【英文读物】Summer Guests

1、【英文读物】Summer GuestsChapter 1 All through that Saturday night, rain drummed down mercilessly and unseasonably on Sweetwater Beach. Thunder pealed and lightning flared. In between, Mel Armstrong heard the steady boom of the Pacific surf not a block from his snug little duplex apartment. Mel didnt mind any of it. He was in bed, slightly swacked and wholly comfortable. He dozed, and now and then woke up far enough to listen admiringly to the racket.At nine A. M., when he opened his eyes once more, h

2、e discovered the room was full of summer sunshine. Beyond his window gleamed a cloudless sky, and only the occasional gusts of wind indicated there had been anything like a storm during the night.An exceptionally beautiful Sunday morningmade more beautiful, perhaps, by the fact that it marked the beginning of Mel Armstrongs annual two-week paid vacation. Mel was a salesman for Martys Fine Liquors, a wholesale house. He was twenty-eight and in fairly good shape, but his job bored him. This mornin

3、g, for the first time in months, he was fully aware of that. Perhaps it was the weather. At any rate, he had a sense, almost a premonition, of new and exciting events approaching him rapidly. Events that would break down the boundaries of his present humdrum existence and pitch him into the life of romantic adventure that, somehow, he seemed to have missed so far.Recognizing this as a day-dream, but unwilling to give it up completely, Mel breakfasted unhurriedly in his pajamas. Then, struck by a

4、 sudden, down-to-earth suspicion, he stuck his head out of his living room window.As hed guessed, there were other reminders of the storm in the narrow courtyard before the window. Branches and assorted litter had blown in, including at least one soggily dismembered Sunday paper. The low rent he paid for his ground-floor apartment in the Oceanview Courts was based on an understanding with the proprietor that he and the upstairs occupant of the duplex would keep the court clean. The other five du

5、plexes that fronted on the court were bulging with vacationing visitors from the city, which made it a real chore in summer.Unfortunately, he couldnt count on his upstairs neighbor, a weird though rather amiable young character who called herself Maria de Guesgne. Maria went in for painting abstractions, constructing mobiles, and discussing the works of Madame Blavatsky. She avoided the indignity of manual toil.Mel made himself decent by exchanging his pajamas for swimming trunks. Then he got a

6、couple of brooms and a hose out of a garage back of the court and went to work.Hed cleared the courtyard by the time the first of the seasonal guests began to show up in their doorways, and went on to inspect another, narrower court behind his duplex, which was also his responsibility. There he discovered Maria de Guesgne propped on her elbows on her bedroom window sill, talking reproachfully to a large gray tomcat that was sitting in the court. Both turned to look at Mel.Good morning, Mel! Mari

7、a said, with unusual animation. She had long black bangs which emphasized her sallow and undernourished appearance.Morning, Mel replied. Scat! he added to the cat, which belonged to somebody else in the neighborhood but was usually to be found stalking about the Oceanview Courts.You shouldnt frighten poor Cat, said Maria. Mel, would you look into the bird box?Bird box?The one in the climbing rose, said Maria, leaning precariously from the window to point. To your left. Cat was trying to get at i

8、t.The bird box was a white-painted, weather-beaten little house set into a straggly rose bush that grew out of a square patch of earth beside Mels bedroom window. The box was about ten feet above the ground.Mel looked up at it.Im sure I heard little birds peeping in it this morning! Maria explained sentimentally.No bird in its senses would go into a thing like that, Mel assured her. I dont hear anything. And besidesPlease, Mel! We dont want Cat to get them!Mel groaned, got a wobbly step-ladder o

9、ut of the garage and climbed up. The gray cat walked over and sat down next to the ladder to watch him.He poked at the box and listened. No sound.Cant you open the top and look in? Maria inquired.Holding the box in one hand, Mel tentatively inserted his thumbnail into a crack under its top and pushed. The weathered wood splintered away easily.Dont break it! Maria cried.Mel put his eye to the crack hed made. Then he gasped, jerked back, letting go of the box, teetered wildly a moment and fell over with the step-ladder. The cat fled, spitting.Oh, my! said Maria, apparently with some enjoyment. Poor Mel! Are you hurt?Mel stood up slowly. The bright morning world seemed to be spinning gently around him, but it wasnt because of his fall. Of course not, he said. His voice quavered somewhat.Oh? said Maria. Well, thenare there any little birds in the nest?Mel swallowed har

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