工程师大拇指案 04奇怪的病人(4)

"Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and laughed.

"噢，我这一宵可不能说是单调乏味，"他说着不禁放声大笑起来。

He laughed very heartily¹, with a high, ringing note, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides.

他的笑声又高又尖，身子往后靠在椅子上，捧腹大笑不忍。

All my medical instincts rose up against that laugh.

这笑声引起我医学本能极大的反感。

"Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out some water from a carafe².

"别笑了！"我喊道，"镇定镇定吧！"我从玻璃水瓶里倒了一杯水给他。

It was useless, however.

然而，这根本不起作用。

He was off in one of those hysterical³ outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis is over and gone.

他正在歇斯底里大发作，这是一种性格坚强的人在渡过一场巨大危难之后所产生的歇斯底里。

Presently he came to himself once more, very weary and pale-looking.

片刻间，他又清醒过来，精疲力竭，面色苍白。

"I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped⁴.

"我真是出尽了洋相，"他气喘吁吁地说。

"Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water,

"没有的话，把这喝下去吧。"我往水里掺了些白兰地，

and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.

他那毫无血色的双颊开始有些红润了。

"That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would kindly⁵ attend to my thumb,

"好多了！"他说，"那么，大夫费心给我瞧瞧我的大拇指吧，

or rather to the place where my thumb used to be."

应当说，瞧瞧我的大拇指原来所在的部位。"

1 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

2 carafe   

n.玻璃水瓶

参考例句：

• She lifted the stopper from the carafe.她拔出玻璃酒瓶上的瓶塞。
• He ordered a carafe of wine.他要了一瓶葡萄酒。

3 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

4 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》

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。