工程师大拇指案 19被砍掉的大拇指(5)

Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open.

"突然，在这极度寂静之中，事先没有听到一点响声，我房间的门慢慢地打开了。

The woman was standing¹ in the aperture², the darkness of the hall behind her,

那个女人站在门缝里，身后是黑暗的大厅，

the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and beautiful face.

我那盏灯上昏黄的灯光照在她那热切而美丽的面庞上。

I could see at a glance that she was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart.

我一眼就看出她惶恐不安的神色，这个情景使我感到胆战心寒。

She held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent,

她哆哆嗦嗦地举起一只手指警告我不要作声，

and she shot a few whispered words of broken English at me,

飞快地对我说了声不太象样的英国话。

her eyes glancing back, like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.

她的眼睛就象一匹受惊的马驹那样，匆匆地回顾身后的阴暗处。

'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speak calmly;

'我要是您我就跑掉了，'她说。看来她是在力图使自己讲得平静一些，

'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good for you to do.'

'我要是您我就跑掉了，我不会留在这儿。留下来对您没有好处。'

'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for.

'但是，夫人，'我说，'我还没有做为此而来的工作呢。

I cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.'

我在看过机器之后，才能离开这里。'

'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass through the door; no one hinders.'

'不值得一等，'她接着说，'您可以从这扇门走出去，没有人会阻拦您。'

And then, seeing that I smiled and shook my head,

她见我微笑着摆摆头，

she suddenly threw aside her constraint³ and made a step forward, with her hands wrung⁴ together.

突然摆脱了局促的状态，向前走了一步，两手紧握在一起。

'For the love of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too late!'

'看在上天的面上！'她低声说，'趁现在还来得及，快点逃跑！'

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

3 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

4 wrung   

绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）

参考例句：

• He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
• He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。