血字的研究 15劳瑞斯顿花园街的惨案(3)

Number 3, Lauriston Gardens wore an ill-omened and minatory¹ look.

劳瑞斯顿花园街3号，从外表看来就象是一座凶宅。

It was one of four which stood back some little way from the street, two being occupied and two empty.

这里一连有四幢房子，离街稍远，两幢有人居住，两幢空着，3号就是空着的一处。

The latter looked out with three tiers of vacant melancholy² windows, which were blank and dreary³,

空房的临街一面有三排窗子，因为无人居住，景况极为凄凉。

save that here and there a "To Let" card had developed like a cataract⁴ upon the bleared panes⁵.

尘封的玻璃上到处贴着"招租"的帖子，好象眼睛上的白翳一样。

A small garden sprinkled over with a scattered⁶ eruption⁷ of sickly plants separated each of these houses from the street,

每座房前都有一小块草木丛生的花园，把这几所房子和街道隔开。

and was traversed by a narrow pathway, yellowish in colour, and consisting apparently⁸ of a mixture of clay and of gravel⁹.

小花园中有一条用黏土和石子铺成的黄色小径；

The whole place was very sloppy¹⁰ from the rain which had fallen through the night.

一夜大雨，到处泥泞不堪。

The garden was bounded by a three-foot brick wall with a fringe of wood rails upon the top,

花园围有矮墙，高约三英尺，墙头上装有木栅。

and against this wall was leaning a stalwart police constable¹¹,

一个身材高大的警察倚墙站着，

surrounded by a small knot of loafers,

周围有几个闲人，

who craned their necks and strained their eyes in the vain hope of catching¹² some glimpse of the proceedings¹³ within.

引颈翘首地往里张望着，希望能瞧一眼屋中的情景，但是什么也瞧不见。

I had imagined that Sherlock Holmes would at once have hurried into the house and plunged¹⁴ into a study of the mystery.

我当时猜想，福尔摩斯一定会立刻奔进屋去，马上动手研究这个神秘的案件。

Nothing appeared to be further from his intention.

可是他似乎并不着急。

With an air of nonchalance¹⁵ which, under the circumstances, seemed to me to border upon affectation,

他显出一种漫不经心的样子，在目前这种情况下，我认为这未免有点儿装腔作势。

he lounged up and down the pavement,

他在人行道上走来走去，

and gazed vacantly at the ground, the sky, the opposite houses and the line of railings.

茫然地注视着地面，一会儿又凝视天空和对面的房子以及墙头上的木栅。

Having finished his scrutiny¹⁶, he proceeded slowly down the path,

他这样仔细地察看以后，就慢慢地走上小径，

or rather down the fringe of grass which flanked the path, keeping his eyes riveted¹⁷ upon the ground.

或者应该说，他是从路边的草地上走过去的，目不转睛地观察着小径的地面。

Twice he stopped, and once I saw him smile, and heard him utter an exclamation¹⁸ of satisfaction.

他有两次停下脚步，有一次我看见他还露出笑容，并且听到他满意地欢呼了一声。

There were many marks of footsteps upon the wet clayey soil;

在这潮湿而泥泞的黏土地面上，有许多脚印；

but since the police had been coming and going over it,

但是由于警察来来往往地从上面踩过，

I was unable to see how my companion could hope to learn anything from it.

我真不明白我的同伴怎能指望从这上面辨认出什么来。

Still I had had such extraordinary evidence of the quickness of his perceptive¹⁹ faculties²⁰,

然而至今我还没有忘记，那次他如何出奇地证明了他对事物的敏锐的观察力，

that I had no doubt that he could see a great deal which was hidden from me.

因此我相信他定能看出许多我所瞧不见的东西。

At the door of the house we were met by a tall, white-faced, flaxen-haired man,

在这所房子的门口，有一个头发浅黄脸色白皙的高个的人过来迎接我们，

with a notebook in his hand, who rushed forward and wrung²¹ my companion's hand with effusion.

