The Black Cat
黑猫

Before You Read
阅读准备

Myself　我

I am a tragic figure．Deep inside, I have a terrible vice．I have fallen victim to alcohol．This has caused me to be cruel to my wife and to animals．Once I was very gentle with all living creatures．But the curse of alcohol has turned me into a monster．Because of my cruelty, I brought a curse upon me and my wife.

我是一个悲剧性的人物。我的内心深处有一桩可怕的罪行。我成为了酒精的受害者。这使我变得对我的妻子和动物十分残酷。我曾经是一个对待所有生灵都十分温柔的人。但是酒精的诅咒把我变成了一个怪物。正因为我的残酷，我给自己和妻子带来了不幸。

My Wife　我的妻子

How can I describe my wife without the slightest bit of shame and remorse? She was also a gentle creature who loved animals．She loved me once, before I became a drunken monster．Perhaps she still did, up until her horrible end．I wish she had found peace at last.

我要怎样描述自己的妻子，才能不带有一丁点儿的羞愧和悔恨呢？她也是一个温柔善良、热爱动物的人。在我变成酒鬼之前，她曾经爱过我。也许她仍然还爱着我，直到她的生命悲惨地结束的那一刻。我希望她的在天之灵能够安息。

Pluto, the Cat　黑猫普卢托

Pluto was the greatest of all the pets I had in my life．He was the largest cat I've ever seen, with a shiny coat of black fur．In addition, he was very intelligent and even seemed to understand what my wife and I said to each other！He loved me, and I loved him, at first．But again, the terrible curse of alcoholism made me mistreat this animal so terribly that in the end, he would run in terror at the sight of me.

普卢托是我一生中所拥有过的最棒的宠物。它是我所见过的最大的猫，披着一身闪亮的黑色毛皮。而且它非常聪明，甚至似乎能理解我和妻子之间的对话！它爱我，开始的时候我也爱它。可是酒精可怕的诅咒使我狠狠地虐待这只动物，以至于最后它一看见我就会恐惧地逃走。

The Second Black Cat　第二只黑猫

This creature is more of a monster than a cat．He resembled Pluto very much, except for a patch of white fur on his chest．At first, I was glad to meet him, because I wanted to have a pet again．But this creature would not seem to leave me alone．In fact, he seemed to want to be near me, in order to torture me with the memory of Pluto.

与其说这个生物是一只猫，不如说它是一只怪物。它长得和普卢托非常相像，除了它胸口上的一撮白毛。一开始，我很高兴能遇见它，因为当时我又想养宠物了。但是这只生物似乎不肯让我独自呆着。事实上，它似乎总想呆在我附近，以便勾起有关普卢托的回忆来折磨我。

CHAPTER 1 A Descent into Cruelty
第1章　残酷的深渊

I do not expect the reader to believe the tale which follows．It would be most unreasonable for me to ask anyone to believe what my own senses reject．Let me assure you that I am not crazy．Nor am I dreaming．But tomorrow I die and today I would lighten my soul.

The events in this story may start off as commonplace, normal household events．But their results over the past few days have terrified me and tortured my very soul．I cannot explain these events．Perhaps someday a wiser person than I am will find a reasonable, practical and perfectly natural explanation.

But before I begin this tale of terror, I feel it is necessary to give some background of who I am and how these events came to be.

Ever since I was a small child, those around me remarked that I had a calm and compassionate personality．My kindness was especially directed toward animals．I spent most of my time feeding and playing with animals．These were the happiest moments of my life.

For me, this was not a mere childhood pastime that would fade away with adulthood．As a young man, my pets continued to be one of my greatest sources of happiness．I need not explain this feeling to anyone who has loved a pet dog.

At an early age, I married a pretty young woman who had a similar personality as me．She also liked animals, and in no time we had a variety of pets in our house．There were birds, gold fish, rabbits, a small monkey, a fine dog, and a cat.

The cat deserves special description here because it was an extraordinary feline．It was a large and beautiful animal, entirely covered in shiny, thick black fur．The most remarkable thing, however, was its intelligence．This cat appeared to be very wise and seemed to understand everything my wife and I did, and everything we said.

In fact, my wife sometimes said that the cat was actually a witch in disguise．Of course, it was just an old-fashioned superstition that witches sometimes changed into black cats．My wife was not being serious．The only reason I mention it here is because it was one of the things I remembered about the cat.

