英语听力：雾都孤儿 13. The end of the gang听力原文 听力原文, 雾都孤儿

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13  The end of the gang

The sun burst upon the crowded city in all its brightness．It
lit up every corner of London，the great houses of the rich，
and the miserable homes of the poor．It shone everywhere，even
into the room where the murdered woman lay．The horror of that
scene was even more dreadful in the clear morning light．
Sikes sat there，unable to move，looking at the body．He had
thrown the blood-covered stick into the fire，then washed
himself and his clothes．He had cut out the bits of his
clothes that were stained and burnt them too，but there were
still bloodstains all over the floor．Even the dog’s feet
were bloody．
Finally，he forced himself to leave the room，pulling the dog
out with him and locking the door behind him．He walked
rapidly north，towards High gate，then on to Hampstead．On the
open land of Hampstead Heath，away from people and houses，he
found a place in a field where he could sleep without being  
disturbed．
But before long he was up again and running．This time he ran
back towards London for a while．Then he turned and went north
again，sometimes walking，sometimes running，with no clear
purpose in his mind．Eventually，he felt hungry，and changed
direction towards Hendon，a quiet place away from the crowds，
where he could buy food．But even the children and chickens
there seemed to look at him with suspicion．So he turned back
towards Hampstead Heath again，without having eaten，uncertain
where to go．
At last he turned north again，his dog still running at his
heels，and set off to a village just outside London．He
stopped at a small，quiet pub and bought a meal，then went on
again．It was now dark and as he continued walking，he felt as
if Nancy were following him，her shadow on the road，her last
low cry in the wind．If he stopped，the ghostly figure did the
same．If he ran，it ran too，moving stiffly，like a corpse．
Sometimes he turned，determined to drive the ghost away，but
his blood ran cold with terror．Every time he turned，the
ghost turned too，and was still behind him．
Finally，he found another field where he could hide．He lay
down，unable to sleep，his mind filled with visions of the
dead girl．Her wide，dead eyes stared at him，watching him
through a curtain of blood．
Suddenly he heard shouting in the distance．He jumped to his
feet and saw that the sky seemed on fire．Sheets of flame shot
into the air，driving clouds of smoke in his direction．He
heard an alarm bell，and more shouts of ‘Fire！’Running with
his dog across the fields，he joined the crowds of men and
women fighting the fire．He could forget his own terror in
this new danger，and he worked all night with the crowd，
shouting，running and working together to stop the flames
destroying more buildings．
In the morning the mad excitement was over，and the dreadful
memory of his crime returned-more terrifying than ever．In
desperation，he decided to go back to London．
‘At least there’ll be somebody I can speak to，’he thought
to himself． ‘And it’s a better hiding-place than out here
in the country．I’ll hide there for a week，get some money
out of Fagin，then escape to France．’
Suddenly he remembered the dog-people would be looking for his
dog as well as himself．He decided to drown the animal．But
the dog smelt the man’s fear，and turned and ran away from h
im faster than it had ever run in its life． ‘You have a
choice，Mr Monks，’said Mr Brown low. ‘You have been
kidnapped and brought here to my house．You can either tell me
what I want to know，or I’ll have you arrested，instantly，
for fraud欺骗 and robbery．It’s your choice．And you must
decide now．At once．’
Monks hesitated and looked at the old man，but Mr  Brown low
‘s expression was so serious and determined that the younger
man realized it was pointless to protest． ‘I didn’t expect
this treatment from my father’s oldest friend，’said Monks
angrily，sitting down with a frown on his face．
‘Yes，I was your father’s oldest friend，’said Mr Brown
low ．‘And I know all about you-how your father，while still
a boy，was forced by his family into an unhappy marriage with
an older woman，and how you were the result of that marriage．
I also know that your parents separated，hating each other by
the end．’
‘Well-what’s so important about that？’
‘When they’d been separated for ten years，’said Mr  B
rown low ， ‘your father met another family．There were two
daughters，one nineteen years old and the other only two or
three．Your father became engaged to the older daughter．At
this point one of his rich relations died and left him a lot
of money in his will．Your father had to travel to Italy to
receive his inheritance，and while there，he became ill and
died．Your mother，who was living with you in Paris，
immediately rushed to Italy when she heard the news．As your
father had made no will of his own，all the relation’s money
came to you and her．’
Monks listened with close attention，biting his lip and
staring at the floor．
‘Before your father went to receive that money，he came to
see me，’continued Mr  Brown low slowly，his eyes fixed on
Monks’face．
‘I never heard that before，’said Monks，looking up
suddenly，a suspicious expression on his face．
‘He left me a picture of the poor girl he wanted to marry．
He talked wildly about shame and guilt，and how he would give
part of the money he’d inherited to his wife and to you，and
use the rest to escape from England with the girl he loved．He
refused to tell me any more details．’
Monks breathed more easily，and even smiled．

问题儿童

‘But，’said Mr  Brown low ，pulling his chair nearer to the

other man， ‘by chance I was able to rescue your brother

Oliver from a life of misery and—’

‘What！’cried Monks．

Mr  Brown low  continued without a pause．‘And when he was

recovering from his sickness here in my house，I noticed how

similar he looked to the girl’s face in the picture．But he

was taken away before I could discover his history-as you know

very well．’

