歪唇男人 06瘾君子(6)

"I tell you that it is Friday, man.

"我告诉你，今天是星期五，没错。

Your wife has been waiting this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

你的老婆一直等你两天了。你应当感到羞耻！"

"So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here a few hours, three pipes, four pipes -- I forget how many.

"对！我应当感到羞耻，不过你弄错了，华生，因为我在这里只不过呆了几个小时，抽了三锅，四锅...我记不得抽了多少锅了。

But I'll go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate -- poor little Kate. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?"

不过我要跟你回去。我不该让凯特担心害怕，可怜的小凯特呀！扶我一下！你雇马车来了吗？"

"Yes, I have one waiting."

"是的，我雇了一辆，等着呢。"

"Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something.

"那么，我就坐车走吧。不过，我一定欠了帐。

Find what I owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself."

看看我欠了多少，华生。我一点精神也没有了。我一点也照顾不了自己。"

I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers¹,

我走过两排躺着人的木榻间的狭窄过道，

holding my breath to keep out the vile², stupefying fumes³ of the drug, and looking about for the manager.

屏息敛气，免得去闻那鸦片令人作呕和发晕的臭气，到处寻找掌柜的。

As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt,

我走过炭火盆旁的那个高个子时，觉得有一只手突然猛拉了一下我上衣的下摆，

and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look back at me."

有人低声说："走过去，再回头看我！"

The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down.

这两句话清清楚楚地落入我的耳鼓。我低头看了一下。

They could only have come from the old man at my side,

这话只能是出自我身边的老头之口，

and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent⁴ with age,

可是，此时他还是和刚才一样，全神贯注地坐在那里。

an opium⁵ pipe dangling⁶ down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers.

他瘦骨嶙峋，皱纹满面，衰老佝偻，一支烟枪耷落在他的双膝中间，好象是因为他疲乏无力而滑脱下去似的。

I took two steps forward and looked back.

我向前走了两步，回头看时，不觉大吃一惊。

It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment⁷.

幸亏我极力克制才没有失声喊叫出来。

He had turned his back so that none could see him but I.

他也转过身来，除了我，谁也看不见他。

His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained⁸ their fire,

他的身体的形状已经伸展开了，脸上的皱纹也业已消失，昏花无神的双眼又炯炯有神。

and there, sitting by the fire and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes.

这时，坐在炭火盆边望着吃惊的我而咧嘴发笑的，不是别人，竟是歇洛克·福尔摩斯。

1 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

2 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

3 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

6 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

7 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。

8 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。