博斯科姆比溪谷秘案 22来到目的地(8)

"Ah, thereby¹ hangs a rather painful tale.

"噢，这里面还有一桩相当痛苦的故事哩。

This fellow is madly, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago,

这个小伙子爱她爱得发了疯似的。但是，大约两年前，

when he was only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away five years at a boarding-school,

那时他还不过是个少年，也就是在他真正了解她以前，她曾经离家五年，在一所寄宿学校读书。

what does the idiot do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a registry office?

这个傻瓜在布里斯托尔被一个酒吧女郎缠住，并在婚姻登记所和她登记结婚，你看他有多傻？

No one knows a word of the matter,

谁也不知道有这件事，

but you can imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided² for not doing what he would give his very eyes to do,

而你可以想象他干了这件傻事之后是多么着急，因为他没有做他显然应该做的事，

but what he knows to be absolutely impossible.

而是做了他自己明知是绝对不应该做的事。

It was sheer frenzy³ of this sort which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father,

他就是因为曾干了那件十足疯狂的蠢事而急得双臂乱舞的，

at their last interview, was goading⁴ him on to propose to Miss Turner.

当他父亲在最后一次和他谈话中亟力劝他向特纳小姐求婚的时候。

On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man,

而且，他无力供养自己，而他的父亲为人十分刻薄，

would have thrown him over utterly⁵ had he known the truth.

如果他知道实情，肯定会彻底抛其他的。

It was with his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in Bristol, and his father did not know where he was.

前三天他是在布里斯托尔和他的那个当酒吧女郎的妻子一起度过的。当时他父亲对他身在何处，全无所知。

Mark that point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however,

请注意这一点。这是很重要的。但是，坏事变成了好事。

for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious trouble and likely to be hanged,

那个酒吧女郎从报上看到他身陷囹圄，案情严重，可能被处绞刑，

has thrown him over utterly and has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard,

于是干脆将他抛弃了。她写信告诉他，她原是有夫之妇，此人在百慕大码头工作，

so that there is really no tie between them.

所以在他们之间并没有真正的夫妻关系。

I think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all that he has suffered."

我想这一消息对备受苦难的小麦卡锡是一种告慰。"

"But if he is innocent, who has done it?"

"但是，如果他是无辜的，那又是谁干的呢？"

"Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two points.

"哦！是谁吗？我要提醒你特别注意两点。

One is that the murdered man had an appointment with someone at the pool,

第一，被谋杀者和某人约定在池塘见面，

and that the someone could not have been his son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would return.

这个人不可能是他的儿子，因为他的儿子正在外面，他不知道他什么时候回来。

The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned.

第二，在被谋杀者知道他儿子已经回来之前，有人听见他大声喊'库伊'！

Those are the crucial points upon which the case depends.

这两点是能否破案的关键。

And now let us talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor⁶ matters until to-morrow."

现在，如果你乐意的话，让我们来谈谈乔治·梅瑞秋斯吧。那些次要的问题我们明天再说吧。"

1 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

2 upbraided   

v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The captain upbraided his men for falling asleep. 上尉因他的部下睡着了而斥责他们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My wife upbraided me for not earning more money. 我的太太为了我没有赚更多的钱而责备我。 来自辞典例句

3 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

4 goading   

v.刺激( goad的现在分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人

参考例句：

• Charles was always goading me. 查尔斯总是招惹我。 来自辞典例句
• He kept goading me to fight. 他不断煽动我去打架。 来自辞典例句

5 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。