标题: 英语听力：雾都孤儿 14. The end of the mystery听力原文 [打印本页] 作者: 问题儿童 时间: 2012-8-12 19:49 标题: 英语听力：雾都孤儿 14. The end of the mystery听力原文
14 The end of the mystery
The next day Oliver travelled with Mr Brown low ，Dr Losberne
，Mrs Maylie and Rose back to his birthplace．He had been told
a little of his history，and knew that there would be more
explanations at the end of this journey．He was anxious and
uncertain，wondering what he would hear．
But towards the end of the journey，he began to recognize
familiar places，and in great excitement pointed them out to
Rose．There was the path he had taken when he had run away．
There，across the fields，was the‘baby farm’．Then，as They
drove into the town，he saw the house of Mr Sowerberry the
undertaker，and the workhouse that had been his prison．
They stopped at the biggest hotel in the town，and went in to
their rooms．During dinner Mr Brown low stayed in a separate
room，and the older members of the group went in and out with
serious faces．Mrs Maylie came back with her eyes red from
crying．All this made Rose and Oliver，who had not been told
any new secrets，very nervous and uncomfortable．
At nine o’clock Dr Losberne and Mr Brown low brought Monks
into the room．Oliver was very surprised；this was the same
man he had bumped into once outside a pub，and seen another
time with Fagin，looking in at him through the window of the
country cottage．Oliver was told that Monks was his half-
brother，and the boy stared at him in shock and amazement．
Monks looked back at him with hatred．
‘We have the whole story here in these papers，’said Mr
Brown low ，putting them on the table． ‘All we need now is
for you to sign them，Monks．And to tell Oliver what happened
．’
Monks started hesitantly． ‘My father had arrived in Italy to
collect the money he had inherited，when suddenly he fell ill
．When he died，we found two papers in his desk．One was a
letter to his girl；the other was a will．’
‘What was the letter？’asked Mr Brown low ．
‘It was written when he was ill，telling the girl how
ashamed he was that she was pregnant．He asked her not to
remember him as a bad man but as someone who had made a
mistake．He reminded her of the day he’d given her the locket
and ring．’
Oliver’s tears fell fast as he listened to the story of his
father．
‘And what about the will？’asked Mr Brown low ．
Monks was silent．
‘The will，’continued Mr Brown low ，speaking for him， ‘
was in the same spirit as the letter．He talked of the misery
of his marriage to his wife，and the evil character of you，
Monks，his only son，who had been brought up by your mother to
hate him．He left you and your mother an annual income of $800
．The rest of his property he left to his girl Agnes and to
their child，if it were born alive，and if it showed itself to
be of a good，kind character．The money would only go to you，
Monks，as the older son，if The younger turned out to be as
evil as you．’
‘My mother，’said Monks， ‘burnt this will，and never sent
the letter．The girl Agnes left her home in secret，so that
her pregnancy would not bring shame on her family．I swore to
my mother，when she was dying，that if I ever found my half-
brother，I would do him all the harm I could．He would feel my
hatred like a whip鞭子抽打 on his back．I paid Fagin to trap
Oliver into a life of crime．But then he escaped，and that
stupid，interfering girl Nancy talked to you．If I’d had the
chance，I would have finished what I’d begun．’Monks stared
at Oliver，and his lips moved in a silent curse．
‘And the locket and ring？’asked Mr Brown low ．
‘I bought them from Mr and Mrs Bumble，who had stolen them
from the nurse，who had stolen them from Agnes，the dead girl
．I’ve already told you how I threw them into the river．
Mr Brown low turned to Rose． ‘I have one more thing to
explain，’he said to the girl．
‘I don’t know if I have the strength to hear it now，’she
murmured， ‘having heard so much already．’
Mr Brown low put his hand under her arm． ‘You have a
great deal of courage，dear child，’he said kindly．He turned
to Monks． ‘Do you know this young lady，sir？’
‘Yes．’
‘I don’t know you，’said Rose faintly．
‘The father of poor Agnes had two daughters，’said Mr
Brown low ． ‘What happened to the other one，who was only a
young child at the time？’
‘When Agnes disappeared，’replied Monks， ‘her father
changed his name and moved to a lonely place in Wales，where
no one would know about the family shame．He died very soon
afterwards，and this young daughter was taken in by some poor
people．My mother hated Agnes and everybody connected with her
．She hunted for this young sister，and made sure that her
life would be unhappy．She told the poor people who had taken
her in that the girl was illegitimate，and that she came from
a bad family with an evil reputation．So the child led a life
of miserable poverty-until Mrs Maylie saw her by chance，
pitied her，and took her home．’作者: 问题儿童 时间: 2012-8-12 19:50
‘And do you see this young sister now？’asked Mr Brown low
．
‘Yes．Standing by your side．’
Rose could hardly speak． ‘So…Oliver is my nephew？’
‘I can never call you aunt，’cried Oliver． ‘You’ll
always be my own dear sister！’
They ran into each other’s arms，both of them crying in their
happiness．A father，sister and mother had been lost and
gained，and it was too much for one evening．They stood for a
