马斯格雷夫礼典15

“‘And under,’ he cried. ‘You have omitted the “and under.”’

“I had thought that it meant that we were to dig, but now, of course, I saw at  once that I was wrong. ‘There is a cellar under this then?’ I cried.

“‘Yes, and as old as the house. Down here, through this door.’

“We went down a winding¹ stone stair, and my companion, striking a match, lit a  large lantern which stood on a barrel in the corner. In an instant it was  obvious that we had at last come upon the true place, and that we had not been  the only people to visit the spot recently.

“It had been used for the storage of wood, but the billets, which had evidently  been littered over the floor, were now piled at the sides, so as to leave a  clear space in the middle. In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a  rusted² iron ring in the centre to which a thick shepherd's-check muffler was  attached.

“‘By Jove!’ cried my client. ‘That's Brunton's muffler. I have seen it on  him, and could swear to it. What has the villain³ been doing here?’

“At my suggestion a couple of the county police were summoned to be present,  and I then endeavored to raise the stone by pulling on the cravat⁴. I could only  move it slightly, and it was with the aid of one of the constables⁵ that I  succeeded at last in carrying it to one side. A black hole yawned beneath into  which we all peered, while Musgrave, kneeling at the side, pushed down the  lantern.

“A small chamber⁶ about seven feet deep and four feet square lay open to us. At  one side of this was a squat⁷, brass-bound wooden box, the lid of which was  hinged upwards⁸, with this curious old-fashioned key projecting from the lock. It  was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten  through the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi⁹ was growing on the inside of it.  Several discs of metal, old coins apparently¹⁰, such as I hold here, were  scattered¹¹ over the bottom of the box, but it contained nothing else.

“At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for our eyes were  riveted¹² upon that which crouched¹³ beside it. It was the figure of a man, clad in  a suit of black, who squatted¹⁴ down upon his hams with his forehead sunk upon the  edge of the box and his two arms thrown out on each side of it. The attitude had  drawn¹⁵ all the stagnant¹⁶ blood to the face, and no man could have recognized that  distorted liver-colored countenance¹⁷; but his height, his dress, and his hair  were all sufficient to show my client, when we had drawn the body up, that it  was indeed his missing butler. He had been dead some days, but there was no  wound or bruise¹⁸ upon his person to show how he had met his dreadful end. When  his body had been carried from the cellar we found ourselves still confronted  with a problem which was almost as formidable as that with which we had started.

“‘就在下面，’他高声喊道，‘你忽略一句话：就在下面。’

“我原以为这是要我们进行挖掘呢，当然我立即明白我想错了。‘那么说，甬道下面有个地 下室吗？’我大声说道。

“‘是的，地下室和这些房屋一样古老，就在下面，从这扇门进去。’“我们走下迂回曲折 的石阶，我的同伴划了一根火柴，点着了放在墙角木桶上的提灯。一霎时我们就看清了，我 们来到了我们要找的地方，而且最近几天还有人来过此地。

“这里早被用作堆放木料的仓库，可是那些显然被人乱丢在地面的短木头，现在都已被人堆 积在两旁，以便在地下室中间腾出一块空地。空地上有一大块重石板，石板中央安着生锈的 铁环，铁环上缚着一条厚厚的黑白格子布围巾。

“‘天哪！’我的委托人惊呼道，‘那是布伦顿的围巾，我可以发誓看到他戴过这条围巾。 这个恶棍在这里干什么？’“按我的建议召来了两名当地警察，然后我抓住围巾，用力提石 板。可是我只挪动了一点点，还是靠一名警察帮助，我才勉强把石板挪到一旁。石板下露出 一个黑一洞一洞的地窖，我们都向下凝视着。马斯格雷夫跪在地窖旁，用提灯伸进去探照着 。

“我们看到这地窖大约七英尺深，四英尺见方，一边放着一个箍着黄铜箍的矮木箱，箱盖已 经打开了，锁孔上插着这把形状古怪的老式钥匙。箱子外面积尘很厚，受到蛀虫和潮一湿的 侵蚀，木板已经烂穿，里面长满了青灰色的木菌。一些象旧硬币那样的金属圆片，显然是旧 式硬币，象我手里拿的这些，散放在箱底，其他一无所有。

“然而，这时我们就顾不上这个旧木箱了，因为我们的目光落到一件东西上。那东西蜷缩在 木箱旁边，是一个人形，穿着一身黑衣服，蹲在那里，前额抵在箱子边上，两臂抱着箱子。 这个姿势使他全身血液都凝聚在脸上，没有一个人能够认出这个扭曲了的猪肝色的面容究竟 是谁。但当我们把一尸一体拉过来时，那身材、衣着和头发，一切都向我们的委托人说明， 死者的确是那个失踪的管家。这个人已经死了几天，但身上并无伤痕能说明他是怎样落到这 个下场的。一尸一体运出地下室，但我们仍然面临着一个难题，这难题就象开始时遇到的那 个一样难于解决。

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 cravat   

n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结

参考例句：

• You're never fully dressed without a cravat.不打领结，就不算正装。
• Mr. Kenge adjusting his cravat,then looked at us.肯吉先生整了整领带，然后又望着我们。

5 constables   

n.警察( constable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn. 警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。 来自辞典例句
• There were also constables appointed to keep the peace. 城里也有被派来维持治安的基层警员。 来自互联网

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

8 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

9 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

14 squatted   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

17 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

18 bruise   

n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤

参考例句：

• The bruise was caused by a kick.这伤痕是脚踢的。
• Jack fell down yesterday and got a big bruise on his face.杰克昨天摔了一跤，脸上摔出老大一块淤斑。