斑点带子案 03海伦小姐(3)

I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room¹.

我匆匆地穿上衣服，几分钟后就准备就绪，随同我的朋友来到楼下的起居室。

A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.

一位女士端坐窗前，她身穿黑色衣服，蒙着厚厚的面纱。她在我们走进房间时站起身来。

"Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock Holmes.

"早上好，小姐，"福尔摩斯愉快地说道，“我的名字是歇洛克·福尔摩斯。

This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself.

这位是我的挚友和伙伴华生医生。在他面前，你可以象在我面前一样地谈话，不必顾虑。

Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire.

哈！赫德森太太想得很周到，我很高兴看到她已经烧旺了壁炉。

Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering."

请凑近炉火坐坐，我叫人给你端一杯热咖啡，我看你在发抖。"

"It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.

"我不是因为觉得冷才发抖的，"那个女人低声地说，同时，她按照福尔摩斯的请求换了个座位。

"What, then?" "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror."

"那么，是为什么呢？""福尔摩斯先生，是因为害怕和感到恐惧。"

She raised her veil as she spoke², and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation³,

她一边说着，一边掀起了面纱，我们能够看出，她确实是处于万分焦虑之中，引人怜悯，

her face all drawn⁴ and gray, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal.

她脸色苍白，神情沮丧，双眸惊惶不安，酷似一头被追逐的动物的眼睛。

Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty,

她的身材相貌象是三十岁模样，

but her hair was shot with premature⁵ gray, and her expression was weary and haggard.

可是，她的头发却未老先衰夹杂着几根银丝，表情萎靡憔悴。

1 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

2 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。

3 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。