The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet 绿宝石王冠（2）

时间：2020-05-12 08:01:54

（单词翻译:单击）

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows
knitted and his eyes fixed1 upon the fire.
 
"Do you receive much company?" he asked.
 
"None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of
Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No
one else, I think."
 
"Do you go out much in society?"
 
"Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for
it."
 
"That is unusual in a young girl."
 
"She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She
is four-and-twenty."
 
"This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to
her also."
 
"Terrible! She is even more affected2 than I."
 
"You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt3?"
 
"How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet
in his hands."
 
"I hardly consider that a conclusive4 proof. Was the remainder of
the coronet at all injured?"
 
"Yes, it was twisted."
 
"Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to
straighten it?"
 
"God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me.
But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If
his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?"
 
"Precisely5. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie?
His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several
singular points about the case. What did the police think of the
noise which awoke you from your sleep?"
 
"They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his
bedroom door."
 
"A likely story! As if a man bent6 on felony would slam his door
so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the
disappearance7 of these gems8?"
 
"They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture
in the hope of finding them."
 
"Have they thought of looking outside the house?"
 
"Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has
already been minutely examined."
 
"Now, my dear sir," said Holmes. "is it not obvious to you now
that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you
or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you
to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider
what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came
down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room,
opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main
force a small portion of it, went off to some other place,
concealed9 three gems out of the thirty-nine. with such skill that
nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six
into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger
of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?"
 
"But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of
despair. "If his motives10 were innocent, why does he not explain
them?"
 
"It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if
you please, Mr. Holder11, we will set off for Streatham together,
and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into
details."
 
My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition,
which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy
were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I
confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be
as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such
faith in Holmes's judgment12 that I felt that there must be some
grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted
explanation. He hardly spoke13 a word the whole way out to the
southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his
hat drawn14 over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client
appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope
which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a
desultory15 chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway
journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest
residence of the great financier.

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1 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
参考例句：
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。
2 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的，假装的
参考例句：
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
3 guilt 9e6xr     
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
  • She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
  • Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
4 conclusive TYjyw     
adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的
参考例句：
  • They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
  • Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。
5 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
6 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
7 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失，消散，失踪
参考例句：
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
8 gems 74ab5c34f71372016f1770a5a0bf4419     
growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长
参考例句：
  • a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
  • The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。
9 concealed 0v3zxG     
a.隐藏的，隐蔽的
参考例句：
  • The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
  • I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。
10 motives 6c25d038886898b20441190abe240957     
n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
  • His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。
11 holder wc4xq     
n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物
参考例句：
  • The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
  • That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。
12 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见
参考例句：
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
13 spoke XryyC     
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。
14 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
15 desultory BvZxp     
adj.散漫的，无方法的
参考例句：
  • Do not let the discussion fragment into a desultory conversation with no clear direction.不要让讨论变得支离破碎，成为没有明确方向的漫谈。
  • The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn.警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。

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