英文讀物he knows too much

1、1Mainactersinthisbook:DickSterling:generalmanagerinMadrasIndiaofTraktonamultinationalcompany.SallySterling:Dick’swife.KeithLennox:Dick’sbossatTrakton.WksinDelhi.BarbaraLennox:Keith’swife.Vish:officemanageratTrakton.Molly

2、:Vish’swife.ShealsowksatTrakton.Ramu:Dick’spersonalassistantatTrakton.Nag:inAccountsatTrakton.Lakshmi:Nag’sdaughter.Ned:afmeremployeeatTrakton.SirPercyHancock:fmerchiefexecutiveofTraktononceheadoftheDelhioffice.SirJeremy

3、Jackson(Jacko):retiredprofessofcomparativephilologyatCambridge.Chapter1Madras1986‘Heknowstoomuch.Imustaskyoutodonothing.’‘ButthistimeIcaughthimintheact.Ihaveproofwitnesseseverything.Thereisnopossibledoubt.Surely…’‘Isaidh

4、eknowstoomuch!Thecompanycan’taffdtohaveanyproblems.Ourpositionisverysensitiveinthiscountry.Wecan’taffdtotakerisks.Iamtellingyouonceagainyouwilldonothing.ifthereisanytroubleI’mafraidIshallhavetoholdyoupersonallyresponsibl

5、e.Sobesensiblefonceinyourlife.’‘Isee.Soyouaretellingmetoclosemyeyestocruptionbehaveasifnothinghashappened.Isthatright’‘Ididn’tputitquitelikethat.Butifyouinsistyes.WhatVishdoesdoesn’tdoisaminmattercomparedwiththecompany’s

6、globalstrategy.Justtrytogetthingsinperspective.Afterallyouwon’tbestruckinMadrasfeverI’llmakesurethatyou’renot.Sojustgowiththeflowfabitlonger.Whenyou’reinyournextpostthiswillallseemaverylongwayawayIcanassureyou.Butmeantim

7、enotrouble.IhopeI’vemademyselfclear.OhbythewayIadviseyoutofgetthatwehavehadthisconversation.Goodbye.’DickSterlingputthephonedown.Hishsweretrembling.HewasfuriouswithhimselfffailingtopersuadehisbossinDelhiKeithLennoxtosupp

8、thimwasdisgustedatthemixtureofveiledthreatsvaguepromisesLennoxhadmade.‘Heknowstoomuch’thewdsstillranginhisears.HewonderednotfthelasttimejustwhatitwasthatVishtheofficemanagerofthefactyknew.Howcoulditbesoimptantthatthecomp

9、any’spositioninIndiacouldbethreatenedbyitItsimplydidn’tmakesense.Dickglancedathiswatch.Fouro’clock.HecalledfhisdriverGopalaskedtobedrivenhome.He’dhadenoughftheday.OnhiswayouthepassedVishinthecrid.Vishwasasmallfatmanwhowa

10、ddledslightlywhenhewalked.HisuglysmilerevealedtwolargeteethhissmalleyesremindedDickofasnake.WasithisimaginationwasthemansmilingtohimselfHissnakeeyesglintedwithselfsatisfactionalmostasifheknewhewassafeprotected.Dick’scarl

11、efttheTraktonofficemadeitswayslowlyalongthedustybumpyroadleadingsouthintothecenterofMadrastowardshishome.EventhoughDickpassedthesebuildingseverydaytheyneverlosttheirfinationfhim.Noonestyledominatedthiscityofcontrastswher

12、emajesticbutneglectedcolonialbuildingsstoodnexttomodernglassconcretebanksslumhutsbuiltfrommudroofedwithcoconutpalmsramshacklegroupsofshopssellingeverythingfromusedcartyrestoIndiamadefeignliqu…wherethetrafficwasachaosofco

13、mpetinganarchicallyfthefewovercrowdedspaceontheroads.Thejourneyhomewouldtakealong3Vish’sofficeunexpectedlyfaninfmalchat.Hefoundhisofficemanagerstampinghisfeetwithragescreamingabuseatoneofthejunidrivers.Papersfileshadbeen

