四签名 85大宗阿格拉宝物（4）

At this moment Athelney Jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin.

这时，埃瑟尔尼·琼斯向舱内伸进头来，

"Quite a family party," he remarked. "I think I shall have a pull at that flask¹, Holmes.

说道："你们真象一家人在团聚。福尔摩斯，请给我一些酒喝。

Well, I think we may all congratulate each other.

咱们大家都该互相庆贺啊。

Pity we didn't take the other alive, but there was no choice.

可惜那一个没有被咱们活捉，那也没有办法。

I say, Holmes, you must confess that you cut it rather fine.

福尔摩斯，亏得你下手在先，

It was all we could do to overhaul² her."

不然会遭到他的毒手呢。"

"All is well that ends well," said Holmes.

福尔摩斯道："结果总还算得圆满。

"But I certainly did not know that the Aurora³ was such a clipper."

可是我没想到那只'曙光' 号竟有这般的速度。"

"Smith says she is one of the fastest launches on the river,

琼斯道："据斯密司说，'曙光'号是泰晤士河上最快的汽船之一，

and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her.

假若当时还有一个人帮他驾驶的话，我们就永远也追不上它了。

He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business."

他还赌咒说他对诺伍德的惨案一点也不知道。"

"Neither he did," cried our prisoner, "not a word.

我们的囚犯喊道："他确是毫不知情的，

I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier.

因为听说他的船快，所以我向他租用了。

We told him nothing; but we paid him well,

我们什么也没有告诉他，只是出了大价钱。

and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel⁴, the Esmeralda, at Gravesend, outward bound for the Brazils."

如果他能够把我们送上在葛雷夫赞德停泊的开往巴西去的翡翠号轮船，他还可以另外得一大笔酬金。"

"Well, if he has done no wrong we shall see that no wrong comes to him.

琼斯道："如果他没有罪行，我们会从轻处理的。

If we are pretty quick in catching⁵ our men, we are not so quick in condemning⁶ them."

我们虽然捉人迅速，可是我们判刑是慎重的。"

1 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》