‘You can’t prove anything！’said Monks．

‘I can．I heard that you were in the West Indies．I went

there to try and find you to see if you knew anything about O

liver，but you’d already left．I returned to London，and was

unable to find you until two hours ago．’

‘And now what？You can’t prove that Oliver’s my brother．

’Monks smiled unpleasantly．

‘I couldn’t before，’said Mr Brown low ，standing up．

‘But now I can．There was a will，but your mother destroyed

it．This will mentioned a child that would be born later；this

was Oliver，the child you met later by accident．You noticed

his resemblance to your father and you became suspicious．You

then went back to his birthplace，found proof of his birth and

the fact that he’s your half-brother，and destroyed that

proof．’

Monks sat in silence，his eyes filled with fear．

‘Yes，’continued Mr  Brown low fiercely，‘shadows on the

wall have caught your whispers with Fagin，and brought them to

my ear．For the sake of that innocent child，whom you wanted

to destroy．And now murder had been done，and you are as

guilty of that as if you had struck the blow yourself！’

‘No，no，’said Monks quickly． ‘I knew nothing of that．

Nothing at all．’He was silent for a while，realizing how

much was known about him．Hatred and fear fought inside him，

but he was a coward at heart．At last，seeing no escape，he

raised his head． ‘I will admit everything-in front of

witnesses，if necessary．’

Mr Brown low nodded coldly．‘I will prepare a document for

you to sign．You must give Oliver what is really his，and then

you can go where you please．’

At that moment Dr Losberne rushed into the room． ‘The

murderer will be taken tonight！His dog’s been found．’

‘And Fagin？’asked Mr Brown low ．

‘They’re sure of him．They may have him already．’

Mr Brown low turned back to Monks．‘Have you made up your

mind？’

‘Yes，’replied Monks． ‘And you promise-it’ll remain a

secret？No police，or charges of fraud against me？’

‘Yes，’said Mr Brown low ． ‘You have my promise．For now

，you must remain here，locked in this room．I will come for

you tomorrow evening and take you to sign a confession in

front of witnesses．’

Mr  Brown low  then left the room with the doctor，and They

eagerly discussed the news of the hunt for the criminals．

‘My blood boils with anger，’said Mr  Brown low ． ‘This

poor murdered girl must be revenged．You stay here and guard

Monks．I’ll go out and get the latest news．’

The two men parted，each in a fever of excitement．Down by the

river Thames was a district called Rotherhithe ，one of the

dirtiest and roughest places in London．The houses next to the

river had no owners；They were broken down and ruined，but

could be defended against attack．In an upper room of one of

these houses，were three members of Fagin’s gang．

‘When was Fagin taken，then？’asked the man called Toby．

‘Two o’clock this afternoon．Charley and I escaped up the

chimney，but Noah was caught．Bet went to see Nancy and when

she saw the body，she started screaming and wouldn’t stop．

She’s been taken to hospital．’

‘What’s happened to Charley Bates？’

‘He’ll come here when it’s dark．It’s too dangerous now．

’

‘We’re in trouble，’said Toby． ‘Fagin’s going to hang-

that’s certain．’

‘You should have seen him when he was caught，’said another

robber． ‘The police carried him through the crowd while all

the people jumped at him，screaming and trying to attack him．

’

Suddenly Sikes’ dog ran into the room．All the robbers rushed

out immediately to look for Sikes，but there was no sign of

him．They returned to the upstairs room．

‘I hope he’s not coming here，’said Toby．

‘The dog’s come a long way，’said another man． ‘Covered

in mud，and tired out．’

They sat there in silence，wondering where Sikes was．It was

already dark when They heard a sudden，hurried knock at the

door downstairs．

Toby went to the window to look down，then pulled his head

back in，his face pale with fear．There was no need to tell

the others who it was．

‘We must let him in，’said Toby，although none of the m

wanted to see him．Toby went down to the door and returned，

followed by sikes．White-faced，with a three-day-old beard，

hollow cheeks and staring eyes，Sikes looked like a ghost．No

one said a word．

‘Nothing to say to me？’Sikes asked．

The only answer was a low shout of many voices from outside in

the distance，coming closer．Lights appeared．Looking out，

Sikes saw a stream of people crossing the bridge towards them

．Then there was a loud knocking on the door and more shouts

from the crowd．

‘The doors are made of metal and They’re locked and chained

，’said Toby．The three robbers watched Sikes nervously，as

if he were a wild animal．

‘Bring a ladder！’shouted some of the crowd below．

‘Give me a rope，quick，’Sikes said to the others． ‘I’ll

go the other way，climb down the back and escape over the

river．Get me a rope-now！Or I’ll do three more murders！’

A minute later，Sikes appeared on the roof and the shouts from

the crowd below swelled to a great roar．Then the front door

was smashed down and people streamed into the house．Sikes

quickly tied the rope around the chimney，then began to tie

the other end around himself，ready to lower himself to the

ground behind the house．But just as he put the rope over his

head，he screamed in terror and threw his arms above his head

．He staggered犹豫蹒跚 back，slipped and fell over the edge of

the roof．As he fell，the rope tightened around his neck with

a horrible jerk．In a second the murderer was dead，and there

he hung，his body swinging gently from side to side．The dog，

which had followed its master onto the roof，jumped down

towards the lifeless body，missed，and fell dead on the stones

below．