绿玉皇冠案 25来到费尔班寓所(6)

The banker recoiled¹ in horror. "I should not dream of trying," said he.

那银行家惊慌地往后退缩。他说："我连做梦也不敢去掰它。"

"Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent² his strength upon it, but without result.

"那么我来试试，"福尔摩斯猛然用足力气去掰它，但是纹丝不动。

"I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my time to break it.

"我觉得它有点松动，"他说，"但是，虽然我的手指特别有劲，要掰开它也很费事。

An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder³?

一个普通人是不可能把它掰开的。好了，霍尔德先生，如果我真的掰开了它，会是什么情况呢？

There would be a noise like a pistol shot.

那就会发出象枪响一样的声音。

Do you tell me that all this happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard nothing of it?"

你敢说，这一切是发生在仅离你卧榻数码之遥的地方，而你却一点什么声音也没听见吗？"

"I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me."

"我什么也不敢想，什么问题也看不出来。"

"But perhaps it may grow lighter⁴ as we go. What do you think, Miss Holder?"

"但是事情也许会越来越清楚。你是怎么想的，霍尔德小姐？"

"I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity."

"我承认我和我的叔叔一样困惑不解。"

"Your son had no shoes or slippers⁵ on when you saw him?"

"当你看到你的儿子时，他没有穿鞋或拖鞋，是吗？"

"He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt."

"除了裤子和衬衫外，他什么也没有穿。"

"Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary luck during this inquiry⁶,

"谢谢你。我们的确从这次询问中得益匪浅，实在太幸运了，

and it will be entirely⁷ our own fault if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up.

如果我们还不能把这事情弄清楚的话，那就完全是我们自己的过错了。

With your permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations⁸ outside."

霍尔德先生，请允许我再到外面去继续调查。"

1 recoiled   

v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回

参考例句：

• She recoiled from his touch. 她躲开他的触摸。
• Howard recoiled a little at the sharpness in my voice. 听到我的尖声，霍华德往后缩了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

5 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。