身份案 13一位女性委托者(9)

"Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some unforeseen catastrophe¹ has occurred to him?"

"可以十分肯定这是有含义的。那么，你本人也认为他遇到了出乎意料的飞来横祸？"

"Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he would not have talked so.

"可不是吗，先生。我相信他预见到某些危险，否则他不会讲这样的话。

And then I think that what he foresaw happened."

之后，我想他所预见的事终于发生了。"

"But you have no notion² as to what it could have been?" "None."

"不过，你没有想过可能发生什么事情吗？""没有。"

"One more question. How did your mother take the matter?"

"还有一个问题。你母亲是怎样对待这件事的呢？"

"She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter again."

"她很生气，并且对我说，永远不要再提这件事了。"

"And your father? Did you tell him?"

"还有你父亲呢？你告诉他了吗？"

"Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again.

"告诉了，他似乎同我想法一样，是发生了什么事，但是我将会重新得到霍斯默的消息的。

As he said, what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the church, and then leaving me?

照他的说法，把我带到教堂门口就丢了，不管对任何人来说会有什么好处呢？

Now, if he had borrowed my money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, there might be some reason,

好，如果他借了我的钱，或者同我结了婚而我把财产转让给他，也许有点理由可说，

but Hosmer was very independent about money and never would look at a shilling of mine.

但是霍斯默在钱这个问题上是完全不依赖他人的，对我的钱，哪怕是一个先令，也是从来不屑一顾的。

And yet, what could have happened? And why could he not write

既然如此，还会发生什么事呢？为什么连信也不写一封呢？

Oh, it drives me half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink³ at night."

唉，想起来真把我逼得半疯半癫、通宵不能合眼。"

She pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob⁴ heavily into it.

她从皮手笼里抽出一块手帕，蒙着脸开始痛哭起来。

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 notion   

n.概念，意念，看法

参考例句：

• One common Chinese notion is that the elders ought to be respected.中国人共有的一种观念是长者应受到尊敬。
• He had a sudden notion to visit all his relatives.他心血来潮，突然想去拜访他所有的亲戚。

3 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

4 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。