铜山毛榉案 28离奇事件接连出现(5)

'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it must be when I saw the door open.'

'不错，'他微笑地说，'果然是你，当我看见门开着，我想一定是你。'

'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted.

'啊，可把我吓死了！'我喘着气说。

'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!' you cannot think how caressing¹ and soothing² his manner was

'我亲爱的年轻小姐！我亲爱的年轻小姐！'你料想不出他的态度有多么亲热，多么体贴，

'and what has frightened you, my dear young lady?'

'是什么把你吓成这个样子，我亲爱的年轻小姐？'

But his voice was just a little too coaxing³. He overdid⁴ it. I was keenly on my guard against him.

但是他说话的声音简直就象在哄孩子。他做得太过分了，我是处处提防着他的。

'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered.

'我够傻的，走到那边的空房子里去了，'我回答说。

'But it is so lonely and eerie⁵ in this dim light that I was frightened and ran out again.

'但是，在昏暗的光线下，那里是多么凄凉，多么可怕呀！吓得我又跑了出来。

Oh, it is so dreadfully still in there!'

啊，那里面死沉沉地寂静得可怕！'

'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly.

'只是那么一些？'他尖锐地瞧着我说。

'Why, what did you think?' I asked.

'怎么啦？你是怎么想的？'我问他。

'Why do you think that I lock this door?'

'我把这个门锁上你是怎么想的？'

'I am sure that I do not know.'

'我确实不知道。'

'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you see?'

'就是不让闲人走进去，你明白吗？'

He was still smiling in the most amiable⁶ manner.

他还是用那无比亲切的模样微笑着。

'I am sure if I had known...'

'要是我早知道，我肯定...'

'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over that threshold again'

'那么，好啦，你现在知道啦！如果你再把你的脚跨过那门槛...'

here in an instant the smile hardened into a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a demon⁷

说到这里，他的微笑片刻之间变成龇牙咧嘴的狞笑，一张脸象魔鬼似地瞪着我，

'I'll throw you to the mastiff.'

'我就把你扔给那条獒犬。'

1 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

2 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

3 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

4 overdid   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去式 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• We overdid the meat and it didn't taste good. 我们把肉煮得太久，结果味道不好了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He overdid and became extremely tired. 他用力过猛，感到筋疲力尽。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

6 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

7 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。