皮漏斗之谜（5）

 

“I will tell you. You know that I have an agent who is always on the look-out for rarities and curiosities for my collection. Some days ago he heard of a dealer¹ upon one of the Quais who had acquired some old rubbish found in a cupboard in an ancient house at the back of the Rue² Mathurin, in the Quartier Latin. The dining-room of this old house is decorated with a coat of arms, chevrons³, and bars rouge⁴ upon a field argent, which prove, upon inquiry⁵, to be the shield of Nicholas de la Reynie, a high official of King Louis XIV. There can be no doubt that the other articles in the cupboard date back to the early days of that king. The inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of this Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman specially⁶ concerned with the maintenance and execution of the Draconic⁷ laws of that epoch⁸.”

“What then?”

“I would ask you now to take the funnel⁹ into your hands once more and to examine the upper brass¹⁰ rim¹¹. Can you make out any lettering upon it?”

There were certainly some scratches upon it, almost obliterated¹² by time. The general effect was of several letters, the last of which bore some resemblance to a B.

“You make it a B?”

“Yes, I do.”

“So do I. In fact, I have no doubt whatever that it is a B.”

“But the nobleman you mentioned would have had R for his initial.”

“我来告诉你。你知道，我有个经纪人，他为我寻找值得收藏的珍稀古玩。前不久，他听说码头上有个商人手里有些破烂旧货，是在拉丁区的马修林大街僻静处的一所老房子里的碗橱中发现的。那所老房子的餐厅陈列着纹章、臂章，银色的盾面上有红色条纹。后来经考证得知，那个盾牌属于国王路易十四的大臣领尼古拉德拉瑞尼，毫无疑问，碗橱里的东西都可以追溯到路易十四王朝初期。所以，可以推论，它们全是尼古拉德拉瑞尼的物品。据我所知，这位绅士是那个时代严刑俊法的维护者和执行者。”

“那又怎样？”

现在我请你再次把漏斗拿起来，观察上部的铜边。你能看出上面有字母吗？"

确实有刻过的痕迹，由于年代久远已经难以辨认了，只能看出是些字母，最后那个有点像“B”。

“你认为那是B?"

“是的。”

“我也这么看。其实，我确信那就是B。"

“可是你说的那个贵族应该用R作为他的姓名缩写。”

 

 

1 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

2 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

3 chevrons   

n.（警察或士兵所佩带以示衔级的）∧形或∨形标志( chevron的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When did you sew on these chevrons, Sergeant Lipton? 你何时把这些阶级绣上去的，李普中士？ 来自电影对白
• The eyebrows are incised in the shape of chevrons. 切开的眉毛是在形状的箭头。 来自互联网

4 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

6 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

7 draconic   

adj.龙的，似龙的； 非常严厉的，非常严酷的

参考例句：

• Rage drakes do not speak,but they understand Common and Draconic within the limits of their intelligence. 狂暴龙兽不会言语，但凭着它们有限的智力可以理解通用语和龙语。 来自互联网
• Githyanki speak their own secret tongue, but most also know Common and Draconic. 吉斯洋基人使用他们自有的隐秘语言。但大多数也懂得通用语和龙语。 来自互联网

8 epoch   

n.(新)时代；历元

参考例句：

• The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
• We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期，另一个历史时代的开端。

9 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。

10 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。

11 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

12 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》