现代大学英语精读第三册

现代大学英语精读第三册05b（在线收听）

Text Twelve Angry Men (Part One)

by Reginald Rose

Characters

Narrator

Foreman (Juror No. 1)

Jurors No. 2 — No. 12

Narrator: The scene is a jury room in a criminal court. Twelve men walk into the room. They are the jury for the trial of a boy charged with murdering his father.

Foreman: OK, gentlemen. Now you fellows can handle this any way you want. We can discuss it first and then vote on it. That's one way. And we can vote on it right now...

No. 4: I think it's customary to take a preliminary vote.

No. 7: Yes, let's vote. Maybe we can all get out of here.

Foreman: OK... Of course we know that we have a first-degree murder charge here. And if we vote the accused guilty, we've got to send him to the chair. Anyone doesn't want to vote? OK, those voting guilty, please raise your hands. ... Nine ... ten ... eleven. OK. Not guilty? (No. 8 raises his hand.) One. OK, eleven guilty, one not guilty. Now we know where we are.

No. 3: (To No. 8) You really think he's innocent?

No. 8: I don't know.

No. 3: Well, you sat in court with the rest of us. You heard what we did. The kid is a dangerous killer.

No. 8: He's 18 years old.

No. 3: That's old enough. He stabbed his own father. Four inches into the chest. They proved it in a dozen different ways in court. Would you like me to list them for you?

No. 8: No.

No. 10: Then what DO you want?

No. 8: I just want to talk.

No. 10: May I ask you something? Do you believe his story?

No. 8: I don't know. Maybe I don't.

No. 7: Then how come you vote not guilty?

No. 8: There were eleven votes for guilty. It's not easy to send the boy off to die without talking about it first.

No. 7: Who says it's easy? What? Just because I voted fast? I honestly think the guy's guilty. Couldn't change my mind if you talked for a hundred years.

No. 8: I don't want to change your mind. I just want to talk for a while. Look, this kid's been kicked around all his life. You know, born in a slum, his mother dead since he was 9, lived a year and a half in an orphanage when his father was serving a jail term for forgery. He is a wild angry kid. You know why? Because he's been hit on the head by somebody once a day every day. I just think we owe him a few words. That's all.

No. 10: We don't owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn't he? What do you think that trial cost? He's lucky he got it. Listen, we are all grown-ups here. You're not going to tell me that we're supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is! Listen, I've lived among them all my life. You can't believe a word they say.

No. 9: What a terrible thing for a man to believe. Since when is dishonesty a group characteristic?

No. 10: Now look here...

Foreman: Listen, we have a job to do. Let's do it. Now perhaps the gentleman down there who's disagreeing with us could let us know what he's thinking, and we might be able to show him where he's mixed up.

No. 12: Well, it seems to me that it's up to the group of us to convince this gentleman that he is wrong and we are right. Maybe, if we each of us talk for a couple of minutes just to ... well, just a quick idea...

Foreman: No, no. That's a good one. Suppose we go once around the table. (Turns to No. 2) I guess you are the first.

No. 2: Well, eh ... It's hard to put into words. I just think he's guilty. I mean nobody proved otherwise.

No. 8: Nobody has to prove otherwise. Innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn't have to open his mouth.

No. 2: Oh, sure, I know that. What I meant was ... I just think he's guilty. I mean somebody saw him do it.

No. 3: OK, here's what I think. And I have no personal feelings about this. I just want to talk about facts. Number One: The old man who lives downstairs under the room where the killing took place. At ten minutes after twelve, he heard a loud noise. He said it sounded like a fight. Then he heard the kid yell out, "I'm going to kill you!"

A second later, he heard the body hit the floor. He ran to the door, opened it up, and saw the kid running down the stairs and out of the house. He called the police. They came and found the old man dead with a knife in his chest. The coroner fixed the time of death at around midnight. Now these are facts. You can't refute facts. The kid's guilty. I'm just as sentimental as the next fellow. I know he's only eighteen. But he's still got to pay for what he did.

No. 4: It's obvious to me, anyway, that the boy's story was flimsy. He claimed that he was at the movies during the time of the killing. But only one hour later, he couldn't remember the names of the films he saw or who played in them.

No. 10: And listen, what about the woman across the street? If her testimony don't prove he's guilty, then nothing does.

No. 11: That's right. She was the one who actually saw the killing take place.

No. 10: Wait a minute. Here's the woman, who's lying in bed. She can't sleep. She looks out of the window. And right across the street, she sees the kid stick his knife into his father's chest. Look, she's known the kid all his life. And she swore she saw him do it.

No. 8: Through the windows of a passing el train.

No. 3: They proved in court that at night if you look through the windows of an el train when the lights are out, you can see what's happening on the other side.