红发会 08奇怪的广告(3)

'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he asked with his eyes open.

斯波尔丁两只眼睛瞪得大大地反问我说，'你从来没有听过红发会的事吗？'

'Never.' 'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible¹ yourself for one of the vacancies².'

'从来没有听说过。''你这么说倒使我感到莫名其妙了，因为你自己就有资格去申请那个空着的职位。'

'And what are they worth?' I asked.

'给多少钱呢？'我问道。

'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight,

'一年只给二百英镑，但这个工作很轻松，

and it need not interfere³ very much with one's other occupations.'

如果你已有别的职务也并不碍事。'

Well, you can easily think that that made me prick⁴ up my ears,

好，你们不难想见，这真使我侧耳恭听啊，

for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy.

因为好些年来，我的生意并不怎么好，这笔额外的二百英镑如能到手，那简直是来得太容易了。

'Tell me all about it,' said I.

于是我对他说，'你把事情告诉我吧。'

'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy⁵,

"他边把广告指给我看边说，'好，你自己看吧，红发会有个空缺，

and there is the address where you should apply for particulars.

这广告上有地址，到那里可以办理申请手续。

As far as I can make out, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar⁶ in his ways.

据我了解，红发会的发起人是一个名叫伊齐基亚·霍普金斯的美国百万富翁。这个人作风很古怪。

He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men;

他自己的头发就是红的，并且对所有红头发的人怀有深厚的感情。

so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees,

他死后大家才知道，原来他把他的巨大的财产留交给财产受托管理人处理，

with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths⁷ to men whose hair is of that colour.

他留下遗嘱要用他的遗产的利息让红头发的男子有个舒适的差事。

From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to do.'

从我所听到的来说，待遇很高，要干的活倒很少。'

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

5 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

6 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

7 berths   

n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位

参考例句：

• Berths on steamships can be booked a long while in advance. 轮船上的床位可以提前多日预订。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Have you got your berths on the ship yet? 你们在船上有舱位了吗？ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》