斑点带子案 12来龙去脉(6)

'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of the night?'

'告诉我，海伦，'她说，'在夜深人静的时候，你听到过有人吹口哨没有？'

'Never,' said I.

'从来没有听到过，我说。

'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?'

'我想你睡着的时候，不可能吹口哨吧？'

'Certainly not. But why?'

'当然不会，你为什么要问这个呢？'

'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle.

'因为这几天的深夜，大约清晨三点钟左右，我总是听到轻轻的清晰的口哨声。

I am a light sleeper¹, and it has awakened² me.

我是一个睡不沉的人，所以就被吵醒了。

I cannot tell where it came from–perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn.

我说不出那声音是从哪儿来的，可能来自隔壁房间，也可能来自草坪。

I thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.'

我当时就想，我得问问你是否也听到了。'

'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gypsies in the plantation³.'

'没有，我没听到过。一定是种植园里那些讨厌的吉卜赛人。'

'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.'

'极其可能。可是如果是从草坪那儿来的，我感到奇怪你怎么会没有同样地听到。'

'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.'

'啊，但是，我一般睡得比你沉。'

'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.'

'好啦，不管怎么说，这关系都不大。'

She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock."

她扭过头对我笑笑，接着把我的房门关上。不一会儿，我就听到她的钥匙在门锁里转动的声音。"

1 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

2 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。