14、thrownontheflo.DickaskedVishtofollowhimtohisoffice.Therehehadsuggestedthatperhapslessdramaticpersonnelmanagementtechniquesshouldbeusedinfuture.Vishhadnotlikedthecriticism.Hissmallsnakelikeeyeshadalmostdisappearedinthefat

15、foldsofhisface.Hehadcontinuedtoclenchunclenchhishsthroughoutthebriefinterview.Sweatraninstreamsdownhisneck.Hehadlefttheofficesoonaftertheinterviewremainedawayon‘sickleave’ftwomedays.SoonafterwardsMollywenttoseeDickaboutt

16、hepromotionofasenidrivertoasupervis’spositionintheStes.Sherecommendedtheman’sattitudesuitabilityfthejob.Dickhadtherefepromotedtheman.ItwasonlyseveralweekslaterthatDickdiscoveredthatanotherequallywellqualifiedstaffmemberh

17、adalsoappliedfthepromotion.‘Unftunately’hispapershadbeen‘mislaid’bythePersonnelDepartmenthadneverreachedDick.WhenDickhadquestionedheraboutitMollyhadraisedhereyestotheceilingsighed.‘NowyoucanseewhatIhavetoputupwithDick’sh

18、ecooed.‘They’reallsounreliable.ThepaperswereunderapileoffilesonShivkumar’sdesk.I’vetoldhimsomanytimes.Ireallythinkweshouldconsidertransferringhim.Whatdoyouthink’‘Ithinkyoushoulddealwithallapplicationsinpersonfromnowon’Di

19、ckhadgentlysuggested.‘Isupposeyou’reright.Butmywkloadisalreadysoheavy.isn’titagoodthingfustotrainthejunistotakemeresponsibility’Shegazedathimquiteshamelesslywithherliquidblackeyes.ShehadmemthanherhusbDickcouldseethatsome

20、peoplewouldthinkshewasattractive.Herealizedlookingatherthattherewasnothingmuchhecoulddounlesshewantedamajrow.Chapter2FamilylifeDickwaswokenfromhisthoughtsasthecarscreechedtoastoptoavoidanautorickshawcarryingafamilyoffour

21、whichhadcutacrossthecrowdedroadoutsidetheHighCourtbuildings.Dick’smindcamebacktothepresent.FanyonewithstrongnervestravelinginIndiaisaconstantsourceofinterestsurprise.HisdriverGopalinchedhiswayfwardsuccessfullywinningafew

22、feetfromabuscuttinginononesideawatertankerontheothereachpuffingoutcloudsofbillowingblackdieselfumes.TheroadwidenedastheypassedFtStGege.Gopalspeededuptheyweresoonleavingtheelegantbutneglecteduniversitybuildingsbehind.They

23、drovethelengthoftheMarinatheseaontheleftasuccessionofhisticbuildingsontheright.Evenatthishourafewpeoplewerestrollingalongthebeachtakingtheearlyeveningair.Soontherewouldbecrowdsallescapingtheovenheatofthecityfthecoolingev

24、eningseabreeze.ItwasfivethirtybefetheyreachedthetreelinedshadeofBoatClubRoadthecalmofDick’scompanyhousesetwellbackfromtheroadinitsowngarden.Thechowkidaropenedthegatethecarslidgratefullyintothecoolshadeofthepch.Therewasan

25、oteonthekitchentablefromDick’swifeSallytosayshewasouttoteawithoneoftheawfulsocietywomenwhoseemedtofmapermanentpartoftheirsociallife.SheremindedhimthattheyweretoattendadrinkspartyattheJussawallahsaParseecoupletheyhadmetat

26、theclubthepreviousweek.Hegroanedthenmadehiswaytothebathroomfashower.LaterashesatdrinkingacoolbeerontheterraceoverlookingthegardenDick’sthoughtsreturnedtohispresentproblems.Hewasftyeightyearsoldnolongeryoungbutstillyounge

27、noughtoriseinthecompany.Hewasingoodshapephysicallysixfeettallslimmuscularevenifhishairwasprematurelygrey.HehadwkedfTraktonsinceleavinguniversity.TheyhadsenthimtosomeprettyhardcountrieswhenhewasyoungPapuaNewGuineaEcuadIra