11

The photograph's shop was still closed when I left by taxi for the Convent of the Capuchins.I arrived five minutes early for my appointment.The attendant who took my money at the head of the stairs leading down to the catacombs warned me that they would be closing in twenty minutes.

From what I had read in my guide book,twenty minutes was longer than I wanted to be down there!The catacombs had been built to house the bodies of Capuchin nuns who had died of the plague in the sixteenth century.It had since become a resting place of many noble Sicilian families.The bodies were first preserved by a slow process of drying.They were then wrapped around with straw to restore to their original size,dressed in their clothes and propped up along the walls like rows of gruesome puppets.

The 'Corridor of Men' led off from the foot of the stairs.The place smelled of death and one look at the rows of skull-like heads on either side of me filled me with horrow.The day's visitors had gone and I felt no better for being alone!Keeping my gaze towards the floor and away from the grinning skulls,I began to walk along the corridor.It was then that I saw,among the pairs of dusty feet,a pair of well-polished and very modern looking shoes.I stopped.The figure above the shoes was cloaked like a Capuchin Monk,the hood or'capuche'pulled well down over the head.I forced myself to reach up and pushed it back.

The face beneath was that of the man who had given me the warning.He had kept the appointment,but would be doning no more.He was dead!

The attendant at the top of the stairs gave me a strange look as I shot past him and made for the street.I felt sick and needed some fresh air.I started walking.I bumped into a group of brown uniformed men coming out of a building.Above the doorway was an oval shild with the word‘Carabinieri'-the nearist thing in Sicily to an American police station.One of the city's yellow taxis was heading down the street towards me.Should I hail the taxi(15),or go into the police station(16)?( 文章閱讀網(wǎng)：www.sanwen.net )

注釋?zhuān)?/p>

1，left by taxi for the Convent of the Capuchins：乘出租車(chē)到嘉布遣會(huì)修道院去。leave for：前往

2，appointment：（公務(wù)、商務(wù)等方面的）約會(huì)；date：（戀愛(ài)、交友性質(zhì)的）約會(huì)。

3，The attendant who took my money：收了我的錢(qián)的服務(wù)員；who took my money是The attendant 的定語(yǔ)從句。全句的主干是：The attendant warned me that···；the stairs leading down to the catacombs：通向地下墓穴的階梯； would be closing in twenty minutes：將在二十分鐘后關(guān)門(mén)。

4，F(xiàn)rom what I had read in my guide book=From the information that I had read in my guide book:（根據(jù)）從旅游指南讀到的有關(guān)信息（來(lái)判斷）。

5， to house the bodies of Capuchin nuns ：為了安放嘉布遣會(huì)修女們的遺體；這個(gè)動(dòng)詞不定式短語(yǔ)作目的狀語(yǔ)；house：動(dòng)詞，為···提供房屋( 安居之處）；body：尸體，遺體；nun：修女。

6， nuns who had died of the plague：死于瘟疫的修女們。 who had died of the plague是nuns的定語(yǔ)從句。

7，noble ：貴族的，顯貴的；preserved：保存；process ：過(guò)程，工序

8，wrapped around with straw：用稻草包裹起來(lái)； to restore to their original size：以便修復(fù)到原來(lái)的尺寸。propped up; 撐起來(lái)；gruesome puppets：令人恐懼的木偶。

9，led off from ：從······開(kāi)始；

10，one look at the rows of skull-like heads on either side of me filled me with horrow：只要看上一眼我兩邊任何一排像骷髏一樣的人頭，我就不寒而栗。句子主干：one look at the rows···filled me with horrow；one look at =if I take one look at；fill··· with ···:給（容器）裝滿(mǎn)······； fill a cup with water:給杯子裝滿(mǎn)水。

11，I felt no better for being alone！此刻無(wú)旁人，真是接頭的絕佳時(shí)機(jī)！【字面意思】：獨(dú)自一人的感覺(jué)好得不能再好了！

12，keeping my gaze towards the floor and away from the grinning skulls：盯著地板，不去看那些呲牙咧嘴的頭骨。away from =keeping my gaze away from 。

