Plagiarism

Everyone seems to be writing more than me, so I thought I'd write something. :) I couldn't think of anything to write, so I thought I'd adapt the opening of one of my favourite books from recent times. (I always seem to be plagiarising people don't I! JPod101, Kclass101, now a famous author...)

I hope everyone can work out what famous novel I've adapted this story from. For those who can't read Chinese (or for those who want to cheat), I've included a synopsis at the end. If you think you know just click "comment" without reading the helpful hints that I've written and see if you were right. To tell you the truth, if you are correct, you'll definitely know it, it's not like I've adapted it that much!!!!

罗教授睁开了眼。他模糊地看了正在响的电话。

他看了手表。三点。这么早，谁会来打电话？他今天才到了北京，没告诉同事他住在什么酒家，那谁会打电话呢？

他开了灯，慢慢拿起了话筒。他咳嗽一次，接着说：

‘喂。。。’

‘罗先生，这里是前台，真的不好意思打扰你。’

‘什么事。’罗教授趟在床上，不耐烦地问。

‘有人找你。’

罗教授听到这个消息，并不觉得奇怪。他父母移民到美国，而他妈妈总搞不清楚美国西部和北京时间的差别。

‘叫她留言。。。再见。’

罗教授把头放回枕头上，闭着眼。他明天打电话给妈妈。告诉她美国西部跟中国的时间差别是。。。是。。。

罗教授睡觉了。他睡觉之前最后一个想到：妈妈怎么知道他住在什么酒店。。。

电话又响了。罗教授接着说：

‘喂。。。’

‘罗先生这里是前台。’

罗教授：‘恩’。

‘不是来了电话。。。’

罗教授：‘什么？’。

‘刚才不是有人打电话找你。。。两位先生本人来找你。他们说有事要找你。’

罗教授叹了一口气。

‘罗先生？听到了没？我说。。。’

‘听到了。我。。。告诉他们留一个电话号码，我明天。。。’

‘罗先生，不好意思，他们是。。。一位先生是说他有很重要的事要找你。。。’

‘让他留电话号码，我明天找他。’罗教授离睡眠越远，他越生气。

‘罗先生，可是他。。。’

‘哎呀，把电话给他，我自己告诉他！’

罗教授听到敲门声。

‘不好意思罗教授，他们已经上了电梯去找你。。。’

罗教授突然醒来。

‘你怎么告诉他我住在几号？你。。’

罗教授的话被打断。

‘罗教授，他是公安局的，他们让我告诉他们你住在几号。’

罗教授挂了电话，走响门。有人正在一边敲，一边低声说，‘罗教授，我知道这是很不方便的时刻，可是公安局需要你的帮助。罗教授？罗教授？听到了吗？罗教授？’

罗教授开了门。对方是两位穿着黑西服的年轻男人。

‘罗教授，您好。我们是来自北京公安局总部的王伟。这是我的警察身份证。我们很抱歉这么早打扰你，可是总部需要你的帮助。’

罗教授迷糊地持着那位警察的身份证。

WARNING! BIG HINTS COMING UP! LOOK AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOIL IT!

A professor of ancient languages is awoken at 3 am on his first night in Beijing by a call from the front desk. The professor tries to brush them off, but the concierge sends them up to his room, without his permission. The professor is outraged, but it turns out that the two men are policemen....

So do you know what book I got this from? Final hint: the book probably wasn't originally set in Beijing, and the professor probably wasn't a professor of languages. Obviously because I'm writing in Chinese for a group of linguists (sorry polyglots!) I had to change a few things. ;)


BIG BIG HINT: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE!