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Madame Thibault's
Hall of Waxworks attracted a lot of visitors. The front of the building was
bright with red and yellow lights, even during the day. Inside the hall were
scenes of murders, and other famous historical events, with lifelike figures
made out of wax.
hall of waxworks:
museo de cera; scenes of murders: escenas de asesinatos; historical
events: acontecimientos históricos; lifelike figures: figuras de
aspecto real; made out of wax: fabricadas en cera;
Clive Wilkes loved the place, both the outside and the inside. He was a delivery
boy for a small supermarket, so he was often able to find some free time during
the day to stop and visit the Waxworks. At the entrance to the hall there was a
man sitting at a desk selling tickets. Then, after passing through a dark area,
you came to the main hall. There in front of you was a bloody murder scene: a
girl with long fair hair was pushing a knife into the neck of an old man, who
sat at a table eating his dinner. His dinner was a plate of wax meat and wax
potatoes.
delivery boy:
repartidor; he was often able to find: a menudo se las arreglaba para
encontrar; dark area: zona oscura; you came to: se llegaba a;
bloody: cruenta, sangrienta; fair hair: cabello rubio; pushing ...
into: clavando; neck: cuello; wax meat: carne de cera; wax
potatoes: papas (camotes, patatas) de cera;
Next there was the eighteenth-century Frenchman, Marat, who was killed as he sat
in his bath; then the murder of President Kennedy, and then a scene in a Nazi
prison camp. Clive loved every scene, and he never got tired of looking at them.
But they didn't frighten him as they frightened other people – they made him
smile, or even laugh. They were funny. Why not laugh?
next: a
continuación; prison camp: campo de prisioneros; got tired of: se
cansaba de; didn't frighten him: no lo asustaban; they made him smile:
le hacían sonreír; even laugh: incluso reír;
One thing which Clive wanted to do very much was to spend a night in the Hall.
It wouldn't be too difficult. Clive knew that three people worked there, as well
as the ticket seller at the door. There was a rather fat woman with brown hair
and glasses, who took the tickets as you went in. There was a man who gave
little talks about the different scenes, though not more than half the people
listened to him. And there was another man, small, with black hair, who walked
around watching people, to make sure they didn't damage anything.
to spend a night:
pasar una noche; it wouldn't be too: no sería demasiado; as well as:
además de; as you went in: cuando se ingresaba; who have little talks:
que explicaba brevemente; though not more than half the people: aunque
apenas la mitad de la gente; watching: vigilando; they didn't damage:
no dañaran;
So one night in November, Clive went in half an hour before the Hall closed,
with a cheese sandwich in his pocket. He hid himself in the shadows and listened
to the three people as they got ready to leave. The woman, whose name was
Mildred, got the moneybox from Fred, the ticket seller, and took it into a room
at the back of the hall. Fred left by the front door, the others by the back –
first Mildred, then the taller man, then the small one.
he hid himself:
se escondió; shadows: penumbra, oscuridad; got ready to leave: se
aprestaban a retirarse; whose name: cuyo nombre; moneybox: hucha,
caja para guardar dinero; left by: se fue por;
When Clive heard the door shut and the key turn in the lock, he waited for a
moment in the beautiful silence. Then he went to look at the room at the back
where they kept their coats, because he had never seen it. They seemed to use it
as an office: there was an old desk there. Next to the room was a toilet. In a
drawer in the desk was the wooden moneybox, but he wasn't interested in the
money.
heard: oyó;
the key turn in the lock: que la llave giraba en la cerradura; they kept:
guardaban; they seemed to use it as: parecía que la usaban como;
toilet: baño; drawer: cajón; wooden: de madera;
Clive started to enjoy himself. He found the lights and put them on, so that the
scenes were all lit up. Now he was alone, so he could touch things as well as
look at them. He stood next to the figures and touched their faces. He ate his
sandwich, and sang a few songs. By two in the morning he was bored, and tried to
get out. But both the front door and the back door were locked, and there were
no keys anywhere. He used the toilet, and went to sleep on the floor.
started to enjoy
himself: empezó a disfrutar (del lugar); put them on: las encendió;
all lit up: totalmente iluminadas; alone: a solas; as well as:
así como también; he stood next to: se paraba al lado de; sang a few:
cantaba algunas; by two: hacia las dos; bored: aburrido; tried
to get out: intentó irse; but both: pero ambas (puertas); locked:
cerradas con llave; no keys: ninguna llave; went to sleep: se echó
a dormir;
He woke up early, and had another look around. He wanted to find something to
take home with him. He stopped by a waxwork of President Woodrow Wilson signing
a document in 1918, at the end of the First World War. Yes, he would have
Woodrow Wilson's tie!
