铜山毛榉案 22来到铜山毛榉(7)

"Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative¹ promises to be a most interesting one."

"请往下说，"福尔摩斯说，"你的叙述很可能非常有趣。"

"You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may prove to be little relation between the different incidents of which I speak.

"我恐怕你会认为有点支离破碎，缺乏条理。也许这正表明我所讲的各个不同事件之间没有什么关联。

On the very first day that I was at the Copper² Beeches³, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands near the kitchen door.

在我刚到铜山毛榉的头一天，鲁卡斯尔先生带我到厨房门附近的一间小外屋。

As we approached it I heard the sharp rattling⁴ of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving about.

当我们走近那里时，我听见有一根链条当啷作响，还有一头大动物在走动的声音。

'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit⁵ between two planks⁶. 'Is he not a beauty?'

'从这儿朝里看！'鲁卡斯尔先生指点我从两块板缝中往里看，'它不是一个漂亮的家伙吗？'

I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a vague figure huddled⁷ up in the darkness.

我从板缝中张望进去，只觉得有两只炯炯发亮的眼睛和一个模糊的身躯蜷伏在黑暗里。

'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start which I had given.

'不要害怕，'我的东家说，看见我吃惊的样子他笑了起来。

'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, but really old Toller, my groom⁸, is the only man who can do anything with him.

'那是我的獒犬卡罗。我说它是我的，但实际上只有老托勒，我的饲养员，才能够对付它。

We feed him once a day, and not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard.

我们一天喂它一次，不能喂得太多，所以它才能总是象芥末那样有热辣劲。

Toller lets him loose every night, and God help the trespasser⁹ whom he lays his fangs¹⁰ upon.

托勒每天晚上放它出来，倘若有哪个私自闯进来的人碰上它的尖牙齿，那只有求上帝保佑了。

For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext¹¹ set your foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life is worth.'"

看在老天爷的面上，你千万不要以任何借口在晚上将脚跨过那门槛，因为如果那样作，就等于不要命了。'"

1 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

2 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

3 beeches   

n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材

参考例句：

• The beeches, oaks and chestnuts all belong to the same family. 山毛榉树、橡树和栗子树属于同科树种。 来自互联网
• There are many beeches in this wood. 这片树林里有许多山毛榉。 来自互联网

4 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

5 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

6 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

7 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

8 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

9 trespasser   

n.侵犯者；违反者

参考例句：

• The worst they'd ever dealt with was an occasionally trespasser or small-time thief. 他们过去对付的充其量是一个偶尔闯入者或是小偷小摸者。
• In such event the offending member or guest shall be trespasser. 在此情况下，违例的会员或嘉宾一概视作擅自进入论。

10 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。