四签名 18秃头人的故事（1）（在线收听）

Chapter 4 The Story Of The Bald-headed Man

第四章 秃头人的故事

We followed the Indian down a sordid and common passage, ill-lit and worse furnished,

我们随着印度人进去，经过了一条平平常常的、不整洁的、灯光不亮、陈设简陋的甬道，

until he came to a door upon the right, which he threw open.

走到靠右边的一个门。他把门推开了，

A blaze of yellow light streamed out upon us,

从屋内射出来黄色的灯光，

and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head,

在灯光下站着一个身材不高的尖头顶的人，

a bristle of red hair all round the fringe of it, and a bald,

他的头顶已秃，光亮非常，周围生着一圈红发，

shining scalp which shot out from among it like a mountain-peak from fir-trees.

象是枫树丛中冒出了一座秃光的山顶一样。

He writhed his hands together as he stood,

他站在那里搓着双手。

and his features were in a perpetual jerk–now smiling, now scowling, but never for an instant in repose.

他的神情不定，一会儿微笑，一会儿又愁盾苦脸，没有一时镇静，

Nature had given him a pendulous lip, and a too visible line of yellow and irregular teeth,

天生一副下垂的嘴唇，露出黄色不整齐的牙齿，

which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face.

虽然他时常用手遮住脸的下半部，也不见得能够遮丑。

In spite of his obtrusive baldness he gave the impression of youth.

他虽然已经秃头，但是看来还很年轻，

In point of fact, he had just turned his thirtieth year.

实际上他也不过刚刚超过三十岁。

"Your servant, Miss Morstan," he kept repeating in a thin, high voice.

他不断高声重复地说："摩斯坦小姐，我愿为您效劳。"

"Your servant, gentlemen. Pray step into my little sanctum. A small place, miss, but furnished to my own liking.

"先生们，我愿为你们效劳。请到我这间小屋子里来吧。房间很小，小姐，但是是按照我所喜欢的样式陈设的。

An oasis of art in the howling desert of South London."

这是在荒弃的伦敦南郊沙漠中的一个小小的文化绿洲。"

We were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us.

我们对这间屋子的景象都很感惊奇。

In that sorry house it looked as out of place as a diamond of the first water in a setting of brass.

屋子的建筑和陈设很不调和，好象一颗最出色的钻石镶在一个铜托子上。

The richest and glossiest of curtains and tapestries draped the walls,

窗帘和挂毯都极华丽考究，

looped back here and there to expose some richly mounted painting or Oriental vase.

中间露出来精美的画镜和东方制的花漆。

The carpet was of amber and black, so soft and so thick that the foot sank pleasantly into it, as into a bed of moss.

又厚又软的琥珀色和黑色的地毯，踏在上面舒适得很，好象走在绿草地上一样。

Two great tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of Eastern luxury, as did a huge hookah which stood upon a mat in the corner.

两张大虎皮横铺在上面，在屋角的席子上摆着一只印度大水烟壶，更显得富有东方风味的华丽。

A lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of the room.

屋顶当中隐隐有一根金色的线，悬挂着一盏银色的鸽子式的挂灯。

As it burned it filled the air with a subtle and aromatic odour.

灯火燃烧的时候，空气中发出了清香的气味。