long time in silence，and the others left them alone．The
court was full of faces；from every corner，all eyes were on
one man-Fagin．In front of him，behind，above，below -he
seemed surrounded by staring eyes．Not one of the faces showed
any sympathy towards him；all were determined that he should
hang．At last，there was a cry of ‘Silence！’，and everyone
looked towards the door．The jury returned，and passed close
to Fagin．He could tell nothing from their faces；They could
have been made of stone．Then there was complete stillness-not
a whisper，not a breath…Guilty．The whole court rang with a
great shout，echoing through all the rooms as the crowd ran
out of the building to tell all the people waiting outside．
The news was that he would die on Monday．
Fagin thought of nothing but death that night．He began to
remember all the people he had ever known who had been hung．
He could hardly count them．They might have sat in the same
prison cell as he was sitting in now．He thought about death
by hanging-the rope，the cloth bag over the head，the sudden
change from strong men to bundles of clothes，hanging at the
end of a rope．
As his last night came，despair seized Fagin’s evil soul．He
could not sit still，and hurried up and down his small cell，
gasping with terror，his eyes flashing with hate and anger．
Then he lay trembling on his stone bed and listened to the
clock striking the hours．Where would he be when those hours
came round again？
In the middle of that Sunday night，Mr Brown low and Oliver
were allowed to enter the prison．Several strong doors were
unlocked，and eventually They entered Fagin’s cell．The old
robber was sitting on the bed，whispering to himself，his face
more like a trapped animal’s than a human’s．
‘You have some papers，Fagin，’said Mr Brown low quietly
， ‘which were given to you by Monks to look after．’
‘It’s a lie！’replied Fagin，not looking at him． ‘I
haven’t got any．’
‘For the love of God，’said Mr Brown low ，very seriously
， ‘don’t lie to us now，on the night before your death．You
know that Sikes is dead and Monks has confessed．Where are the
papers？’
‘I’ll tell you，Oliver，’said Fagin． ‘Come here．’He
whispered to him． ‘They’re in a bag up the chimney in the
front room at the top of the house．But I want to talk to you
，my dear．’
‘Yes，’said Oliver． ‘Will you pray with me？’
‘Outside，outside，’said Fagin，pushing the boy in front of
him towards the door． ‘Say I’ve gone to sleep-They’ll
believe you．You can take me out with you when you go．’The
old man’s eyes shone with a mad light．
‘It’s no good，’said Mr Brown low ，taking Oliver’s hand
． ‘He’s gone too far，and we can never reach him now．’
The cell door opened，and as the visitors left，Fagin started
struggling and fighting with his guards，screaming so loudly
that the prison walls rang with the sound．
They left the prison building in the grey light of dawn．
Outside in the street，huge crowds were already gathering，
joking and laughing，and pushing to get the best places near
the great black platform，where the rope hung ready for its
morning’s work．
Less than three months later，Rose married Harry Maylie．For
her sake，Harry had abandoned his political ambitions，and had
become a simple man of the church．There was no longer any
mystery about Rose’s birth，but even if there had been，Harry
would not have cared．They lived next to the church in a
peaceful village．Mrs Maylie went to live with them，and spent
the rest of her days in quiet contentment．
Mr Brown low adopted Oliver as his son．They moved to a
house in the same quiet village，and were just as happy．Dr
Losberne discovered suddenly that the air in Chertsey did not
suit him．In less than three months he，too，had moved-to a
cottage just outside the village，where he took up gardening
and fishing with great energy and enthusiasm．
Mr Brown low suggested that half the remaining money from
the will should be given to Monks and the other half to Oliver
，although by law it should all have gone to Oliver alone．O
liver was glad to accept the suggestion．Monks went off with
his money to the other side of the world，where he spent it
quickly and was soon in prison for another act of fraud．In
prison he became ill and died．The remaining members of Fagin
’s gang died in similar ways in other distant countries，all
except Charley Bates，who turned his back on his past life of
crime and lived honestly，as a farmer．
Noah Claypole was given a free pardon for telling the police
about Fagin．He soon became employed as an informer for the
police，spying on people and telling the police about anyone
who had broken the law．Mr and Mrs Bumble lost their jobs and
became poorer and poorer，eventually living in poverty in the
same workhouse that They had once managed．
In that quiet country village，The years passed peacefully．Mr
Brown low filled the mind of his adopted son with knowledge
，and as he watched the boy grow up，he was reminded more and
more of his old friend，Oliver’s father．The two orphans，
Rose and Oliver，led lives that were truly happy．The
hardships that They had once suffered had left no bitterness
in their gentle souls，and all their lives they showed the
mercy and kindness to others that God himself shows to all
things that breathe ．作者: tingroom 时间: 2012-8-13 17:11
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