蓝宝石案 11蓝宝石现身(1)

Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire,

歇洛克·福尔摩斯刚要张开嘴回答我，只见房门猛地打开，看门人彼得森

rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with astonishment¹.

跑了进来，脸涨得通红，带着一种由于吃惊而感到茫然的神色。

"The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped².

"那只鹅，福尔摩斯先生！那只鹅，先生！"他喘着气说。

"Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off through the kitchen window?"

"噢，它怎么啦？莫非它又活了，拍打着翅膀从厨房的窗户飞了出去？"

Holmes twisted himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face.

为了把这个人的激动面孔看得更清楚一些，福尔摩斯在沙发上转过身来。

"See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!"

"瞧，先生，你瞧我妻子从鹅的嗦囊里发现了什么！"

He held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly scintillating³ blue stone,

他伸出手，在他手心上展现着一颗闪烁着夺目光辉的蓝宝石，

rather smaller than a bean in size,

这颗蓝宝石比黄豆稍微小一些，

but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand.

可是晶莹洁净、光彩闪闪，就象一道电光在他那黝黑的手心里闪烁着。

Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯吹了一声口哨，坐了起来。

"By Jove, Peterson!" said he, "this is treasure trove⁴ indeed. I suppose you know what you have got?"

"天啊，彼得森！"他说道，"这确实是一件秘藏的珍宝啊！我想你知道你得到的是什么。"

"A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were putty."

"一颗钻石，先生，是不是？一颗宝石。用它切割玻璃就象切割油泥一样。"

"It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone."

"这不是一颗平常的宝石，而恰恰是那颗名贵的宝石。"

"Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated.

"莫非是莫卡伯爵夫人的蓝宝石吗？"我喊了出来。

"Precisely⁵ so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lately.

"一点都不错！因为我最近每天都看《泰晤士报》有关这颗宝右的奇事，我应该知道它的大小和形状的。

It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be conjectured⁶,

这颗宝石绝对是独一无二的珍宝，它的价值只能约略估计，

but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market price."

可是悬赏的报酬一千英镑肯定还不到这颗蓝宝石市价的二十分之一。"

1 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

2 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 scintillating   

adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的

参考例句：

• Statistics on unemployment levels hardly make for scintillating reading. 失业统计数据读来不大会有趣味。
• You were scintillating on TV last night. 您昨晚在电视上妙语如珠。

4 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 conjectured   

推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old peasant conjectured that it would be an unusually cold winter. 那老汉推测冬天将会异常地寒冷。
• The general conjectured that the enemy only had about five days' supply of food left. 将军推测敌人只剩下五天的粮食给养。