地下墓穴（7）

 

“No; wait a bit, Burger,” said Kennedy; “this is really a ridiculous caprice of yours to wish to know about an old love- affair which has burned out months ago. You know we look upon a man who kisses and tells as the greatest coward and villain¹ possible.”

“Certainly,” said the German, gathering² up his basket of curiosities, “when he tells anything about a girl which is previously³ he must be so. But in this case, as you must be aware, it was a public matter which was the common talk of Rome, so that you are not really doing Miss Mary Saunderson any injury by discussing her case with me. But still, I respect your scruples⁴; and so good night!”

“Wait a bit, Burger,” said Kennedy, laying his hand upon the other’s arm; “I am very keen upon this catacomb business, and I can’t let it drop quite so easily. Would you mind asking me something else in return—something not quite so eccentric this time?”

“No, no; you have refused, and there is an end of it,” said Burger, with his basket on his arm. “No doubt you are quite right not to answer, and no doubt I am quite right also—and so again, my dear Kennedy, good night!”

The Englishman watched Burger cross the room, and he had his hand on the handle of the door before his host sprang up with the air of a man who is making the best of that which cannot be helped.

“不，伯格，再等等，"肯尼迪说，“你真是荒唐，就连几个月前已经结束的桃色事件也想了解。你知道那种四处张扬自己吻过哪个女人的人，我们一向视为最卑鄱的恶棍。”

“当然了，"德国人一边说，一边提起盛古董的篮子，“如果他说的是先前无人知晓的一个女人，他当然是个恶棍。

不过，在这件事情上，你也很清楚，全罗马的人都已经知道了，你再向我透露什么，对玛丽桑德森小姐也不会造成任何伤害了。尽管如此，我仍然尊重你的谨慎。那么，晚安！”

“等一等，伯格，肯尼迪说着拉住同伴的胳膊，“我非常关心这个新发现的墓穴，不能让它就这么溜掉。你是不是可以向我提出别的问题，不那么难堪的问题？”

“不，不，你已经拒绝了，这件事已经结束了，"伯格说着把篮子挎在胳膊上。“毫无疑问，你拒绝回答是正确的，同样毫无疑问，我也是正确的，亲爱的肯尼迪，我再次告别，晚安！”

英国人望着伯格走向门口，把手放到门柄上，这时房间的主人跳起来，那副神情活像一个绝望中的人竭力抓住一根救命的稻草一样。

1 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调