马斯格雷夫礼典10

“‘Of course, we had the drags at once, and set to work to recover the remains,  but no trace of the body could we find. On the other hand, we brought to the  surface an object of a most unexpected kind. It was a linen¹ bag which contained  within it a mass of old rusted² and discolored metal and several dull-colored  pieces of pebble³ or glass. This strange find was all that we could get from the  mere⁴, and, although we made every possible search and inquiry⁵ yesterday, we know  nothing of the fate either of Rachel Howells or of Richard Brunton. The county  police are at their wits' end, and I have come up to you as a last resource.’

“You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to this extraordinary  sequence of events, and endeavored to piece them together, and to devise some  common thread upon which they might all hang. The butler was gone. The maid was  gone. The maid had loved the butler, but had afterwards had cause to hate him.  She was of Welsh blood, fiery⁶ and passionate⁷. She had been terribly excited  immediately after his disappearance⁸. She had flung into the lake a bag  containing some curious contents. These were all factors which had to be taken  into consideration, and yet none of them got quite to the heart of the matter.  What was the starting-point of this chain of events? There lay the end of this  tangled⁹ line.

“‘当然，我们立即打捞，着手寻找遗体，但是连一尸一体的影子也没能找到。另一方面， 却捞出一件最意料不到的东西，那是一个亚麻布口袋，里面装着一堆陈旧生锈和失去光泽的 金属件，以及一些暗淡无光的水晶和玻璃制品。我们从湖中捞取的除此奇怪的物品之外，再 无其它。此外，虽然昨天我们竭尽一切可能进行搜索、查询，可是对雷切尔-豪厄尔斯和理 查德-布伦顿的命运，仍然一无所知。区警局已经智穷力竭。我只好来找你，这是最后一着 了。’“华生，可想而知，我是多么急不可耐地倾听着这一连串离奇事件，极力把它们串到 一起，并找出串连所有事件的共同主线来。管家不见了，女仆也不见了，女仆曾经一爱一过 管家，不过后来又有理由怨恨他。姑一娘一是威尔士血统，一性一情急躁易怒。管家一失踪 ，她就立刻万分激动。她把装着怪东西的口袋投进湖中。这些都是需要考虑到的因素，但是 没有一个因素完全触及问题的实质。这一连串事项的起点是什么呢？现在只有这一连串错综 复杂事件的结尾。

1 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

2 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

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。

6 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。