧地,坚固地,牢固地
参考例句:
  • My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时,孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
  • The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起,我们几乎喘不过气来。
5 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
6 investigators e970f9140785518a87fc81641b7c89f7     
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
  • The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 analyzing be408cc8d92ec310bb6260bc127c162b     
v.分析;分析( analyze的现在分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析n.分析
参考例句:
  • Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据,暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
  • He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然,他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句
8 agility LfTyH     
n.敏捷,活泼
参考例句:
  • The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
  • His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。
9 viciousness Jexzyt     
n.恶(有缺点)
参考例句:
  • She seemed the personification of all the female highhandedness and viciousness he had experienced.所以祥子就更怕她,仿佛她身上带着他所尝受过的一切女性的厉害与毒恶。
  • Like a Huguenot imagining Rome,he built up a picture of frivolity,viciousness and corruption.就象胡格教徒心目中的罗马城一样,他幻想了一幅淫乱,堕落,腐化的图画。
10 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
11 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
12 hermits 878e9ed8ce97a52b2b0c8664ad4bd37c     
(尤指早期基督教的)隐居修道士,隐士,遁世者( hermit的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • In the ancient China,hermits usually lived in hamlets. 在古代中国,隐士们通常都住在小村子里。
  • Some Buddhist monks live in solitude as hermits. 有些和尚在僻静处隐居。
13 costly 7zXxh     
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。
14 glistening glistening     
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》
15 sharply UiRziL     
adj.锐利地,急速;adv.严厉地,鲜明地
参考例句:
  • The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
  • Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。
16 killings 76d97e8407f821a6e56296c4c9a9388c     
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发
参考例句:
  • His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
17 fireplace YjUxz     
n.壁炉,炉灶
参考例句:
  • The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
  • I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。
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