红发会 28万事俱备(1)

Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive

在漫长的道路上，歇洛克·福尔摩斯很少讲话；

and lay back in the cab humming the tunes¹ which he had heard in the afternoon.

他在车厢的座位上向后靠着，口里哼着当天下午听过的乐曲。

We rattled² through an endless labyrinth³ of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.

马车辚辚地在没有尽头、迷津似的点着许多煤气灯的马路上行驶，一直到了法林顿街。

"We are close there now," my friend remarked.

我的朋友说，“现在我们离那里不远了。

"This fellow Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the matter.

梅里韦瑟这人是个银行董事，他本人对这个案子很感兴趣。

I thought it as well to have Jones with us also.

我想让琼斯也和我们一块来有好处。

He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue⁴.

这个人不错，虽然就他的本行来说，他纯粹是个笨蛋。

He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious⁵ as a lobster⁶ if he gets his claws upon anyone.

不过他有一个值得肯定的优点，一旦他抓住了罪犯，他勇猛得象条獒狗，顽强得象头龙虾。

Here we are, and they are waiting for us."

好，我们到了，他们正在等我们。"

We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found ourselves in the morning.

我们到达上午去过的那条平常人来人往拥挤不堪的大马路。

Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather,

把马车打发走了以后，在梅里韦瑟先生的带领下，

we passed down a narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us.

走过一条狭窄的通道，经由他给我们打开的旁门进去。

Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive iron gate.

在里面有条小走廊，走廊尽头是扇巨大的铁门。

This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding⁷ stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate.

梅里韦瑟先生把那扇铁门打开，进门后是盘旋式石板台阶通向另一扇令人望而生畏的大门。

Mr. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earth-smelling passage,

梅里韦瑟先生停下来把提灯点着，然后领我们往下沿着一条有一股泥土气息的通道走下去，

and so, after opening a third door, into a huge vault⁸ or cellar, which was piled all round with crates⁹ and massive boxes.

然后再打开第三道门，便进入了一个庞大的拱顶的地下室。地下室周围堆满了板条箱和很大的箱子。

1 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

3 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

4 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

5 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

6 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

7 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。

8 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

9 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。