the mystery of the moonstone教案
reference for teaching
ⅰ.异域风情
1.the stillwater secret
the truth
he was standing next to the statue again.he looked annoyed.
“i...i got lost,”i said.“who are you?”
he answered in a voice that was cold and hard.“my name is edward stark,”he said.
“why are you here?”i asked.
he took some moments to answer.“i just...come here,”he said at last.“maybe it’s because he’s here.”he looked up at the statue.“perhaps when he goes...i don’t know.”
was i imagining it,or did the ground move under my feet?
“george blackwood and my father were business partners,”he went on.“but blackwood ripped him off.”he laughed bitterly—a laugh which made my blood run cold.“people in the town thought george was a real golden boy,and they even made him mayor.then five years ago,he tried to cheat somebody else,and they started to look at all the businesses that he had had a hand in.they discovered that he’d been a thief for years.”the boy frowned,and looked away.“but she suspected something.she knew.”
“she?”i said.
“his daughter,betty,”said edward stark.“i loved betty,and we even talked about getting married.then my father discovered that blackwood had cheated him out of nearly half a million dollars!he nearly went out of his mind with worry,trying to prove it.but he failed.then soon after,he had a heart attack while he was driving his car.the car crashed,and he and his passager were both killed.it was blackwood who killed my father—murderer!”
“who...was the passenger?”i asked.but i knew the answer.
“i was,”he said.
“you’re dead,”i said.i’m talking to a ghost,i thought.
he laughed.“dead?yes,i guess i am.and you’re the first person who has ever been able to see me.”
“i’m betty’s daughter,”i said.
“ah!i see,”he said.there was a far-away look in his eyes.
“i loved betty very much.”
“when did you...?”i began.
“die?”he said.“december 1st,1975.”
two days before the big argument!i thought.two days before my mother left stillwater.
suddenly,the path moved under my feet.the statue began to shake.
“it’s another slide!”cried edward.“the chiff’s going!”
2.the stillwater secret
a narrow escape
i fell on to my knees and desperately tried to grab hold of something—anything!
“help me!”i screamed.i was slipping downwards with the ground.
i could see edward’s face above me—and behind him the statue was starting to fall!
“here!grab my hand!”edward shouted.but his voice seemed far away.
i put out a hand...and held something.a moment later it was pulling me up.