His name was Pluto, and he was my favorite pet．I was the only one who fed him, and he always followed me around the house．When I went outside, it was difficult to prevent Pluto from following me onto the streets, where he would be in danger.

We –my wife and our many pets –lived in peace and happiness for several years．Our situation changed because I fell into a bad habit.

I don't need to explain how I began to drink or why at this time．It does not matter．It's enough to say that slowly over the course of several months, I became an alcoholic．This, of course, greatly changed my personality．I slowly became more moody and more inconsiderate of the feelings of others．I started to call my wife ugly names．To my great shame and regret, I even began to hit her.

My pets, of course, also suffered during this time．Not only did I neglect them, I also began to physically abuse them．The poor things did not understand the change in me．They would come up to me for affection and I would kick them or push them away.

Only Pluto escaped this mistreatment at the beginning of my alcoholism．I still loved him enough to stop myself from hurting him．This, however, came to a horrible end one terrible evening.

I returned home after dark on this particular night very drunk．As I wandered about the house, I imagined that the cat was avoiding me．When I saw him, I grabbed him with both hands．He was frightened and bit me on the hand．He made a small cut on my hand, nothing really, but it enraged me．The alcohol in my veins turned me into a raging demon and I lost any control of my former, kind self．I held the squirming cat firmly with my left hand around its throat．With my other hand, I took a pocketknife from my coat and opened it．Then, in a moment that I am ashamed of to this day, I quickly drove the knife into the cat's eye and plucked it out.

The next morning, I woke to a terrible hangover．In a rush, I remembered what I had done．Suddenly, many gut-wrenching feelings washed over me．I felt horror, remorse and shame．But these feelings passed quickly, and I pushed them out of my mind．Soon I gave in to the urge to drink again, and tried to drown the memory of my misdeed in wine.

In the meantime the cat slowly recovered．It's true that without one of his eyes he looked very scary, but after a while he did not seem to be in pain．He went about the house as usual, but of course, he ran away from me in terror whenever we met.

At first, I felt sorry to see that this creature, who had once loved me, was now afraid of me．But soon this feeling changed to one of irritation．Finally, I developed a sense of wickedness; a desire to inflict pain upon that cat．I have no excuse to explain this feeling．All I can say is that as surely as a man has a soul, wickedness resides in him．It is one of the basic elements of every human.

I admit that this spirit of wickedness was my final undoing．It was this unexplainable desire of my soul to irritate itself –to do wrong for wrong's sake only –that urged me to continue and finally follow up on the injury I had caused to the unoffending cat's eye.

One morning, without feeling, I slipped a rope around the cat's neck and hung it from a limb of a tree outside my bedroom．I hung the cat with tears streaming from my eyes, and with a bitter feeling of remorse in my heart．I hung that cat because I knew it had loved me and because I felt it had given me no reason to hurt it．Lastly, I hung the cat because I knew I was committing a sin –a deadly sin that would jeopardize my soul and place it beyond even the reach of the infinite mercy of the most merciful and most terrible God.

