MWRP讀物推介|偵探俱樂部 The Detective Club

《偵探俱樂部》（The Detective Club）是「百萬英語閱讀計劃」MWRP叢書——英漢對照中級英語系列讀物第ＩＩ輯之6，適合已掌握1500基本英語辭彙量（相當於初中畢業）的英語學習者閱讀。

百萬英語閱讀計劃是為專門為中國學生設計的英語閱讀提高計劃，讀者對象為已具有初中英語水平的讀者，通過２年、每天約15分鐘的閱讀能達到中級英語水平，掌握3000多單詞和大量的短語，熟練掌握英語的各種句子結構，並能閱讀一般英語原著。詳見：《百萬英語閱讀計劃讀者手冊》。

內容簡介

住在十街幾個孩子組成了「十街閱讀圈」，經常在一起讀偵探故事。有一天，貝蒂·布利斯提議他們成立一個類似於蘇格蘭場（Scotland Yard，亦稱為「倫敦警察廳」）的偵探俱樂部，由貝蒂·布利斯任探長。起初，閱讀圈中的兩個男孩不以為然，不願意加入，而且對幾個女孩冷嘲熱諷。但是在她們成功破獲幾起案件後，男孩不得不佩服貝蒂的偵探能力，於是主動要求加入。從此，俱樂部破獲了多次案件，贏得了人們的肯定。

原故事作者埃利斯·帕克·巴特勒（Ellis Parker Butler 1869～1937）是美國著名幽默作家，一生出版30多部書，發表短篇小說2000多篇。

文本信息

本書文本統計信息詳見下表，供選擇時參考：

說明:

1. 關於可讀性：這是根據美國Rudolf Flesch博士的統計方法計算出的Flesch Reading Ease（弗萊士易讀度），計算根據是句子的字數和100個字內音節個數等，數值在0和100之間，數目越大，文章越容易讀。

2. 1500基本辭彙外的單詞不包括由這些詞構成的合成詞 （如：schoolboy<=school +boy）和派生詞 （如：proudly <= proud + ly）。

3. 專有名詞（人名地名）或由專有名詞派生的辭彙以及感嘆詞不計入生詞。

4. 1500詞外詞數（生詞數）包含重複詞數。比如一個單詞以不同形式出現3次，則按3次統計。

5. 在1500詞外詞條數中，重複的單詞或者一個單詞的不同形式統計為1次。

6. 正文每一千字處都有字數標誌，便於讀者掌握閱讀進度。

7. 1500基本辭彙外的詞在原文部分用粗體顯示，譯文部分用深色粗體，由於翻譯的緣故，兩部分的詞性和意義並不完全對應，僅供參考。

8. 本系列讀物的前三本生詞全部標註，以後只標註兩次，出現兩次以後生詞就不再標註。

第一章試讀

The Detective Club

偵探俱樂部

1. The Detective Club

１.偵探俱樂部

Now, I am going to tell this exactly as it happened and then you can decide whether you think Betty Bliss was a clever detective or not.

現在，我要將發生的事情如實地講述出來，由你來認定貝蒂?布利斯是否是個聰明的偵探。

It began in Betty』s living room right here in Westcote, and there were five of us in it. I was there -- my name is Madge -- and of course Betty was there, and so was Dorothy Carver. The two boys were Dick Prince who lives next door to Betty, and Arthur Dane who lives next beyond Dick. We all live in the same neighborhood and in Tenth Street, so we had formed the Tenth Street Reading Circle, and we were reading detective mystery stories together. One of us read a chapter, and then another read a chapter, and so on.

故事就從貝蒂在韋斯科特城這兒的起居室開始，裡面有我們５個人。我在那兒——我的名字叫瑪奇——當然還有貝蒂，還有多蘿西?卡弗。那兩個男孩分別是住在貝蒂隔壁的迪克?普林斯，和住在迪克那一邊的亞瑟?戴恩。我們都是鄰居，而且住在十街，所以我們組成了十街閱讀圈。我們正在一起讀偵探神秘故事。其中一人讀一章，然後另一個讀一章，以此類推。

So this evening we were reading the last of The Mystery of the Golden Puffin. This is a pretty good story, and Betty Bliss said, 「I』d love to be a detective. All my life I』ve wanted to be a detective.」

就這樣，今天晚上我們在讀《金海鸚之謎》的最後一章。這是一個特別好的故事，貝蒂?布利斯說：「我想當個偵探。我有生以來一直都想當偵探呢。」

This was so. I remembered when Betty persuaded me to go with her to see Mr. Cassidy, the Chief of Detectives in Westcote. He told us a lot of things about detecting, and Betty said then she wished she could be a detective.

