红发会 29万事俱备(2)

"You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he held up the lantern and gazed about him.

福尔摩斯把提灯举起来四下察看。他说："你们这个地下室要从上面突破倒不那么容易。"

"Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon the flags which lined the floor.

梅里韦瑟先生边用手杖敲打着平地的石板边说，"从地下突破也不容易。"

"Why, dear me, it sounds quite hollow!" heremarked, looking up in surprise.

接着惊讶地抬起头来说，"哎哟！听声音底下是空的。"

"I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes severely¹.

福尔摩斯严厉地说，"我真的必须要求你们安静点！

"You have already imperilled the whole success of our expedition.

你已经使我们取得这次远征的完全胜利受到了损害。

Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere²?"

我请求你找个箱子坐在上面，不要干扰好不好？"

The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate³, with a very injured expression upon his face,

这位庄重的梅里韦瑟先生只好坐到一只板条箱上，满脸受委屈的表情。

while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens,

这时，福尔摩斯跪在石板地上，拿着提灯和放大镜

began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones.

开始仔细地检查石板之间的缝隙。

A few seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again and put his glass in his pocket.

他只用片刻时间就检查完毕，耸身站了起来，并把放大镜放回口袋里。

"We have at least an hour before us," he remarked,

他说："我们起码要等一个小时，

"for they can hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker⁴ is safely in bed.

因为在那个好心肠的当铺老板睡安稳以前，他们是不可能采取任何行动的。

Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their work the longer time they will have for their escape.

然后，他们就会分秒必争地抓紧时间动手，因为他们动手得愈早，逃跑的时间就愈多。

We are at present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of the City branch of one of the principal London banks.

大夫，你无疑已猜到了，我们现在是在伦敦的一家大银行的市内分行的地下室里。

Mr. Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to you

梅里韦瑟先生是这家银行的董事长，他会向你解释，

that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at present."

为什么伦敦的那些胆子比较大的罪犯现在会对这个地下室那么感兴趣。"

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

4 pawnbroker   

n.典当商，当铺老板

参考例句：

• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's.他从当铺赎回手表。
• She could get fifty dollars for those if she went to the pawnbroker's.要是她去当铺当了这些东西，她是可以筹出50块钱的。