五个桔核 29展开复仇计划(1)

All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in the evening before I returned to Baker¹ Street.

这一整天我忙于我的医务工作，入暮很晚我才返回贝克街。

Sherlock Holmes had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he entered, looking pale and worn.

福尔摩斯还没有回来。一直到快要十点钟了，他才面色苍白，精疲力尽地走了进来。

He walked up to the sideboard, and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured² it voraciously³,

他跑到碗柜旁边，撕下一大块面包，狼吞虎咽地嚼着，

washing it down with a long draught⁴ of water. "You are hungry," I remarked.

喝了一大杯水把它冲下去。"你饿了，"我说。

"Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since breakfast."

"饿极啦！一直忘记吃东西了，早餐后就什么也没吃。"

"Nothing?" "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it."

"没吃东西？""一点也没吃，没功夫想到它。"

"And how have you succeeded?" "Well." "You have a clue?"

"进展如何？""不错。""有线索了吗？"

"I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not long remain unavenged.

"他们在我的掌握之中了。小奥彭肖的仇不会报不了的。

Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish trade- mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "What do you mean?"

嘿，华生，让咱们以仆人之道，还治仆人之身。这是经过深思熟虑的啊！""你这是什么意思？"

He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he squeezed out the pips upon the table.

他从碗柜里拿出一只桔子来，掰成几瓣儿，把桔核挤出来，放在桌上。

Of these he took five and thrust them into an envelope.

他从中选了五个，装到一个信封里面。

On the inside of the flap he wrote "S. H. for J. O."

在那信封口盖的反面，他写上"S.H.代J.O."。

Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain James Calhoun, Bark Lone⁵ Star, Savannah, Georgia."

他封上信封，在上面写上"美国，佐治亚洲，萨凡纳，'孤星号' 三桅帆船，詹姆斯·卡尔霍恩船长收"等字样。

"That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling⁶.

"当他进港时这封信已经在等着他了，"他得意地笑着说，

"It may give him a sleepless⁷ night. He will find it as sure a precursor⁸ of his fate as Openshaw did before him."

"这封信会使他夜不安眠。他还会发觉这封信肯定是他死亡的预兆，正如奥彭肖从前所遭遇到的情况一样。"

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

3 voraciously   

adv.贪婪地

参考例句：

• The bears feed voraciously in summer and store energy as fat. 熊在夏季吃很多东西，以脂肪形式储存能量。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

5 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

6 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

7 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

8 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。