血字的研究 35葛莱森大显身手(6)

What happened then I do not know.

以后发生的事，我就不知道了。

I heard oaths and the confused sounds of a scuffle.

我只听到又是叫骂又是扭打，乱成一团，

I was too terrified to raise my head.

可把我吓坏了，吓得我连头都不敢抬。

When I did look up I saw Arthur standing¹ in the doorway² laughing, with a stick in his hand.

后来抬起头来一看，只见阿瑟站在门口大笑，手里拿着一根木棍。

"I don't think that fine fellow will trouble us again," he said.

阿瑟说：我想这个活宝再不会来找咱们的麻烦了。

"I will just go after him and see what he does with himself."

让我出去跟着他，看看他到底干些什么。

With those words he took his hat and started off down the street.

说完这话，他就拿起帽子，向街头跑去。

The next morning we heard of Mr. Drebber's mysterious death.

第二天早晨，我们就听到了锥伯先生被人谋杀的消息。

' "This statement came from Mrs. Charpentier's lips with many gasps³ and pauses.

'"这就是夏朋婕太太亲口说的话。她说时喘一阵，停一阵。

At times she spoke⁴ so low that I could hardly catch the words.

有时她说话的声音非常低，我简直听不清楚。

I made shorthand notes of all that she said, however,

可是，我把她所说的话全都速记下来了，

so that there should be no possibility of a mistake."

决不会有什么差错的。"

"It's quite exciting," said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.

福尔摩斯打了一个呵欠，说道："这的确很动听。

"What happened next?"

后来又怎么样了？"

"When Mrs. Charpentier paused," the detective continued,

这位侦探又说了下去："夏朋婕太太停下来的时候，

"I saw that the whole case hung upon one point.

我看出了全案关键的所在。

Fixing her with my eye in a way which I always found effective with women,

于是，我就用一种对待妇女行之有效的眼神紧盯着她，

I asked her at what hour her son returned. "

追问她儿子回家的时刻。"

'I do not know,' she answered.

'我不知道。'她回答说。

"'Not know?' "

"'不知道？'"

'No; he has a latchkey, and he let himself in.'

'实在不知道。他有一把弹簧锁的钥匙，他自己会开门进来的。'

"'After you went to bed?' "

"'你睡了以后他才回来的吗？'"

'Yes.'

'是的。'

"'When did you go to bed?' "

"'你几点钟睡的？'"

'About eleven.'

'大概是十一点。'

"'So your son was gone at least two hours?' "

"'这样说来，你的儿子最少出去有两个小时了。'"

'Yes.'

'是的。'

"'Possibly four or five?' "

"'可不可能出去了四、五个小时？'"

'Yes.'

'也有可能。'

"'What was he doing during that time?' "

"'在这几个钟头里他都干了些什么？'"

'I do not know,' she answered, turning white to her very lips.

'我不知道。'她回答说，说时嘴唇都白了。

"Of course after that there was nothing more to be done.

"当然，说到这里，别的就用不着多问了。

I found out where Lieutenant⁵ Charpentier was,

我找到夏朋其中尉的下落之后就带着两个警官，

took two officers with me, and arrested him.

把他逮捕了。

When I touched him on the shoulder and warned him to come quietly with us,

当我拍拍他的肩头，警告他老老实实跟我们走的时候，

he answered us as bold as brass⁶,

他竟肆无忌惮地说：

'I suppose you are arresting me for being concerned in the death of that scoundrel Drebber,' he said.

'我想你们抓我，是认为我和那个坏蛋锥伯的被杀有关吧。'

We had said nothing to him about it, so that his alluding⁷ to it had a most suspicious aspect."

我们并没有向他提起这件事，他倒是自己先说出来了，这就更令人觉得可疑了。"

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

3 gasps   

v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• He leant against the railing, his breath coming in short gasps. 他倚着栏杆，急促地喘气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• My breaths were coming in gasps. 我急促地喘起气来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

7 alluding   

提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He didn't mention your name but I was sure he was alluding to you. 他没提你的名字，但是我确信他是暗指你的。
• But in fact I was alluding to my physical deficiencies. 可我实在是为自己的容貌寒心。