皮漏斗之谜（4）

 

As I held it to the light I observed that at a spot some five inches above the brass¹ tip the narrow neck of the leather funnel² was all haggled³ and scored, as if someone had notched⁴ it round with a blunt knife. Only at that point was there any roughening of the dead black surface.

“Someone has tried to cut off the neck.”

“Would you call it a cut?”

“It is torn and lacerated. It must have taken some strength to leave these marks on such tough material, whatever the instrument may have been. But what do you think of it? I can tell that you know more than you say.”

Dacre smiled, and his little eyes twinkled with knowledge.

“Have you included the psychology⁵ of dreams among your learned studies?” he asked.

“I did not even know that there was such a psychology.”

“My dear sir, that shelf above the gem⁶ case is filled with volumes, from Albertus Magnus onward⁷, which deal with no other subject. It is a science in itself.”

“A science of charlatans⁹!”

“The charlatan⁸ is always the pioneer. From the astrologer came the astronomer¹⁰, from the alchemist the chemist, from the mesmerist the experimental psychologist. The quack¹¹ of yesterday is the professor of tomorrow. Even such subtle and elusive¹² things as dreams will in time be reduced to system and order. When that time comes the researches of our friends on the bookshelf yonder will no longer be the amusement of the mystic, but the foundations of a science.”

“Supposing that is so, what has the science of dreams to do with a large, black, brass-rimmed funnel?”

我把漏斗放到灯下，发现在距铜嘴五英寸的地方布满了划狼，仿佛有人用钝刀子锯过一样。在暗黑色的表面，只有此处是粗糙的。

“有人曾想把漏斗的嘴割下来。”

“你认为是要把它割下来？”

“显然被人割过。如此坚硬的材料，一定用了相当大的气力才会留下这些划痕，用的是什么工具另当别论。那么你怎么看？我觉得你没有把知道的都讲出来。”

达克笑了，那双小眼睛会意地一眨。

“在你的知识范围中是否包括睡梦心理学？"他问。

“我从没听说过有这样一种心理学。"

“亲爱的先生，珠宝盒上面那层书都是这方面的论著，从阿尔伯特马格努开始。这是一门完整的科学，”

“是骗术学吧，”

“骗术往往是先驱。先有占星术，后有天文学，先有炼金术，后有化学，先有催眠术，后有实验心理学。昨天的江湖郎中也许是明天的医学院教授。甚至睡梦这样难以捉摸的玄妙东西有一天也会归纳为条理清晰的系统。如果那一天到来，那边书架上我们朋友们的研究就不再是神秘主义者的消遣之物，而是一门科学的基础了。”

“就算是吧，那么有关睡梦的学问与一只镶铜边的黑色大漏斗又有什么关系呢？”

 

1 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

2 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

3 haggled   

v.讨价还价( haggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cook and the grocer haggled over the price of eggs. 厨师和杂货商为蛋价计较个没完。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After they had haggled for some time, the two men decided to close the bargain. 那两个人经过一番讨价还价以后，决定成交。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

5 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

6 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

7 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

8 charlatan   

n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行

参考例句：

• The charlatan boasted that he could charm off any disease.这个江湖骗子吹牛说他能用符咒治好各种疾病。
• He was sure that he was dealing with a charlatan.他真以为自己遇上了江湖骗子。

9 charlatans   

n.冒充内行者，骗子( charlatan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are lots of phonies and charlatans in the financial newsletter business. 干金融通讯这一行的人中间不乏骗子和吹牛大王。 来自辞典例句
• But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. 但是恶人和行诈术的人却越来越坏，他们迷惑人，也必受人迷惑。 来自互联网

10 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

11 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

12 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。