红发会 30万事俱备(3)

"It is our French gold," whispered the director.

那位董事长低声说："那是我们的法国黄金。

"We have had several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "Your French gold?"

我们已接到几次警告，说可能有人试图在这上面打主意。""你们的法国黄金？"

"Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of France.

"是的，几个月以前，我们恰好有机会增加我们的资金来源，为此目的，我们向法兰西银行借了三万个法国金币。

It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack¹ the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar.

现在大家都已知道，我们一直没有功夫开箱取出这些钱，因此仍然放在地下室里。

The crate² upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil.

我坐着的这个板条箱子里面就有两千个法国金币，是用锡箔一层一层夹着包装的。

Our reserve of bullion³ is much larger at present than is usually kept in a single branch office

我们的黄金储备现在比一家分所平常所拥有的数量大得多，

and the directors have had misgivings⁴ upon the subject."

董事们对这件事一直很不放心。"

"Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is time that we arranged our little plans.

福尔摩斯说："他们不放心是很有道理的。现在是我们安排一下我们小小的计划的时候了。

I expect that within an hour matters will come to a head.

我预料在一小时内事情就会真相大白。

In the meantime, Mr. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern."

现在，梅里韦瑟先生，我们必须用布灯罩把这暗色提灯蒙上。"

"And sit in the dark?" "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket,

"在黑暗中坐等吗？""恐怕是这样。我带了一副牌放在口袋里。

and I thought that, as we were a partie carree, you might have your rubber after all.

我本来想，我们正好四个人，你也许可以打你的桥牌。

But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light.

但是，现在我看敌人已在准备，我们不能冒漏出亮光的危险。

And, first of all, we must choose our positions.

首先，我们必须选好位置。

These are daring men, and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are careful.

这些人都是胆大妄为的家伙，但是我们将打他个措手不及。我们要谨慎小心，否则他们就可能使我们受到一些损伤。

I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal⁵ yourselves behind those.

我将站在这个板条箱后面，你们都藏在那些箱子后面。

Then, when I flash a light upon them, close in swiftly.

然后当我把灯光照向他们的时候，你们就迅速跑过去。

If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down."

华生，如果他们开枪，你就毫不留情地把他们打倒。"

1 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

2 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。

3 bullion   

n.金条，银条

参考例句：

• In the London bullion market yesterday,the price of gold was steady.昨天伦敦金银市场黄金价格稳定。
• Police have launched a man-hunt for the bullion robbers.警方已大举搜捕抢劫金条的罪犯。

4 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。