24 · “家丑”
A Skeleton in the Cupboard
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We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called "a skeleton in the cupboard". At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than "a terrible secret"; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. "Oh, that," he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. "That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time."
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整篇课文
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called "a skeleton in the cupboard". At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than "a terrible secret"; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. "Oh, that," he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. "That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time."
小说里常写到：一个表面体面的人或家庭，竟藏着一个多年不为外人所知的可怕秘密。英语有个生动的说法形容这种情况，叫作“衣柜里的骷髅”，也就是不可告人的家丑。故事发展到某个戏剧性的时刻，秘密突然曝光，名誉随之扫地。读者翻到小说最后几页，才知道那位一向待人和善、令人喜爱的老太太，年轻时竟先后毒死了自己的五个丈夫，难免读得毛骨悚然。
这种事出现在小说里，倒也无妨。我们每个人多少都有些连最亲近的朋友也不愿告诉的秘密，但真正藏着这种“家丑”的人毕竟不多。我认识的人里，只有乔治·卡尔顿的衣柜里有一具骷髅，而他还颇以此为荣。乔治年轻时学过医，后来却没有当医生，而是成了一位很成功的侦探小说家。我曾在他家度过一个令人难忘、又颇不自在的周末。乔治领我到客房，说那里很少有人住，让我先收拾好行李，再下楼吃饭。我把衬衫和内衣叠进两个空抽屉后，打算把带来的两套西装中的一套挂进衣柜。柜门一打开，我就僵在原地：一具骷髅悬在眼前！开门的动作使它轻轻晃动，看起来仿佛就要扑向我。我扔下西装，冲下楼告诉乔治。这可比什么“可怕的秘密”吓人多了，柜里是真有一具骷髅啊！乔治却毫不同情。“哦，你说那个啊，”他笑着说，语气仿佛在说一位老朋友，“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了，我从前是学医的。”
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译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第82—84页，2022年2月第3版。