where the heart is, and insert it gradually, softly and gently. That's



all but the point would have been driven by Mme. Mergy. You understand:

a mother is pitiless, a mother whose son is about to die!... 'Speak,



Daubrecq, or I'll go deeper. ... You won't speak? ... Then I'll push

another quarter of an inch... and another still.' And the patient's



heart stops beating, the heart that feels the needle coming... And

another quarter of an inch ... and one more... I swear before Heaven



that the villain would have spoken!... We leant over him and waited for

him to wake, trembling with impatience, so urgent was our hurry... Can't



you picture the scene, monsieur le secretaire-general? The scoundrel

lying on a sofa, well bound, bare-chested, making efforts to throw off



the fumes of chloroform that dazed him. He breathes quicker... He

gasps... He recovers consciousness...his lips move. ... Already,



Clarisse Mergy whispers, 'It's I... it's I, Clarisse... Will you answer,

you wretch?' She has put her finger on Daubrecq's chest, at the spot



where the heart stirs like a little animal hidden under the skin. But

she says to me, 'His eyes ... his eyes... I can't see them under the



spectacles... I want to see them... 'And I also want to see those eyes

which I do not know, I want to see their anguish and I want to read in



them, before I hear a word, the secret which is about to burst from the

inmost recesses of the terrified body. I want to see. I long to see.



The action which I am about to accomplish excites me beyond measure. It

seems to me that, when I have seen the eyes, the veil will be rent



asunder. I shall know things. It is a presentiment. It is the profound

intuition of the truth that keeps me on tenterhooks. The eye-glasses



are gone. But the thick opaque spectacles are there still. And I snatch

them off, suddenly. And, suddenly, startled by a disconcerting vision,



dazzled by the quick light that breaks in upon me and laughing, oh, but

laughing fit to break my jaws, with my thumb - do you understand? with my



thumb - hop, I force out the left eye!"

M. Nicole was really laughing, as he said, fit to break his jaws. And



he was no longer the timid little unctuous and obsequious provincial

usher, but a well-set-up fellow, who, after reciting and mimicking the



whole scene with impressiveardour, was now laughing with a shrill

laughter the sound of which made Prasville's flesh creep:



"Hop! Jump, Marquis! Out of your kennel, Towzer! What's the use of

two eyes? It's one more than you want. Hop! I say, Clarisse, look



at it rolling over the carpet! Mind Daubrecq's eye! Be careful with

the grate!"



M. Nicole, who had risen and pretended to be hunting after something

across the room, now sat down again, took from his pocket a thing shaped



like a marble, rolled it in the hollow of his hand, chucked it in the

air, like a ball, put it back in his fob and said, coolly:



"Daubrecq's left eye."

Prasville was utterly bewildered. What was his strange visitor driving



at? What did all this story mean? Pale with excitement, he said:

"Explain yourself."



"But it's all explained, it seems to me. And it fits in so well with

things as they were, fits in with all the conjectures which I had been



making in spite of myself and which would inevitably have led to my

solving the mystery, if that damned Daubrecq had not so cleverly sent



me astray! Yes, think, follow the trend of my suppositions: 'As the

list is not to be discovered away from Daubrecq,' I said to myself, 'it



cannot exist away from Daubrecq. And, as it is not to be discovered in

the clothes he wears, it must be hidden deeper still, in himself, to



speak plainly, in his flesh, under his skin... "

"In his eye, perhaps?" suggested Prasviile, by way of a joke... "



"In his eye? Monsieur le secretaire-general, you have said the word."

"What?"



"I repeat, in his eye. And it is a truth that ought to have occurred

to my mind logically, instead of being revealed to me by accident. And



I will tell you why. Daubrecq knew that Clarisse had seen a letter from

him instructing an English manufacturer to 'empty the crystal within, so



as to leave a void which it was unpossible to suspect.' Daubrecq was

bound, in prudence, to divert any attempt at search. And it was for



this reason that he had a crystal stopper made, 'emptied within,' after

a model supplied by himself. And it is this crystal stopper which you



and I have been after for months; and it is this crystal stopper which I

dug out of a packet of tobacco. Whereas all I had to do... "



"Was what?" asked Prasville, greatly puzzled.

