斑点带子案 13来龙去脉(7)

"Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?" "Always." "And why?"

"什么？"福尔摩斯说，"这是不是你们的习惯，夜里总是把自己锁在屋子里？""总是这样。""为什么呢？"

"I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah¹ and a baboon².

"我想我和你提到过，医生养了一只印度猎豹和一只狒狒。

We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked."

不把门锁上，我们感到不大安全。"

"Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement."

"是这么回事。请你接着说下去。"

"I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending³ misfortune impressed me.

"那天晚上，我睡不着。一种大祸临头的模糊感觉压在我心头。

My sister and I, you will recollect⁴, were twins,

你会记得我们姐儿俩是孪生姐妹，

and you know how subtle are the links which bind⁵ two souls which are so closely allied⁶. It was a wild night.

你知道，联接这样两个血肉相连的心的纽带是有多么微妙。

The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows.

那天晚上是个暴风雨之夜，外面狂风怒吼，雨点劈劈啪啪地打在窗户上。

Suddenly, amid all the hubbub⁷ of the gale⁸, there burst forth⁹ the wild scream of a terrified woman.

突然，在风雨嘈杂声中，传来一声女人惊恐的狂叫。

I knew that it was my sister's voice.

我听出那是我姐姐的声音。

I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor.

我一下子从床上跳了起来，裹上了一块披巾，就冲向了过道。

As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described,

就在我开启房门时，我仿佛听到一声轻轻的就象我姐姐说的那样的口哨声，

and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen.

稍停，又听到哐啷一声，仿佛是一块金属的东西倒在地上。

1 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

2 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。

3 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

4 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

5 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

6 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

7 hubbub   

n.嘈杂；骚乱

参考例句：

• The hubbub of voices drowned out the host's voice.嘈杂的声音淹没了主人的声音。
• He concentrated on the work in hand,and the hubbub outside the room simply flowed over him.他埋头于手头的工作，室外的吵闹声他简直象没有听见一般。

8 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。