皮漏斗之谜（2）

 

I had known Dacre in England, for my researches in the Assyrian Room of the British Museum had been conducted at the time when he was endeavouring to establish a mystic and esoteric meaning in the Babylonian tablets, and this community of interests had brought us together. Chance remarks had led to daily conversation, and that to something verging¹ upon friendship. I had promised him that on my next visit to Paris I would call upon him. At the time when I was able to fulfil my compact I was living in a cottage at Fontainebleau, and as the evening trains were inconvenient², he asked me to spend the night in his house.

“I have only that one spare couch,” said he, pointing to a broad sofa in his large salon³; “I hope that you will manage to be comfortable there.”

It was a singular bedroom, with its high walls of brown volumes, but there could be no more agreeable furniture to a bookworm like myself, and there is no scent⁴ so pleasant to my nostrils⁵ as that faint, subtle reek⁶ which comes from an ancient book. I assured him that I could desire no more charming chamber⁷, and no more congenial surroundings.

“If the fittings are neither convenient nor conventional, they are at least costly,” said he, looking round at his shelves. “I have expended⁸ nearly a quarter of a million of money upon these objects which surround you. Books, weapons, gems⁹, carvings¹⁰, tapestries¹¹, images—there is hardly a thing here which has not its history, and it is generally one worth telling.”

我是在英国认识达克的。当时我在大英博物馆的亚述室进行研究，他正试图破解巴比伦石板上神秘深奥的语义，相同的兴趣把我们俩联在了一起。偶然的相遇变成每日的交谈，进而形成近乎友谊的关系。我答应，如果我到巴黎，一定去看望他。当我履行诺言的时候，我住在枫丹白露①一幢别墅。那天，因为赶不上晚班火车，他邀请我在他家过夜。

“我只有这一张空床，“他指着宽敞的藏书室里宽大的沙发说，“希望你在这儿睡得舒服。”

这是个别致的卧室，沿着高高的墙壁摆满了棕色的书籍，对我这样一个书迷来说，没有比这更赏心悦目的陈设了，对我的噢觉来说，没有比古籍散发的淡淡的书香更令人愉悦的了。我告诉他，这个房间正是我求之不得的，环境再好不过了。

他看看周围的书架，说道：“这些陈设也许不够方便，也不合乎习惯，但至少还是很贵重的。我在这些东西上花了差不多25万，书籍、武器、宝石、雕塑、壁毯、画像—一几乎没有一件东西是没有来历的，都有一段故事。”

 

译注

枫丹白露：法国北部城市，巴黎东南英里、

1 verging   

接近，逼近（verge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed understanding, verging on sympathy, for our approach. 他宣称对我们提出的做法很理解，而且近乎同情。
• He's verging on 80 now and needs constant attention. 他已近80岁，需要侍候左右。

2 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

3 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

4 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

5 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

6 reek   

v.发出臭气；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• Where there's reek,there's heat.哪里有恶臭，哪里必发热。
• That reek is from the fox.那股恶臭是狐狸发出的。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

10 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》