铜山毛榉案 38惨案发生(4)

"I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes,

"我们应当向你道谢，托勒太太，"福尔摩斯说，

"for you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us.

"因为你无疑把一切使我们伤脑筋的事都澄清了。

And here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle,

现在村里的那位外科医生和鲁卡斯尔夫人就要来了，

so I think, Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester,

我认为，华生，我们最好是护送亨特小姐回温切斯特去，

as it seems to me that our locus¹ standi now is rather a questionable² one."

因为我似乎感觉到我们在这里的合法地位很成问题。"

And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister³ house with the copper⁴ beeches⁵ in front of the door.

于是门前有铜出毛榉的那所不吉祥房子的谜解开了。

Mr. Rucastle survived, but was always a broken man, kept alive solely⁶ through the care of his devoted⁷ wife.

鲁卡斯尔先生总算幸免于死，然而已是一个精神颓丧的人了，只是由于他那忠心耿耿的妻子的护理，他才能苟延残喘。

They still live with their old servants, who probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it difficult to part from them.

他们的老佣人们还和他们住在一起，大概他们知道鲁卡斯尔这家人过去的事太多了，以致鲁卡斯尔先生很难辞退他们。

Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married, by special license⁸, in Southampton the day after their flight,

福勒先生和鲁卡斯尔小姐就在他们出走后的第二天在南安普敦申请到特许证书结了婚。

and he is now the holder⁹ of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius.

福勒先生现在毛里求斯岛担任政府职务。

As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disappointment,

至于维奥莱特·亨特小姐，我的朋友福尔摩斯使我感到有点失望。

manifested no further interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems,

由于她不再是他问题中的一位中心人物，他就不再对她表示有进一步的兴趣了。

and she is now the head of a private school at Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success.

她目前是沃尔索尔地区一家私立学校的校长，我相信她在教育工作上是很有成绩的。

1 locus   

n.中心

参考例句：

• Barcelona is the locus of Spanish industry.巴塞罗那是西班牙工业中心。
• Thereafter,the military remained the locus of real power.自此之后，军方一直掌握着实权。

2 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

3 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

4 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。

5 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

6 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 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。