Cell No. 5 in the felony tank has two
bunks1, Pullman style, but the tank was not very full and I had the cell to myself. In the felony tank they treat you pretty well. You get two blankets, neither dirty nor clean, and a lumpy
mattress3 two inches thick which goes over crisscrossed.metal slats. There is a flush toilet, a washbasin, paper towels and gritty gray soap. The cell block is clean and doesn't smell of disinfectant. The trusties do the work. The supply of trusties is always ample. The jail deputies look you over and they have wise eyes. Unless you are a drunk or a psycho or act like one you get to keep your matches and cigarettes. Until preliminary you wear your own clothes. After that you wear the jail
denim4, no tie, no belt, no shoelaces. You sit on the
bunk2 and wait. There is nothing else to do, In the drunk tank it is not so good. No bunk, no chair, no blankets, no nothing. You lie on the concrete floor. You sit on the toilet and
vomit5 in your own lap. That is the depth of
misery6. I've seen it. Although it was still daylight the lights were on in the ceiling. Inside the steel door of the cell block was a basket of steel bars around the Judas window. The lights were controlled from outside the steel door. They went out atnine P.M. Nobody came through the door or said anything. You might be in the middle of a sentence in a newspaper or magazine. Without any sound of a click or any warning—darkness. And there you were until the summer dawn with nothing to do but sleep if you could, smoke if you had anything to smoke, and think if you had anything to think about that didn't make you feel worse than not thinking at all. In jail a man has no personality. He is a
minor7 disposal problem and a few entries on reports. Nobody cares who loves or hates him, what he looks like, what he did with his life. Nobody reacts to him unless he gives trouble. Nobody abuses him. All that is asked of him is that he go quietly to the right cell and remain quiet when he gets there. There nothing to fight against, nothing to be mad at. The ers are quiet men without animosity or sadism. All this stuff you read about men yelling and screaming, beating against the bars, running spoons along them, guards rushing in with clubs—all that is for the big house. A good jail is one of the quietest places in the world. You could walk through the average cell block at night and look in 4hrough the bars and see a
huddle8 of brown blanket, or a head of hair, or a pair of eyes looking at nothing. You might hear a snore. Once in a long while you might hear a nightmare. The life in a jail is in suspension, without purpose or meaning. In another cell you might see a man who cannot sleep or even try to sleep. He is sitting on the edge of his bunk doing nothing. He looks at you or you look at him. He says nothing and you say nothing. There is nothing to communicate. In the corner of the cell block there may be a second steel door that leads to the show-up box. One of its walls is wire
mesh9 painted black. On the back wall are ruled lines for height. Overhead are floodlights. You go in there in the morning as a rule, just before the night captain goes off duty. You stand against the measuring lines and the lights glare at you and there is no light behind the wire mesh. But plent) of people are out there: cops, detectives, citizens who have been robbed or assaulted or swindled or kicked out of their cars at gun point or
conned10 out of their life
savings11. You don't see or hear them. You hear the voice of the night aptain. You receive him loud and clear. He puts you through your paces as if you were a performing dog. He is tired and
cynical12 and competent. He is the stage manager of a play that has had the longest run in history, but it no longer interests him. "All right. you. Stand straight. Pull your
belly13 in. Pull your chin in. Keep your shoulders back. Hold your head level. Look straight front. Turn left. Turn right. Face front again and hold your hands out. Palms up. Palms down. Pull your sleeves back. No visible scars. Hair dark brown, some gray. Eyes brown. Height six feet, one half inch. Weight about one ninety. Name, Philip Marlowe. Occupation private detective. Well; well, nice to see you, Marlowe. That's all. Next man." Much obliged, Captain. Thanks for the time. You forgot to have me open my mouth. I have some nice inlays and one very high-dass
porcelain15 jacket crown. Eighty-seven dollars worth of porcelain jacket crown. You forgot to look inside my nose too, Captain. A lot of scar tissue in there for you. Septum operation and was that guy a butcher! Two hours of it in those days. I hear they do it in twenty minutes now. I got it playing football, Captain, a slight miscalculation in an attempt to block a punt. I blocked the guy's foot instead—after he kicked the ball. Fifteen yards penalty, and that's about how much stiff
bloody16 tape they pulled out of my nose an inch at a time the day after the operation. I'm not
bragging17, Captain. I'm just telling you. It's the little things that count. On the third day a deputy unlocked my cell in the middle of the morning. "Your lawyer's here. Kill the butt—and not on the floor." I flushed it down the toilet. He took me to the conference room. A tall pale dark-haired man was
standing18 there looking out of the window. There was a fat brown
briefcase19 on the table. He turned. He waited for the door to close. Then he sat down near his briefcase on the far side of a scarred oak table that came out of the Ark. Noah bought it secondhand. The lawyer opened a hammered silver cigarette case and put it in front of him and looked me over. "Sit down, Marlowe. Care for a cigarette? My name is Endicott. Sewell Endicott. I've been instructed to represent you without cost or expense to you. I guess you'd like to get out of here, wouldn't you?" I sat down and took one of the cigarettes. He held a
lighter20 for me. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Endicott. We've met before —while you were D.A." He nodded, "I don't remember, but it's quite possible." He smiled faintly. "That position was not quite in my line. I guess I don't have enough tiger in me." "Who sent you?" "I'm not at liberty to say. If you accept me as your attorney, the fee will be taken care of." "I guess that means they've got him." He just stared at me. I
puffed21 at the cigarette. It was one of those things with filters in them. It tasted like a high fog strained through cotton wool. "If you mean Lennox," he said, "and of course you do, no — they haven't got him." "Why the mystery, Mr. Endicott? About who sent you." "My principal wishes to remain
anonymous22. That is the privilege of my principal. Do you accept me?" "I don't know," I said. "If they haven't got Terry, why are they holding me? Nobody has asked me anything, nobody has been near me." He frowned and looked down at his long white delicate fingers.. "District Attorney Springer has taken personal charge of this matter. He may have been too busy to question you yet. But you are entitled to
arraignment23 and a preliminary hearing. I can get you out on
bail24 on a habeas corpus
proceeding25. You probably know what the law is." "I'm booked on suspicion of murder." He
shrugged26 impatiently. "That's just a catch-all. You could have been booked in
