Blackmail
• Arthur Hailey
• Blackmail ( n.) :the obtaining of money or advancement by threatening to make known unpleasant facts about a person or group敲诈；勒索 ;（盗匪征收的）保护费;免 抢税 ( vt. )胁迫;勒索;敲诈;讹诈 • 随着故事的发展,作者对“讹诈”的对象进行巧妙 置换,从而使故事结局发生戏剧性逆转--由“侦探 长对公爵夫妇的讹诈”转为“公爵夫妇对侦探长 的讹诈”,旅馆警长由掌握罪证主动出击的强势 交际角色到被动服从的弱势社会角色的转换， 公爵夫人由被讹诈的弱势交际角色到强势社会 角色的回归,揭露社会权力拥有者对弱势阶层的 统治和控制。
• 6. the moon-faced male secretary: (line.9) • the moon – faced male用了暗喻的修辞。 在此暗指男秘书比较怯懦阴柔， 公爵夫妇 可以随时把他解雇。 • The use of male before secretary is to avoid possibility of the reader‟s assuming otherwise, for commonly in the U.S. secretaryship is the female profession.
• ① The chief house officer, Ogilvie, who had declared he would appear at the Croydons suite an hour after his cryptic telephone call actually took twice that time. As a result the nerves of both the Duke and Duchess were excessively frayed when the muted buzzer of the outer door eventually sounded.
• ③ A wave of cigar smoke accompanied Ogilvie in. When he had followed her to the living room, the Duchess looked pointedly at the half-burned cigar in the fat man‟s mouth. “My husband and I find strong smoke offensive. Would you kindly put that out."
. Metaphor：以此物隐喻彼物，将某一事物以另一 个与其相似的事物来表达，是一种含蓄的比喻， 暗示有比较，但又不充分说出这种比较。 the key to the mystery(即解开奥秘的方法就像开 门的钥匙一样)； the light of knowledge(知识之光)； to have a stone face(表情呆板) 隐喻不用比喻词，但可以用be动词或者只用逗号、 破折号将本体和喻体连起来。 The green plant is a kind of food factory. (把绿色 植物说成一种食物工厂。)
• 公爵夫人亲自去开门。此前她早已借故把女仆支 开，并且狠心地给那位脸儿圆圆的、见到狗就怕 得要死的男秘书派了一个要命的差事，让他牵着 贝德林顿狼犬出去散步。想到这两个人随时都会 回来，她自己的紧张情绪怎么也松弛不下来。
• 4. she had dispatched her maid on an invented errand: (line.7-8) 她已借故把女仆支开 dispatch ( v．) :send off or out promptly，usually on a specific errand or official business(迅速地)派遣，派 出(常指特别差事或公事) errand ( n.) :a trip to carry a message or do a definite thing，esp. for someone else差事(尤指为别人送信 或办事); • . 5. cruelly instructed: (line.8) • “cruel”（狠心的） because they knew the secretary was terrified of dogs. They could easily have found some other errand for him.
• 负责饭店保安工作的奥格尔维探长打了那个神秘 的电话，本来说好一个小时后光临克罗伊敦夫妇 所住的套房的，可实际上却过了两个小时才到。 结果，当外间门上的电铃终于发出沉闷的嗡嗡声 时，公爵夫妇的神经都紧张到了极点。
• 1.The chief house officer……suite an hour after his cryptic telephone call actually took twice that time : (line.1-4) suite ( n.) :a group of connected rooms used as a unit，such as an apartment一套房间;（同类物 的）系列 eg. a suite of dining-room furniture一套餐厅家具 cryptic ( adj.) :having a hidden meaning； mysterious隐蔽的，秘密的；神秘的 eg .a cryptic remark含义隐晦的话 Ogilvie :(notice that the name itself sounds awkward, awful):他故弄玄虚，在警察还没有行动 逮捕之前，亲自来访敲诈公爵夫妇，玩弄伎俩， 一副小人得志的嘴脸。
• 随着奥格尔维进屋的是一团雪茄烟雾。当他随着 她走进起居室时，公爵夫人目光直射着这个大肥 佬嘴里叼着的那烧了半截的雪茄。“我丈夫和我 都讨厌浓烈的烟味，您行行好把它灭了吧!”
