自考英语综合一上册 lesson 13

　　00:00.00]Text  Hobbyist

[00:03.58]"I heard a rumor,"Sangstrom said,

[00:08.05]"that you"He turned his head and looked about him to make absolutely sure that he

[00:15.70]and the druggist were alone in the tiny drugstore.

[00:20.38]The druggist was a little man who could have been any age from fifty to a hundred.

[00:27.92]They were alone,but Sangstrom dropped his voice just the same.

[00:34.27]"that you have a completely undetectable poison."

[00:41.04]The druggist nodded.

[00:44.28]He came around the counter and locked the front door of the shop,

[00:50.02]then walked toward a doorway 1 behind the counter.

[00:54.28]"I was about to take a coffee break,"he said.

[00:58.54]"Come with me and have a cup."

[01:02.09]Sangstrom followed him around the counter

[01:06.14]and through the doorway to a back room

[01:10.58]ringed by shelves of bottles from floor to ceiling.

[01:16.64]The druggist plugged in an electric coffee pot,

[01:21.61]found two cups and put them on a table that had a chair on either side of it.

[01:27.77]He motioned Sangstrom to one of the chairs and took the other himself.

[01:33.65]"Now,"he said."Tell me.Whom do you want to kill,and why?

[01:40.10]"Does it matter?"Sangstrom asked."Isn't it enough that I pay for"

[01:46.45]The druggist interrupted him with an upraised hand.

[01:51.20]"Yes,it matters.

[01:54.55]I must be convinced that you deserve what I can give you.

[01:59.61]Otherwise"he shrugged 2.

[02:03.45]"All right,"Sangstrom said.

[02:06.82]"The whom is my wife.The why"he started the long story.

[02:14.37]Before he had quite finished,the coffee pot had finished its task

[02:20.62]and the druggist briefly 3 interrupted to get the coffee for them.

[02:26.36]Sangs trom finished his story.The little druggist nodded.

[02:32.11]"Yes,I occasionally give out an undetectable poison.

[02:38.46]I do so freely;I do not charge for it,if I think the case is deserving.

[02:46.22]I have helped many murderers."

[02:50.37]"Fine,"Sangstrom said."Please give it to me,then.

[02:55.41]"The druggist smiled at him."I already have.

[03:00.69]By the time the coffee was ready I had decided 4 that you deserved it.

[03:07.82]It was,as I said,free.But there is a price for the antidote 5."

[03:14.66]Sangstrom turned pale.

[03:19.31]But he had expected not this,but the possibility of a double-cross

[03:29.16]some form of blackmail 6.

[03:33.32]He pulled a pistol from his pocker.

[03:38.04]The little druggist chuckled 7.

[03:41.88]"You daren't use that.Can you find the antidote"

[03:46.93]he waved at the shelves"among those thousands of bottles?

[03:56.77]You'll know the answer within three hours when the poison starts to work.

[04:02.70]"How much for the antidote?"Sangstrom growled 8.

[04:08.16]"Quite reasonable.A thousand dollars.After all,a man must live.

[04:15.53]Even if his hobby is preventing murders,

[04:19.97]there's no reason why he shouldn't make money at it,is there?"

[04:25.12]Sangstrom growled and put the pistol down,but within reach,

[04:32.85]and took out his wallet.

[04:36.40]Maybe after he had the antidote,he'd still use that pistol.

[04:42.78]He counted out a thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills

[04:49.02]and put them on the table.

[04:52.68]The druggist made no immediate 9 move to pick them up.

[04:57.72]He said:"And one other thing for your wife's safety and mine.

[05:04.27]You will write a confession 10 of your intention your former intention,

[05:11.54]I hope to murder your wife.

[05:16.40]Then you will wait till I go out and mail it to a friend of mine in the police.

[05:24.44]He'll keep it as evidence in case you ever do decide to kill your wife.

[05:30.48]Or me,for that matter.

[05:33.82]"When that is in the mail it

[05:37.29]will be safe for me to return here and give you the antidote.

[05:43.14]I'll get you paper and pen...

[05:47.11]"Oh,one other thing although I do not absolutely insist on it.

[05:53.96]Please help spread the word about my undetectable poison,will you?

[06:01.12]One never knows,Mr.Sangstrom.

[06:05.37]The life you save,if you have any enemies,just might be your own."