巴斯克威尔的猎犬 巴斯克维尔的诅咒（10）

 

Dr. Mortimer refolded his paper and replaced it in his pocket.

摩梯末把报纸叠好， 放回口袋去。

"Those are the public facts, Mr. Holmes, in connection with the death of Sir CharlesBaskerville."“福尔摩斯先生， 这些都是众所周知的有关查尔兹· 巴斯克维尔爵士死亡的事实。”

"I must thank you," said Sherlock Holmes, "for calling my attention to a case which certainlypresents some features of interest. I had observed some newspaper comment at the time, but I wasexceedingly preoccupied¹ by that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige thePope I lost touch with several interesting English cases. This article, you say, contains all thepublic facts?"“我真得感谢您， ” 歇洛克· 福尔摩斯说，“能引起我对这件饶有兴趣的案件的注意。 当时我曾读过一些报纸的报导， 但那时我正专心致力于梵蒂冈宝石案那件小事， 在受着教皇急迫的嘱托之下竟忽略了 在英伦发生的一些案件。 您说这段新闻已包括了 全部公开的事实吗？ ”

"It does."

“是的。”

"Then let me have the private ones." He leaned back, put his finger-tips together, andassumed his most impassive and judicial² expression.

“那么再告诉我一些内幕的事实吧！” 他靠在椅背上， 把两只手的指尖对顶在一起。 显出了他那极为冷静的、 法官似的表情。

"In doing so," said Dr. Mortimer, who had begun to show signs of some strong emotion, "Iam telling that which I have not confided³ to anyone. My motive⁴ for withholding⁵ it from thecoroner's inquiry⁶ is that a man of science shrinks from placing himself in the public position ofseeming to indorse a popular superstition⁷. I had the further motive that Baskerville Hall, as thepaper says, would certainly remain untenanted if anything were done to increase its already rathergrim reputation. For both these reasons I thought that I was justified⁸ in telling rather less than Iknew, since no practical good could result from it, but with you there is no reason why I shouldnot be perfectly⁹ frank.

“这样一来，” 摩梯末医生一面说着， 一面感情开始激动起来，“就会把我还没有告诉过任何人的事情都说出来了， 我连验尸官都隐瞒了。 因为一个从事科学工作的人， 最怕在公众面前显得他似乎是相信了一种流传的迷信。 我的另一个动机， 就象报纸上所说的那样， 如果有任何事情再进一步恶化它那已经相当可怕的名声， 那么巴斯克维尔庄园就真的再不会有人敢住了。 为了这两个原因， 我想， 不把我知道的全部事情都说出来还是正确的， 因为那样做不会有什么好处， 但是对你说来， 我没有理由不开诚布公， 彻底谈出来。

"The moor¹⁰ is very sparsely¹¹ inhabited, and those who live near each other are thrown verymuch together. For this reason I saw a good deal of Sir Charles Baskerville. With the exception ofMr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, and Mr. Stapleton, the naturalist¹², there are no other men ofeducation within many miles. Sir Charles was a retiring man, but the chance of his illness broughtus together, and a community of interests in science kept us so. He had brought back muchscientific information from South Africa, and many a charming evening we have spent togetherdiscussing the comparative anatomy¹³ of the Bushman and the Hottentot.

“沼地上的住户们住得彼此相距都很远， 而彼此居住较近的人们就产生了密切的关系。

因此我和查尔兹·巴斯克维尔爵士见面的机会就很多。 除了赖福特庄园的弗兰克兰先生和生物学家斯台普吞先生而外， 方圆数十英里之内就再没有受过教育的人了 。 查尔兹爵士是一位喜欢隐居独处的人， 可是他的病把我们俩拉到了一起， 而且对科学的共同兴趣也大大有助于使我们两人亲近起来。 他从南非带回来很多科学资料， 我还常常将整个美好动人的傍晚和他共同消磨在研讨对布史人［南非一种原始的、 以游牧狩猎为生的种族。 ——译者注］ 和豪腾脱人［南非黑人中的一个种族。 ——译者注］ 的比较解剖学上。

1 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

3 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

6 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。

7 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

8 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

11 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

13 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。