A very dear cat
原文
Lesson 19
A very dear cat
Why was Rastus 'very dear' in more ways than one?
Kidnappers are rarely interested in animals, but they recently took considerable interest in Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay's cat.
Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay, a very wealthy old lady, has shared a flat with her cat, Rastus, for a great many years.
Rastus leads an orderly life.
He usually takes a short walk in the evenings and is always home by seven o'clock.
One evening, however he failed to arrive.
Mrs. Ramsay got very worried.
She looked everywhere for him but could not find him.
Three days after Rastus' disappearance, Mrs. Ramsay received an anonymous letter.
The writer stated that Rastus was in safe hands and would be returned immediately if Mrs. Ramsay paid a ransom of ￡1, 000.
Mrs.Ramsay was instructed to place the money in a cardboard box and to leave it outside her door.
At first, she decided to go to the police,
but fearing that she would never see Rastus again--the letter had made that quite clear--she changed her mind.
She withdrew ￡1000 from her bank and followed the kidnapper's instructions.
The next morning, the box had disappeared but Mrs.Ramsay was sure that the kidnapper would keep his word.
Sure enough, Rastus arrived punctually at seven o'clock that evening.
He looked very well, though he was rather thirsty, for he drank half a bottle of milk.
The police were astounded when Mrs. Ramsay told them what she had done.
She explained that Rastus was very dear to her.
Considering the amount she paid, he was dear in more ways than one!
译文
第19课
一只非常珍贵的猫
拉斯图斯为什么在不止一种意义上都很“贵”？
绑匪通常对动物不感兴趣，但他们最近却对埃莉诺·拉姆齐夫人的猫产生了浓厚的兴趣。
埃莉诺·拉姆齐夫人是一位非常富有的老太太，她多年来一直和她的猫拉斯图斯合住一套公寓。
拉斯图斯的生活非常有规律。
他通常在傍晚散会儿步，并且总是在七点前回家。
然而，一天晚上他没有按时回家。
拉姆齐夫人非常担心。
她到处找他，但没能找到。
拉斯图斯失踪三天后，拉姆齐夫人收到了一封匿名信。
写信人声称拉斯图斯安然无恙，如果拉姆齐夫人支付1000英镑的赎金，他会立即被送回。
拉姆齐夫人被要求把钱放在一个纸板箱里，然后把它放在门外。
起初，她决定去报警，
但害怕再也见不到拉斯图斯——信里已经说得很清楚了——她改变了主意。
她从银行取了1000英镑，并按照绑匪的指示做了。
第二天早上，箱子不见了，但拉姆齐夫人确信绑匪会信守承诺。
果然，那天晚上七点整，拉斯图斯准时回来了。
他看起来很好，只是相当渴，因为他喝了半瓶牛奶。
当拉姆齐夫人告诉警察她做了什么时，他们都非常震惊。
她解释说拉斯图斯对她来说非常珍贵。
考虑到她支付的金额，他可真是“昂贵”啊！