Lesson 35 Justice was done

Towards midday, a girl heard a muffed cry coming from behind on of the walls.

快到中午的時候，一個女售貨員聽見從一堵墻里傳出一種悶聲悶氣的叫聲。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

As the cry was repeated several times, she ran to tell the manager who promptly rang up the fire brigade.

由于這種喊叫聲重復了幾次，她跑去報告經理，經理當即給消防隊掛了電話。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

The cry had certainly come form one of the chimneys, but as there were so many of them, the fire fighters could not be certain which one it was.

喊叫聲肯定是從煙囪里傳出來的，然而，因為煙囪太多，消防隊員無法確定到底是哪一個。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

They located the right chimney by tapping at the walls and listening for the man's cries.

他們通過叫擊煙囪傾叫聲而確定傳出聲音的那個煙囪。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

After chipping through a wall which was eighteen inches thick, they found that a man had been trapped in the chimney.

他們鑿透了18英寸厚的墻壁，發現有個人卡在煙囪里。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

As it was extremely narrow, the man was unable to move,

由于煙囪太窄，那人無法動彈。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

but the fire fighters were eventually able to free him by cutting a huge hole in the wall.

消防隊員在墻上挖了個大洞，才終于把他解救出來。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

The sorry-looking, blackened figure that emerged, admitted at once that he had tried to break into the shop during the night but had got stuck in the chimney.

那個看來滿臉沮喪、渾身漆黑的家伙從煙囪里一出來，就承認頭天夜里他企圖到店里行竅，但讓煙囪卡住了。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

He had been there for nearly ten hours.

他已經在煙囪里被困了將近10個小時。

Lesson 35 Justice was done

Justice had been done even before the man was handed over to the police.

甚至在那人還沒被送交給警察之前，正義就已得到了伸張。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

We are less credulous than we used to be.

我們不再像以往那樣輕易相信別人了。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences -- most of them wildly improbable.

在19世紀，小說家常在小說結尾處給讀者準備一系列的巧合——大部分是牽強附會，極不可能的。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother.

當時的讀者卻愉快地接受這樣一些事實，一個低賤的女傭實際上是主人公的母親；

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

A long-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero's downfall.And so on.

主人公一位長期失散的兄弟，大家都以為死了，實際上一直活著，并且正在策劃暗算主人公；如此等等，

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Modern readers would find such naive solution totally unacceptable.

現代讀者會覺得這種天真的結局完全無法接受。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible.

不過，在現實生活中，有時確實會出現一些巧合，這些巧合除了19世紀小說家外誰也不會相信。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman,

當我是個孩子的時候，我祖父給我講了一位德國出租汽車司機弗朗茲。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.

巴斯曼如何找到了據信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

While on a walking tour with his wife,

一次，他與妻子徒步旅行。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

he stooped to talk to a workman.After they had gone on,

途中，停下來與一個工人交談，接著他們繼續往前走去。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Mrs.Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother.

巴斯曼夫人說那工人與她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜測他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war.

弗朗茲對此不屑一顧，指出他兄弟已經在戰爭中陣亡了。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Though Mrs.Busssman fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right.

盡管巴斯曼夫人熟知這個情況，但她仍然認為自己的想法仍有百萬分之一的可能性。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman.

幾天后，她派了一個男孩去問那人是否叫漢斯。巴斯曼。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother.

不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是漢斯。巴斯曼，他確實是弗朗茲失散多年的兄弟。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive.

兄弟倆團聚之時，漢斯說明了他活下來的經過，

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit.

戰爭即將結束時，他負傷被送進醫院，并與部隊失去聯系。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot.

醫院遭到轟炸，漢斯步行回到了西德。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed.

與此同時，他所在部隊被擊潰，他的所有檔案材料全部毀于戰火。

Lesson 36 A chance in a million

Hans returned to his family home, but the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become of the inhabitants.

漢斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毀，左鄰右舍誰也不知原住戶的下落，