是這樣的。我想起了貝蒂說服了我跟她去見韋斯科特城的探長凱西迪先生的情形。他給我們講了許多關於偵查的事情，貝蒂當時就說自己希望能當個偵探。

「Yes,」 I said, 「and I remember when Mr. Cassidy put the handcuffs on us. I was glad when he took them off again.」

「是的，」我說，「我記得凱西迪先生給我們戴上手銬的情形。他把手銬再次取下來的時候我非常高興。」

「But he did say girls could be detectives -- when they grew up,」 Betty said. 「There are lots of women detectives.」

「可他的確說過女孩也可以當偵探的——等長大後，」貝蒂說。「有許多女偵探呢。」

「Women, maybe,」 said Dick Prince coldly. 「But I』ve never heard of girl detectives!」

「女的，也許吧，」迪克?普林斯冷冰冰地說。「但是我從來沒聽說過女孩當偵探啊！」

「Just because there never have been any girl detectives,」 Betty Bliss said. 「I』ll tell you what would be fun. We』ll form a Detective Club, to do real detecting. Just the five of us.」

「那只是因為沒有女孩當偵探罷了，」貝蒂?布利斯說。「我要告訴你們一件有趣的事。我們要組建一個偵探俱樂部，真正進行偵查。只有我們五個人。」

「Not for me,」 said Dick Prince, who thinks he is smart. 「I don』t go into any detective club with girls.」

「別算我，」迪克?普林斯說。他覺得自己很聰明。「我可不會跟女孩參加什麼偵探俱樂部的。」

「All right, then,」 said Betty Bliss, 「you boys needn』t come in! We girls will be the Detective Club. We』ll make it a sort of Scotland Yard, Madge, like the one in London. I』ll be Superintendent, and you and Dot can be Inspectors.」

「那好吧，」貝蒂?布利斯說，「你們男孩就不用加入了！我們女孩要成立偵探俱樂部。我們要把它建成類似於蘇格蘭場的組織，瑪奇，就跟倫敦那個一樣。我要當探長，你和多特可以當巡官。」

「We』d better not call it Scotland Yard,」 Dot said. 「If we solve a lot of cases and become famous all over the world, we wouldn』t want anybody to think we were the London Scotland Yard, would we?」

「我們最好別把它稱為蘇格蘭場，」多特說。「如果我們破了許多案子，全世界都出名了，我們就不想讓人覺得我們是蘇格蘭場，對吧？」

「Listen to them!」 laughed Dick Prince. 「Famous! Wow!」

「聽她們說的！」迪克?普林斯大笑著說。「出名！哇！」

「We can call ourselves Tenth Street Yard,」 said Betty, paying no attention to Dick. 「That』s where we are -- on Tenth Street.」

「我們可以自稱為十街場，」貝蒂沒理會迪克，說道。「那是我們所在的地方——十街。」

So that was what we decided to call our detective club, and we made Betty Bliss the Superintendent, and Dot and me Inspectors, while the boys joked about it. But Betty was serious.

於是，我們就決定把我們的偵探俱樂部叫那個名字，我們讓貝蒂?布利斯當探長，多特和我當巡官，而兩個男孩在一邊嘲笑。但貝蒂是認真的。

「You wait,」 she said. 「One of these days there』ll be a crime in Westcote, and Tenth Street Yard will do some detecting, and maybe you』ll be surprised.」

「你們等著，」她說。「總有一天，韋斯科特城會發生犯罪，十街場會進行偵探，也許你們會吃驚的。」

And the next morning, a crime was discovered. Betty had asked Dot and me to go over to her house and play croquet. We got there as she was finishing breakfast and we went out of the house together. But as soon as we got to the lawn, we saw Silas, the man-of-all-work for the block, getting ready to cut the grass.

第二天早上，就發現了一起犯罪。貝蒂曾叫多特和我到她家裡去打槌球。她剛剛吃完早飯我們就到了那裡，然後我們一起走出了房子。但是我們一到達草坪，就看見這片街區的雜役賽拉斯正在準備割草。

「Oh, well, we』ll do something else now,」 Betty said. 「Let』s go over and play at Dick』s -- shall we?」

「哦，好吧，現在我們干別的吧，」貝蒂說。「我們去迪克的家去玩——好嗎？」

So we went around through the gates into Dick Prince』s yard, and there, we saw Dick and Arthur.