KEY WORDS

unreasonable adj. 不讲道理的

reject v. 拒绝接受

assure v. 向……保证

lighten v. 减轻

commonplace adj. 平常的

terrify v. 使害怕

torture v. 折磨

remark v. 评价

compassionate adj. 有同情心的

personality n. 个性

mere adj. 仅仅的

pastime n. 消遣

fade away 消失

adulthood n. 成年

in no time 马上

variety n. 多种多样

deserve v. 值得

feline n. 猫科动物

fur n. 动物的毛皮

remarkable adj. 不同寻常的

intelligence n. 智力

witch n. 女巫

in disguise 伪装的

old-fashioned adj. 老式的

superstition n. 迷信

alcoholic n. 酒鬼

moody adj. 喜怒无常的

inconsiderate adj. 不体贴别人的

call sb．names 谩骂某人

shame n. 羞愧

regret n. 悔恨

suffer v. 受苦

neglect v. 忽略

physically adv. 身体上

abuse v. 虐待

affection n. 喜爱

mistreatment n. 虐待

alcoholism n. 酗酒

wander v. 游荡

grab v. 抓住

bite v. 咬

（bite-bit-bitten）

enrage v. 激怒

vein n. 血管

raging adj. 狂怒的

demon n. 恶魔

squirm v. 扭动

pluck out 摘除

hangover n. 宿醉

in a rush 匆忙

gut-wrenching adj. 恶心的

remorse n. 悔恨

urge n. 强烈的冲动

drown v. 淹没

misdeed n. 罪行

recover v. 恢复

scary adj. 骇人的

irritation n. 愤怒

wickedness n. 邪恶

inflict v. 使……遭受（惩罚等）

reside v. 居住

undoing n. 毁灭的原因

unoffending adj. 无罪的

slip v. 使滑动

limb n. 树的主枝

stream v. 流淌

bitter adj. 痛苦的

commit v. 犯（罪行）

deadly adj. 致命的

jeopardize v. 危及

infinite adj. 无限的

mercy n. 宽恕

One Point Lesson

It was difficult to prevent Pluto from following me onto the streets……

很难阻止普鲁托跟着我上街

prevent/stop＋sb．/ sth.＋from＋-ing： 阻止某人／某物做某事

e.g. The heavy traffic prevented me from being here in time.

交通堵塞使我无法及时到达这里。

Understanding the Story
背景知识

Influence of Edgar Allen Poe
爱伦·坡的影响力

"Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Poe is the prince of American literature."

—Victor Hugo

"Poe, the marvelous lord of rhythmic expression."

—Oscar Wilde

Edgar Allen Poe is credited with originating many genres of modern literature．As such, he is probably the most influential American writer．Authors from Earnest Hemingway to Ray Bradbury to Stephen King have praised Poe for giving them inspiration．Poe created the murder mystery with his story titled "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"．He was one of the first writers ever to write science fiction tales, which later inspired Jules Verne．Poe was also one of the first authors to recognize the value in making stories short and climatic．This process led to the creation of the short story．Examples include "The Purloined Letter" and "The Black Cat"．Poe is remembered most for his horror stories, but he was also a gifted poet．His genius lies in his ability to combine scientific reasoning with poetic expression.

“在坡赋予侦探故事生命之前，哪里有它的影踪？”——阿瑟·柯南·道尔爵士

“坡是美国文学的王子。”——维克多·雨果

“坡，运用韵律手法的非凡巨擘。”——奥斯卡·王尔德

埃德加·爱伦·坡被誉为许多现代文学体裁的始祖。从这一点上来说，他很可能是最具影响力的美国作家。从欧内斯特·海明威、瑞·布雷德伯里到斯蒂芬·金的诸多作家都称赞是坡赋予了他们灵感。坡以他的故事《莫尔格街凶杀案》开创了谋杀悬疑小说的先河。他是最早开始写作科幻小说故事的作家之一，这些科幻小说后来激发了儒勒·凡尔纳的灵感。坡也是最早认识到使故事短小而惊险的重要性的作家之一。他的这一认识过程为他开启了短篇小说的创作之门。这方面的例子包括《被窃的信件》和《黑猫》。坡最为人所称道的是他的恐怖小说，但他同时也是一位天才的诗人。他的天赋体现在把科学推理与诗歌手法相结合的能力上。

CHAPTER 2 The Second Black Cat
第2章
第二只黑猫

That night, I was aroused from sleep by the cry, "Fire！" The curtains of my bed were in flames．The whole house was consumed by fire．With great difficulty, my wife, a servant and myself escaped that inferno.

The destruction was complete．My entire worldly wealth had gone up in smoke, and I surrendered to despair.

I do not believe in trying to seek explanations for disastrous events．I do not have that weakness where I must find the connection between cause and effect –between the disaster and the atrocious act that must have caused it.

In this story, I am merely presenting a sequence of facts, and I do not wish to leave anything out.

On the day after the fire, I visited the ruins of my house．The walls, all except one, had fallen in．The wall that was still standing had been near the middle of the house．My bed had rested against this wall．I guess that because it had been recently plastered, it was able to resist the destructive force of the fire.

Around this wall stood a thick crowd of people who seemed to be examining a portion of the wall with eagerness and rapt attention．I heard many of them utter words like, "strange" and "remarkable." These, and other expressions, aroused my curiosity．I went closer and saw, as if carved into the wall, the image of a gigantic cat．The accuracy of the image to real life was amazing．In the image, there was a rope around the cat's neck.

