红发会 16事件发生转变(1)

"To an end?" "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning.

"结束？""是的，先生。就是今天上午结束的。

I went to my work as usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked,

我照常十点钟去上班，但是门关着而且上了锁，

with a little square of card- board hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack¹. Here it is, and you can read for yourself."

在门的嵌板中间用品头钉钉着一张方形小卡片。这张卡片就在这儿，你们自己可以看看。"

He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a sheet of note-paper.

他举着一张约有便条纸大小的白色卡片，

It read in this fashion: The Red-headed League Is Dissolved. October 9, 1890.

上面这样写着：红发会业经解散，此启。一八九零年十月九日。

Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt² announcement and the rueful face behind it,

我和歇洛克·福尔摩斯看了这张简短的通告及站在后面的那个人充满懊恼的愁容，

until the comical side of the affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar of laughter.

这件事的滑稽可笑完全压倒了一切其他考虑，我们两个人情不自禁，哈哈大笑起来。

"I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head.

我们的委托人羞得满面通红，暴跳如雷地嚷道："我看不出有什么可笑的地方。

"If you can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere."

如果你们不会干别的而只会取笑我的话，那我可以到别处去。"

"No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he had half risen.

福尔摩斯大声说，"不，不，"他一面把已半站起来的威尔逊推回那把椅子里，一面说，

"I really wouldn't miss your case for the world. It is most refreshingly³ unusual.

"我真的无论如何不能放过你这个案件。它太不寻常了，实在使人耳目为之一新，

But there is, if you will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it.

但是如果你不见怪的话，我还是要说，这件事确实有点可笑。

Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the door?"

请问，当你发现门上卡片的时候你采取了什么措施？"

1 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

2 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

3 refreshingly   

adv.清爽地，有精神地

参考例句：

• Hers is less workmanlike than the other books and refreshingly unideological. 她的书不像其它书那般精巧，并且不涉及意识形态也让人耳目一新。 来自互联网
• Skin is left refreshingly clean with no pore-clogging residue. 皮肤留下清爽干净，没有孔隙堵塞残留。 来自互联网