lesson 2 the open window

THEOPENWINDOWAfterSaki HectorHughMunro赫克托 門羅 1870 1916 Penname SakiOccupation Author PlaywrightNationality British Masterofshortstories writingstyle shortbutmemorable withdelicatelydrawncharactersandfinelyjudgednarratives OftenbecomparedtoOHenry themaididea TheOpenWindowdescribesthatafifteen year oldgirlVeramakesupahorriblestoryforastrangerwiththetopicoftheopenwindow Thatday heruncleandhistwobrothersgoshootingbycoincidence AndVeratellsthestrangerthatheruncleandhistwobrothersdiedfouryearsago whichisaterribleshockforheraunt Afterthattragedy herauntwillalwaysleavethewindowopenandbelievesthatherhusbandandbrotherswillcomebackoneday Therefore whenthemenreallycomeback thepooryoungmancannotsayawordbutescaperudely Toexplainthestrangeactionoftheman Veramakesupanotherstorythatheisafraidofthedog whichshowsherwisdom newwordsandphrases 1 annoy使生氣 使煩惱2 affect影響3 tremble顫抖4 relief緩解 救助5 scarcity短缺 不足6 muddy泥濘的 粘滿了泥巴的7 sympathetic同情的 憐憫的8 extraordinary不一般的 非凡的9 graveyard墓地10 creature生物 通常指動物 1 gothrough經(jīng)歷 經(jīng)受 2 anumberof許多 大量 3 makeastatement敘述 聲名 4 apologizefor因 道歉 就 道歉 5 onthematterof就 來說 在 方面 6 loseone snerve失去勇氣 嚇倒了 7 makeup虛構(gòu) 杜撰 TheOpenWindow exercise p19 1 Mr NettlecametoMrs Appleton shousetotakeacompleteresttohelpthenervecure 2 WhilewaitingwiththechildforMrs Sappleton Framptondoubtedifhisvisitstothesestrangerswoulddomuchtowardshelpingthenervecure 3 ThechildaskedNettlealotofquestionsabouthisknowledgeofMrs Sappleton becauseshewantedtoknowifhewasarealmentalpatient 4 Accordingtothechild Mr Sappletonandhistwobrothers in lawalwaysreturnedfromhunting muddyandexhausted 5 Mrs Sappletonwaslateinmakingherappearance becausesheknewthatherniecewasoldenoughtolookafterthepatient T T F F F 6 Framptonwastryingtoturnthetalkontoalessembarrassingtopic buthewasignoredbythehostess 7 Framptonturnedtowardsthechildwithalookintendedtoconveysympatheticcomprehension whichsuggeststhathestartedtobeconsciousthateverythingthechildsaidtohimwastrue 8 ThechildpretendedtobestaringoutthroughtheopenwindowwithhorrorinhereyesinordertoattractFrampton sattention 9 Mrs Sappletonwasnotunhappy thoughFramptondashedoffwithoutawordofgood byeorapologywhenherhusbandarrivedback 10 Fromthestory sending itcouldbeconcludedthatthechildwasgoodatinventingfrighteningstories T T T T T textstudy Myauntwillcomedownverysoon Mr Nettle saidaverycalmyoungladyoffifteenyearsofage meanwhileyoumusttrytobearmycompany FramptonNettletriedtosaysomethingwhichwouldpleasetheniecenowpresent withoutannoyingtheauntthatwasabouttocome Hewassupposedtobegoingthroughacureforhisnerves buthedoubtedwhetherthesepolitevisitstoanumberoftotalstrangerswouldhelpmuch Iknowhowitwillbe hissisterhadsaidwhenhewaspreparingtogoawayintothecountry youwillloseyourselfdownthereandnotspeaktoalivingsoul andyournerveswillbeworsethaneverthroughloneliness IshalljustgiveyoulettersofintroductiontoallthepeopleIknowthere Someofthem asfarasIcanremember werequitenice FramptonwonderedwhetherMrs Sappleton theladytowhomhewasbringingoneofthelettersofintroduction oneoftheniceones 1 WhatwastheproblemwithMr FramtonNuttel Whyishisproblemimportanttothisstory WhywashevulnerabletosomeonelikeVera Hewasundergoingmentalillness sohewasnervous dullandsensitive whichformsastrongcomparisontoVera scharacteristic