When I first saw this ghost –for I could not regard it as anything less –I was overcome with wonder and terror．But after some time, reason came to my aid．The cat, I remembered, had been hung in a garden next to the house．When the fire broke out, a crowd of people had immediately gathered in this garden．One of these people must have cut the cat down and thrown him through the window of my bedroom in an effort to wake me up.

When the other walls of the house fell in, they had compressed the victim of my cruelty into the freshly-laid plaster．The chemical reactions caused by the flesh of the cat, the plaster and the fire must have created the image as I saw it before me.

Although my reason, and my conscience, readily accepted this explanation, the event still left a deep impression upon me．For months I could not stop thinking of the ghostly image of the cat．During this period, some of my old feelings about wanting the companionship of an animal came back to me．I began to look around the wretched places where I still spend my time drinking for another cat to replace the previous one.

One night as I sat drunk in an infamous bar, my attention was suddenly drawn to a black object on top of one of the barrels of rum, which were actually the main pieces of furniture in this room．I had been looking at the top of this barrel for several minutes already, and I was surprised I had not noticed this object before．I went over to it, and touched it with my hand.

To my surprise, the object was a black cat –a very large one –in fact, as large as Pluto had been．Upon closer inspection, I realized that this cat was identical to Pluto except for one thing．Pluto hadn't had a white hair on his whole body; this cat had a large splotch of white hair in no special design almost entirely covering its breast.

As soon as I touched him, he immediately stood up and purred loudly while rubbing against my hand．He appeared to be delighted with my attention．This, then, was the very creature I had been looking for．Immediately, I offered to purchase it from the bartender, but he said the cat wasn't his; nor had he ever seen it before.

I continued to pet the cat and when I was ready to go home, the cat seemed to want to go with me．I permitted it to follow me, occasionally stopping to pet it as we walked along．When we reached my new house, it made itself at home at once．My wife was happy to see it and soon fell in love with it.

As for me, I soon found a dislike of the cat rising up in me．This was the exact opposite of what I had expected．I cannot explain it, but at seeing how fond the cat was of me made me disgusted and annoyed．Slowly, this disgust and annoyance became bitterness and hatred toward the creature.

I avoided this cat and found that a certain sense of shame and the memory of my former deed of cruelty prevented me from physically abusing it．I did not, for many weeks, hit or kick the animal．But gradually, very gradually, I came to utterly loathe it and I would silently run away from its repulsive presence as if running from some terrible disease.

I am sure that my discovery of its missing eye on the morning after I brought it home added to my hatred of the beast．Just like Pluto, the cat was missing its left eye.

This fact, however, only made my wife love the creature more．As I have said before, she shared the same kindness toward animals that had once made my personality remarkable.

However, the more I tried to avoid the cat, the more it seemed to like me．Whenever I sat, it would crouch beneath my chair, or jump up to my knees, covering me with its hateful caresses．If I got up to walk, it would get between my feet and nearly trip me．When this happened, I longed to kill it with a blow．What stopped me from doing so was the memory of my former crime, but more importantly, I must confess, was the fact that I was deathly afraid of the beast.

This fear was not exactly a dread of physical threat –but I cannot define it as anything else．I am almost ashamed to admit, even in this convict's cell which I find myself, that the terror I felt from this cat had been made stronger by a strange circumstance．My wife had called my attention several times to that splotch of white hair on the cat's breast, the only distinguishing feature which marked it as different from the previous cat I had destroyed.

If you, the reader, will remember, I previously described this mark as large but in no special shape or design．However as the days passed, by slow degrees almost impossible to notice, the white splotch began to take a distinct shape．It now started to resemble an object which I shudder to think about, and for this, above all, I loathed, dreaded, and would have gotten rid of the monstrous beast if I dared．The object of my loathing resembled nothing other than the gallows –that mournful and terrible engine of horror and of crime, and of agony and death！

