铜山毛榉案 20来到铜山毛榉(5)

"Two days later this same performance was gone through under exactly similar circumstances.

"两天以后在完全相同的情况下又照样表演一番。

Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the window,

我又一次换上衣服，又坐在那窗户旁边，

and again I laughed very heartily¹ at the funny stories of which my employer had an immense repertoire², and which he told inimitably.

听我的东家讲他那说不完的可笑的故事，我又一次不禁尽情大笑。

Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and moving my chair a little sideways,

后来，他递给我一本黄色封面的小说，又将我的座椅向旁边移动了一下，

that my own shadow might not fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him.

以免我自己的影子遮挡了书，他央求我大声念给他听。

I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter,

我从某一章的当中开始念了差不多十分钟，

and then suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change my dress.

忽然间正当我念到一个句子的半中腰时，他就叫我停止，并去更换衣服。

You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly be.

你不难想象，福尔摩斯先生，我是多么难以理解这种异乎寻常的表演究竟是什么意思。

They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face away from the window,

我察觉到他们总是小心翼翼地让我的脸背着那扇窗户，

so that I became consumed with the desire to see what was going on behind my back.

因为我心中充满了想看看我背后到底发生了什么事情的愿望。

At first it seemed to be impossible, but I soon devised a means.

起初，这好象是不可能的。但我很快想出了一个办法。

My hand-mirror had been broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed³ a piece of the glass in my handkerchief.

我有一面手镜打破了，我灵机一动，偷偷地把一片碎镜子藏在手帕里。

On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter,

在下一次的表演中，当我正在发笑的时候，

I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able with a little management to see all that there was behind me."

我将手帕举到眼睛前面，稍为摆弄一下，就能够看到我背后的一切了。"

1 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

2 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

3 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。