calm wittyandself possessd Doyouknowmanyofthepeopleroundhere askedtheniece whenshethoughtthattheyhadsatlongenoughinsilence Hardlyone saidFrampton Mysisterwasstayinghere youknow aboutfouryearsago andshegavemelettersofintroductiontosomeofthepeoplehere Hemadethelaststatementinasadvoice Thenyouknowalmostnothingaboutmyaunt continuedthecalmyounglady Onlyhernameandaddress Framptonadmitted HewaswonderingwhetherMrs Sappletonwasmarriedperhapsshehadbeenmarriedandherhusbandwasdead Buttherewassomethingofamanintheroom whydidVeraaskMr Nuttelabouthisacquiantancewithheraunt ShewantedtocheckwhetherMr Nuttelkewherauntwellornot Ifheknewheraunt shewouldnotsucceedinherplantoplaythetrickonhim Hergreatsorrowcamejustthreeyearsago saidthechild Thatwouldbeafteryoursister stime Hersorrow askedFrampton Somehow inthisrestfulcountryplace sorrowsseemedfaraway YoumaywonderwhywekeepthatwindowwideopenonanOctoberafternoon saidtheniece pointingtoalongwindowthatopenedlikeadoorontothegrassoutside Itisquitewarmforthetimeoftheyear saidFrampton buthasthatwindowgotanythingtodowithyouraunt ssorrow 不知為什么他覺得在這樣的安靜的鄉(xiāng)村是不會發(fā)生什么悲劇的 thestory Agreattragedy Aftersomesmalltalks VeracallsFramton sattentiontothelarge windowintheroom whichisopendespitethefactthatitisOctober Andthenshebegantotellheraunt s tragicstory Whatisherstory Outthroughthatwindow exactlythreeyearsago herhusbandandhertwoyoungbrotherswentofffortheirday sshooting Theynevercameback Incrossingthecountrytotheshooting groundtheywereallthreeswallowedinabog Ithadbeenthatterriblewetsummer youknow andplacesthatweresafeinotheryearsbecamesuddenlydangerous Theirbodieswereneverfound Thatwastheworstpartofit Herethechild svoicelostitscalmsoundandbecamealmosthuman Poorauntalwaysthinksthattheywillcomebacksomeday theyandthelittlebrowndogthatwaslostwiththem andwalkinatthatwindowjustastheyusedtodo Thatiswhythewindowiskeptopeneveryeveningtillitisquitedark Poordearaunt shehasoftentoldmehowtheywentout herhusbandwithhiswhitecoatoverhisarm andRonnie heryoungestbrother singingasong ashealwaysdidtoannoyher becauseshesaiditaffectedhernerves Doyouknow sometimesonquieteveningslikethis Ialmostgetastrangefeelingthattheywillallwalkinthroughthewindow Thetragicstory Threeyearsago Heraunt shusbandandtwobrothers Theywenthuntingwithalittledog Theyleftthroughthatverywindow buttheyneverreturnedbecausetheywereengulfedbyapieceofbog 沼澤 Theirbodieswereneverfound Vera sauntbelievesthatthemenwillreturnoneday thattheywillenterthehousethewaytheyleft throughtheopenwindow Thatiswhythewindowiskeptopeneveryeveninguntildark Doyouknow sometimesonquieteveningslikethis Ialmostgetastrongfeelingthattheywillallwalkinthroughthatwindow 你知道嗎 有時候像今天這樣寂靜無聲的傍晚 我總會有一種奇怪的感覺 那就是他們會從那個窗子里走進來 Shestoppedandtrembled ItwasarelieftoFramptonwhentheauntcamebusilyintotheroomandapologizedforbeinglate IhopeVerahasbeenamusingyou shesaid Shehasbeenveryinteresting saidFrampton Ihopeyoudon tmindtheopenwindow saidMrs Sappletonbrightly myhusbandandbrotherswillbehomesoonfromshooting andtheyalwayscomeinthisway They vebeenshootingbirdstodaynearthebog sothey llmakemypoorcarpetsdirty Allyoumendothatsortofthing don tyou Shetalkedoncheerfullyabouttheshootingandthescarcityofbirds andthehopesofshootinginthewinter ToFramptonitwasallquiteterrible Hemadeagreateffort whichwasonlypartlysuccessful