英語(yǔ)沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯The Glove

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The Glove

James Dunne hung from the window and，after a moment，dropped to the ground．He had made no noise．He looked about him．The house was on the edge of the town and it was not too near the road．It was almost two o’clock and the night was dark．“Nobody will see me at this time of night．”He thought．He ran quickly across the garden．He felt fairly safe now．

He felt clever，too．He had been a thief once．But that was before he had come t o live in the little town of Brampton．Now he was a jeweller．He had had a jeweller’s¹⁾ shop in Brampton for ten years．And nobody in the town knew that he had once been a thief．He was not nervous．He climbed easily over the garden wall．He could even think coolly²⁾ of the dead man he had left in the house．He had not wanted to kill Richard Strong，but it had been necessary．He had not wanted to steal from Strong either．But he needed money．

Dunne needed money because someone had found out about him．A man he had once met in prison recognized him．The man demanded money．He knew that Dunne had been a thief．He said that he would tell people in Brampton about this．Dunne was afraid so he gave him the money．Then the man wanted more money．Dunne’s jewellery business was good，but the man demanded so much that Dunne could not pay him．He tried to win some money，but he lost instead．Now he was in real trouble．He had to get money so he became a thief again．

Richard Strong had a lot of valuable old things in his house．Dunne knew this because as a jeweller he often bought old gold and melted it down³⁾．He had decided to melt Strong’s gold which he knew he could sell easily．

It was easy to get into the house．In Brampton no one worried about thieves．Dunne knew that the valuable things were in one room，so he climbed up to the open window．In the room Dunne filled his pockets with gold pieces．He soon had more than enough．

He was about to leave when he heard a sound behind him．He turned quickly．The door had opened and Strong was standing in front of him．“Dunne．”It was the only word Strong said．Dunne had been looking at an old knife and he still held it in his hand．He hardly thought before he used it．In a few seconds Strong was dead，Dunne pulled the body into the room and closed the door．Then he turned off the light，drew back the curtains and climbed out through the window．

He did not blame⁴⁾ himself for killing Strong．“I could do nothing else．”He told himself，“He recognized me．If I hadn’ t killed him I would have gone to prison．”He remembered the look of surprise on Strong’ s face．It even made him smile．“I had to kill him，”he thought．“Besides，he was an old man．He  had only a few more years to live．”

He felt safe．Nobody had any reason to think that he had been to Strong’s house．“I left nothing there，”he thought．“Nobody saw me going or returning．”The little street was empty and dark when he went into his own house by the side door．

He lived alone in the house；a woman came in every day to cook and clean for him but she did not live there．His bedroom was at the back of the house，but he drew the heavy curtains across the window before he turned on the light．Then he felt in his pocket and pulled out a glove．A look of surprise came on to his face．He felt in his pocket again．His hand moved among the gold pieces there but he did not take them out，he was afraid to look at them．He was while with fear．The other glove was not there．

He remembered finding the gloves in his pocket when he was at Strong’s house．He had put them on a table while he filled his pockets with gold．He was certain that he had picked them both up before he left．But now one of the gloves had gone．And it had his name and address inside．

He thought of the room where the dead m an lay．The thought of returning filled him with fear．He gave a little cry．“I can’t do it，”he said to himself，“I can’t ．”

Then he thought of prison．The rest of his life in prison．This thought made him go out into the street again．The return journey to Strong’s house was like a terrible dream．He thought he saw strange shapes at every corner．Once he nearly screamed at a piece of paper on the ground．For a moment it had looked like a dead body．

He reached the house and climbed slowly up to the window．The room was dark as he had left it．But he thought he could see a darker thing on the floor near the door．He needed to turn the light on to find his glove．He had to go towards the body．His feet touched something soft．He almost screamed⁵⁾．Then his nervous fingers turned on the light．

Richard Strong lay on the floor at his feet．Dunne tried not to look at the body．But something made him look．He put out his hand and touched the knife．

“Put up your hands．Put up your hands，you――．”

Dunne looked up with a cry．The door had opened and Strong’s son stood there．He  was pointing a gun at him．Slowly，Dunne raised his arms above his head．

A detective⁶⁾ and two policemen took him to the police station．On the way，the detective said to Dunne．“Well，this is a surprise．You know，if Strong’s son had not found you in the room，you would have been safe．We would never have thought of you if he hadn’t found you with the body――and with your pockets full of gold．You just did not get away in time．”

