蓝宝石案 30追踪大鹅的来历(10)

Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯喊住一辆路过的四轮马车。

"In that case we had better discuss it in a cosy¹ room rather than in this wind-swept market-place," said he.

"既然是那样，我们与其在这个刮着寒风的闹市谈话，还不如到一个舒舒服服的房间里细细讨论这个问题，"他说。

"But pray tell me, before we go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting."

"但是，在我们还没出发之前，请把我有幸为之效劳的人的尊姓大名告诉我。"

The man hesitated for an instant.

这个人犹豫了一会儿。

"My name is John Robinson," he answered with a sidelong glance.

"我的名字是约翰·鲁宾逊。"他眼睛向旁斜视了一下，回答说。

"No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always awkward doing business with an alias²."

"不，不，我是问你的真名实姓，"福尔摩斯和蔼地说道，"办事情用化名总是很不方便的。"

A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger.

这位陌生人的苍白的脸顿时涨得通红。

"Well, then," said he, "my real name is James Ryder."

"好吧，那么，"他说，"我的真名实姓是詹姆斯·赖德。"

"Precisely³ so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan⁴.

"一点儿也不错，'世界旅馆'的领班。

Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you everything which you would wish to know."

请上马车吧！我一会儿就能把你想要知道的一切告诉你。"

The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes,

这个小个子站在那里，来回打量着我们，眼神半是耽心，半是希望，

as one who is not sure whether he is on the verge⁵ of a windfall or of a catastrophe⁶.

这正是一个处于吉凶未卜的境地，对自己的前途毫无把握的人的表情。

Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the sitting-room⁷ at Baker⁸ Street.

随后他上了马车，半小时以后，我们回到了贝克街的起居室。

Nothing had been said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion,

在车上我们都缄默无语，一言不发，可是我们的新伙伴呼吸急促、微弱

and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke⁹ of the nervous tension within him.

两手时而紧握，时而放松，透露了他内心的极度紧张。

1 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

2 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

3 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。

4 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

5 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

6 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。

7 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

8 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。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。