单身贵族案 25真相大白(2)

It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling¹ in,

确实是我们上午来过的客人，他急急忙忙地走了进来，

dangling² his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very perturbed³ expression upon his aristocratic features.

更起劲地晃动着他的眼镜，在他那贵族气派的面容上，显出非常不安的表情。

"My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes.

"那么说我的信差到你那里去过了？"福尔摩斯问道。

"Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. Have you good authority for what you say?"

"是的，我承认信的内容使我感到无比的震惊。你有充分的根据证明你的话吗？"

"The best possible."

"最充分的根据。"

Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his forehead.

圣西蒙勋爵一屁股坐在椅子上，一只手按着前额。

"What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of the family has been subjected to such humiliation⁴?"

"如果公爵听说他的家庭成员之中有人受到这般的羞辱，他会怎么说呢？"他小声地嘟哝着。

"It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any humiliation."

"这纯粹是一场误会，我不认为这是一种羞辱。"

"Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint."

"啊？你是从另外一个观点看待这些问题的。"

"I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the lady could have acted otherwise,

"我看不出有谁该受到责备，我难以想象这位小姐除此之外还有别的什么办法，

though her abrupt⁵ method of doing it was undoubtedly⁶ to be regretted.

虽然她处理这件事的方法有点突然，无疑这是令人感到遗憾的。

Having no mother, she had no one to advise her at such a crisis."

在这样的关键时刻，没有母亲在跟前，是没有别人给她出主意的。"

"It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, tapping his fingers upon the table.

"这是一种蔑视，先生，公然的蔑视。"圣西蒙勋爵用手指敲着桌子说。

"You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so unprecedented⁷ a position."

"你一定要原谅这位可怜的姑娘，她的处境是谁也没有经历过的。"

"I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have been shamefully⁸ used."

"我决不能原谅她，我被可耻地玩弄了，我确实非常生气。"

"I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps on the landing.

"我好象听到门铃响，"福尔摩斯说，"对，楼梯口有脚步声。

If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient⁹ view of the matter, Lord St. Simon,

如果我劝说不了你对这件事要宽大为怀的话，圣西蒙勋爵，

I have brought an advocate here who may be more successful."

我请来了一位支持我的见解的人，这个人也许更能胜任。"

1 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

2 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

3 perturbed   

adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I am deeply perturbed by the alarming way the situation developing. 我对形势令人忧虑的发展深感不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother was much perturbed by my illness. 母亲为我的病甚感烦恼不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

5 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

6 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 shamefully   

可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。
• They have served me shamefully for a long time. 长期以来，他们待我很坏。

9 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。