斑点带子案 16离奇死亡(2)

"How about poison?" "The doctors examined her for it, but without success."

"会不会是毒药？""医生们为此做了检查，但查不出来。"

"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?"

"那么，你认为这位不幸的女士的死因是什么呢？"

"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine."

"尽管我想象不出是什么东西吓坏了她，可是我相信她致死的原因纯粹是由于恐惧和精神上的震惊。"

"Were there gypsies in the plantation¹ at the time?"

"当时种植园里有吉卜赛人吗？"

"Yes, there are nearly always some there."

"有的，那儿几乎总是有些吉卜赛人。"

"Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion² to a band -- a speckled band?"

"啊，从她提到的带子--带斑点的带子，你推想出什么来没有？"

"Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium³,

"有时我觉得，那只不过是精神错乱时说的胡话，

sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people, perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation.

有时又觉得，可能指的是某一帮人。也许指的就是种植园里那些吉卜赛人。

I do not know whether the spotted⁴ handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used."

他们当中有那么多人头上戴着带点子的头巾，我不知道这是否可以说明她所使用的那个奇怪的形容词。"

Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.

福尔摩斯摇摇头，好像这样的想法远远不能使他感到满意。

"These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your narrative⁵."

"这里面还大有文章。"他说，"请继续讲下去。"

1 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。

2 allusion   

n.暗示，间接提示

参考例句：

• He made an allusion to a secret plan in his speech.在讲话中他暗示有一项秘密计划。
• She made no allusion to the incident.她没有提及那个事件。

3 delirium   

n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋

参考例句：

• In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
• For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。