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英语故事市政报告欧亨利A Municipal Report byO.HenryOur storytoday iscalled AMunicipalReport.It waswritten byO.Henry andfirst publishedin
1904.Here isShep ONealwith the story.It wasraining as I gotoff thetrain inNashville,Tennessee-a slow,gray rain.I wastired soI wentstraightto my hotel.A big,heavy manwas walkingup anddown in the hotellobby.Something about the wayhe movedmademe thinkof ahungry doglooking for a bone.He hada big,fat,red faceand asleepyexpression inhis eyes.He introducedhimself asWentworth Caswell-Major WentworthCaswell-from afine southernfamily,Caswell pulled me into the hotelsbarroom andyelled fora waiter.We ordereddrinks.While wedrank,he talkedcontinually abouthimself,his family,his wifeand herfamily.He saidhis wifewas rich.He showedme ahandful ofsilver coinsthat hepulled from hiscoat pocket.By thistime,I haddecided thatI wantedno moreof him.I saidgood night.Hotel inNashvilleI wentup tomy room and lookedoutthewindow.It wasten oclockbut thetown wassilent.A nicequietplace,I saidto myselfasI got readyfor bed.Just anordinary,sleepy southerntown.I wasborn in the southmyself.But Ilive inNew Yorknow.I writeforalarge magazine.My bosshadasked me to goto Nashville.The magazinehad receivedsome storiesand poemsfrom awriterin Nashville,named Azalea Adair.The editorliked herwork verymuch.The publisherasked meto gether tosign anagreement towrite onlyfor hismagazine.I leftthe hotelat nineoclock thenext morningto findMiss Adair.It wasstill raining.As soonas Isteppedoutside Imet Uncle Caesar.He was a big,old black man withfuzzy grayhair.Uncle Caesarwas wearingthe strangestcoat I had everseen.It musthave been a militaryofficerscoat.It wasvery longand whenit wasnew ithad beengray.But nowrain,sun and age hadmadeit arainbow ofcolors.Only oneof thebuttons wasleft.It wasyellow andas bigasafifty centcoin.Uncle Caesarstood neara horseand carriage.He openedthe carriagedoor andsaid softly,Stepright in,sir.fll take you anywhereinthecity.I want to goto eight-sixty-one JasmineStreet,I said,and Istarted toclimb into the carriage.Butthe oldman stoppedme.Why doyou wantto gothere,sir Whatbusiness isit ofyours I saidangrily.Uncle Caesarrelaxed andsmiled.Nothing,sir.But itsa lonelypart oftown.Just stepinand Illtakeyouthere rightaway.Eight-sixty-one JasmineStreet had beenafine houseonce,but nowit wasold anddying.Igotoutof thecarriage.That willbe twodollars,sir,Uncle Caesarsaid.I gavehim two one-dollar bills.As Ihanded themtohim,I noticedthat onehad beentorn inhalf andfixed with a piece of bluepaper.Also,the upperright hand corner was missing.Azalea Adairherself openedthe doorwhen Iknocked.She wasabout fiftyyears old.Her whitehairwas pulledback fromher small,tired face.She worea paleyellow dress.It wasold,but veryclean.Azalea Adairledmeinto herliving room.A damagedtable,three chairsand anold redsofa wereinthe centerof the floor.Azalea Adair and Isat downat thetable andbegan totalk.I toldher aboutthe magazinesofferand shetold meabout herself.She was from anold southernfamily.Her fatherhadbeena judge.Azalea Adairtold meshe hadnever traveledor evenattended school.Her parentstaught herathome withprivate teachers.We finished our meeting.I promisedto returnwith the agreement thenextday,and roseto leave.At thatmoment,someone knockedat the back door.Azalea Adairwhispered asoft apologyandwent toanswer thecaller.She came back aminute laterwith brighteyes andpink cheeks.Shelooked tenyears younger.You musthave acup oftea beforeyou go,she said.She shooka littlebellon thetable,andasmall blackgirl abouttwelve yearsold raninto the room.Azalea Adairopened atiny oldpurse andtook outa