Slowly， Old Mrs White went back into the house．Her husband² looked up and saw³ something strange⁴ in her face．

'What's the matter？'he asked．

'Nothing，'his wife⁶ answered，and she sat⁷ down to finish her breakfast． She began to think about Tom Morris again and suddenly⁹ she said¹⁰ to her husband，'Your friend drank a lot of whisky¹¹ last night！ A monkey's paw！ What a story！'

Mr White did¹³ not answer her because just then the post man arrived． He brought¹⁴ two letters for them—but there was¹⁵ no money in them． After breakfast the two old people forgot¹⁶ about the money and the monkey's paw．

Later¹⁷ in the day， at about one o'clock， Mr and Mrs White sat down to eat and then they began to talk about money again． They did not have very much money， so they often needed to talk about it．

'That thirty thousand pounds，'Mrs White said， 'we need it！'

'But it didn't come this morning，' her husband answered．'Let's forget it！'

Then he said，'But that thing moved． The monkey's paw¹² moved in my hand！ Tom's story was true！'

'You drank a lot of whisky last night．Perhaps¹⁹ the paw didn't move，'Mrs White answered．

'It moved！'Mr White cried angrily．

At first his wife did not answer，but then she said，'Well， Herbert laughed about it…'

Suddenly she stopped talking． She stood²⁰ up and went over to the window．

'What's the matter？' her husband asked ．

'There's a man in front of our house，' Mrs White answered．'He's a stranger—very tall—and well－dressed． He's looking at our house…Oh，no…it's OK…He's going²² away…'

'Come and sit down！ Finish eating！'Mr White said．

The old woman did not listen to her husband．'He isn't going away，' she went on．'He's coming back． I don't know him—he's a stranger． Yes， he's very well—dressed…'suddenly Mrs White stopped． She was very excited．'He's coming to the door… Perhaps he's bringing the money！'

And she ran⁵ out of the room to open the front door．

The tall， well－dressed stranger²¹ stood there． For a minute he said nothing， but then he began，'Good afternoon． I'm looking for Mr and Mrs White．'

'Well，I'm Mrs White，' the old woman answered．'What can I do for you？'

At first the stranger did not answer， but then he said，'Mrs White， I'm from Maw and Meggins． Can I come in and talk to you？'

Maw and Meggins had²⁴ a big factory and Herbert White worked there on the machinery．

'Yes，of course，'Mrs White answered．' Please come in．'

The well－dressed stranger came²⁶ into the little living－room and Mr White stood up．

'Are you Mr White？' the stranger began． Then he went on，'I'm from Maw and Meggins．'

Mrs White looked at the stranger and she thought，'Perhaps he has the money… but why Maw and Meggins？And his face is very unhappy… Why？'suddenly the old woman was afraid．

'Please sit down，' Mr White began， but now his wife could²⁸ not wait．

'What's the matter？'she cried．'Is Herbert…'she could not finish the question．

The stranger did not look at their faces—and Mr White began to be afraid too．

'Please， tell us！' he said．

'I'm very sorry，' the man from Maw and Meggins began． He stopped for a minute and then he began again．'I'm very sorry， but this morning there was an accident²⁹ at the factory…'

'What's the matter？ Is Herbert OK？' Mrs White cried a gain．

'Well…' the man began slowly．

'Is he in hospital？ the old woman asked， very afraid now．

'Yes， but…' the stranger looked at Mrs White's face and stopped．

'Is he dead？ Is Herbert dead？ Mr White asked quietly．

'Dead！' Mrs White cried．'Oh no… please…not dead！ Not Herbert！ Not our son！'

Suddenly the old woman stopped because she saw the stranger's face． Then the two old people knew． Their son was dead！ Old Mrs White began to cry quietly³¹ and Mr White put his arm round her．

Some time later the man from Maw and Meggins said， 'It was the machinery—an accident Herbert called， “Help！”． The men heard him—and ran to him quickly，but they could do nothing． The next minute he was in the machinery． I'm very， very sorry，' he finished．

For a minute or two the room was quiet． At last Mrs White said，'Our son！ Dead！ We're never going to see him again．What are we going to do without him？'

Her husband said，'He was our son． We loved him．'

Then Mrs White asked the stranger，'Can we see him？Can we see our son？ Please take me to him． I want to see my son．'

But the stranger answered quickly，'No！' he said．'It's better not to see him． They couldn't stop the machinery²⁵ quickly． He was in there for a long time． And at first they couldn't get him out．He was… 'the man stopped． Then he said ,'Don't go to see him！'

The stranger went over to the window because he did not want to see the faces of the two old people． He said nothing， but he stood there for some time and he waited．

Then he went back to the old people and began to talk again．'There's one more thing，' he said．'Your son worked for Maw and Meggins for six years and he was a good worker． Now Maw and Meggins want to help you at this unhappy²⁷ time．'Again the stranger stopped．After a minute he began again．'Maw and Meggins want to give you some money．' Then he put something into Mr White's hand．

Old Mr White did not look at the money in his hand． Slowly¹ he stood up and looked at the stranger， afraid．'How much？' Mr White asked， very quietly． He did not want to hear the answer．