• 9. A wave of cigar smoke accompanied Ogilvie in:(line.12)随着奥格尔维进屋的是一团雪茄烟雾 • Accompany (vt.) +n.陪伴；伴随 • (vi.)+by/with+n.在…..陪伴下 • Company (v.)陪伴；交往 (n.)公司；同伴 • “随着奥格尔维进屋的是一团雪茄烟雾。”这是一个 典型的拟人句子，不仅表现出奥格尔维是一个不 懂规矩的人，也使这一系列与烟有关的动作前后 呼应，形成本文一个鲜明的线索。同时间接地表 达了他与公爵夫人的强弱势关系，奥格尔维对烟 的控制对文章的节奏起着至关重要的作用。
• 公爵夫人对香烟的反应 • 根据社会道德规范，在未经女士的同意下就抽烟是 及为不礼貌的行为。而奥格尔维抽烟进来，说明他 把公爵及公爵夫人不放在眼里，公爵夫人的回答很 礼貌，显示出其尊贵的地位，与奥格尔维拉开距离 Would you kindly put that out.此为祈使句，且句号 接在疑问句后面，表达的是不折不扣的命令，表明 了公爵夫人对欧吉维的强烈不满。公爵夫人是受过 教育的高阶层人物，她出生高贵，想要在气势在压 倒他，以此达到她不受奥格尔维威胁的目的。 • 探长奥格尔维是伴随着雪茄(cigar)出场的，而在整 篇文章中，雪茄始终贯穿文章，不断重复出现。从 奥格尔维挑衅的抽烟到最后自觉的灭到香烟这一过 程，奥格尔维达到了其勒索的目的。
• 3. the muted :(line5) mute adj.无声的，哑的 muted P.P作adj. 声音减轻的 a muted voice 轻的声音 Muted to render the noise of the bell less harsh and strident沉闷的嗡嗡声
• ② The Duchess went to the door herself. Earlier she had dispatched her maid on an invented errand and, cruelly, instructed the moon-faced male secretary – who was terrified of dogs – to exercise the Bedlington terriers. Her own tension was not lessened by the knowledge that both might return at any moment.
• 7. to exercise the Bedlington terriers:(line.10) • to walk the dogs to take the dogs out and give them some exercise. • The Bedlington terrier（德林顿狼犬） is a breed of blue or liver-coloured, wooly-coated, active, typically small dogs. The terriers are a status symbol showing that the Duchess id no ordinary dog owner. And the fact that they can keep dogs in a hotel suite proves they are 奥格尔维自认为掌握了物证(丢在车库的 捷豹车沾满血迹和碎车灯)，知道公爵犯事 后来对公爵勒索，他一副小人得志的心理， 故意拖延时间。可见，在第一个见面回合较 量中，他控制着局面，掌握着主动权，处于 强势交际角色。 • ②公爵夫妇犯下了罪行，内心惶恐，认为等 待的时间难熬，此时为弱势地位。
• 2.the nerves of both the Duke and Duchess were excessively frayed:(line.4-5) • 公爵夫妇的神经都紧张到了极点。 fray ( v.) make or become strained (使)紧张； Tempers began to fray in the heat.天热时人容易脾 气急躁。 (v.)磨损 This cloth frays easily.这块布太不经磨. the nerves were frayed 是本句主干，用了暗喻手法。 将nerves 比喻为可以磨损的东西，fray指磨损布 边等，在此引申为“（使）紧张”。这是一段隐 喻，它很明显的向我们透漏了公爵夫人有自己不 可告人的秘密，同时为下文做了铺垫。.