dollarbill.It hadbeen fixedwith apieceofbluepaper andthe upperrighthandcornerwasmissing.It wasthe dollarIhadgiven toUncle Caesar.Go toMister Bakersstore,Impy,she said,and getme twenty-five centsworth oftea andtencents*worth ofsugar cakes.And pleasehurry.The childran out of theroom.We heardthebackdoor close.Then thegirl screamed.Her crymixedwith amans angryvoice.Azalea Adairstood up.Her faceshowed noemotion as she lefttheroom.I heardthe mansrough voiceand hergentle one.Then adoor slammedand shecamebackintothe room.I amsorry,but Iwont beable tooffer youany teaafter dll,”she said,It seemsthat MisterBakerhas nomore tea.Perhaps hewill findsome forour visittomorrow.We saidgood-bye.I wentback tomyhotel.Just before dinner,Major WentworthCaswell foundme.It wasimpossible toavoid him.He insistedonbuying mea drinkand pulledtwoone-dollar billsfromhispocket.Again Isaw atorn dollarfixedwith bluepaper,withacorner missing.It wasthe oneI gaveUncle Caesar.How strange,I thought.I wonderedhow Caswellgot it.Uncle Caesarwas waitingoutside the hotel thenext afternoon.He tookmetoMiss Adairshouseand agreedto waitthere untilwe hadfinishedourbusiness.Azalea Adairdid notlook well.I explainedtheagreementto her.She signedit.Then,asshestartedto risefrom thetable,Azalea Adairfainted andfell tothefloor.I pickedher upand carriedher tothe old redsofa.I rantothedoor andyelled toUncle Caesarfor help.He randown the street.Fiveminutes later,he wasback witha doctor.The doctorexamined MissAdairandturned totheoldblack driver.UncleCaesar,he said,run tomyhouse andask mywife forsome milkand someeggs.Hurry!Then the doctor turnedto me,She doesnot getenough toeat,he said,She hasmany friendswhowanttohelp her,but sheis proud.Mrs.Caswell willaccept helponly fromthat oldblackman.He wasonce herfamilys slave.Mrs.Caswell.Isaidin surprise,I thoughtshe wasAzaleaAdair.She was,thedoctoranswered,until shemarried WentworthCaswell twentyyears ago.But hesahopeless drunkwho takeseven thesmall amountof moneythat UncleCaesar givesher.After thedoctor leftI heardCaesars voiceintheother room.Did hetake allthe moneyI gaveyouyesterday,Miss AzaleaYes,Caesar,I heardher answersoftly.He tookboth dollars.I wentinto theroomandgave AzaleaAdair fiftydollars.I toldher itwasfromthe magazine.ThenUncle Caesardrove meback tothehotel.A fewhours later,I wentout fora walkbeforedinner.A crowdof peoplewere talkingexcitedly infrontof astore.I pushedmy wayintothestore.Major Caswellwas lyingon thefloor.He wasdead.Someone hadfound hisbody onthestreet.He hadbeen killedin afight.In fact,his handswere stillclosedinto tightfists.But asI stoodnear hisbody,CaswelTs righthand opened.Something fellfromit androlled nearmy feet.I putmy footon it,then pickedit upand putit inmy pocket.People saidthey believeda thiefhad killedhim.They saidCaswell hadbeen showingeveryone thathe had fiftydollars.But whenhe wasfound,hehadno moneyon him.I leftNashville thenext morning.As thetrain crosseda riverI tookoutofmy pocketthe objectthathad droppedfrom Caswellsdead hand.I threwit intothe riverbelow.It wasa button.A yellowbutton...the onefrom UncleCaesars coat.You havejust heardthestory,rA MunicipalReport,It waswritten byO.Henry andadapted byDonade Sanctis.Your narratorwas ShepONeal.Words inThis Storycontinually-adv.doing somethingwithout interruption,not stoppingor endingrainbow-n.a curvedline ofdifferent colorsthat sometimesappears inthe skywhen thesunshines throughrainpublisher-n.a personor companythat producesbooks,magazines,etc.faint-v.to suddenlybecome unconsciousslave-n.someone whois legallyowned byanother personand isforced towork forthat personwithoutpayfist-n.the handwith itsfingers bentdown intothe palm。