住院的病人11

“Mr. Blessington seemed more excited over the matter than I should have thought  possible, though of course it was enough to disturb anybody's peace of mind. He  actually sat crying in an arm-chair, and I could hardly get him to speak  coherently. It was his suggestion that I should come round to you, and of course  I at once saw the propriety¹ of it, for certainly the incident is a very singular  one, though he appears to completely overrate its importance. If you would only  come back with me in my brougham, you would at least be able to soothe² him,  though I can hardly hope that you will be able to explain this remarkable  occurrence.”

Sherlock Holmes had listened to this long narrative³ with an intentness which  showed me that his interest was keenly aroused. His face was as impassive as  ever, but his lids had drooped⁴ more heavily over his eyes, and his smoke had  curled up more thickly from his pipe to emphasize each curious episode in the  doctor's tale. As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up without a word, handed  me my hat, picked his own from the table, and followed Dr. Trevelyan to the  door. Within a quarter of an hour we had been dropped at the door of the  physician's residence in Brook⁵ Street, one of those sombre, flat-faced houses  which one associates with a West-End practice. A small page admitted us, and we  began at once to ascend⁶ the broad, well-carpeted stair.

But a singular interruption brought us to a standstill. The light at the top was  suddenly whisked out, and from the darkness came a reedy, quivering voice.

“I have a pistol,” it cried. “I give you my word that I'll fire if you come  any nearer.”

“This really grows outrageous⁷, Mr. Blessington,” cried Dr. Trevelyan.

“Oh, then it is you, doctor,” said the voice, with a great heave of relief. “ But those other gentlemen, are they what they pretend to be?”

We were conscious of a long scrutiny⁸ out of the darkness.

“Yes, yes, it's all right,” said the voice at last. “You can come up, and I  am sorry if my precautions have annoyed you.”

“尽避这是扰乱人心的事，可是布莱星顿先生显得出人意料之外地异常激动不安。他竟然坐 在一把扶手椅上不断叫喊，我简直难以让他说得更清楚一些。是他提出要我来找你，我当然 立即看出，这样做是适当的。因为尽避他对这件事的重要一性一似乎估计过高，但可以肯定 这里面是有名堂的。你只要乘我的马车与我一同回去，你至少能使他平静下来，虽然我很难 指望你能把所发生的这件奇事解释清楚。”

歇洛克-福尔摩斯聚一精一会神地倾听着这段冗长的叙述，我看出，这件事引起了他强烈的 兴趣。他的面容象往常一样毫无表情，可是他的双眼眯缝得愈加厉害，从他烟斗中袅袅上升 的烟雾也越来越浓，使得这位医生的故事中的每一个离奇的情节更加突出了。我们来访者的 话刚一结束，福尔摩斯二话不说就站起来，把我的帽子递给我，从桌上抓起他自己的帽子， 跟随特里维廉医生向门口走去。不到一刻钟，我们便来到布鲁克街这位医生寓所的门前了。 一个矮个子小听差领着我们进去，我们立即走上宽阔的、铺着上等地毯的楼梯。

可是突然发生了一件怪事，使我们停了下来。楼顶的灯光蓦地熄灭了，黑暗中传来一个尖细 的、颤一抖的呼喊声：“我有手槍，我警告你们，假如再往上走我就开槍。”

“这实在令人不能容忍，布莱星顿先生，”特里维廉医生高声喊道。

“啊，原来是你，医生，”这人宽慰地松了一口气，“可是其他几位先生不是冒充的吗？”

我们知道他已在暗中对我们进行了一番仔细的观察了。

“不错，不错，一点也不错，”那声音终于说道，“你们可以上来，我很抱歉，刚才对你们 太无礼了。”

1 propriety   

n.正当行为；正当；适当

参考例句：

• We hesitated at the propriety of the method.我们对这种办法是否适用拿不定主意。
• The sensitive matter was handled with great propriety.这件机密的事处理得极为适当。

2 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

3 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

4 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

5 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

6 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

7 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

8 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。