A skeleton in the cupboard

“家丑”

We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.

It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very pound of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spend an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the tow suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than "a terrible secret'; this was a read skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. 'That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.'

在小說中，我們經(jīng)常讀到一個表面上受人尊重的人物或家庭，卻有著某種多年不為人所知的駭人聽聞的秘密。英語中有一個生動的說法來形容這種情況。驚人的秘密稱作“柜中骷髏”。在小說的某個戲劇性時刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出來，接著便是某人的聲譽掃地。當讀者到小說最后幾頁了解到書中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可愛的老婦人年輕時一連毒死了她的5個丈夫時，不禁會毛骨悚然。

這種事發(fā)生在小說中是無可非議的。盡管我們?nèi)巳硕加懈鞣N大小秘密。連最親密的朋友都不愿讓他們知道， 但我們當中極少有人有柜中骷髏。我所認識的唯一的在柜中藏骷嶁的人便是喬治.卡爾頓，他甚至引以為自豪。喬治年輕時學過醫(yī)，然而，他后來沒當上醫(yī)生，卻成了一位成功的偵探小說作家。有一次，我在他家里度周末，過得很不愉快。這事我永遠不會忘記。喬治把我領進客房，說這間很少使用。他讓我打開行裝后下樓吃飯。我將襯衫、內(nèi)衣放進兩個空抽屜里，然后我想把隨身帶來的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣柜里去。我打開柜門，站在柜門前一下驚呆了。一具骷髏懸掛在眼前，由于柜門突然打開，它也隨之輕微搖晃起來，讓我覺得它好像馬上要跳出柜門朝我撲過來似的。我扔下西服沖下樓去告訴喬治。這是比“駭人聽聞的秘密”更加驚人的東西，這是一具真正的骷髏啊!但喬治卻無動于衷。“噢，是它呀!他笑著說道，儼然在談論一位老朋友。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學醫(yī)的了。”

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