於是我們繞過大門，來到了迪克?普林斯的院子，並且在那裡見到了迪克和亞瑟。

「Betty,」 Dick said, 「we were just going to get you. If you want to be a detective, here』s your chance. Woof is gone. Someone stole him.」

「貝蒂，」迪克說，「我們正要找你呢。如果你想當偵探，這兒有一個機會。伍夫不見了。有人把它偷走了。」

Arthur Dane pointed to the big doghouse, to which Woof was always chained.

亞瑟?戴恩指了指那個大狗窩，伍夫一直拴在那裡的。

「He』s gone all right,」 he said. 「We came out to feed him and he was gone. Stolen. And more than one man was needed to steal him -- I say it would take three or four men to get away with Woof.」

「它確實不見了，」他說。「我們出來喂它，它就不見了。被盜了。要偷走它需要不止一人呢——可以說需要三四個人才能把伍夫帶走呢。」

Betty was already on her way to the doghouse, and Dot and I were close behind her. Betty stopped before she reached the doghouse and looked at Dick.

貝蒂已經在朝狗窩走去了，多特和我緊跟著她。走到狗窩之前，貝蒂停下來，看看迪克。

「What have you done about it?」 she asked. 「You weren』t coming for me first, were you? Didn』t you tell the police?」

「這事你是怎麼處理呢？」她問。「你沒有先來找我，對吧？你報警了嗎？」

「Yes,」 Dick said. 「I did that the very first thing. I went in and asked them to send up a policeman and one is on the way now. He』ll be here any minute. But you talk so much about wanting to be a detective that I thought I』d give you a chance.」

「是的，」迪克說。「我首先那麼做的。我去那兒叫他們派個警察來，現在有個警察已經在路上了。他隨時都會來。但是你經常說當偵探的事，所以我感覺要給你一個機會。」

The big doghouse stood at the side of the Prince garage. Now, the splendid Belgian police dog was gone. When he was in the doghouse, he always came out to greet Betty and Dot and me because he liked us. He would jump to meet us, pulling at the chain that fastened him and barking with joy, but now there was only the empty doghouse. A tin plate with a dog biscuit and some dog food was on the smooth ground. The biscuit and the food were untouched, showing that Woof had been gone when Dick and Arthur put the plate there.

大狗窩就在普林斯家車庫的一邊。現在，這隻優秀的比利時警犬不見了。過去它在狗窩的時候，它老是出來同貝蒂、多特和我打招呼，因為它喜歡我們。它會跳起來迎接我們，扯著拴著它的鏈子，高興地叫，可現在只剩下空蕩蕩的狗窩了。平整的地上有一個鐵皮盤子，上面放著一塊狗餅乾和狗食。餅乾和狗食沒有動，說明在迪克和亞瑟把盤子放著那裡的時候，伍夫就已經不見了。

Before Betty could make any closer inspection, the policeman came and Dick』s mother came from the house. She spoke to the policeman, and he touched his cap and said, 「Good morning, Mrs. Prince.」

貝蒂還沒來得及仔細檢查，警察就來了，迪克的媽媽從屋裡過來。她跟警察打招呼，他碰了碰帽子說道：「早上好，普林斯夫人。」

He was the pleasant red-faced officer who patrolled our part of town and we all knew him to speak to. He drew his notebook from his pocket, pushed his cap to the back of his head, and began asking questions, writing down the answers in the notebook.

他就是在我們這片城區巡邏的那個和藹的紅臉警官，我們都認識他，常跟他打招呼。他從口袋裡掏出筆記本，把帽子推到頭的後邊，然後開始問問題，同時在筆記本上記錄著回答。

「Name of owner?」 asked Officer Murphy. 「What kind of dog? What color? Any special marks on him? What is the value of the dog?」

「主人的名字？」墨菲警官問。「什麼品種的狗？什麼顏色？身上有特殊的標記嗎？狗的價值是多少？」

He asked a couple of dozen such questions, and Dick answered them. He said that Woof had cost fifty dollars when they bought him, and that he was now full grown and worth over a hundred dollars.