transit27 to Pittsburgh, or any one of a dozen charges. What they probably mean is accessory after the fact. You took Lennox somewhere, didn't you?" I didn't answer. I dropped the tasteless cigarette on the floor and stepped on it. Endicott shrugged again and frowned. "Assume you did then, just for the sake of argument. To make you an accessory they have to prove intent. In this case that would mean knowledge that a crime had been committed and that Lennox was a
fugitive28. It's
bailable29 in any case. Of course what you really are is a material witness. But a man can't be held in prison as a material witness in this state except by court order. He's not a material witness unless a judge so declares. But the law enforcement people can always find a way to do what they want to do." "Yeah," I said. "A detective named Dayton slugged me. A homicide captain named Gregorius threw a cup of coffee at me, hit me in the neck hard enough to
bust30 an artery—you can see it's still
swollen31, and when a call from PoliceCommissioner Allbright kept him from turning me over to the
wrecking32 crew, he
spat33 in my face. You're quite right, Mr. Endicott. The law boys can always do what they want to do." He looked at his wrist watch rather
pointedly34. "You want out on bail or don't you?" "Thanks. I don't think I do. A guy out on bail is already half guilty in the public mind. If he gets off later on, he had a smart lawyer." "That's silly," he said impatiently. "Okay, it's silly. I'm silly. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. If you're in touch with Lennox, tell him to quit bothering about me. I'm not in here for him. I'm in here for me. No complaints. It's part of the deal. I'm in a business where people come to me with troubles. Big troubles, little troubles, but always troubles they don't want to take to the cops. How long would they come if any bruiser with a police shield could hold me upside down and drain my
guts35?" "I see your point," he said slowly. "But let me correct you on one thing. I am not in touch with Lennox. I scarcely know him. I'm an officer of the court, as all lawyers are. If I knew where Lennox was, I couldn't
conceal36 the information from the District Attorney. The most I could do would be to agree to surrender him at a
specified37 time and place after I had had an interview with him." "Nobody else would bother to send you here to help me." "Are you calling me a
liar38?" He reached down to rub out his cigarette stub on the underside of the table. "I seem to remember that you're a Virginian, Mr. Endicott. In this country we have a sort of historical fixation about Virginians. We think of them as the flower of southern
chivalry39 and honor." He smiled. "That was nicely said. I only wish it was true. But we're wasting time. If you had had a grain of sense you'd have told the police you hadn't seen Lennox for a week. It didn't have to be true. Under oath you could always have told the real story. There's no law against lying to the cops. They expect it. They feel much happier when you lie to them than when you refuse to talk to them. That's a direct challenge to their authority. What do you expect to gain by it?" I didn't answer. I didn't really have an answer. He stood up and reached for his hat and snapped his cigarette case shut and put it in his pocket. "You had to play the big scene," he said coldly. "Stand on your rights, talk about the law. How
ingenuous40 can a man get, Marlowe? A man like you who is supposed to know his way around, The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect
mechanism41. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be. I guess you're not in any mood to be helped. So I'll take myself off. You can reach me if you change your mind." "I'll stick it out for a day or two longer. If they catch Terry they won't care how he got away. All they'll care about is the circus they can make of the triaL The murder of Mr. Harlan Potter's daughter is headline material all over the country. A crowd-pleaser like Springer could ride himself right into Attorney General on that show, and from there into the governor's chair and from there—"I stopped talking and let the rest of it float in the air. Endicott smiled a slow
derisive42 smile. "I don't think you know very much about Mr. Harlan Potter," he said. "And if they don't get Lennox, they won't want to know how he got away, Mr. Endicott. They'll just want to forget the whole thing fast." "Got it all figured out, haven't you, Marlowe?" "I've had the time. All I know about Mr. Harlan Potter is that he is supposed to be worth a hundred million
bucks43, and that he owns nine or ten newspapers. How's the
publicity44 going?" "The publicity?" His voice was ice cold saying it. "Yeah. Nobody's interviewed me from the press. I expected to make a big noise in the papers out of this. Get lots of business. Private eye goes to jail rather than split on a
pal14." He walked to the door and turned with his hand on the knob. "You amuse me, Marlowe. You're childish in some ways, True, a hundred million dollars can buy a great deal of publicity. It can also, my friend, if shrewdly employed, buy a great deal of silence." He opened the door and went out. Then a deputy came in and took me back to Cell No. 3 in the felony block. "Guess you won't be with us long, if you've got Endicott," he said pleasantly as he locked me in. I said I hoped he was right.
点击
收听单词发音
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1
bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 |
参考例句： |
- These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句
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2
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 |
参考例句： |
- He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
- Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。
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3
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 |
参考例句： |
- The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
- The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。
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4
denim
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| n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤 |
参考例句： |
- She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
- Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。
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5
vomit
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| v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物 |
参考例句： |
- They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
- She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。
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6
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 |
参考例句： |
- Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
- He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
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7
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 |
参考例句： |
- The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
- I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
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8
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 |
参考例句： |
- They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
- The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。
