New Concept English three （24）

33

72

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.'

notes:

1家丑（橱柜里的骷髅）

2小说中常用的桥段，一个众人皆知的好人，背后隐藏着可怕的秘密。

3小说中的女主人公：毒死了五个丈夫。

4作者的朋友乔治·卡尔顿，家里缠着一副医学研究用的骷颅，因为曾经是学医的。

我们经常在小说中读到，一个表面上受人尊敬的人或家庭，隐藏着多年来陌生人看来的可怕秘密。英语有一个生动的说法来描述这种情况。这个可怕的秘密被称为“橱柜里的骷髅”。在故事的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密变得众所周知，名誉也被毁了。在小说的最后几页里，读者的毛发悚然。他的最后一页上写道:“女主人公，一个对每个人都很友好的可爱的老女人，在她年轻的时候，把她的五个丈夫中的每一个都毒死了。”在小说中出现这样的事情是很好的。在不同程度上，我们都有自己不想让最亲密的朋友知道的秘密，但我们当中很少有人有不可告人的秘密。我认识的唯一一个在橱柜里有骷髅的人是George Carlton，他对这一事实感到非常自豪。乔治年轻时学医。然而，他并没有成为一名医生，而是成为了一名成功的侦探小说作家。我永远不会忘记曾经在他家度过一个不愉快的周末。乔治把我带到他说很少使用的客房。他叫我把东西打开，然后下楼去吃晚饭。在我把衬衣和内衣放在两个空抽屉里后，我决定把我随身带的两件西服中的一件挂在衣柜里。我打开柜门，站在它面前，吓呆了。一具骷髅在我眼前晃来晃去。门的突然移动使它轻微地晃动，给我一种印象，它即将向我跃出。我扔下西装，冲下楼去告诉乔治。这比“一个可怕的秘密”更糟糕;这是一个真正的骷髅！但乔治却无动于衷。“哦，那，”他笑着说，仿佛在谈论一位老朋友。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我曾经是一名医科学生。