歪唇男人 35揭开迷雾(8)

Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him kindly¹ on the shoulder.

福尔摩斯在床上坐在他身边，和蔼地拍了拍他的肩膀。

"If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity².

"如果你让法庭来查清这件事情，"他说，"当然那就难免要宣扬出去。

On the other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible case against you,

可是，只要你能使警务当局相信，这不是一件足以向你提出控告的事情，

I do not know that there is any reason that the details should find their way into the papers.

我想没有什么理由必须把你案子的详情公诸于报纸。

Inspector³ Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities.

我相信布雷兹特里特巡官是会把你说给我们听的记录记下来提交给有关当局的。

The case would then never go into court at all."

这样，这案子就根本不会提到法庭上去了。"

"God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately⁴.

"上帝保佑您！"那囚犯热情洋溢地高喊起来，

"I would have endured imprisonment⁵, ay, even execution, rather than have left my miserable⁶ secret as a family blot⁷ to my children.

"我宁愿忍受拘禁，唉，甚至处决，也不愿把我的令人感到痛苦的秘密作为家庭的污点，留给孩子们。

You are the first who have ever heard my story.

你们是唯一听到我的身世的人。

My father was a school-master in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent education.

我父亲是切斯特菲尔德的小学校长，在那里我受过极为良好的教育。

I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London.

我青年的时候酷爱旅行，喜欢演戏，后来在伦敦一家晚报当了记者。

One day my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the metropolis⁸, and I volunteered to supply them.

有一天，总编辑想要一组反映大城市里的乞讨生活的报道，我自告奋勇来提供这方面的稿件。

There was the point from which all my adventures started.

这就成了我一生历险的开端。

It was only by trying begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles.

我只有客串充扮乞丐才能收集到写文章所需的一些基本材料。

When an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for my skill.

我当过演员，自然学到了一些化装的秘诀，并曾以我的化装技巧而闻名于剧场后台。

I took advantage now of my attainments⁹.

这时我利用了这种本领。

I painted my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible

我先用油色涂脸，然后为了尽量装成最令人怜悯的样子，

I made a good scar and fixed¹⁰ one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a small slip of flesh-coloured plaster.

我用一小条肉色的橡皮膏，做出一个惟妙惟肖的伤疤，把嘴唇一边向上扭卷起来。

Then with a red head of hair, and an appropriate dress,

戴上一头红发，配上适当的衣服，

I took my station in the business part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a beggar.

就在市商业区选定一个地方，表面上是火柴小贩，实际上是当乞丐。

For seven hours I plied¹¹ my trade,

我这样干了七个小时，

and when I returned home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no less than 26s. 4d.

晚上回到家中，发现我竟得到二十六个先令零四个便士，这使我大吃一惊。

1 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

2 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

3 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

4 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

5 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 blot   

vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍

参考例句：

• That new factory is a blot on the landscape.那新建的工厂破坏了此地的景色。
• The crime he committed is a blot on his record.他犯的罪是他的履历中的一个污点。

8 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

9 attainments   

成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就

参考例句：

• a young woman of impressive educational attainments 一位学业成就斐然的年轻女子
• He is a scholar of the highest attainments in this field. 他在这一领域是一位颇有造就的学者。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 plied   

v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》