KEY WORDS

arouse v. 唤醒

be in flames 着火

consume v. 吞噬

inferno n. 危险的火海

destruction n. 毁灭

worldly wealth 财产

surrender（to） v. 向……投降

despair n. 绝望

seek v. 寻求

disastrous adj. 灾难性的

atrocious adj. 残忍的

a sequence of 一系列的

ruins n. 废墟

plaster v. 用灰泥涂抹

resist v. 抵抗

portion n. 部分

eagerness n. 热切

rapt adj. 全神贯注的

utter v. 发表（意见等）

carve v. 雕刻

gigantic adj. 巨大的

accuracy n. 准确性

overcome v. 使受不了

break out 爆发

compress v. 挤压

freshly-laid adj. 新覆盖的

chemical reaction 化学反应

flesh n. 肉体

conscience n. 良心

readily adv. 欣然地

impression n. 印象

companionship n. 友谊

wretched adj. 肮脏的

infamous adj. 臭名昭著的

barrel n. 桶

rum n. 朗姆酒

inspection n. 检查

identical to 与……完全相同的

splotch n. 斑点

purr v. 发呼噜声

rub v. 抚摸

be delighted with 因……高兴

purchase v. 购买

bartender n. 酒保

occasionally adv. 偶尔地

make oneself at home 无拘束

be fond of 喜爱

disgusted adj. 厌恶的

annoyed adj. 略感烦恼的

hatred n. 仇恨

utterly adv. 完全地

loathe v. 憎恨

repulsive adj. 令人厌恶的

presence n. 存在

beast n. 野兽

crouch v. 蹲

caress n. 爱抚

trip v. 绊倒

confess v. 承认

deathly adv. 极端地

dread n. 害怕

define v. 解释

convict n. 囚犯

cell n. 牢房

circumstance n. 情况

distinguishing adj. 显著的

distinct adj. 清晰的

shudder v. 发抖

monstrous adj. 丑恶而可怕的

resemble v. 相似

gallows n. 绞架

mournful adj. 令人悲痛的

engine n. 工具

agony n. 极大痛苦

CHAPTER 3 A Cry from the Grave
第3章　来自坟墓的叫声

Now I was indeed more wretched than the worst human alive．And to add to my woe was the fact that a lowly beast, of the same type I so contemptuously destroyed would cause so much insufferable pain on me.

Poor me！I could not find peace during the day, nor could I sleep at night．During the day, the creature would not leave me alone for a minute, and during the night I would suddenly be jerked awake to find the hot breath of the beast upon my face and its vast weight upon my chest．The monster was a nightmare come alive, a force that I was powerless to shake off –a weight that was forever pressing upon my heart！

Under such pressure as this, the last remaining good in me surrendered．My mind was filled with evil thoughts．The moodiness of my usual temper in those days increased in degree to a hatred of all things and of all mankind．My wife became the usual and quietly suffering victim of the uncontrollable outbursts of my temper.

One day my wife came with me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty forces us to inhabit．The cat, of course, followed me down the steep stairs and nearly tripped me, which would have made me fall head first into the cellar．In a fit of rage, I lost all reason.

I grabbed an axe that lay nearby and lifted it up high over my head．Forgetting the childish fear which had prevented me from harming the cat before, I aimed a blow at the animal which would have killed it instantly had I hit it.

But my blow was stopped by the hand of my wife who wished to save the cat．This drove me into a rage that possessed me like a demon．I shook off her grip, raised the axe again, and buried it into her skull．She fell dead upon the spot, without so much as a whimper.

With this hideous murder done in an instant, reason returned to me immediately．I wasted no time in beginning to figure out where I could hide the body.

I knew that I could not take the dead body out of the house, either by day or night, without risk of being seen by our neighbors．Many ideas entered my mind．I thought of cutting up the corpse into small pieces and destroying them by fire．Another idea was to dig a grave in the floor of the cellar and bury the body there．I also thought of throwing the body into the backyard well, or putting it into a box, like a piece of merchandise and hiring someone to deliver it somewhere else．Finally, I came up with an idea that was the best so far．I would cover up the body in the walls of the cellar as the monks in the Middle Ages did with their victims.

The cellar in which I contemplated this vile deed was well suited for this purpose．Its walls were not very well constructed, and had lately been plastered over with a rough plaster．The dampness of the room had prevented this plaster from becoming hard．In addition, there was a projection of the wall caused by a false chimney which had been covered up．I was sure I could tear the wall down, put the body inside, replace bricks and mortar, and plaster so that no one would be the wiser.

