四签名 29樱沼别墅的惨案（4）

We all followed him into the housekeeper¹'s room, which stood upon the left-hand side of the passage.

我们随着他走进甬道左边女管家的屋子里。

The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless, picking fingers,

这个老太太正在惊魂不定地在屋里踱来踱去，

but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing² effect upon her.

可是一看见摩斯坦小姐就好象得到了安慰似的。

"God bless your sweet, calm face!" she cried with a hysterical³ sob⁴.

她感情激动地向摩斯坦小姐哭诉道："老天爷，看您这副温柔安静的脸多好！

"It does me good to see you. Oh, but I have been sorely tried this day!"

看见了您，我觉得好多了！我这一天呀，真是够受的！"

Our companion patted her thin, work-worn hand and murmured some few words of kindly⁵,

我的同伴轻轻地抚拍着她的皱手，低声地说了几句温柔的、安慰她的话。

womanly comfort which brought the colour back into the other's bloodless cheeks.

老太太苍白的脸渐渐地恢复过来了。

"Master has locked himself in and will not answer me," she explained.

她解释道："主人自己锁上房门也不和我答话，

"All day I have waited to hear from him,

一整天我在这里等他叫唤。

for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss,

他倒是常常喜欢一个人呆着，可是一个钟头以前，我恐怕出事，

so I went up and peeped through the keyhole.

我上楼从钥匙孔往里偷看了看。

You must go up, Mr. Thaddeus–you must go up and look for yourself.

您一定要上去一趟，塞笛厄斯先生，您一定要自己去看一看！

I have seen Mr. Bartholomew Sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years,

十年来，无论是巴索洛谬先生喜欢的时候还是悲痛的时候，我都看见过，

but I never saw him with such a face on him as that."

可是我从来没有看见过象他现在这副面孔。"

Sherlock Holmes took the lamp and led the way, for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering⁶ in his head.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯提着灯在前引路，塞笛厄斯吓得牙齿相击

So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs, for his knees were trembling under him.

两腿哆嗦，亏得我搀扶着他，才一同上了楼。

Twice as we ascended⁷, Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket

福尔摩斯在上楼时，两次从口袋里拿出放大镜，

and carefully examined marks which appeared to me to be mere⁸ shapeless smudges of dust upon the cocoanut-matting which served as a stair-carpet.

小心地验看那些留在楼梯棕毯上的泥印。

He walked slowly from step to step, holding the lamp low, and shooting keen glances to right and left.

他慢慢地一级一级地走上去，低低地提着灯，左右地细细观察。

Miss Morstan had remained behind with the frightened housekeeper.

摩斯坦小姐留在楼下，和惊恐的女管家做伴。

The third flight of stairs ended in a straight passage of some length,

上了三节楼梯，前面就是一条相当长的甬道，

with a great picture in Indian tapestry⁹ upon the right of it and three doors upon the left.

右面墙上悬挂着一幅印度挂毯，左边有三个门。

Holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way,

福尔摩斯仍旧一边慢走一边有系统地观察着。

while we kept close at his heels, with our long black shadows streaming backward down the corridor.

我们紧随在后面，我们的长长的影子投在身后的甬道上。

The third door was that which we were seeking.

第三个门就是我们的目的地了。

Holmes knocked without receiving any answer, and then tried to turn the handle and force it open.

福尔摩斯用力敲门，里面没有回应；他又旋转门钮，用力推门，也推不开。

It was locked on the inside, however, and by a broad and powerful bolt, as we could see when we set our lamp up against it.

我们把灯贴近了门缝，可以看见里面是用很粗的门锁倒闩着的。

The key being turned, however, the hole was not entirely¹⁰ closed.

钥匙已经过扭转，所以钥匙孔没有整个地被封闭起来。

1 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

2 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

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 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

7 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。