• collar [´kɔlə] n.衣领；(狗等的)项圈 (初中英语单词)


• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)


• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)


• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)


• monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


• miracle [´mirəkl] n.奇迹；令人惊奇的 (初中英语单词)


• intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图；打算；意义 (初中英语单词)


• kettle [´ketl] n.水壶 (初中英语单词)


• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)


• thereupon [,ðeərə´pɔn] ad.因此；于是 (初中英语单词)


• confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• obtain [əb´tein] v.获得；买到；得到承认 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• reflect [ri´flekt] v.反射；反响；表达 (初中英语单词)


• phrase [freiz] n.短语；词组；措词 (初中英语单词)


• modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)


• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)


• shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• useless [´ju:sləs] a.无用的，无价值的 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• undoubtedly [ʌn´dautidli] ad.无疑地，确实地 (初中英语单词)


• violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)


• emotion [i´məuʃən] n.感情；情绪；激动 (初中英语单词)


• worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)


• occasional [ə´keiʒənəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (初中英语单词)


• needle [´ni:dl] n.针；指针 v.用针缝 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)


• marble [´mɑ:bəl] n.大理石 a.大理石的 (初中英语单词)


• visitor [´vizitə] n.访问者；来宾；参观者 (初中英语单词)


• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)


• mystery [´mistəri] n.神秘；秘密；故弄玄虚 (初中英语单词)


• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)


• manufacturer [,mænju´fæktʃərə] n.制造人；工厂主 (初中英语单词)


• crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)


• tobacco [tə´bækəu] n.烟草(叶)；卷烟 (初中英语单词)


• whereas [weər´æz] conj.鉴于；因此；而 (初中英语单词)


• scandal [´skændl] n.丑闻；耻辱；流言蜚语 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• comfortably [´kʌmfətəbli] ad.舒适地 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• inevitable [i´nevitəbəl] a.不可避免的 (高中英语单词)


• dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中英语单词)


• indulge [in´dʌldʒ] v.(使)沉迷；沉溺；放任 (高中英语单词)


• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)


• genuine [´dʒenjuin] a.真正的；真诚的 (高中英语单词)


• execution [,eksi´kju:ʃən] n.执行；演奏；表演 (高中英语单词)


• disorder [dis´ɔ:də] n.杂乱 vt.扰乱 (高中英语单词)


• indispensable [,indi´spensəbəl] a.绝对必要的 (高中英语单词)


• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)


• precaution [pri´kɔ:ʃən] n.预防 vt.预先警告 (高中英语单词)


• corridor [´kɔridɔ:] n.走廊；指定航路 (高中英语单词)


• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)


• formidable [´fɔ:midəbəl] a.可怕的；艰难的 (高中英语单词)


• insert [in´sə:t, ´insə:t] vt.插入；夹入 n.插入物 (高中英语单词)


• anguish [´æŋgwiʃ] n.(极度的)痛苦；苦恼 (高中英语单词)


• impressive [im´presiv] a.给人深刻印象的 (高中英语单词)


• damned [dæmd] a.该死的 ad.非常，极 (高中英语单词)


• divert [dai´və:t] vt.转移注意力；消遣 (高中英语单词)


• briskly [´briskli] ad.轻快地；活泼地 (英语四级单词)


• physically [´fizikəli] ad.按照自然规律 (英语四级单词)


• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)


• adversary [´ædvəsəri] n.敌手，对手 (英语四级单词)


• daring [´deəriŋ] a.&n.勇敢(的) (英语四级单词)


• villain [´vilən] n.坏人；恶棍；反面角色 (英语四级单词)


• impatience [im´peiʃəns] n.不耐烦，急躁 (英语四级单词)


• urgent [´ə:dʒənt] a.急迫的，紧急的 (英语四级单词)


• ardour [´ɑ:də] n.热心，热情 (英语四级单词)


• inevitably [in´evitəbli] ad.不可避免地；必然地 (英语四级单词)


• prudence [´pru:dəns] n.谨慎；慎重；节俭 (英语四级单词)


• packet [´pækit] n.盒 vt.…打成小包 (英语四级单词)


• timidly [´timidli] ad.胆怯地 (英语六级单词)


• identity [ai´dentiti] n.身份；同一性；一致 (英语六级单词)


• infamous [´infəməs] a.声名狼藉的 (英语六级单词)


• infernal [in´fə:nəl] a.地狱的，恶魔似的 (英语六级单词)


• coolness [´ku:lnis] n.凉，凉爽；冷静 (英语六级单词)


• pitiless [´pitiləs] a.无怜悯心的；无情的 (英语六级单词)


• beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)


• kennel [´kenl] n.狗窝；养狗场 (英语六级单词)


• hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)