VOA慢速英語: 菲茨·杰姆斯·奧布萊恩《鉆石鏡片》(2)

Our story is called "The Diamond Lens. " It was written by Fitz-James O'Brien. Today we will hear the second and final part of the story. Here is Maurice Joyce with part two of "The Diamond Lens."

Quiz - The Diamond Lens by Fitz-James O'Brien (Part 2)

When I was a child, someone gave me a microscope. Ispent hours looking through that microscope, exploringNature's tiny secrets. As I grew up, I became moreinterested in my microscope than in people.

When I was twenty years old, my parents sent me toNew York City to study medicine. I never went to any ofmy classes. Instead, I spent all my time, and a lot of mymoney, trying to build the perfect microscope. I wantedto make a powerful lens that would let me see even thesmallest parts of life. But all my experiments failed.

Then one day, I met a young man, who lived in theapartment above mine. Jules Simon told me about awoman who could speak to the dead. When I visitedMadame Vulpes, she let me speak to the spirit of theman who invented the microscope. The spirit of AntonLeeuwenhoek told me how to make a perfect lensfrom a diamond of one hundred forty carats.

But where could I find a diamond that big?

When I returned home, I went to Simon's apartment. He was surprised to see me and tried to hide a smallobject in his pocket. I wanted to discover what it was, so I brought two bottlesof wine to his apartment. We began to drink. By the time we had finished thefirst bottle, Simon was very drunk.

"Simon, I know you have a secret. Why don't you tell me about it?" Somethingin my voice must have made him feel safe. He made me promise to keep hissecret. Then he took a small box from his pocket. When he opened it, I saw alarge diamond shaped like a rose. A pure white light seemed to come fromdeep inside the diamond.

Simon told me he had stolen the diamond from a man in South America. Hesaid it weighed exactly one hundred forty carats.

Excitement shook my body. I could not believe my luck. On the same eveningthat the spirit of Leeuwenhoek tells me the secret of the perfect lens, I find thediamond I need to create it.

I decided to steal Simon's treasure.

I sat across the table from him as he drank another glass of wine. I knew Icould not simply steal the diamond. Simon would call the police. There wasonly one way to get the diamond. I had to kill Simon.

Everything I needed to murder Simon was right there in his apartment. A bottlefull of sleeping powder was on a table near his bed. A long thin knife lay on thetable. Simon was so busy looking at his diamond that I was able to put thedrug in his glass quite easily. He fell asleep in fifteen minutes.

I put his diamond in my pocket and carried Simon to the bed. I wanted to makethe police think Simon had killed himself. I picked up Simon's long thin knifeand stared down at him. I tried to imagine exactly how the knife would enterSimon's heart if he were holding the knife himself.

I pushed the knife deep into his heart. I heard a sound come from his throat,like the bursting of a large bubble. His body moved and his right hand grabbedthe handle of the knife. He must have died immediately.

I washed our glasses and took the two wine bottles away with me. I left thelights on, closed the door and went back to my apartment.

Simon's death was not discovered until three o'clock the next day. One of theneighbors knocked at his door and when there was no answer, she called thepolice. They discovered Simon's body on the bed. The police questionedeveryone. But they did not learn the truth. The police finally decided JulesSimon had killed himself, and soon everyone forgot about him. I hadcommitted the perfect crime.

For three months after Simon's death, I worked day and night on my diamondlens. At last the lens was done. My hands shook as I put a drop of water on apiece of glass. Carefully, I added some oil to the water to prevent it fromdrying. I turned on a strong light under the glass and looked through thediamond lens.

For a moment, I saw nothing in that drop of water. And then I saw a pure whitelight. Carefully, I moved the lens of my microscope closer to the drop of water.

Slowly, the white light began to change. It began to form shapes. I could seeclouds and wonderful trees and flowers. These plants were the most unusualcolors: bright reds, greens, purples, as well as silver and gold. The branchesof these trees moved slowly in a soft wind. Everywhere I looked, I could seefruits and flowers of a thousand different colors.

"How strange," I thought, "that this beautiful place has no animal life in it."

Then, I saw something moving slowly among the brightly-colored trees andbushes. The branches of a purple and silver bush were gently pushed aside. And, there, before my eye, stood the most beautiful woman I had ever seen! She was perfect: pink skin, large blue eyes and long golden hair that fell overher shoulders to her knees.

She stepped away from the rainbow-colored trees. Like a flower floating onwater, she drifted through the air. Watching her move was like listening to thesound of tiny bells ringing in the wind.

She went to the rainbow-colored trees and looked up at one of them. The treemoved one of its branches that was full of fruit. It lowered the branch to her, and she took one of the fruits. She turned it in her tiny hands and began to eat.

How I wished I had the power to enter that bright light and float with herthrough those beautiful forests.

Suddenly, I realized I had fallen in love with this tiny creature! I loved someonewho would never love me back. Someone who is a prisoner in a drop of water. I ran out of the room, threw myself on my bed and cried until I fell asleep.

Day after day, I returned to my microscope to watch her. I never left myapartment. I rarely even ate or slept.

One day, as usual, I went to my microscope, ready to watch my love. She was there, but a terrible change had taken place. Her face had become thin, and she could hardly walk. The wonderful light in her golden hair and blueeyes was gone. At that moment, I would have given my soul to become assmall as she and enter her world to help her.

What was causing her to be so sick? She seemed in great pain. I watched herfor hours, helpless and alone with my breaking heart. She grew weaker andweaker. The forest also was changing. The trees were losing their wonderfulcolors.

Suddenly, I realized I had not looked at the drop of water for several days. I had looked into it with the microscope, but not at it. As soon as I looked at theglass under the microscope, I understood the horrible truth. I had forgotten toadd more oil to the drop of water to stop it from drying. The drop of water haddisappeared.

I rushed again to look through the lens. The rainbow forests were all gone.

My love lay in a spot of weak light. Her pink body was dried and wrinkled. Hereyes were black as dust. Slowly she disappeared forever.

I fainted and woke many hours later on pieces of my microscope. I had fallenon it when I fainted. My mind was as broken as the diamond lens. I crawled tomy bed and withdrew from the world.

I finally got better, months later. But all my money was gone. People now say Iam crazy. They call me "Linley, the mad scientist."

No one believes I spoke to the spirit of Leeuwenhoek. They laugh when I tellthem how I killed Jules Simon and stole his diamond to make the perfect lens.They think I never saw that beautiful world in a drop of water.

But I know the truth of the diamond lens. And now, so do you.

You have just heard "The Diamond Lens" by Fitz-James O'Brien. It wasadapted by Dona de Sanctis. Your storyteller was Maurice Joyce.

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Words in This Story

Anton Leeuwenhoek- a Dutch tradesman and scientist, best known for hiswork on the development and improvement of the microscope and also for hiscontribution towards the study of microbiology

carat- n. a unit for measuring the weight of jewels (such as diamonds) that isequal to 200 milligrams

drunk- adj. having drunk so much alcohol that normal actions (such astalking, thinking, and moving) become difficult to do

commit- v. to do (something that is illegal or harmful)

drop- n. a very small amount of liquid that falls in a rounded shape?

wrinkle- n. a small line or fold that appears on your skin as you grow older —usually plural