Dunne said nothing．

His house was on the way to the police station．He asked if he could go in and fetch his overcoat．He was cold．

“Certainly，”said the detective，“But  we‘ll go with you．”

He opened the side door and went in．Dunne came next and then the two policemen．Dunne’s foot touched something on the floor．

He picked it up and at the moment the detective turned on the light．Dunne looked at the thing in his hand．

It was his glove．

手 套

詹姆斯·鄧恩從窗戶上爬下來(lái)，一會(huì)兒就踩到了地面，沒(méi)有弄出任何的聲響。他看了看周圍，這幢房子位于城鎮(zhèn)的邊緣，并且離公路不是很近?，F(xiàn)在將近凌晨?jī)牲c(diǎn)鐘，天空漆黑一片。“晚上這個(gè)時(shí)候沒(méi)有人會(huì)看到我。”他想。他很快地穿過(guò)了花園，現(xiàn)在他感到相當(dāng)?shù)匕踩?/span>

他還感到很機(jī)敏。他曾經(jīng)是個(gè)小偷。但那是他來(lái)布雷姆頓小鎮(zhèn)居住以前的事了?，F(xiàn)在他是一個(gè)珠寶商。他在布雷姆頓擁有自己的珠寶店已有１０年的光景。這個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上沒(méi)有一個(gè)人知道他以前做過(guò)賊。他住得很安心。他很容易地翻過(guò)了花園的墻。當(dāng)他想起在屋里他殺的那個(gè)人，他竟能安之若素。他并不想殺死理查德·斯特朗，但是殺掉他是必要的。他也不想盜竊他的東西，但是他需要錢(qián)。

鄧恩需要錢(qián)，因?yàn)橛腥税l(fā)現(xiàn)了他。一個(gè)曾經(jīng)和他在監(jiān)獄里呆過(guò)的人認(rèn)出了他。這個(gè)人現(xiàn)在向他敲詐，他知道鄧恩做過(guò)賊。他說(shuō)他將把鄧恩做過(guò)的事告訴住在這里的人們。鄧恩非常害怕，于是給了他錢(qián)來(lái)了結(jié)此事。但是現(xiàn)在這個(gè)人又向他勒索更多的錢(qián)。鄧恩的珠寶生意做得不錯(cuò)，但這個(gè)人索要的錢(qián)數(shù)非常巨大，鄧恩無(wú)法支付。他努力地去掙錢(qián)，但是卻虧了本?，F(xiàn)在他真正陷入了麻煩之中。他不得不去弄錢(qián)，所以現(xiàn)在他又變成了一個(gè)賊。

理查德·斯特朗的家里有很多值錢(qián)的古玩。鄧恩知道這些，因?yàn)樽鳛橐粋€(gè)珠寶商，他常常收購(gòu)舊的金物，把它們?nèi)刍笤勹T成新的。他決定去偷理查德·斯特朗的舊金物，把它們?nèi)鄣?，他知道這樣能很輕易地脫手。

進(jìn)入理查德·斯特朗的房子簡(jiǎn)直太容易了。在布雷姆頓這里沒(méi)有人會(huì)擔(dān)心賊。他知道理查德·斯特朗值錢(qián)的東西放在哪個(gè)房間，于是他爬到那個(gè)開(kāi)了窗子的地方。在屋子里，他把金幣裝在口袋里，很快他的口袋就裝不下了。

當(dāng)他正要離開(kāi)的時(shí)候，他聽(tīng)到身后有聲音，他很快地轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去。門(mén)開(kāi)了，斯特朗站在他的面前。“鄧恩。”斯特朗僅僅喊了這一聲。此前鄧恩正看一把舊刀，刀仍在手中，他想都沒(méi)想就給了斯特朗一刀。幾秒鐘后斯特朗就死了。鄧恩把他的尸體拖到了房間里，關(guān)上了門(mén)。接著他關(guān)了燈，拉上窗簾，從窗戶溜走了。

他沒(méi)有因?yàn)闅⒘怂固乩识l責(zé)自己。“我只能這么做。”他對(duì)自己說(shuō)，“他認(rèn)出了我，如果我不殺他，我會(huì)坐牢的。”他仍然記得斯特朗臉上驚訝的表情。這甚至使他發(fā)笑。“我不得不殺了他，”他想。“再說(shuō)，他也上了年紀(jì)，活不了幾年了。”

