铜山毛榉案 30离奇事件接连出现(7)

Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story.

福尔摩斯和我听了这离奇的故事象着了迷一样。

My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon his face.

我的朋友站了起来在房间里踱来踱去，两手插在衣袋里，脸色显得极其深沉严肃。

"Is Toller still drunk?" he asked.

"托勒是不是还酒醉未醒？"他问。

"Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do nothing with him."

"是的，我听见他的老婆告诉鲁卡斯尔太太，说她对他一点儿办法也没有。"

"That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "Yes."

"那很好，鲁卡斯尔夫妇今天晚上要出门去？""是的。"

"Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "Yes, the wine-cellar."

"那里有没有一间地下室和有一把结实的好锁？""有，那间藏酒的地窖就是。"

"You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter.

"亨特小姐，从你处理这件事的经过来看，你可以说得上是一位十分机智勇敢的姑娘。

Do you think that you could perform one more feat¹?

你想想能不能再做一件了不起的大事？

I should not ask it of you if I did not think you a quite exceptional woman."

如果我不认为你是个十分卓越的女性，我是不会这样要求你的。"

"I will try. What is it?"

"我一定试试看，要我做什么事？"

"We shall be at the Copper² Beeches³ by seven o'clock, my friend and I.

"我的朋友和我七点钟到达铜山毛榉。

The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, we hope, be incapable⁴.

那时候鲁卡斯尔夫妇已经出门。而托勒，我们希望到时候他是无能为力的。

There only remains⁵ Mrs. Toller, who might give the alarm.

剩下的就只有托勒太太，她可能报警。

If you could send her into the cellar on some errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate matters immensely."

你若是能叫她到地窖里去干些差使，然后把她锁在里头，那就会大大有利于这件事的进行了。"

"I will do it."

"我一定这样干！"

1 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

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 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。