'Thirty thousand pounds，' the stranger said．

5

慢慢地，年迈的怀特太太又回到了屋里。她的丈夫打量着她，瞧见她脸上有一种奇怪的表情。

“怎么啦？”他问。

“没事儿，”妻子说着就坐下来继续吃她的早餐。她又开始想汤姆•莫里斯的事。突然，她对丈夫说，“昨天晚上你的朋友喝了太多的威士忌！讲了神奇的猴爪！可怕的故事！”

怀特先生没有回答她，因为这时候邮差到了，邮差为他们带来了两封信，但里面并没有钱。早餐后，两位老人已忘记了钱和猴爪的事。

这一天晚些时候，大约1点左右，怀特夫妇坐下来吃东西；又开始了有关钱的谈论，他们没有富足的钱，所以他们常常需要谈论钱。

“我们需要 30 000英磅。”怀特太太说。

“可今天上午一分钱也没得到，”他丈夫说，“还是让我们忘掉它吧！”

接着，他说，“但那东西确实移动了。猴爪在我的手里动了！汤姆的故事是真的！”

“你昨晚喝多了。也许猴爪并未移动。”怀特太太回答道。

“它移动了！”怀特先生恼怒地叫了起来。

开始，他妻子没有理他，好一会儿才说：“赫伯特也嘲笑过这件事。”

突然，她止住话音，站起来向窗户走去。

“怎么啦？”她丈夫问。

“我们的房子前面有一个人，是一个高个子穿着讲究的陌生人，他朝我们这边看，呵，不，好了，他已经走了……”怀特太太告诉他丈夫。

“坐下来，吃完你的饭！”怀特先生说。

老妇人并没有听丈夫的话。“他没走，”她继续说，“他又回来了，我不认识他，他是陌生人。不错，他穿得很讲究……”突然，怀特太太不说话了，她很兴奋，“他正朝我们的门口走来……也许他给我们带来了钱！”

她跑出房间，打开了前门。

穿着讲究的高个子陌生人站在那儿。他什么也没说。好一会儿，他才开始说话。“下午好，我正要找怀特夫妇。”

“哦，我就是怀特太太，”老妇人答道，“我能为你做些什么吗？”

陌生人顿了顿才说，“怀特太太，我从莫和麦金森来，我能进去跟您谈谈吗？”

莫和麦金森有一个大工厂，赫伯特•怀特在那儿作机器操作工。

“当然可以，请进吧。”怀特太太答道。

穿着讲究的陌生人进了小客厅，怀特先生站了起来。

“你是怀特先生吗？”陌生人问。他又继续介绍，“我从莫和麦金森来”。

怀特太太看着陌生人，想道，“也许，他很有钱……但为什么来自莫和麦金森？从他的脸色看他并不高兴……为什么？”突然，老妇人很害怕。

“请坐。”怀特先生说，但她妻子已经等得不耐烦了。

“出了什么事？”她叫了起来，“是不是赫伯特……”她几乎不能把话问完。

陌生人并不瞧他们的脸，怀特先生也开始害怕了。

“请告诉我们！”他说。

从莫和麦金森来的人停了好一会儿才开始说，“对不起，非常对不起，今天早晨，工厂发生了一起事故……。”

“到底出了什么事，赫伯特还好吗？”怀特太太又叫了起来。

“是这样……”陌生人慢慢地说。

“他住院了吗？”老妇人问，现在她非常害怕。

“但是……”陌生人看了一眼怀特太太的脸又停了下来。

“他死了吗？赫伯特死啦？”怀特先生平静地问。

“死啦，”怀特太太哭叫着。“不，请不要这样说……，不，赫伯特不会死，我们的儿子不会死！”

突然，老妇人不喊了，因为她看见了陌生人的表情。两个老人明白，他们的儿子已经死了！老怀特太太呜咽着，怀特先生伤心地搂着她。

过了一会儿，从莫和麦金森来的男人说，“那是一起机器事故，听到赫伯特喊救命，工友们跑过去，可一点办法也没有。只能眼睁睁地看着赫伯特在机器里。对不起，非常对不起。”他结束一了讲话。

刹那间，屋子里非常安静。最后，怀特太太说，“我们的儿子，死了，我们再也不能见到他了，没有他，我们以后的日子怎么过？”

他丈夫说，“他是我们的儿子，我们爱他。”

接着，怀特太太问陌生人，“我们能看看他吗？我们能不能看看我们的儿子？请带我去，我想去看看我的儿子。”

但陌生人很快答道，“不行，最好不要去看他，他们不能快速把机器停下来，赫伯特在里面呆了很长时间，并且开始的时候弄不出来，他……”陌生人停了下来，接着他说，“还是别去看他吧！”

陌生人走到窗户边，因为他不想看到两位老人的痛苦的表情，他什么也没说，站在那儿等了好长时间。

然而，他又回过身来开始和两位老人谈话。“但是，你们的儿子是一个好工人，他为莫和麦金森工作了6年。现在，莫和麦金森要在这个不幸的时候帮助你们。”陌生人又停了下来，过了一会儿又说，“莫和麦金森想给你们一些钱。”说完，他把一些东西交到怀特先生手上。

老怀特先生没有看手里的钱，他慢慢地站起来，害怕地看着陌生人，“多少钱？”怀特先生非常平静地问。其实他并不想听到答案。

“30 000英镑。”陌生人说。