马斯格雷夫礼典07

“‘Brunton, the butler, was in the library. He was sitting, fully¹ dressed, in  an easy-chair, with a slip of paper which looked like a map upon his knee, and  his forehead sunk forward upon his hand in deep thought. I stood dumb with  astonishment², watching him from the darkness. A small taper³ on the edge of the  table shed a feeble light which sufficed to show me that he was fully dressed.  Suddenly, as I looked, he rose from his chair, and walking over to a bureau at  the side, he unlocked it and drew out one of the drawers. From this he took a  paper, and returning to his seat he flattened⁴ it out beside the taper on the  edge of the table, and began to study it with minute attention. My indignation  at this calm examination of our family documents overcame me so far that I took  a step forward, and Brunton, looking up, saw me standing⁵ in the doorway⁶. He  sprang to his feet, his face turned livid with fear, and he thrust into his  breast the chart-like paper which he had been originally studying.

“‘“So!” said I. “This is how you repay the trust which we have reposed⁷ in  you. You will leave my service to-morrow.”

“‘He bowed with the look of a man who is utterly⁸ crushed, and slunk past me  without a word. The taper was still on the table, and by its light I glanced to  see what the paper was which Brunton had taken from the bureau. To my surprise  it was nothing of any importance at all, but simply a copy of the questions and  answers in the singular old observance called the Musgrave Ritual. It is a sort  of ceremony peculiar⁹ to our family, which each Musgrave for centuries past has  gone through on his coming of age—a thing of private interest, and perhaps of  some little importance to the archaeologist, like our own blazonings and  charges, but of no practical use whatever.’

“‘We had better come back to the paper afterwards,’ said I.

“‘If you think it really necessary,’ he answered, with some hesitation¹⁰. ‘To  continue my statement, however: I relocked the bureau, using the key which  Brunton had left, and I had turned to go when I was surprised to find that the  butler had returned, and was standing before me.

“‘原来是管家布伦顿呆在藏书室里。他衣着整齐地坐在一把安乐椅里，膝上摊着一张纸， 看上去好象是一张地图，手托前额，正在沉思。我瞠目结舌地立在那里，暗中窥一探他的动 静。只见桌边放着一支小蜡烛，我借着那微弱的烛光，瞧见他衣着整齐，又见他突然从椅上 站起来，走向那边一个写字台，打开锁，拉开一个一抽一屉。他从里面取出一份文件，又回 到原来的座位，把文件平铺在桌边蜡烛旁，开始聚一精一会神地研究起来。看到他那样镇静 自若地检查我们家的文件，我不禁勃然大怒，便一步跨向前去。这时布伦顿抬起头来，见我 站在门口，便跳起来，脸吓得发青，连忙把刚才研究的那张海图一样的文件塞一进怀中。

“‘我说：“好哇！你就这样报答我们对你的信任。明天你就离职辞行吧。”

“‘他垂头丧气地一鞠躬，一言不发地从我身边溜走了。

蜡烛依然摆在桌上，借助烛光，我瞥了一眼，看布伦顿从写字台里取出的文件到底是什么。 出乎我的意料，那文件根本无关紧要，只是一份奇异的古老仪式中的问答词抄件而已。这种 仪式叫“马斯格雷夫礼典”，是我们家族的特有仪式。过去几世纪以来，凡是马斯格雷夫家 族的人，一到成年就要举行这种仪式——这只同我们家族的私事有关，就象我们自己的纹章 图记一样，或许对考古学家有些重要作用，但是毫无实际用处。’

“‘我们最好还是回头再谈那份文件的事吧，’我说道。

“‘如果你认为确有必要的话，’马斯格雷夫也有些迟疑地答道，‘好，我就继续讲下去： 我用布伦顿留下的钥匙重新把写字台锁好，刚要转身走开，突然发现管家已经走回来站在我 面前，这使我吃了一惊。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

3 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。

4 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 reposed   

v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Cruncher reposed under a patchwork counterpane, like a Harlequin at home. 克朗彻先生盖了一床白衲衣图案的花哨被子，像是呆在家里的丑角。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• An old man reposed on a bench in the park. 一位老人躺在公园的长凳上。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

10 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。