铜山毛榉案 35惨案发生(1)

Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with Toller hurrying behind us.

福尔摩斯和我急忙飞奔出去转过房角，托勒紧紧跟在我们后面。

There was the huge famished¹ brute², its black muzzle³ buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed⁴ and screamed upon the ground.

只见那边一只庞大的饿慌了的畜牲，一张黑嘴紧紧咬着鲁卡斯尔先生的喉咙，而他正在地上打着滚悲惨地号叫着。

Running up, I blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great creases⁵ of his neck.

我跑上去就是一枪，把它的脑袋打开了花，它倒了下来，锋利的白牙仍然嵌在他那肥大的满是褶皱的颈部。

With much labour we separated them and carried him, living but horribly mangled⁶, into the house.

我们用了好大力气才把人和狗两相分开，然后将他抬到房子里，人虽然还活着，然而已是非常可怕地血肉模糊了。

We laid him upon the drawing-room sofa,

我们把他放在客厅的沙发上，

and having dispatched the sobered Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain.

并差遣吓醒了的托勒送信去通知他的太太，我尽我所能做到的来减轻他的痛苦。

We were all assembled round him when the door opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room.

我们都围着他聚集在一起，这时，房门开处，一位瘦高个的女人走了进来。

"Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter.

"托勒太太！"亨特小姐喊道。

"Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he went up to you.

"是的，小姐，鲁卡斯尔先生回来后先把我放了出来，然后才上去找你们。

Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains were wasted."

啊，小姐，可惜你不曾让我知道你的打算，因为我本来可以告诉你，省得你费那么大的劲。"

"Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else."

"哈！"福尔摩斯敏锐地注视着她说，"显然，托勒太太对这件事的情况知道得比任何人都多。"

"Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know."

"是的，先生，我确实知道。我现在正准备把我所知道的全都告诉你们。"

1 famished   

adj.饥饿的

参考例句：

• When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！
• My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

2 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

3 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

4 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。

5 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

6 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》