他問了幾十個這樣的問題，迪克都回答了。他說他們買伍夫的時候花去了５０美元，現在它已經長大了，要值１００多元了。

「And that』s important,」 said Officer Murphy. 「A hundred-dollar dog is a serious matter. And I shouldn』t wonder if the whole detective force would be after the thief.」

「那很重要，」墨菲警官說。「一條價值１００美元的狗是件嚴重的事。即使整個偵探隊伍都在尋找小偷，我也不會吃驚的。」

「I hope you find him. He』s a good dog,」 said Dick Prince.

「我希望你能找到它。它是一條好狗啊，」迪克?普林斯說。

「We』ll do our best,」 said Officer Murphy, putting his notebook in his pocket, 「but these dog stealers are very professional. You see how it is -- they come in a car and put the dog into it by night, and by morning they can be a couple of hundred miles away -- and who knows where to look for the dog?」

「我們要儘力而為，」墨菲警官把筆記本放進口袋，說道，「但是這些盜狗賊非常專業。你知道是怎麼做的——他們晚上開著車進來，然後把狗放在車上，到早上的時候，他們可能已經走了幾百英里遠了——誰知道該去哪兒找這條狗呢？」

「Isn』t there anything else we can do?」 Dick asked, and Officer Murphy turned to Mrs. Prince.

「我們就沒有別的辦法了嗎？」迪克問。墨菲警官轉身面對普林斯夫人。

「You might advertise, ma』am,」 he said. 「Like 『Fifty dollars reward will be paid for the return of a Belgian police dog,』 and so on. Dog thieves steal dogs for the money they can get, and they don』t care whose. Often, if 『No questions asked』 is put into the advertisement, they would return the animal. That』s often the best way to get a dog back.」

「你也可以登廣告，夫人，」他說。「比如『送還比利時警犬者酬謝５０美元』等等。盜狗賊偷狗是為了弄得錢，他們不在乎是誰的錢。經常，如果廣告上加上『不問問題』，他們會把狗送回來的。那經常是找回狗的最好方式。」

「But, Mr. Murphy,」 asked Betty, 「don』t the detectives look for clues and follow them and find dogs?」

「可是，墨菲先生，」貝蒂問，「難道偵探就不尋找線索，然後隨著線索去找到狗嗎？」

「Well, young lady,」 said Officer Murphy as he prepared to go, 「I suppose the detective force does the best it can, but what sort of a clue would there be when a dog is taken away? Not any, I』m thinking. We do the best we can. So good day to you.」

「哦，小姑娘，」墨菲警官準備走的時候說，「我想偵探隊伍會盡全力的，但是一隻狗被偷走了會有什麼線索呢？什麼都沒有，我在想。我們會儘力而為，所以再見了。」

With that, Officer Murphy went away and Mrs. Prince went into the house to telephone an advertisement to the paper, as I supposed, and Betty Bliss turned to Dick and Arthur.

說完，墨菲警官走了，我猜想，普林斯夫人到房子里給報社打電話登廣告去了，貝蒂?布利斯轉向迪克和亞瑟。

「If you boys want to join the detective club,」 she said, 「now is your chance. We』re not going to play detective, we』re really going to detect. We』re going to find Woof, and we』re going to find who stole him. Do you want to join Tenth Street Yard, or don』t you?」

「如果你們兩個男孩想加入偵探俱樂部，」她說，「現在就是你們的機會。我們不是要玩偵探遊戲，我們是要真正偵查。我們要找到伍夫，我們要查出是誰偷走了它的。你想加入十街場嗎？」

「Yes?」 Dick spoke just as coldly as the night before. 「How are you going to do anything? There』s nothing to do. Murphy said so. There』s no clue -- no footprints, or fingerprints, or anything. Art (△△△△Arthur) and I will keep out of it.」

「加入？」迪克說話跟頭天夜裡一樣冷淡。「你們打算怎麼行動呢？沒有一點辦法，墨菲這麼說的。沒有線索——沒有腳印，或者指紋，什麼都沒有。亞特（△△△△亞瑟）和我不會加入。」

Well, there did not seem to be anything to begin with. The empty doghouse couldn』t talk, and the dog -- where was he? But Inspector Betty Bliss of Tenth Street Yard had already turned her back on Dick and Arthur, and she was examining the empty doghouse.

哦，好像開始就沒有頭緒。那個空蕩蕩的狗窩不會說話，那條狗——它在哪兒呢？但是十街場的巡官貝蒂?布利斯已經把背轉向了迪克和亞瑟，她在檢查那個空狗窩。