身份案 08一位女性委托者(4)

A flush¹ stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously² at the fringe³ of her jacket.

萨瑟兰小姐的脸上泛起了红晕，紧张不安地用手抚弄短外衣的镶边。

"I met him first at the gasfitters' ball," she said.

她说："我第一次遇见他是在煤气装修工的舞会上。

"They used to send father tickets when he was alive,

我父亲在世的时候，他们总要送票给他。

and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go.

此后，他们还记得我们，把票送给我母亲。温迪班克先生不愿意我们赴舞会。

He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat.

他从来不愿意我们到任何地方去。甚至我想去教堂做礼拜，他也会很生气的。

But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to prevent?

可是这一次我下定决心前往。我就是要去，他有什么权利阻止我去呢？

He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were to be there.

他说，父亲的所有朋友都会在那里，我们结识那些人不合适。

And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer.

他还说，我没有合适的衣服穿。而我的那件紫色长毛绒衣服，几乎还从来没有从柜子里取出来穿过。

At last, when nothing else would do, he went off to France upon the business of the firm,

最后，他没有别的办法，为了公司的公事而到法国去了。

but we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy⁴, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."

母亲和我两个人，就随同从前当过我们工头的哈迪先生一起去了。正是在那里我遇到霍斯默·安吉尔先生。"

"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball."

福尔摩斯说："我想，温迪班克先生从法国回来后，对你去过舞会的事一定很恼火。"

"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and shrugged⁵ his shoulders,

"啊，可是他的态度倒很不错。我记得他笑笑，耸耸肩膀，

and said there was no use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way."

还说不让女人做她愿意做的事是没有用的，她总是爱干什么就会干什么。"

1 flush   

vi.奔流；vt.冲洗；adj.齐平的；n.脸色，脸红

参考例句：

• Father asked me to flush off the garage floor.父亲叫我冲洗车库的地板。
• There was a flush in her cheeks.她满脸通红。

2 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

3 fringe   

n.边缘；（窗帘）缘饰，额前垂发；vt.饰...的边

参考例句：

• The girl wears her hair in a fringe.那女孩留着刘海。
• This is an enormous field of which l can touch only the fringe.这是一个很广阔的领域，我在这里只能谈个大概。

4 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》