牛津书虫系列《神秘及幻想故事集》Chapter2 附中英双语文本

第四天，警察又来了，并且开始进行搜查。他们查看了每一个房间，然后下台阶来到地窖里面。我陪着他们，心里感到非常平静和安全，一直冷眼旁观他们检查每一个角落。他们没有找到任何东西，似乎相当高兴，并且准备离开了。我满心欢喜。我确信自己是安全的，但又想说点什么，哪怕是一两句话，就为了表示一下我是多么满不在乎、清白无辜。
‘Gentlemen，’I said，‘I'm pleased that you've found nothing here，and that you are now leaving this house…But let me show you something，gentlemen．Do you see how well built this house is？These walls，you will notice，are very strong．’As I said these words，I knocked on the wall with a stick-the wall where i had hidden my wife！
“先生们，”我开口道，“你们在这里没有找到任何东西，现在又要离开这幢房子了，我很高兴……不过我要给你们看样东西，先生们。你们看见没有，这房子建得有多么好？你们会注意到，这几堵墙结实极了。”我一面说着这话，一面用根棍子敲打着墙壁——正是我藏匿妻子尸体的那面墙！
At that moment we heard a sound．It was a strange sound，unlike anything I had ever heard before．The sound was soft at first，almost like a baby crying．Then it grew louder and louder and turned into one long，endless scream．It was like a cry rising from Hell．
就在那一刻，我们听见了一个声音。这声音很古怪，同我以前听到过的声音都大不一样。它开始时很轻，几乎像是一个婴儿的哭声；然后就升得越来越高，转而成为一声没完没了的长啸，仿佛从地狱中响起的哀号。
The policemen looked at me，then at one another．They ran to the wall and started pulling out the bricks as fast as they could．In minutes the wall was down and there，for all to see，was the body of my dead wife．On top of her head，with a red，open mouth and one burning eye，sat the black cat-the animal which had made me a murderer，and which would now send me to my death．
警察们一齐望着我，又彼此看了看。他们奔到墙边，开始拼命将砖块飞快地向外扒。几分钟不到，砖墙扒倒了；那里赫然便是我那亡妻的尸首。在她的头顶上蹲着那只黑猫，张开血盆大口，一只独眼里燃烧着鬼火——这畜生诱使我犯下了杀人罪，现在又要送我去见阎王了。
I had put the horrible thing into the wall，alive，with my wife！
我把这可怕的东西，同我妻子一起，活活砌到墙里去了！