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9
mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 |
参考例句： |
- Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
- This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。
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conned
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| adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句
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savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 |
参考例句： |
- I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
- By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。
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cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 |
参考例句： |
- The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
- He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 |
参考例句： |
- The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
- His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
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pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 |
参考例句： |
- He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
- Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。
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15
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 |
参考例句： |
- These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
- The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 |
参考例句： |
- He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
- He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
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bragging
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| v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话 |
参考例句： |
- He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
- Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 |
参考例句： |
- After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
- They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
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briefcase
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| n.手提箱，公事皮包 |
参考例句： |
- He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
- He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 |
参考例句： |
- The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
- The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
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21
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 |
参考例句： |
- He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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22
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 |
参考例句： |
- Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
- The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。
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23
arraignment
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| n.提问，传讯，责难 |
参考例句： |
- She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
- Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 |
参考例句： |
- One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
- She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 |
参考例句： |
- This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
- The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。
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26
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） |
参考例句： |
- Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
- She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 |
参考例句： |
- His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
- The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 |
参考例句： |
- The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
- The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。
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bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 |
参考例句： |
- I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
- She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 |
参考例句： |
- Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
- A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。
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32
wrecking
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| 破坏 |
参考例句： |
- He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句
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33
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 |
参考例句： |
- Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
- There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。
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pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 |
参考例句： |
- She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
- The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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35
guts
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| v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠 |
参考例句： |
- I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
- Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 |
参考例句： |
- He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
- He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
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specified
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| adj.特定的 |
参考例句： |
- The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
- It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。
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38
liar
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| n.说谎的人 |
参考例句： |
- I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
- She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
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39
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 |
参考例句： |
- The Middle Ages were also the great age of chivalry.中世纪也是骑士制度盛行的时代。
- He looked up at them with great chivalry.他非常有礼貌地抬头瞧她们。
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40
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 |
参考例句： |
- Only the most ingenuous person would believe such a weak excuse!只有最天真的人才会相信这么一个站不住脚的借口！
- With ingenuous sincerity,he captivated his audience.他以自己的率真迷住了观众。
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41
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 |
参考例句： |
- The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
- The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
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42
derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 |
参考例句： |
- A storm of derisive applause broke out.一阵暴风雨般的哄笑声轰然响起。
- They flushed,however,when she burst into a shout of derisive laughter.然而，当地大声嘲笑起来的时候，她们的脸不禁涨红了。
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43
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 |
参考例句： |
- They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
- They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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44
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 |
参考例句： |
- The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
- He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
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