红发会 05红发的主顾(5)

Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he.

杰贝兹·威尔逊大笑起来。他说："好，这个我怎么也想不到啊！

"I thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see that there was nothing in it, after all."

我起初想，你简直是神机妙算，但说穿了也就没什么奥妙了。"

"I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake in explaining.

福尔摩斯说："华生，我现在才想起来，我真不应该这么样摊开来说。

'Omne ignotum pro¹ magnifico,' you know, and my poor little reputation, such as it is,

要'大智若愚'，你知道，我的名声本来就不怎么样，

will suffer shipwreck² if I am so candid³. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?"

心眼太实是要身败名裂的。威尔逊先生，你能找到那个广告吗？"

"Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger planted halfway⁴ down the column.

"能，就在我这里。"他回答时他的又粗又红的手指正指在那栏广告的中间。

"Here it is. This is what began it all. You just read it for yourself, sir."

他说："就在这儿，这就是整个事情的起因。先生，你们自己读好了。"

I took the paper from him and read as follows: TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE:

我从他手里把报纸拿过来，照着它的内容念："红发会：

On account of the bequest⁵ of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,

由于原住美国宾夕法尼亚州已故黎巴嫩人伊齐基亚·霍普金斯之遗赠，

there is now another vacancy⁶ open which entitles a member of the League to a salary of 4 pounds a week for purely⁷ nominal⁸ services.

现留有另一空职，凡红发会会员皆有资格申请。薪给为每周四英镑，工作则实系挂名而已。

All red-headed men who are sound in body and mind, and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible⁹.

凡红发男性，年满二十一岁，身体健康，智力健全者即属符合条件。

Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Pope's Court, Fleet Street.

应聘者请于星期一上午十一时亲至舰队街、教皇院7号红发会办公室邓肯·罗斯处提出申请为荷。"

"What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement.

我读了两遍这个不寻常的广告后不禁喊道："这究竟是怎么回事？"

Holmes chuckled¹⁰ and wriggled¹¹ in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits.

福尔摩斯坐在椅子上格格地笑得扭动不已，他高兴的时候总是这个样子。

"It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" said he.

他说："这个广告很不寻常，是不是？

"And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us all about yourself, your household,

好啦，威尔逊先生，你现在就痛痛快快地把关于你自己的一切，以及和你同住在一起的人，

and the effect which this advertisement had upon your fortunes.

这个广告给了你多大的好处，统统讲出来吧。

You will first make a note, Doctor, of the paper and the date."

大夫，你先把报纸的名称和日期记下来。"

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

3 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。

6 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

8 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

11 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》