歪唇男人 07烟馆巧遇福尔摩斯(1)

He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more,

他暗暗示意叫我到他身边去，随即转过身去，再以侧面朝向众人时，

subsided¹ into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.

马上又显出一副哆哆嗦嗦、随口乱说的龙钟老态。

"Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den²?"

"福尔摩斯！"我低声说，"你究竟到这个烟馆来干什么？"

"As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears.

"尽量放低声些，"他回答说，"我耳朵很灵。

If you would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with you."

如果你肯帮个大忙，打发开你的那位瘾君子朋友，我倒很高兴能够和你稍微谈几句话。"

"I have a cab outside."

"我有一辆小马车在外边。"

"Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he appears to be too limp to get into any mischief³.

"那么，请让他坐了回去吧！对他你可以放心，因为他显然已经没有精神再去惹是生非了。

I should recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to say that you have thrown in your lot with me.

我建议你再写个便条，托马车夫捎给你的妻子，说咱俩又搭上伙啦。

If you will wait outside, I shall be with you in five minutes."

你在外边等一会，我过五分钟就出来。"

It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes's requests,

要拒绝歇洛克·福尔摩斯的任何请求是很难的，

for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with such a quiet air of mastery.

因为他的请求总是极其明确，又总以这样一种巧妙的温和态度提出来的。

I felt, however, that when Whitney was once confined in the cab my mission was practically accomplished⁴;

总之，我觉得，惠特尼只要一登上马车，我的使命实际上就告完成了，

and for the rest, I could not wish anything better than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular adventures

至于余下的事，能够和我的老友共同携手去进行一次非同寻常的探奇涉险那是再好没有了，

which were the normal condition of his existence.

而探险对他说来，却是生活中习以为常的事情。

  查看《福尔摩斯探案

1 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

3 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。