皮漏斗之谜（3）（在线收听）

He was seated as he spoke at one side of the open fire-place, and I at the other. His reading-table was on his right, and the strong lamp above it ringed it with a very vivid circle of golden light. A half-rolled palimpsest lay in the centre, and around it were many quaint articles of bric-a-brac. One of these was a large funnel, such as is used for filling wine casks. It appeared to be made of black wood, and to be rimmed with discoloured brass.

“That is a curious thing,” I remarked. “What is the history of that?”

“Ah!” said he, “it is the very question which I have had occasion to ask myself. I would give a good deal to know. Take it in your hands and examine it.”

I did so, and found that what I had imagined to be wood was in reality leather, though age had dried it into an extreme hardness. It was a large funnel, and might hold a quart when full. The brass rim encircled the wide end, but the narrow was also tipped with metal.

“What do you make of it?” asked Dacre.

“I should imagine that it belonged to some vintner or maltster in the Middle Ages,” said I. “I have seen in England leathern drinking flagons of the seventeenth century—’black jacks’ as they were called—which were of the same colour and hardness as this filler.”

“I dare say the date would be about the same,” said Dacre, “and, no doubt, also, it was used for filling a vessel with liquid. If my suspicions are correct, however, it was a queer vintner who used it, and a very singular cask which was filled. Do you observe nothing strange at the spout end of the funnel.”

在他说这些话的时候，我俩分别坐在壁炉的两边，他右边是书桌，明亮的台灯在桌上投下一圈耀眼的金色光芒。

书桌中央放着一张半卷着的羊皮纸，旁边有许多奇特的摆设，其中之一是一个大漏斗，就像那种灌酒桶用的漏斗。看上去它像是用黑木做的，镶边的黄铜已经褪色了。

“这东西很怪，"我说，“它有什么故事吗？”

“嘿！"他说，“这个问题我也曾经问过我自己。后来费了好大劲才弄明白，你把它拿起来，仔细看看，”

我拿起来，认真观察，发现它并不是木头的，而是皮革的，只是由于年代久远，变得十分坚硬。它很大，容量足有一夸脱大的一端镶铜，小的一端也包着铜。

对此你有什么看法？"达克问道。

“我觉得，它可能在中世纪是某个葡萄酒商或麦芽酒商的用具，"我说。“我在英格兰见过十七世纪的皮制大酒杯一叫黑杰克@——颜色和硬度跟这个漏斗一样，"

“我可以告诉你，你讲的年代差不多，”达克说，“而且可以肯定，它是用来给某种容器灌某种液体的。不过，按照我的推测，使用它的酒商应该是个怪人，酒桶也应该很特别。难道你没看出漏斗的嘴有什么特殊之处？”