读故事

　　"Well, I've looked at your bibliography,Mr.Duke,and I am still not sure if we can come to a bilateral understanding of how to write this book!” Said the director of publishing while he looked out of his office window with a pair of binoculars.“The biography you wrote about the benevolent blacksmith with a large belly and how he was bestowed with magical powers from a bellowing witch was certainly interesting. It was a bit bizarre, but I liked it.”

　　I held my breath until he started talking again.

　　"And it's nice to finally meet you in person. But you should know that someone placed a note in my bin beforehand and said that you had recently been a victim of blackmail. Is this correct?” He asked.

　　"Yes, that's correct. My partner, a seemingly benign man, betrayed me! It was a difficult experience and I was certainly bewildered for a while. He besieged me with requests for money and threatened my family. I felt as if I was billowed by a wave of evil. But that's all over now and I would like to start writing again.” I answered, hoping that he would have no bias against me because of my recent problems.

　　"Well, what's done is done. I always say just beware of those you trust the most.” He said as he reached to hand me a beverage to drink. “Even me. No, I think you'll work out fine. Now let's talk about when we can get your writing again and publish a book.”

　　记单词

　　beforehand ad.预先，事先

　　bellow vi.1.咆哮，怒吼2.(公牛般地)吼叫vt.大声发出，大声喝道n.1.喊声，咆哮2.[～s]风箱

　　belly n.肚子，腹部

　　benevolent a.仁慈的，善意的，慈善的

　　benign a.1.善良的，慈祥的2.(肿瘤等)良性的，无危险的

　　besiege vt.1.围攻，围困

　　2.围住，拥在…周围

　　bestow vt.赠与，授予

　　betray vt.1.背叛，出卖2.失信于，辜负3.泄露(秘密等)4.(非故意地)暴露，显露

　　beverage n.饮料

　　beware v.谨防，当心

　　bewilder vt.使迷惑，使难住

　　bias n.偏见，偏心，偏袒vt.使有偏见

　　bibliography n.1.参考书目2.(有关某一专题的)书目

　　bilateral a.双边的，双方的

　　billow n.巨浪，如波涛滚滚向前之物(如浓烟、浓雾等)vi.翻腾，汹涌

　　bin n.1.垃圾箱2.大贮藏箱

　　binoculars n.双筒望远镜

　　biography n.传记

　　bizarre a.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

　　blackmail vt./n.敲诈，勒索，要挟

　　blacksmith n.铁匠，锻工

　　“好啦，杜克先生，我已经看过你的参考书目，但我仍不敢肯定我们是否能就如何写这本书达成双边理解!”出版社主任一边说，一边用双筒望远镜看着办公室窗外。“你为那个仁慈的大肚子铁匠写的传记以及他如何被一个喜欢咆哮的巫婆授予了魔力当然有点意思。虽然有些怪诞，但是我喜欢。”

　　我屏住呼吸，直到他再开口说话才敢喘息。

　　“终于能够亲自见到你真是太好啦。但是你应该知道，有人事先在我的贮藏箱里放了一张纸条，说你最近被敲诈了一次。是这样吗?”他问。

　　“对，是这样。我的合作伙伴，一个看上去很善良的人，出卖了我!这是一次痛苦的经历，我的确迷惑了一段时间。他把我围困起来，一再要求我给他钱，还威胁我的家人。我感到自己好像被一阵恶浪扑过来。但现在一切都过去了，我想重新开始写作。”我答道，希望他不会因为我最近遇到的麻烦而对我有偏见。

　　“是啊，过去的都过去了。我经常说，一定要当心你最信任的人。”他边说边走过来递给我一杯饮料，“甚至包括我在内。不，我想你会没事的。现在让我们谈一谈我们什么时候可以再得到你的作品并把它发表出来。”