单身贵族案 04贵族来信(4)

"Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the subject.

"那么，有你的帮助，我还来得及把这件事弄明白。

Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client is."

翻一下这些报纸，按时间顺序把有关的摘录排好，我来看一下我们这位委托人的身世。"

He picked a red- covered volume from a line of books of reference beside the mantelpiece.

他从壁炉架旁的一排参考书中抽出一本红皮书。

"Here he is," said he, sitting down and flattening¹ it out upon his knee.

"在这儿呢，"他说着坐下来，把书平铺在膝盖上。

"Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral. Hum!

"罗伯特·沃尔辛厄姆·德维尔·圣西蒙勋爵，巴尔莫拉尔公爵的次子。喝！

Arms: Azure², three caltrops in chief over a fess sable³.

勋章！天蓝的底色，黑色的中带上三个铁蒺藜。

Born in 1846. He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage.

生于一八四六年，现年四十一岁，这已是成熟的结婚年龄。

Was Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration.

在上届政府中担任过殖民地事务副大臣。

The Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

他的父亲，那位公爵，有一时期当过外交大臣。

They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. Ha!

他们继承了安茹王朝的血统，是它的直系后裔。母系血统为都铎王朝。哈！

Well, there is nothing very instructive in all this.

这些并没有什么指导意义。

I think that I must turn to you, Watson, for something more solid."

我看，华生，我还得请你提供一些更实在的情况。"

"I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I,

"我没怎么费事就找到了想要找的情况，"我说，

"for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as remarkable⁴.

"事情发生不久，给我的印象又很深。

I feared to refer them to you, however,

然而，我过去没敢对你说。

as I knew that you had an inquiry⁵ on hand and that you disliked the intrusion of other matters."

因为我知道你手头正有一件案子，而你又不喜欢有其它事打扰你。"

"Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square furniture van.

"噢，你指的是格罗夫纳广场家具搬运车的那件小事吧。

That is quite cleared up now -- though, indeed, it was obvious from the first.

现在已完全搞清楚了--其实从一开始就很明白。

Pray give me the results of your newspaper selections."

请你把翻检报纸的结果告诉我吧。"

1 flattening   

n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词

参考例句：

• Flattening of the right atrial border is also seen in constrictive pericarditis. 右心房缘变平亦见于缩窄性心包炎。
• He busied his fingers with flattening the leaves of the book. 他手指忙着抚平书页。

2 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

3 sable   

n.黑貂；adj.黑色的

参考例句：

• Artists' brushes are sometimes made of sable.画家的画笔有的是用貂毛制的。
• Down the sable flood they glided.他们在黑黝黝的洪水中随波逐流。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 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。