他的手里拿着笔记本。他跑上前来，热情地握住我同伴的手说：

"It is indeed kind of you to come," he said, "I have had everything left untouched."

"你来了，实在太好了。我把一切都保持原状未动。"

"Except that!" my friend answered, pointing at the pathway.

"可是那个除外！"我的朋友指着那条小路说，

"If a herd²² of buffaloes²³ had passed along, there could not be a greater mess.

"即使有一群水牛从这里走过，也不会弄得比这更糟了。

No doubt, however, you had drawn²⁴ your own conclusions, Gregson, before you permitted this."

没问题，葛莱森，你准自以为已得出了结论，所以才允许别人这样做的吧。"

"I have had so much to do inside the house," the detective said evasively.

这个侦探躲躲闪闪地说："我在屋里忙着，

"My colleague, Mr. Lestrade, is here. I had relied upon him to look after this."

我的同事雷斯垂德先生也在这儿，我把外边的事都托付他了。"

Holmes glanced at me and raised his eyebrows²⁵ sardonically²⁶.

福尔摩斯看了我一眼，嘲弄似地把眉毛扬了一扬，

"With two such men as yourself and Lestrade upon the ground, there will not be much for a third party to find out," he said.

他说："有了你和雷斯垂德这样两位人物在场，第三个人当然就不会再发现什么了。"

Gregson rubbed his hands in a self-satisfied way.

葛莱森搓着两只手很得意地说：

"I think we have done all that can be done," he answered;

"我认为我们已经竭尽全力了。

"it's a queer case, though, and I knew your taste for such things."

这个案子的确很离奇，我知道这正适合你的胃口。"

"You did not come here in a cab?" asked Sherlock Holmes.

"你没有坐马车来吗？"福尔摩斯问道。

"No, sir."

"没有，先生。"

"Nor Lestrade?"

"雷斯垂德也没有吗？"

"No, sir."

"他也没有，先生。"

"Then let us go and look at the room."

"那么，咱们到屋子里去瞧瞧。"

With which inconsequent remark he strode on into the house followed by Gregson,

福尔摩斯问完这些前后不连贯的话以后，便大踏步走进房中。

whose features expressed his astonishment²⁷.

葛莱森跟在后面，脸上露出惊讶的神色。

1 minatory   

adj.威胁的；恫吓的

参考例句：

• How eliminate this kind of harmful information " is content minatory "? 如何消除这种有害信息的“内容威胁”？
• This shows, a kind of when rectum cancer will become minatory people health increasingly main cancer is swollen. 由此可见，直肠癌将日益成为威胁人民健康的一种主要癌肿。

2 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

3 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

4 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

5 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

10 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

11 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

12 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

13 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

14 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

15 nonchalance   

n.冷淡，漠不关心

参考例句：

• She took her situation with much nonchalance.她对这个处境毫不介意。
• He conceals his worries behind a mask of nonchalance.他装作若无其事，借以掩饰内心的不安。

16 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。

17 riveted   

铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意

参考例句：

• I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
• My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

18 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

19 perceptive   

adj.知觉的，有洞察力的，感知的

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• He is very perceptive and nothing can be hidden from him.他耳聪目明，什么事都很难瞒住他。

20 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 wrung   

绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）

参考例句：

• He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
• He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。

22 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

23 buffaloes   

n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓

参考例句：

• Some medieval towns raced donkeys or buffaloes. 有些中世纪的城市用驴子或水牛竞赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Water buffaloes supply Egypt with more meat than any other domestic animal. 水牛提供给埃及的肉比任何其它动物都要多。 来自辞典例句

24 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

25 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

26 sardonically   

adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地

参考例句：

• Some say sardonically that combat pay is good and that one can do quite well out of this war. 有些人讽刺地说战地的薪饷很不错，人们可借这次战争赚到很多钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Tu Wei-yueh merely drew himself up and smiled sardonically. 屠维岳把胸脯更挺得直些，微微冷笑。 来自子夜部分

27 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。