地下墓穴（18）

 

Some two months afterwards the following paragraph made the round of the European Press:

“One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years is that of the new catacomb in Rome, which lies some distance to the east of the well-known vaults¹ of St. Calixtus. The finding of this important burial-place, which is exceeding rich in most interesting early Christian² remains³, is due to the energy and sagacity of Dr. Julius Burger, the young German specialist, who is rapidly taking the first place as an authority upon ancient Rome. Although the first to publish his discovery, it appears that a less fortunate adventurer had anticipated Dr. Burger. Some months ago Mr. Kennedy, the well-known English student, disappeared suddenly from his rooms in the Corso, and it was conjectured⁴ that his association with a recent scandal had driven him to leave Rome. It appears now that he had in reality fallen a victim to that fervid⁵ love of archaeology⁶ which had raised him to a distinguished⁷ place among living scholars. His body was discovered in the heart of the new catacomb, and it was evident from the condition of his feet and boots that he had tramped for days through the tortuous⁸ corridors which make these subterranean⁹ tombs so dangerous to explorers. The deceased gentleman had, with inexplicable¹⁰ rashness, made his way into this labyrinth¹¹ without, as far as can be discovered, taking with him either candles or matches, so that his sad fate was the natural result of his own temerity¹². What makes the matter more painful is that Dr. Julius Burger was an intimate friend of the deceased. His joy at the extraordinary find which he has been so fortunate as to make has been greatly marred¹³ by the terrible fate of his comrade and fellow-worker.”

两个月之后，一条消息刊登在欧洲各大报纸上：

“在罗马发现新的墓穴，这是近几年最重大的发现

之一，该墓穴位于著名的卡里斯图斯墓穴东边。这一重要墓地中保存着极为丰富极为珍贵的早期基督教遗物。这一发现归功于精力过人、智慧非凡的年轻的德玉学者尤利乌斯伯格，他已成为最权威的古罗马专家。虽然首先公布发现成果的是伯格博士，但是在他之前还有另一个不那么幸运的探险家。数月前，知名的英国学者肯尼迪先生突然失踪，当时有人推测，他因为一桩丑闻离开罗马。现在看来，实际上他是为了自己所钟爱的考古学而献身的一一他在该领域已占据显赫的地位。他的尸体在新墓穴的中心位置被发现，从他的脚和鞋的情况看，他在曲折复杂的通道中曾连续行走多日，而这些通道对于墓穴探险者来说是十分危险的。这位已故学者出于尚未知晓的原因，轻率地进入地下迷宫，身上没带蜡烛，也没带火柴，由此可见，他的悲惨命运是他自己的卤莽直接造成的。更富悲剧色彩的是，尤利乌斯伯格博士还是死者的好友。他在十分幸运地做出的这一非凡发现中感到的喜悦，由于他的同事和伙伴的可怕命运，大打折扣。”

1 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 conjectured   

推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old peasant conjectured that it would be an unusually cold winter. 那老汉推测冬天将会异常地寒冷。
• The general conjectured that the enemy only had about five days' supply of food left. 将军推测敌人只剩下五天的粮食给养。

5 fervid   

adj.热情的；炽热的

参考例句：

• He is a fervid orator.他是个慷慨激昂的演说者。
• He was a ready scholar as you are,but more fervid and impatient.他是一个聪明的学者，跟你一样，不过更加热情而缺乏耐心。

6 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

8 tortuous   

adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的

参考例句：

• We have travelled a tortuous road.我们走过了曲折的道路。
• They walked through the tortuous streets of the old city.他们步行穿过老城区中心弯弯曲曲的街道。

9 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

10 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

11 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

12 temerity   

n.鲁莽，冒失

参考例句：

• He had the temerity to ask for higher wages after only a day's work.只工作了一天，他就蛮不讲理地要求增加工资。
• Tins took some temerity,but it was fruitless.这件事做得有点莽撞，但结果还是无用。

13 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。