蓝宝石案 19贝克先生到访(2)

"We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes,

"这些东西在我们这儿保留好几天了，"福尔摩斯说，

"because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your address.

"因为我们期待着从你的寻物启事上看到你的地址。

I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise."

我不理解你为什么不登报呢？"

Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh.

我们的客人难为情地笑了笑。

"Shillings have not been so plentiful¹ with me as they once were," he remarked.

"我已经阮囊羞涩不象过去那么有钱了，"他说道。

"I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird.

"我相信袭击我的那帮流氓早把我的帽子和鹅都抢走了。

I did not care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt at recovering them."

因此试图找回它们是毫无希望的，我不想为此再花钱了！"

"Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to eat it."

"你说得很合乎情理，顺便提一下，至于那只鹅，我们不得已把它吃掉了。"

"To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his excitement.

"吃掉了！"我们的客人激动得差一点站了起来。

"Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so.

"是的，如果我们不这么做的话，那只鹅对谁来说都将是不堪食用的了。

But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard,

但是，我认为餐柜上那只鹅，

which is about the same weight and perfectly² fresh, will answer your purpose equally well?"

它的斤量和你的鹅不相上下，而且十分鲜嫩，这会同样使你满意的。"

"Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker³ with a sigh of relief.

"噢，那当然，那当然。"贝克先生松了一口气说。

"Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of your own bird, so if you wish..."

"当然，我们还留着你自己那只鹅的羽毛、腿、嗉囊等等。所以，如果你希望..."

The man burst into a hearty⁴ laugh.

这个人突然哈哈大笑起来

"They might be useful to me as relics⁵ of my adventure," said he,

"这些东西作为我那次历险的纪念品也许有点用处，"他说

"but beyond that I can hardly see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are going to be to me.

"除此以外，我简直看不出我的那只鹅的零碎遗物对我有何裨益

No, sir, I think that, with your permission,

不，先生，如果你许可的话，

I will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive upon the sideboard."

我想我关心的将仅限于我所看到的餐柜上的那只绝妙的鹅。"

1 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 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。

4 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

5 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。