绿玉皇冠案 30失而复得(1)

"I do not know what I have done to be so severely¹ tried," said he.

"我不知道做了什么缺德事使我要受这么残酷的折磨，"他说。

"Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without a care in the world.

"只不过是两天以前我还是一个幸福和富裕的人，无忧无虑地生活在这世界上。

Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured² age.

现在我落到了要过孤独和不光彩晚年的地步。

One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, Mary, has deserted³ me." "Deserted you?"

真是祸不单行啊。我的侄女玛丽抛弃了我。" "抛弃了你？"

"Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table.

"是的。今天早晨发现她的床一夜没有人睡过，她的房间已经是人去楼空，一张留给我的便条放在大厅的桌子上。

I had said to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had married my boy all might have been well with him.

我昨晚曾经忧伤而不是气愤地对她说，要是她和我儿子结了婚，他本来可能一切都会很好的。

Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers in this note:

也许我这样说太欠斟酌了。她的便条里也谈到了这些话：

"MY DEAREST UNCLE: "I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune might never have occurred.

"我最亲爱的叔叔：我感到我已经给你带来了苦恼，如果我采取另外一种行动，这可怕的不幸事件可能就永远不会发生了。

I cannot, with this thought in my mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must leave you forever.

我心里存着这种念头，就再也不能愉快地住在你的屋檐下了。而且我觉得我必须永远离开你。

Do not worry about my future, for that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me.

不要为我的前途操心，因为我自己有栖身的地方；最重要的是，决不要寻找我，因为这将是徒劳的，而且会帮我的倒忙。

In life or in death, I am ever your loving MARY."

不管我是生是死，我永远是你亲爱的玛丽。”

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 dishonoured   

a.不光彩的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• You have dishonoured the name of the school. 你败坏了学校的名声。
• We found that the bank had dishonoured some of our cheques. 我们发现银行拒绝兑现我们的部分支票。

3 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。