1、Unit 77A Phenomenal MemoryI have a phenomenal memory for faces. There is no doubt about that. The only snag is that I can never remember the names that go with them. Only the other day, I raised my hat to one fellow, quite distinguished-looking he was, and I thought: My bank manager . my broker? I h
2、ad to go and ask him. Im Rankin, your next-door neighbor, Mr. Peabody, he said, rather acidly. It was through my awful memory for names that something unpleasant happened to me not long ago.It was a Friday evening and I was in the train on my way home. It was not my regular train, for I had been kep
3、t late at work, and when it got to Ruislip, three stops before mine, there were only two of us in the compartment. I could tell straight away he was an Oxbridge man. Im an Oxbridge man, and I had definitely seen this fellows face there. But his name completely eluded me. It was most irritating. Who
4、was he? I thought he might be one of the newcomers to the pretty little estate recently completed near to where I live.I am not shy, so I began to talk in a very chatty manner. He was somewhat uncommunicative and certainly gave nothing away. I can see that he was rather worn out, as if he had had a
5、bad day, and I put his reluctance to talk down to this.Is this your regular train? I asked, hopefully. It usually works in my experience. Not often, he said. That was all. Well, that certainly told me a lot. I started to complain about railways, then the hooliganism at football matches, inflation an
6、d a host of other topic. He only said yes or no now and then. Even my comment on the weather had no effect. I told him quite a lot about myself, how my ship had come that day, a friend had repaid me $200 in cash and many other details. He showed a flicker of interest, nothing more. I thought what a
7、bore this fellow must be, and in the end I gave up. I opened my paper, and when next I glanced at him, he had fallen asleep.As we were coming into Oxbridge, he was still snoozing. I gave him a pat. Oxbridge, old chap. Thanks, he said with a smile. Outside the station it was raining and the wind was
8、blowing hard. It was freezing cold, too.Listen, I said to him, why dont I give you a lift home if you live on the new estate? Id appreciate that very much, he replied. I fetched my car from the parking lot and he got in with Many hanks. He said no more till we were well across the heath. Then, all o
9、f a sudden, he turned to me and said, OK. Pull up here.Here? I queried. There as not a house in the sight; and the weather was shocking. Anyway, I pulled up. The only thing I could remember after that was something striking down hard on my head. I passed out. When I came to, I was lying on the groun
10、d, soaked to the skin, my head pounding, my car gone and my pockets empty.I staggered into the police station to make a report. There was a light shining on the station wall and there, lit up, was a picture of my attacker. I had walked past it for the last seven days. I knew I had seen the face before. He was wanted by the police for armed robbery. I thanked my lucky stars it was not for murder. I looked at the name underneath the face, the face I will never forget. It was - er - it was - oh, dear! I can never remember names.
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