地下墓穴（4）

 

“I won’t interfere¹ with your treasure-trove, but I should very much like to hear about it,” he continued, while Burger very deliberately² lit a cigar. “It is evidently a discovery of the first importance. These inscriptions³ will make a sensation throughout Europe.”

“For every one here there are a million there!” said the German. “There are so many that a dozen savants might spend a lifetime over them, and build up a reputation as solid as the Castle of St. Angelo.”

Kennedy sat thinking with his fine forehead wrinkled and his fingers playing with his long, fair moustache.

“You have given yourself away, Burger!” said he at last. “Your words can only apply to one thing. You have discovered a new catacomb.”

“I had no doubt that you had already come to that conclusion from an examination of these objects.”

“Well, they certainly appeared to indicate it, but your last remarks make it certain. There is no place except a catacomb which could contain so vast a store of relics⁴ as you describe.”

“Quite so. There is no mystery about that. I HAVE discovered a new catacomb.”

“Where?”

“Ah, that is my secret, my dear Kennedy. Suffice it that it is so situated⁵ that there is not one chance in a million of anyone else coming upon it. Its date is different from that of any known catacomb, and it has been reserved for the burial of the highest Christians⁶, so that the remains⁷ and the relics are quite different from anything which has ever been seen before. If I was not aware of your knowledge and of your energy, my friend, I would not hesitate, under the pledge of secrecy⁸, to tell you everything about it. But as it is I think that I must certainly prepare my own report of the matter before I expose myself to such formidable competition.”

“我不会插手你的宝贵发现，不过我非常想听听它们的来历，"他继续说道，而伯格不动声色地点燃雪茄。“显然这是个最重要的发现。这些碑文将在整个欧洲引起轰动，"“那儿的东西比这儿多百万倍！"德国人说。“够十个专家干一辈子的，建立的名望比圣安杰罗堡还要高大。"肯尼迪默默地沉思，漂亮的前额起了皱纹，手指捋着长长的金黄色唇须。

“伯格，你露馅了！他终于说道。“从你的话只能得出一个结论：你发现了一个新的地下墓穴，”

“我毫不怀疑，你在查看这些东西的时候就得出这个结论了。”

“是的，它们当然会有所透露，不过你刚才的话做了进一步的证实。除了地下墓穴没有别的地方能容纳如此大量的古代遗物，”

“的确，没有必要故弄玄虚。我确实发现了一个新的地下墓穴。”

“在哪儿？”

“啊，亲爱的肯尼迪，那可是我的秘密。我能说的只有一点，墓穴的位置极其隐蔽，无论什么人要想找到它，最多只有百万分之一的可能性。它的年代与已经发现的墓穴都不同，而且，由于埋葬的全是基督教最高层的人士，所以随葬品也与以前见过的完全不同，我的朋友，如果我不了解你是个知识渊博、精力充沛的专家，只要你立誓保密，我就会毫不犹豫地把一切全告诉你。然而，我必须先写出我的论文，然后才能向最可畏的竞争对手亮出底牌，“

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

3 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。

4 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

5 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

6 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

7 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。

8 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。