這時(shí)，他感到安全。沒(méi)有人會(huì)想到他會(huì)去斯特朗的房子。“我什么都沒(méi)留下，”他想。“沒(méi)有人看到我的行蹤。”當(dāng)他從側(cè)門(mén)回到家時(shí)，空空的街道漆黑一片。

鄧恩一個(gè)人生活在這所屋子里。只有一個(gè)婦人每天來(lái)給他做飯和收拾房間，而她不住在這兒。他的寢室在房子的后部，盡管如此，在開(kāi)燈之前，他還是要把厚厚的窗簾拉上，然后摸摸自己的口袋，抽出了一只手套。他突然大驚失色，又摸了摸自己的口袋。他的手在那堆金幣里摸來(lái)摸去，但并沒(méi)有把金幣拿出來(lái)。他怕看到金幣。這時(shí)他非常害怕，另一只手套不見(jiàn)了。

他記得他在斯特朗房間里的時(shí)候手套還在口袋里。他裝金幣時(shí)把它們放在了桌子上。他肯定在離開(kāi)的時(shí)候把兩只手套都帶走了。但是現(xiàn)在一只手套不見(jiàn)了，那里面有他的姓名和住址。

他想到了躺有尸體的那個(gè)房間。但當(dāng)他想到要返回去看看時(shí)，他驚恐萬(wàn)狀。他小聲喊道：“我不能這樣做，”他對(duì)自己說(shuō)，“我不能。”

然后他想到了監(jiān)獄，他將要在監(jiān)獄里度過(guò)余生。這個(gè)想法使他再次走回街頭。回到斯特朗房子的這段路簡(jiǎn)直就像一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng)。他覺(jué)得在各個(gè)黑角落里他都能看到奇怪的影子。有一次，看到地上一張紙，他幾乎尖叫了起來(lái)，猛然看來(lái)這張紙像是一具死尸。

他走到了斯特朗的房子，慢慢地爬上了窗戶。他離開(kāi)房間的時(shí)候，房間是黑的。但他想他能看到離門(mén)不遠(yuǎn)的地板上有個(gè)黑色的東西。他需要開(kāi)燈去找手套。他不得不向尸體走去。他的腳碰到了一個(gè)柔軟的東西，他幾乎要喊出來(lái)了。他用發(fā)抖的手指擰開(kāi)了燈。

斯特朗的尸體就在他腳邊的地板上。鄧恩盡量不去看那具尸體。但是，他不得不注意觀察。他抽出了手，握住了刀把。

“舉起手來(lái)。舉起你的手，你---。”

鄧恩驚叫著抬起了頭。門(mén)開(kāi)了，斯特朗的兒子站在那里，手里的槍正對(duì)著他。慢慢地，鄧恩舉起了雙手。

一個(gè)偵探和兩個(gè)警察把他帶往警察局。在路上，偵探對(duì)鄧恩說(shuō)：“哦，這真是意想不到。你知道，如果斯特朗的兒子沒(méi)有在房間里發(fā)現(xiàn)你，你就是安全的。如果他沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)你和尸體在一起，并且口袋里裝滿了金子，我們也絕不會(huì)想到是你。你只是沒(méi)能及時(shí)逃離而已。”

鄧恩什么也沒(méi)說(shuō)。

在去警察局的路上路過(guò)他的住所。他問(wèn)是否能進(jìn)去取他的外套，他感到冷。

“行，”偵探說(shuō)，“但是我們必須和你一起去。”

偵探打開(kāi)了側(cè)門(mén)，走了進(jìn)去。然后是鄧恩，兩個(gè)警察跟在后面。這時(shí)，鄧恩的腳觸到了地板上一個(gè)東西。

他把它揀了起來(lái)，此刻偵探打開(kāi)了燈。鄧恩看了看他手里的東西。

竟然是他的手套。

NOTE 注釋：

jeweller [`dVU:ElE(r)] n. 珠寶商, 寶石匠

coolly [ku:li] adv. 沉著, 自若

melt down 熔化

blame [bleim] vt. 責(zé)備, 譴責(zé)

scream [skri:m] v. 尖聲叫, 尖聲喊叫

detective [di5tektiv] n. 偵探