月亮和六便士 第三十四章(4)

 But when we arrived at the hospital, a gaunt, cheerless building, the mere¹ sight of which was enough to make one's heart sick, 终于到了医院——一座凄清阴惨的建筑物，一看见就让人心里发凉。

and after being directed from this official to that, up endless stairs 我们从一个办公室被支到另一个办公室，爬上数不尽的楼梯，穿过走不到头儿的光秃秃的走廊，

and through long, bare corridors, found the doctor in charge of the case, we were told that the patient was too ill to see anyone that day. 最后找到主治的医生，但是我们却被告诉说，病人健康状况太坏，这一天不能接见任何探视的人。

The doctor was a little bearded man in white, with an offhand² manner. 同我们讲话的这个医生蓄着胡须、身材矮小，穿着一身白衣服，态度一点也不客气。

He evidently looked upon a case as a case, and anxious relatives as a nuisance which must be treated with firmness. 他显然只把病人当作病人，把焦急不安的亲属当作惹厌的东西，毫无通融的余地。

Moreover, to him the affair was commonplace; it was just an hysterical³ woman who had quarrelled with her lover and taken poison; it was constantly happening. 此外，对他说来，这类事早已司空见惯；这只不过是一个歇斯底里的女人同爱人吵了嘴、赌气服了毒而已，这是经常发生的事。

At first he thought that Dirk was the cause of the disaster, and he was needlessly brusque with him. 最初他还以为戴尔克是罪魁祸首，毫无必要地顶撞了他几句。

When I explained that he was the husband, anxious to forgive, the doctor looked at him suddenly, with curious, searching eyes. 在我向他解释了戴尔克是病人的丈夫、渴望宽恕她以后，医生突然用炯炯逼人的好奇目光打量起他来。

I seemed to see in them a hint of mockery; it was true that Stroeve had the head of the husband who is deceived. 我好象在医生的目光里看到一丝挪揄的神色；施特略夫的长相一望而知是个受老婆欺骗的窝囊汉子。

The doctor faintly shrugged⁴ his shoulders. 医生把肩膀微微一耸。

There is no immediate⁵ danger, he said, in answer to our questioning. "One doesn't know how much she took. It may be that she will get off with a fright. “目前没有什么危险，”他回答我们的询问说，“还不知道她吞服了多少。也很可能只是一场虚惊。

Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love,  女人们不断为了爱情而自寻短见，

but generally they take care not to succeed. It's generally a gesture to arouse pity or terror in their lover." 但是一般说来她们总是做得很小心，不让自杀成为事实。通常这只是为了引起她们情人的怜悯或者恐怖而作的一个姿态。”

There was in his tone a frigid⁶ contempt. 他的语气里有一种冷漠、轻蔑的味道。

It was obvious that to him Blanche Stroeve was only a unit to be added to the statistical⁷ list of attempted suicides in the city of Paris during the current year. 对他说来，勃朗什·施特略夫显然不过是即将列入巴黎这一年自杀未遂的统计表中的一个数字。

He was busy, and could waste no more time on us. He told us  医生非常忙，不可能为了我们浪费自己的时间。他告诉我们，

that if we came at a certain hour next day, should Blanche be better, it might be possible for her husband to see her. 如果我们在第二天某一个时刻来，假如勃朗什好一些，她的丈夫是可以见到她的。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 offhand   

adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的

参考例句：

• I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。
• I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

3 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

7 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。