铜山毛榉案 17来到铜山毛榉(2)

"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable¹ as ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child.

"我的雇主驱车载着我，他还是和以往一样和蔼可亲，那天晚上他将我介绍给他的妻子和孩子。

There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture² which seemed to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker³ Street.

福尔摩斯先生，我们在贝克街你们房子里所猜测的情况并不符合事实。

Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband,

鲁卡斯尔太太没有疯。我看她是一位恬静的女人，脸色苍白，比她的丈夫年轻得多。

not more than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be less than forty-five.

我估计她不到三十岁；至于他，不会少于四十五岁。

From their conversation I have gathered that they have been married about seven years,

从他们谈话中我了解到他们结婚大约已有七年，

that he was a widower⁴, and that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia.

他原来是个鳏夫，他的前妻遗留下唯一的一个孩子就是已经到美国费城去的女儿。

Mr. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother.

鲁卡斯尔私下对我说，他的女儿离开他们是因为她对她后母有一种不讲道理的反感。

As the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her father's young wife.

既然他女儿的年龄不会小于二十岁，我完全可以设想她和他父亲的年轻妻子在一起，处境一定是很为难的。

Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as in feature.

鲁卡斯尔太太，在我看来，无论是她的心灵方面或面貌方面，都很平常。

She impressed me neither favourably⁵ nor the reverse. She was a nonentity⁶.

她既没有给我留下什么好感，也没有什么坏印象，她是个无足轻重的人。

It was easy to see that she was passionately⁷ devoted⁸ both to her husband and to her little son.

很容易看出她是专心一意地热爱她的丈夫和她的小儿子的。

Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every little want and forestalling⁹ it if possible.

她淡灰色的眼睛不时地东顾西盼，一觉察到他们任何一点小小的需要，便尽可能想法满足要求。

He was kind to her also in his bluff¹⁰, boisterous¹¹ fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.

他对她也很好，只是方式卤莽粗野，总的来说，他们俩好像是一对幸福的夫妇。

And yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman.

然而这个女人，她仍然有一些秘密的愁苦。

She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.

她时常会沉浸在深思之中，愁容满面。

More than once I have surprised her in tears.

我不止一次意外地看见她在掉眼泪。

I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition¹² of her child which weighed upon her mind,

我有时想这一定是她孩子的坏迫使她这样心事重重，

for I have never met so utterly¹³ spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature.

真的，我从来没有见过这么一个完全宠坏了的、偏偏又这么坏的小家伙。

He is small for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large.

他的个子显得比同龄人小，脑袋却大得和身躯很不相称。

His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage¹⁴ fits of passion and gloomy intervals¹⁵ of sulking.

他好象整天不是野性发作，便是绷着脸闷闷不乐。

Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea of amusement,

他唯一的消遣似乎就是对一些比他弱小的动物施加酷刑，

and he shows quite remarkable¹⁶ talent in planning the capture of mice, little birds, and insects.

在捕捉老鼠、小鸟和昆虫方面，他表现出很了不起的才智。

But I would rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has little to do with my story."

但是我还是不谈这个小家伙；福尔摩斯先生，实际上他与我的事情没有多大关系。"

1 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

2 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

3 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

4 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

5 favourably   

adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably

参考例句：

• The play has been favourably commented by the audience. 本剧得到了观众的好评。
• The open approach contrasts favourably with the exclusivity of some universities. 这种开放式的方法与一些大学的封闭排外形成了有利的对比。

6 nonentity   

n.无足轻重的人

参考例句：

• She was written off then as a political nonentity.她当时被认定是成不了气候的政坛小人物。
• How could such a nonentity become chairman of the company? 这样的庸才怎么能当公司的董事长？

7 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 forestalling   

v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 )

参考例句：

10 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

11 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

12 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

13 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。

14 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

15 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

16 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。