铜山毛榉案 17来到铜山毛榉(2)（在线收听）

"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child.

"我的雇主驱车载着我，他还是和以往一样和蔼可亲，那天晚上他将我介绍给他的妻子和孩子。

There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street.

福尔摩斯先生，我们在贝克街你们房子里所猜测的情况并不符合事实。

Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband,

鲁卡斯尔太太没有疯。我看她是一位恬静的女人，脸色苍白，比她的丈夫年轻得多。

not more than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be less than forty-five.

我估计她不到三十岁；至于他，不会少于四十五岁。

From their conversation I have gathered that they have been married about seven years,

从他们谈话中我了解到他们结婚大约已有七年，

that he was a widower, and that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia.

他原来是个鳏夫，他的前妻遗留下唯一的一个孩子就是已经到美国费城去的女儿。

Mr. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother.

鲁卡斯尔私下对我说，他的女儿离开他们是因为她对她后母有一种不讲道理的反感。

As the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her father's young wife.

既然他女儿的年龄不会小于二十岁，我完全可以设想她和他父亲的年轻妻子在一起，处境一定是很为难的。

Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as in feature.

鲁卡斯尔太太，在我看来，无论是她的心灵方面或面貌方面，都很平常。

She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. She was a nonentity.

她既没有给我留下什么好感，也没有什么坏印象，她是个无足轻重的人。

It was easy to see that she was passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little son.

很容易看出她是专心一意地热爱她的丈夫和她的小儿子的。

Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every little want and forestalling it if possible.

她淡灰色的眼睛不时地东顾西盼，一觉察到他们任何一点小小的需要，便尽可能想法满足要求。

He was kind to her also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.

他对她也很好，只是方式卤莽粗野，总的来说，他们俩好像是一对幸福的夫妇。

And yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman.

然而这个女人，她仍然有一些秘密的愁苦。

She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.

她时常会沉浸在深思之中，愁容满面。

More than once I have surprised her in tears.

我不止一次意外地看见她在掉眼泪。

I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of her child which weighed upon her mind,

我有时想这一定是她孩子的坏迫使她这样心事重重，

for I have never met so utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature.

真的，我从来没有见过这么一个完全宠坏了的、偏偏又这么坏的小家伙。

He is small for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large.

他的个子显得比同龄人小，脑袋却大得和身躯很不相称。

His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking.

他好象整天不是野性发作，便是绷着脸闷闷不乐。

Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea of amusement,

他唯一的消遣似乎就是对一些比他弱小的动物施加酷刑，

and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning the capture of mice, little birds, and insects.

在捕捉老鼠、小鸟和昆虫方面，他表现出很了不起的才智。

But I would rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has little to do with my story."

但是我还是不谈这个小家伙；福尔摩斯先生，实际上他与我的事情没有多大关系。"