工程师大拇指案 17被砍掉的大拇指(3)

It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled¹ about looking for matches and muttering under his breath.

房子里漆黑一团，上校摸索着寻找火柴，并低声地咕哝着。

Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction.

这时走廊的另一端有一扇门忽然打开。一道长长的金色亮光射向我们这个方向。

It grew broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand,

灯光越来越亮，接着出现了一个女人，手里掌着一盏灯，

which she held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us.

高高举在头顶上，她朝前探身注视着我们。

I could see that she was pretty,

我看得分明，她长得很漂亮，

and from the gloss² with which the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich material.

灯光照在她那黑色的服装上，从反射出来的光泽我看出那是很华丽的衣料。

She spoke³ a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as though asking a question,

她说了几句外国话，听口气好象是在问话，

and when my companion answered in a gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from her hand.

当我的伙伴粗暴地三言两语地回答时，她是那样的吃惊，手里的灯差一点掉了下来。

Colonel Stark⁴ went up to her, whispered something in her ear,

斯塔克上校走到她身边，对着她的耳朵悄声地说了些什么，

and then, pushing her back into the room from whence she had come,

然后把她推回她从那里出来的房间里，

he walked towards me again with the lamp in his hand.

随后他手里提着灯又朝着我走过来。

'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door.

'也许得请您在这房间里稍等几分钟，'他说着，推开了另一个房门。

It was a quiet, little, plainly furnished room,

这是一间安静、陈设简单的小房间。

with a round table in the centre, on which several German books were scattered⁵.

房间中间有一张圆桌，上面散乱地堆着几本德文书。

Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the door.

斯塔克上校把灯放在门旁边一架小风琴的顶上。

'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and vanished into the darkness.

'我不会让您久等的。'说着，他就隐没到黑暗中去了。

1 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

2 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

3 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。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。