Chapter 32

The two magicians continued to taunt¹ each other mercilessly on stage. William’s eyes drifted back toward the bright lights and the loud bickering². He smiled, couldn’t help it. The magicians were part of tonight too, a big part, actually. Important as hell.  Daniel and Charles were in their early forties. They were handsome in a crude sort of way, confident, especially in the eyes of the tawdry Vegas crowd.
Daniel spoke³ to the audience as if he were a trial lawyer cleverly engaging a jury. He waved a long, highly polished sword, using it for emphasis.
‘We are performance artists, possibly the best now working in the world. We’ve played at Madison Square, and the Winter Garden in New York, the Magic Castle, the Palladium in London, the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris. We’ve headlined in Frankfurt, Sydney, Melbourne, Moscow, Tokyo of course.’
Charles seemed bored by his partner’s self-serving speech. He sat down on the edge of the stage and yawned until his tonsils showed.  ‘They don’t care about your pedigree, Daniel,’ Charles finally spoke. ‘Most of these bumpkins wouldn’t know Houdini from Siegfried and Roy. Do a cheap trick, that’s what the/re here for. Tricks are for kids, and they’re all kids! Do a trick! Do a cheap, slick trick!’ Daniel suddenly pointed⁴ the tip of his sword at his partner. He waggled it threateningly. ‘I’m warning you, chump.’ William looked over at the couple sitting beside him. ‘This part is pretty good,’ he whispered, ‘believe it or not.’
He caught the man’s eye, but the actor quickly pulled his gaze away. Too late. He had him too. The male wanted to get into his pants.  Who could blame him? God, he wanted to feed. Right here, right now.  Onstage, Daniel had begun to yell at Charles. ‘I’ve had enough of your high-handed, condescending⁵ bullshit, partner. I’ve had enough of you! More than enough!’
‘That’s too bad,’ William mimicked⁶ the next few words spoken onstage, ‘because I’ve only just begun to torment⁷ you, and them! The bumpkins!’
The two actors sitting next to them laughed at William’s accurate play by play. He had them utterly⁸ charmed. Now the male almost couldn’t take his eyes off William. Poor, poor Andrew.  Suddenly, up on the stage, Daniel rushed at Charles. He thrust the sword right into Charles’s chest. Charles’s scream was piercing and real. Blood erupted from his chest, spilled and splashed everywhere.  The frightened audience gasped⁹, and the room went quiet. They were in shock.
William and Michael giggled¹⁰, couldn’t stop. So did the couple beside them. Others shushed them.
Daniel began to drag Charles’s body across the stage, careful to emphasize how heavy the man was. Very dramatic stuff. He stopped at a small prop¹¹ that was actually a butcher-block table. He draped the body across the table.
He took an ax, hoisted¹² it high, and chopped Charles’s head off!
The room exploded with screams. Some people covered their eyes.
‘This is not funny,’ someone shouted.
William roared with laughter and clapped and stamped his feet. The loud shushing continued all around him. People were horrified¹³, but they wanted more. The two actors beside him were laughing as hard as he was. The woman playfully swatted William’s arm.
Daniel now placed Charles’s head inside a wicker basket. He did it very theatrically¹⁴. Then he bowed. The audience finally got it. They had caught up.
William frowned and lowered his head. ‘The good part is over. The rest is anticlimax¹⁶.’
Daniel carried the wicker basket back across the entire length of the stage. He walked very slowly. With great care, he spilled out Charles’s head onto a silver platter.
‘Just happened to have a platter handy!’William whispered to the couple.
Daniel turned to the audience. ‘Any of you figure this out yet?
No? ... Really? ... He’s dead.’
‘Liar! No he’s notl’William shouted from his seat.’Your act is dead, but Charles is alive! Unfortunately.’
Suddenly, the head on the silver platter moved. Charles’s eyes opened. The audience went wild. The illusion was quite stunning¹⁷, and certainly novel enough.
Charles said, ‘My God, look what you’ve done, Daniel. All these witnesses saw you. You’ll never get away with this, you murderer.’ Daniel shrugged¹⁸. ‘Oh, but I will. Nobody out there really cares about you, or anyone else for that matter. They don’t like you. They don’t even like themselves. You deserved this, Charles.’ The head on the platter spoke again. ‘A public beheading? Help me, Daniel.’
‘What’s the magic word, Charles?’ asked Daniel.
‘Please help me,’ Charles answered. ‘Please, Daniel. Help me?’ Daniel carefully placed the basket over Charles’s head, and then he carried it back across the stage where, with broad flourishes and theatrical¹⁵ gestures, he reattached Charles’s head to his body. Charles then rose up and grasped his partner’s hand.
The two magicians stood together and bowed.’Ladies and gentlemen, we are Daniel and Charles, the best magicians in the world!’ they shouted to the rafters.
The applause inside the room was loud and sustained. People stood and clapped and cheered. The magicians took several more bows.
‘Boo! Boo! They’re fakes!’William and Michael hooted¹⁹ from their seats. They saw a couple of hotel security geeks approaching their table.
William leaned toward Andrew Cotton and Dara Grey. ‘You like
magic, theater, adventure?’ he asked. ‘I’m William Alexander and this is my brother, Michael. Let’s go somewhere. Let’s get the hell out of here. We’ll have some real fun.’
The actors rose, and as they were leaving with William and Michael, the security people arrived.
‘We want our money back,’ William said to them. ‘Daniel and Charles are fakes.’

1 taunt   

n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄

参考例句：

• He became a taunt to his neighbours.他成了邻居们嘲讽的对象。
• Why do the other children taunt him with having red hair?为什么别的小孩子讥笑他有红头发？

2 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 condescending   

adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的

参考例句：

• He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
• He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

6 mimicked   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的过去式和过去分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• He mimicked her upper-class accent. 他模仿她那上流社会的腔调。 来自辞典例句
• The boy mimicked his father's voice and set everyone off laughing. 男孩模仿他父亲的嗓音，使大家都大笑起来。 来自辞典例句

7 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

8 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

9 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

12 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

13 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

14 theatrically   

adv.戏剧化地

参考例句：

• He looked theatrically at his watch. 他夸张地看看表。 来自柯林斯例句

15 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

16 anticlimax   

n.令人扫兴的结局；突降法

参考例句：

• Travelling in Europe was something of an anticlimax after the years he'd spent in Africa.他在非洲生活了多年，到欧洲旅行真是有点太平淡了。
• It was an anticlimax when they abandoned the game.他们放弃比赛，真是扫兴。

17 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

18 shrugged   

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》

19 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。