血字的研究 03福尔摩斯先生(3)

As we made our way to the hospital after leaving the Holborn,

在我们离开侯本前往医院去的路上，

Stamford gave me a few more particulars about the gentleman whom I proposed to take as a fellow-lodger.

斯坦弗又给我讲了一些关于那位先生的详细情况。

"You mustn't blame me if you don't get on with him," he said;

他说："如果你和他处不来可不要怪我。

"I know nothing more of him than I have learned from meeting him occasionally in the laboratory.

我只是在化验室里偶然碰到他，略微知道他一些；此外，对于他就一无所知了。

You proposed this arrangement, so you must not hold me responsible."

既然你自己提议这么办，那么，就不要叫我负责了。"

"If we don't get on it will be easy to part company," I answered.

我回答说："如果我们处不来，散伙也很容易。"

"It seems to me, Stamford," I added, looking hard at my companion, "that you have some reason for washing your hands of the matter.

我用眼睛盯着我的同伴接着说道，"斯坦弗，我看，你对这件事似乎要缩手不管了，其中一定有缘故。

Is this fellow's temper so formidable, or what is it? Don't be mealymouthed about it."

是不是这个人的脾气真的那样可怕，还是有别的原因？不要这样吞吞吐吐的。"

"It is not easy to express the inexpressible," he answered with a laugh.

他笑了一笑说："要把难以形容的事用言语表达出来可真不容易。

"Holmes is a little too scientific for my tastes–it approaches to cold- bloodedness.

我看福尔摩斯这个人有点太科学化了，几乎近于冷血的程度。

I could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of the latest vegetable alkaloid,

我记得有一次，他拿一小撮植物碱给他的朋友尝尝。

not out of malevolence¹, you understand, but simply out of a spirit of inquiry² in order to have an accurate idea of the effects.

你要知道，这并不是出于什么恶意，只不过是出于一种钻研的动机，要想正确地了解这种药物的不同效果罢了。

To do him justice, I think that he would take it himself with the same readiness.

平心而论，我认为他自己也会一口把它吞下去的。

He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge."

看来他对于确切的知识有着强烈的爱好。"

"Very right too."

"这种精神也是对的呀。"

"Yes, but it may be pushed to excess.

"是的，不过也未免太过分了。

When it comes to beating the subjects in the dissecting-rooms with a stick, it is certainly taking rather a bizarre shape."

后来他甚至在解剖室里用棍子抽打尸体，这毕竟是一件怪事吧。"

"Beating the subjects!"

"抽打尸体！"

"Yes, to verify how far bruises³ may be produced after death. I saw him at it with my own eyes."

"是啊，他是为了证明人死以后还能造成什么样的伤痕。我亲眼看见过他抽打尸体。"

"And yet you say he is not a medical student?"

"你不是说他不是学医的吗？"

"No. Heaven knows what the objects of his studies are. But here we are, and you must form your own impressions about him."

"是呀。天晓得他在研究些什么东西。现在咱们到了，他到底是怎么样一个人，你自己瞧吧。"

As he spoke⁴, we turned down a narrow lane and passed through a small side-door, which opened into a wing of the great hospital.

他说着，我们就下了车，走进一条狭窄的胡同，从一个小小的旁门进去，来到一所大医院的侧楼。

It was familiar ground to me,

这是我所熟悉的地方，

and I needed no guiding as we ascended⁵ the bleak⁶ stone staircase and made our way down the long corridor with its vista⁷ of whitewashed⁸ wall and dun-coloured doors.

不用人领路我们就走上了白石台阶，穿过一条长长的走廊。走廊两壁刷得雪白，两旁有许多暗褐色的小门。

Near the farther end a low arched passage branched away from it and led to the chemical laboratory.

靠着走廊尽头上有一个低低的拱形过道，从这里一直通往化验室。

This was a lofty chamber⁹, lined and littered with countless¹⁰ bottles.

化验室是一间高大的屋子，四面杂乱地摆着无数的瓶子。

Broad, low tables were scattered¹¹ about, which bristled¹² with retorts, test-tubes, and little Bunsen lamps, with their blue flickering¹³ flames.

几张又矮又大的桌子纵横排列着，上边放着许多蒸馏瓶、试管和一些闪动着蓝色火焰的小小的本生灯。

There was only one student in the room, who was bending over a distant table absorbed in his work.

屋子里只有一个人，他坐在较远的一张桌子前边，伏在桌上聚精会神地工作着。

At the sound of our steps he glanced round and sprang to his feet with a cry of pleasure.

他听到我们的脚步声，回过头来瞧了一眼，接着就跳了起来，高兴地欢呼着：

"I've found it! I've found it," he shouted to my companion, running towards us with a test-tube in his hand.

"我发现了！我发现了！"他对我的同伴大声说着，一面手里拿着一个试管向我们跑来，

"I have found a re-agent which is precipitated¹⁴ by haemoglobin, and by nothing else."

"我发现了一种试剂，只能用血色蛋白质来沉淀，别的都不行。"

Had he discovered a gold mine, greater delight could not have shone upon his features.

即使他发现了金矿，也不见得会比现在显得更高兴。

1 malevolence   

n.恶意，狠毒

参考例句：

• I had always been aware of a frame of malevolence under his urbanity. 我常常觉察到，在他温文尔雅的下面掩藏着一种恶意。 来自辞典例句

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

7 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

8 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

11 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

12 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

13 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

14 precipitated   

v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀

参考例句：

• His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis. 他的辞职立即引发了领导层的危机。
• He lost his footing and was precipitated to the ground. 他失足摔倒在地上。 来自《简明英汉词典》