My confidence in my ability proved correct．I had no difficulty removing the bricks with a crowbar, and in a few minutes, I put the body of my long-suffering wife into the crevice．I propped it upright and with little trouble, replaced the bricks．I went out to purchase mortar, sand and tools．Very carefully, I prepared some plaster that looked exactly like the other plaster on the other walls of the cellar．This was very carefully put on top of my recent brickwork.

When I had finished, I felt satisfied that it was a good job．The wall did not look at all as if it had been disturbed．I picked up the trash from my efforts with care．I looked around in triumph and said to myself, "Here, at least, my labor has not been in vain."

My next task was to look for the beast which had caused all of this horror, for I had, while engaged in my labor, firmly decided to put it to death．Had I been able to find it, at the moment, there would be no doubt of its destruction.

However, it appeared that the crafty animal had been alarmed at my previous violence and it was smart enough not to appear while I was in a destructive mood.

It is impossible to describe, or to imagine, the deep, blissful sense of relief which blossomed in my heart at the absence of the hated creature．It did not appear on my chest as usual during the night –and therefore, for one night at least, since the cat had first come to this house, I slept soundly and peacefully．Yes, even with the burden of murder upon my soul！

A second and third day passed and still my tormentor did not appear．Once again I breathed as a free man．The monster, in terror, had run away forever！I would never see it again！My happiness was supreme．The guilt of my vile deed did not bother me much．A few people had asked about the whereabouts of my wife, and these questions were readily answered．A search had even been formed, but of course, nothing was discovered．I was secure in my thoughts of a peaceful future.

Four days after I murdered my wife, a group of policemen came quite unexpectedly into the house and proceeded to make a very careful search．I felt no discomfort whatsoever as I was confident in the effectiveness of my method of concealing the body．The police detectives asked me to come with them in their search．They left no nook or corner unexplored.

Finally, for the third or fourth time, they descended into the cellar．Not a muscle in my body trembled．My heart beat as calmly as that of one who innocently sleeps through a peaceful night．I calmly walked from one end of the cellar to the other．I folded my arms across my chest and casually strolled about．The police were finally completely satisfied that no foul play had been undertaken on my part.

The glee in my heart strained to be released．An overwhelming desire rose from within me to say just one word to confirm my triumph and to make the police doubly sure of my innocence.

"Gentlemen," I said finally, as they started to go up the stairs, "I am happy to have relieved you of your suspicions．I wish you all good health, and that you pay me a little more courtesy in the future．By the way, gentlemen, this is a very well constructed house."

（In my mad desire to say something easily, I scarcely paid attention to the words coming out of my mouth.）

"These walls –are you leaving gentlemen? –these walls are solidly put together."

And with these words and through an overly inflated sense of bravery, I raised a stick in my hand and with it, I pounded on the very wall behind which the corpse of my wife was hidden.

May God shelter and save me from the Devil！No sooner had the echo of my blows died into silence than they were answered by a voice from within the tomb behind the wall！

At first, it was muffled and broken, like the crying of a child, and then it quickly rose in volume to one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly foreign and inhuman –a howl, a shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might rise only from hell not only from the mouths of the souls that are damned there, but also from the throats of the demons that tortured these souls.

I cannot describe what, if anything, I thought．I staggered against the opposite wall in horror．For one long moment, the group of police remained frozen on the stairs in terror and awe of the awful sound.

In the next moment, they moved as one and a dozen strong arms were pulling the wall apart．The bricks fell with a heavy sound．My wife's corpse, already greatly rotted and clotted with gore stood before their eyes．Upon its head, with a red extended mouth and a single eye of fire, sat the hideous beast who had caused me to murder, and whose voice had condemned me to the hangman．I had walled the monster up in the tomb！

KEY WORDS

woe n. 悲哀

lowly adj. 卑微的

contemptuously adv. 轻蔑地

insufferable adj. 难以忍受的

jerk v. 使猝然一动

vast adj. 巨大的

nightmare n. 噩梦

shake off 摆脱

pressure n. 压力

temper n. 脾气

victim n. 受害者

outburst n. 发作

errand n. 差事

cellar n. 地窖

poverty n. 贫困

inhabit v. 居住于

steep adj. 陡峭的

in a fit of rage 一阵狂怒之下

grip n. 紧握

skull n. 头骨

upon the spot 当场

whimper n. 呜咽声

hideous adj. 令人惊骇的

in an instant 一刹那

figure out 盘算

corpse n. 尸体

well n. 井

merchandise n. 货物

deliver v. 运送

come up with 找到（办法）

monk n. 僧侣

contemplate v. 盘算

vile n. 邪恶的

dampness n. 潮湿

projection n. 突出

tear v. 撕开

mortar n. 砂浆

confidence n. 自信

crowbar n. 撬棍

crevice n. 裂缝

prop v. 固定

upright adj. 竖直的

brickwork n. 砌砖工作

disturb v. 搞乱

in triumph 胜利地

in vain 白费力

engage in 忙于

put to death 杀死

crafty adj. 狡猾的

alarm v. 惊动

blissful adj. 极快乐的

relief n. 宽慰

blossom v. 兴盛

burden n. 重负

tormentor n. 施加折磨者

supreme adj. 最大的

guilt n. 内疚

bother v. 打扰

whereabouts n. 行踪

secure adj. 有把握的

unexpectedly adv. 出人意料地

proceed v. 开始做某事

discomfort n. 不自在

effectiveness n. 有效

nook n. 隐蔽的角落

unexplored adj. 未探测的

muscle n. 肌肉

innocently adv. 无辜地

stroll v. 漫步

foul play 暴行（尤指谋杀）

undertake v. 着手做

glee n. 欣喜

strain to 竭力

overwhelming adj. 无法抗拒的

confirm v. 确定

courtesy n. 礼貌

scarcely adv. 几乎不

solidly adv. 坚固地

overly adv. 过度

inflated adj. 膨胀的

pound v. 连续地猛击

shelter v. 庇护

muffled adj. 听不清的

foreign adj. 奇异的

inhuman adj. 非人类的

howl n. 嗥叫

shriek n. 尖叫

damn v. 罚入地狱受罪

stagger v. 踉跄

frozen adj. 吓呆了的

awe n. 敬畏

rot v. 腐烂

clot v. 凝固

gore n. 凝固的血

condemn v. 宣告（某人）有罪

hangman n. 刽子手

wall up 用砖堵住某物

Comprehension Quiz
你读懂了多少

A　根据故事内容判断正误，正确的选T，错误的选F。

❶　The narrator enjoyed walking around the city streets with his pet cat following him.

T F

❷　The narrator hung the cat because the animal scratched the narrator's eye.

T F

❸　The narrator tried to conceal the murder by hiding its body in a basement wall.

T F

❹　The narrator confessed his crime to the police because he was too nervous.

T F

❺　The narrator's wife sincerely believed the cat was actually a witch.

T F

B　选择适当的词语填空。

as soon as　　filled　　trembled　　looked around　　meantime

❶　His mind was __________ with evil thought.

❷　He __________ for a new cat to replace the old one.

❸　__________ I touched him, he immediately stood up and purred.

❹　In the __________, the cat slowly recovered.

❺　All of his muscles __________ with excitement.

C　正确的答案。

❶ What was the wife's reaction to the second cat?

（a）She didn't even look at it.

（b）She was deathly afraid of it.

（c）She fell in love with it immediately.

❷ Which statement is the best summary of this story?

（a）Alcoholism can turn even the nicest people into terrible criminals.

（b）The narrator killed a black cat, but the second black cat caused him to come to ruin.

（c）A mysterious black cat followed the narrator as he walked along the city streets at night.

D　根据故事内容，将下列句子重新排序。

❶　The narrator began to drink alcohol.

❷　The narrator killed the black cat.

❸　The police found the woman's corpse.

❹　The narrator cut the cat's eye out.

❺　The narrator lived in peace and happiness with his wife.

❻　The narrator killed his wife.

______⇨______⇨______⇨______⇨______⇨______

答案

A ❶ F

❷ F

❸ T

❹ F

❺ F

B ❶ filled

❷ looked around

❸ As soon as

❹ meantime

❺ trembled

C ❶（c）

❷（b）

D ❺⇨❶⇨❹⇨❷⇨❻⇨❸ WpOOSL2mTDfblwqePa77U9uWuRL7kxhoomqOI5pKnlTHUPjmwppN1rNpruTPCPOM