24_A_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard

24 A Skeleton in the Cupboard¶

We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.

It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than 'a terrible secret'; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. 'That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.'

Words¶

seemingly /ˈsimɪŋli/ 表面上地
respectable /rɪˈspɛktəbəl/ 体面的
concealed /kənˈsild/ 隐瞒
vivid /ˈvɪvəd/ 生动的
dramatic /drəˈmætɪk/ 令人激动的
ruined /ˈruənd/ 毁坏
heroine /ˈhɛroən/ 女主人公
poisoned /ˈpɔɪzənd/ 毒害
fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/ 小说
stacked /stækt/ 堆放
drawers /drɔrz/ 抽屉
petrified /ˈpɛtrəˌfaɪd/ 惊呆的
dangling /ˈdæŋɡəlɪŋ/ 悬挂
sway /swe/ 摇摆
unsympathetic /ənˌsɪmpəˈθɛtɪk/ 无动于衷的

Expressions¶

a skeleton(骷髅) in the cupboard/closet 家丑
sth. be concealed from sb. = conceal sth. from sb. 对某人隐瞒某事
drama queen 爱小题大做的人
ruin my day 毁了我的一天
science fiction 科幻小说
to varying degrees 在不同程度上
in the drawer / from the drawer 在抽屉里/从抽屉里
be petrified of sth. 恐惧某事物
medical student/school 医学生/医学院
make one’s hair stand on end 让人毛骨悚然
in sb’s youth 在某人年轻时
show sb. to sw. 领某人去某地
bring sth. with sb. 随身带某物
it give sb. the impression that + 句子它给人的印象是
be about to do sth. 即将做某事
leap out at sb. 突然扑向某人
once upon a time 从前
It is all very well .... , but not in reality. ……说起来容易，现实并非如此