he woke up early:
se despertó temprano; President Woodrow Wilson: 28° presidente
norteamericano; signing: firmando; he would have: tendría; tie:
corbata;
When the hall opened at 9.30, Clive was hiding behind a screen. Members of the
public began to come in, but Clive waited until ten o'clock before he felt it
was safe to join them. He left, with Woodrow Wilson's tie in his pocket. He was
half an hour late for work. There was a job waiting for him, so he went off on
his bicycle.
was hidding:
estaba escondido; behind a screen: detrás de una pantalla; members of
the public: el público, los ciudadanos; he felt it was safe: sintió
que era seguro; to join them: unírseles; he was half an hour late for
work: llegaba media hora tarde al trabajo; a job: un puesto de
trabajo; he went off: salió disparando;
Clive lived alone with his mother, who worked in a dress shop. She had no other
children, and her husband had left her when Clive was five. He was eighteen now;
he had left school early, without completing his education. Then he had spent a
year doing nothing much. His mother worried about him and so she was pleased
when he got the job at the supermarket.
dress shop:
tienda de ropa femenina; had left her: la había abandonado; was five:
tenía cinco años; early: tempranamente (sin completar los estudios);
worried about him: se preocupaba por él; she was pleased: se alegró;
When Clive came home that evening, he had a story ready for his mother. Last
night, he said, he had met a friend and gone back to his house, and his parents
had invited him to spend the night there. She accepted this story. Clive put
Woodrow Wilsons tie in the cupboard with his own. It was a beautiful tie, pale
grey and expensive. He imagined someone – Mildred, perhaps – looking at the
figure of the President and saying, 'Just a minute! What happened to Woodrow
Wilson's tie?'
He felt very proud of his adventure, and wanted to tell someone about it, but he
had no close friends who he could talk to. By the next day it didn't seem
exciting any more.
a story ready for:
una historia preparada para contarle a; cupboard: ropero; with his own:
junto a la suya (corbata); pale grey: gris claro; proud of:
orgulloso de; no close friends: ningún amigo íntimo; who he could talk
to: a quien comentarle;
One afternoon the following week, Clive had another idea. It was a really
amusing idea – one that would certainly make the public take notice. When should
he do it? Tonight? No, he needed time to plan it. Two nights later Clive went to
the Hall at nine o'clock and bought a ticket. Luckily the ticket seller didn't
really look at people; he was too busy. Clive went straight to Woodrow Wilson,
and saw that he was still without a tie. The murder scenes didn't interest him
as much as usual. Some real murder scenes would be so much better. He laughed.
He would kill the woman first.
amusing:
entretenida; take notice: llamar la atención; luckily: por suerte;
too busy: demasiado ocupado; he was still without a tie: seguía sin
corbata; as much as usual: tanto como de costumbre; some real murder
scenes: alguns escenas autpenticas de asesinatos; would be so much better:
lucirían mucho mejor; he would kill the woman first: para empezar
asesinaría a la mujer;
As the visitors went out, Clive hid in a dark corner near the office. When
Mildred walked past him, in her hat and coat, he stepped forward and put his arm
around her neck. She made only a small 'Ur–rk' sound. Clive pressed her neck
with his hands until her body fell to the floor. Then he pulled her to the dark
corner.
'Has Mildred gone?' said one of the men.
'Yes, she's not in the office. Well, I'm going too.'
as: cuando; hid:
se ocultó; walked past him: pasó a su lado; in her: vestida con su;
he stepped forward: se le adelantó; ur-rk sound: sonido gutural de
asfixia;
Clive jumped on him as he passed, and attacked him in the same way. The job was
more difficult, because the man fought hard, but Clive managed to knock his head
against the wall. It was the taller man, who gave the talks. 'What's happening?'
The small, dark man appeared. This time Clive tried to hit him on the chin. He
missed, and hit him in the neck. The man was unconscious now, so Clive was able
to knock his head against the wall too.
jumped on him:
le saltó encima; fought hard: luchaba ferozmente; managed to knock his
head: logró aplastarle la cabeza; hit him on the chin: golpearle el
mentón; he missed: falló; unconscious: desmayado; was able to:
pudo;
They all seemed to be dead. Blood was pouring from the heads of the two men, and
the woman was bleeding a little from the mouth. Clive found the keys in the
second man's pocket. There was a pocket-knife there, which he took too. Then the
taller man moved a little. Clive opened the pocket-knife and pushed it into his
neck four times. They were all dead now, and that was certainly real blood
coming out, not the red paint of the wax figures. Clive turned on the lights
which fit up the scenes, and began the interesting job of choosing the right
places to put the bodies.
seemed: parecían;
dead: sin vida; blood: la sangre; was pouring: brotaba; was
bleeding: sangraba; pocket-knife: navaja; coming out: saliendo;
turned on: encendió; fit up the scenes: complementaban las escenas; |
