“床頭燈英語學習讀本”叢書精選了國外50部*值得一生去讀的文學作品，以3000個*常用的單詞寫成，語言現代、地道、標準、原汁原味，而且通俗易懂。閱讀本書，讀者可以積澱西方文化，提高個人的口味和修養。
本書是叢書之一，故事以20世紀初的倫敦為背景，圍繞外國勢力指使下的無政府主義破壞活動，向我們展示了一幅跌宕起伏、扣人心弦的社會鬥爭和政治鬥爭的畫面。

故事以20世紀初的倫敦為背景，圍繞外國勢力指使下的無政府主義破壞 活動，向我們展示了一幅跌宕起伏、扣人心弦的社會鬥爭和政治鬥爭的畫面 。 首先登場的是伍洛克，他和妻子溫妮經營著一家以賣黃色圖片和書刊為 主的小店。與他們同住的還有伍洛克的嶽母和小舅子史蒂夫。一家人以此維 持生計，雖然有些拮據，倒也不失溫馨。隨著故事的展開，我們了解到，伍 洛克原來是一名身兼數職的密探：一個無政府主義地下組織的小頭目、外國 使館的間諜、希特檢察官的線人。這個組織的成員，伍洛克所謂的朋友，是 幾個終日宣稱要用恐怖活動來改變當時社會的無政府主義分子：糟老頭子卡 爾·雲特雖然牙齒頭發掉光、虛弱不堪，但似乎還有力氣進行最後一次謀殺 ；邁克爾裡斯當時蹲了十五年監獄，非但沒有改過自新，反而在為獄中所思 所想著書立說；歐西本長著一張典型的罪犯臉，隻知道追女人…… 伍洛克本來還算平靜的日子因為一個叫拉丁米爾的人的出現而陰雲密布 。這個人是一個外國大使館的大使，出於政治目的，他指使伍洛克去炸毀格 林威治天文臺。正在伍洛克為此郁郁寡歡、夜不能寐的時候，有些弱智的小 舅子史蒂夫闖入了他的視野。史蒂夫是一個極易因社會不公而憤憤不平，為 他人的苦難傷心感懷的小伙。他很尊重和信任他姐夫。伍洛克決定利用史蒂 夫愛打抱不平的性格、他的弱智以及他對他的信任。他從教授那裡買來了一 顆新型的炸彈。教授，用他自己的話來說，是一個用實際行動實踐著無政府 主義信條的冷酷無情的人。他以造出炸彈為人生終極目標。但是，炸彈提前 爆炸了，史蒂夫被炸成了一堆碎片，伍洛克也因警察從史蒂夫尸體上找到的 一塊寫有他們家地址的破布而被警方和檢察官找上了門。溫妮在得知她深愛 的弟弟被她一直信任的丈夫害死後，極其傷心和絕望。憤怒之下，她用切刀 捅死了伍洛克。然而對絞刑的恐懼使她決定投泰晤士河自盡。在搖搖晃晃地 走在街上的時候，她踫到了迎面走來的歐西本。歐西本從教授那裡得知伍洛 克已被炸死，正在爭取最先趕到伍洛克家去騙取他留下的錢財。在看到伍洛 克躺在家中的尸體後，他纔明白了一切。為了在保全自身的情況下拿到那筆 錢，他欺騙溫妮要與她到國外生活。在騙到溫妮的錢後。他從兩人乘坐的開 往國外的火車上跳下去，回到倫敦。然而，他還沒來得及去享用那筆錢，就 從報上得知溫妮投河自盡了。這個消息把他逼瘋了。

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen

In the morning, Mr. Verloc left his store with his wife's brother, which was easily done because he hardly ever had customers, especially late in the afternoon. His store was located in the same building as his house. He sold mainly pictures of naked women, sex books, and a couple of funny French cartoon books. These goods usually attracted either very young or very old men. Both types were quite shy about being seen walking into the store. The old men would wear long coats with the collars turned up in order to hide their faces. The young men, on the other hand, would stand on the sidewalk, trying to seem uninterested while taking secret looks at the pictures in the window. Then, when they knew what they wanted, they would run in, buy it, and run back out. Mr. Verloc did not care about his store at all. He did not keep his appearance nice and clean for the customers, nor was he very friendly to them. When the broken bell at the top of the door announced that a new customer had arrived, he would walk from his home to the shop and stand silently behind the counter, waiting for the person to buy something expensive and useless. In the evenings, Mrs. Verloc worked in the store. This often made the customers (all of them being men, of course) quite uncomfortable. However, it was good for business, because people would also buy other things, like pens or envelopes, in order to make it seem like they had not come only to buy dirty pictures. Most people who came in the evening were not customers, however. Instead of looking around the shop, they would say "hello" to Mrs. Verloc and walk directly to the back of the store and down some stairs. There was only one entrance and exit from the house, and that was through the door of the store. Mr. Verloc did not often leave his home. He found that everything he needed to do could be done there. Life at home was quite comfortable for him, because his wife took very good care of him. He also had his wife's mother around the house. She had once owned an old hotel with a bar on the first floor. It was located in an area that used to be considered very wealthy, but was now less fashionable. She rented rooms to anyone who needed them. Most of her customers were quite poor and less than perfect gentlemen. P1-2