第8章 冤假錯案

Mary Shelley

賈斯汀是“我”家的女仆，她負責照顧孩子們，就像“我們”的姐姐一樣對待“我們”，但警察卻在案發后逮捕了她，并判其死刑。

題材科幻體裁小說文章詞數 難度 建議用時388 ★★★ 5 分鐘

At first I decided to tell the police my story. But would they believe me? I had been very ill. When the police learnt about my illness,they would think the monster was just one of my bad dreams. I decided that I could not tell anybody.

I went home to my family and they were very pleased to see me. Then they told me that the police had found the murderer. Perhaps you will think that this was good news, but I have not told you who the police had arrested.

As I went into the house, I noticed that one person did not come to meet me. It was Justine,the young woman who looked after the children and was like a sister to us. And it was Justine that the police had arrested.

A few days after the murder, the police had searched the house and had found the gold chain in Justine's coat pocket. Everyone in the family knew that Justine had not murdered William. I knew who the murderer was, but I could not tell anyone. We were sure that Justine would be free after the trial, because nobody could believe that she was a murderer. But we were wrong.

The trial did not go well for Justine. There were a number of strange facts that were difficult to explain, and the judge decided that she was the murderer. The punishment for murder was death. We argued and cried. We said she could not murder anyone. But nothing could change the judge's order.

So I got up early and went to the judge's house and told him about the monster. He did not believe me. He thought I was lying in order to save Justine's life.

In the prison Justine waited quietly for death. We spent many hours with her, and she spoke calmly and kindly to us. She was happy because we believed that she had not killed William. And she was almost looking forward to death, because then she would be with William and our dear mother in a place of peace.

Her love and gentleness added to my great unhappiness. I knew she was going to die because of me. I knew my brother had died because of me. I had brought nothing but sadness and misery to my family.

Reading Check

What made me especially sad at Justine's being sentenced to death?

______________________________________________