toturnthetalkontoamorecheerfulsubject Hewasconsciousthathishostesswasgivinghimonlyapartofherattention andhereyeswerefrequentlylookingpasthimtotheopenwindowandthegrassbeyond Itwascertainlyunfortunatethatheshouldhavepaidhisvisitonthissorrowfulday Thegirltoldthisentirestorywithnerves soMr Nuttelbelievesthestorywithnodoubt thegirl sauntcomesback shesaystoMr Nuttel Ihopeyoudon tmindtheopenwindow whichnodoubtmakeshimtothinkaboutthegirl sstory Thedoctorsagreeinorderingmecompleterest noexcitementandnobodilyexercise saidFrampton whohadthecommonideathattotalstrangerswanttoknowtheleastdetailofone sillnesses theircauseandcure Onthematteroffood theyarenotsomuchinagreement hecontinued No saidMrs Sappletoninatiredvoice Thenshesuddenlybrightenedintoattention butnottowhatFramptonwassaying Heretheyareatlast shecried Justintimefortea anddon ttheylookasiftheyweremuddyuptotheeyes findoutthedifferentresponse Mrs Sappletonrattledcheerfullyaboutherhusbandsandbrothersasiftheywerealive buttoFramtonitwasallpurelyhorrible Hemadeadesparatebutonlypartiallysuccessfulattempttoturntotalkontoalessghastlytopic likehisillness however Mrs Sappletonshowedlittleinterstinthistopic whichconvincedMr Nuttelthatthepoorauntmusthavesufferedfromthementaldisordersduetothetragedyandsorrow fromherewecanseeMrs Sappletoniskind politebutquiteabsorbedinherownconcerns Sheisn interestedinhervisitor sstorybuttriedtobekindtohim climax Framptontrembledslightlyandturnedtowardstheniecewithalookintendedtoshowsympatheticunderstanding Thechildwaslookingoutthroughtheopenwindowwithfearinhereyes WithashockFramptonturnedroundinhisseatandlookedinthesamedirection Intheincreasingdarknessthreefigureswerewalkingacrossthegrasstowardsthewindowtheyallcarriedgunsundertheirarms andoneofthemhadalsoawhitecoathungoverhisshoulders Atiredbrowndogkeptcloseattheirheels Noiselesslytheydrewneartothehouse andthenayoungvoicestartedtosinginthedarkness Framptonwildlyseizedhishatandstick heranoutthroughthefrontdoorandthroughthegate Henearlyranintoamanonabicycle 弗雷頓微微打了個顫 他帶著同情而理解的表情轉(zhuǎn)向年輕小姐 而那小姐卻是目不轉(zhuǎn)睛的望著窗口 眼睛里滿是害怕 不知名的恐懼如寒冰般向弗雷頓涌來 他跌坐在椅子上 目光也望向同一個地方 Hereweare mydear saidthebearerofthewhitecoat cominginthroughthewindow fairlymuddy butmostofit sdry Whowasthatwhoranoutaswecameup Amostextraordinaryman aMr Nettle saidMrs Sappleton hecouldonlytalkabouthisillnesses andranoffwithoutawordofgood byeorapologywhenyouarrived Onewouldthinkhehadseenaghost Iexpectitwasthedog saidtheniececalmly hetoldmehehadaterriblefearofdogs HewasoncehuntedintoagraveyardsomewhereinIndiabyalotofwilddogs andhadtospendthenightinanewly duggravewiththecreaturesjustabovehim Enoughtomakeanyonelosetheirnerve Shewasverycleveratmakingupstoriesquickly 毫不費勁的隨口編個故事是她的拿手好戲 HowdidVeraexplainMr Nuttel shurryandhorror WhenMrs Sappeltonandherhusbandwonderwhyheleftinsuchahurry VerabeginstoexplainthatFramtonwasscarredofthehuntingdogs whichwasactuallyanotherlie untilnowdothereadersrealizethatthewholestorywasjustthegirl strick Sheisclever quick witted inventiveandhasacruel ironicalsenseofhumor meanwhilesheisagoodactress Whatdifferentthingsdoestheopenwindowinthestorysymbolizetothecharacters ToVera theopenwindowwasjustaclueinhermake upstory whichsheusedtointensifytheterror ToMr Nuttel theopenwindowwasasymbolofsorrowanddeath Becaus