绿玉皇冠案 14宝石不见了(1)

"I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may have any bearing upon the case,

"我尽可能将一切讲给你听，福尔摩斯先生，这跟案件也许有些关系。

but I beg that you will question me upon any point which I do not make clear."

我哪一点没讲清楚，请你务必提出来。"

"On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid¹."

"恰恰相反，你讲得非常清楚。"

"I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be particularly so.

"现在说到我要特别指出的那一部分情节。

I am not a very heavy sleeper², and the anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual.

我不是睡得很沉的人，并且担着心事，无疑使我睡得比平时还易惊醒。

About two in the morning, then, I was awakened³ by some sound in the house.

大约在凌晨两点钟的时候，我被屋里的某种响声吵醒了。

It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an impression behind it as though a window had gently closed somewhere.

在我完全清醒以前这声音便没有了，但它留给我一个似乎什么地方有一扇窗户曾经轻轻地关上了的印象。

I lay listening with all my ears.

我侧着身子全神贯注地倾听着。

Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room.

忽然间，使我惶恐的是，隔壁房间里传来了清晰的、轻轻走动的脚步声。

I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door.

我满怀恐惧悄悄地下了床，从我起居室的门角处张望过去。

'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain⁴! you thief! How dare you touch that coronet?'

'阿瑟！'我尖叫起来，'你这流氓，你这个贼！你怎么敢碰那皇冠？'

The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers,

我放在那里的煤气灯还半亮着，我那不幸的孩子只穿着衬衫和裤子，

was standing⁵ beside the light, holding the coronet in his hands.

站在灯旁，手里拿着那顶皇冠。

He appeared to be wrenching⁶ at it, or bending it with all his strength.

他似乎正在使尽全身力气扳着它，换句话说，拗着它。

At my cry he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death.

听到我的喊声，他手一松，皇冠便掉落到了地上。

I snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with three of the beryls in it, was missing."

他的脸死一般地苍白。我把它抢到手一检查，发现在一个金质的边角处有三块绿玉不见了。"

1 lucid   

adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的

参考例句：

• His explanation was lucid and to the point.他的解释扼要易懂。
• He wasn't very lucid,he didn't quite know where he was.他神志不是很清醒，不太知道自己在哪里。

2 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

3 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

5 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。

6 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）