13，It was then that ：正是在那時(shí)；強(qiáng)調(diào)句型。

14，well-polished and very modern looking：油光呈亮、外觀非常時(shí)髦的；polish：磨光，擦亮，潤(rùn)飾；well-polished:擦得很亮的，精心修改潤(rùn)色的；well-trained：訓(xùn)練有素的；well-dressed:衣著考究的。

15，figure：身軀。

16，was cloaked like a Capuchin Monk：身披斗篷，活像一個(gè)嘉布遣會(huì)修士。

17，hood or'capuche'pulled well down over the head：頭巾——或者說(shuō)——尖頂風(fēng)帽拉得很低，蓋住了他的頭。hood：頭巾；capuche：尖頂風(fēng)帽:連在披風(fēng)（斗篷）上的兜帽,尤指嘉布遣會(huì)修士戴的長(zhǎng)而尖的風(fēng)帽。

18，that of the man who had given me the warning：給我警告的那個(gè)人的臉。that：指代“臉”。

19，shot past him and made for the street：飛跑著經(jīng)過(guò)他身旁，跑向大街。

20 sick ：惡心，想嘔。

22，bumped into ：撞見(jiàn)，遇見(jiàn)。

23，a group of brown uniformed men：一群穿著棕色制服的男子。

24， oval shild with the word'Carabinieri'-the nearist thing in Sicily to an American police station ：橢圓形的盾形圖案，圖案上有Carabinieri這個(gè)詞--在西西里，這個(gè)詞的意思最接近美國(guó)的警察局。

25，heading down the street towards me：沿街向我駛來(lái)。

26，hail the taxi：叫出租車(chē)。 11

乘出租車(chē)前往嘉布遣會(huì)修道院時(shí)，那家像館仍關(guān)著門(mén)。離約定的時(shí)間還有五分鐘，我就到了。

在通向地下墓穴階梯的入口處，服務(wù)員收了錢(qián)后警告我說(shuō)：還有二十分鐘就要關(guān)門(mén)了。從讀過(guò)的旅游指南來(lái)判斷，二十分鐘綽綽有余，我還不想呆那么久呢。這座地下墓穴是為存放修女們的遺體而建造的，那些修女死于16世紀(jì)的那場(chǎng)瘟疫。此后，就成為了西西里貴族家庭成員死后的安息地。遺體先是通過(guò)一種緩慢的干燥過(guò)程來(lái)保存，然后用稻草包裹起來(lái)，修復(fù)成原來(lái)的大小，給他們穿上其生前的服裝，撐起來(lái)靠墻而立，活像一排排令人毛骨悚然的木偶。

“男人走廊”從階梯底部開(kāi)始。這地方滿(mǎn)是死亡的氣味；只要看上一眼兩邊任何一排人頭——完全是骷髏——我就不寒而栗。此時(shí)一個(gè)游客都見(jiàn)不到了。此刻無(wú)旁人，真是接頭的絕佳時(shí)機(jī)！我盯著地板，不去看那些呲牙咧嘴的頭骨，沿著走廊搜索過(guò)去。就在那時(shí)，我看見(jiàn)了，在一雙雙布滿(mǎn)灰塵的腿腳之中，有一雙擦得油亮光滑，非常時(shí)髦的皮鞋！我停住了腳步。皮鞋上方的身軀披著斗篷，活像一個(gè)嘉布遣會(huì)修士；他的頭巾拉得很低，把頭都蓋完了。我迫使自己伸出手去，輕輕地推了他一下。

頭巾下，就是給我警告的那個(gè)人！他倒是準(zhǔn)時(shí)赴約，卻不可能有任何作為了：他已經(jīng)死了！

我轉(zhuǎn)身一路狂奔，跑上階梯頂端經(jīng)過(guò)那服務(wù)員面前時(shí)，他給了我一個(gè)奇怪的眼神。我飛跑，直向大街！

我感到惡心想嘔，需要新鮮空氣，于是漫步而行。不料又撞上了一群身穿棕色制服的男子，他們正從一棟大樓里出來(lái)。大門(mén)上方是一個(gè)橢圓形的盾形圖案，圖案上有Carabinieri這個(gè)詞--在西西里，這個(gè)詞的意思最接近美國(guó)的警察局。這時(shí)，一輛黃色的出租車(chē)向我駛來(lái)。

我應(yīng)該叫出租車(chē)逃命呢（15），還是應(yīng)該報(bào)警求救（16）？

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