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整个案件的真实情况在委托人海伦的叙述中拉开帷幕。此时，年轻却形容枯槁的她，讲到了继父整个家族既往的辉煌和如今的颓败，由此便引出继父早年的坎坷经历和后来的巨大变化。她和双胞胎姐姐茱莉娅二人在母亲死后的日子里相依为命，承受着继父这份变化，直到一件更可怕的事发生，它是什么呢？
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本章重点单词讲解
本章外教原文朗读
“My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.”
Holmes nodded his head. “The name is familiar to me,”said he.
“The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition , and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency.
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这个来访的女人名叫海伦·斯托纳，她说自己与继父住在一起，继父祖上十分殷实，是位于英国萨里郡西部边界斯托克莫兰的罗伊洛特家族，这个家族是最古老的撒克逊家族之一，福尔摩斯也点头表示有所耳闻。作为英国曾经最富有的家族之一，它的产业遍及各地，北起伯克郡，西至汉普郡。如果熟悉英国郡县划分，便清楚这个家族的资产几乎横跨英国南部到东部。然而遗憾的是，到了上个世纪，连续四代继承人生活挥霍无度，财富只出不进，最后败在家族中一个大赌棍的手里。在原文中的这段表述中，“败了”用ruin表达，原意指“毁坏；使破产”，强调毁灭的彻底性，以及“毁坏后的不可恢复性”，用在这里说的是这个鼎盛多年的大家族被挥霍一空的现实。
· estate
n.
财产；大片私有土地
· extend
v.
延伸，波及
· successive
adj.
连续的，依次的
· heir
n.
继承人；子嗣
· dissolute
adj.
放荡的；风流的
· disposition
n.
性情，癖性
· gambler
n.
赌徒
Nothing was left, save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage . The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper ; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta , where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice . In a fit of anger, however,
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虽然还剩几英亩土地和一座因繁重负债被抵押得差不多的老宅子，但相比之前庞大的原始累积资产，确实可以说得上是所剩无几。家族的最后一位继承人就这样过着落魄贵族的可悲生活，而海伦的继父正是这位继承人的独子，为了摆脱困苦的现实窘境，他向亲戚借了一笔钱来攻读医学学位。之后出国去了印度的加尔各答行医，凭借本事在当地累积了不少业务。此处“业务”对应的表达不是常用词business，也非career，而是practice，这个词最常见的意思是“练习，实践”，原文中的a large practice容易被读者错误理解为“大量的练习和实践”，进而产生疑惑：难道这位继父去印度练手去了？其实这个词组在文中正确的意思是“大量的业务”，practice尤其指医生或是律师这类行当的业务，所以这里的practice算是熟词僻义。
· crush
v.
压坏；压碎
· mortgage
n.
按揭，抵押贷款
· drag
v.
拽；拖沓
· aristocratic
adj.
贵族的
· pauper
n.
穷人
· obtain
v.
得到，获得
· Calcutta
n.
加尔各答
caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man.
“When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My
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正当海伦继父积累了一部分家产之时，家里却屡屡被盗，他在一怒之下把一个印度管家打死了，事发后差点被判处死刑。就这样，他度过了一段漫长的牢狱生活，后来回到故乡，但经此事后却变成了一个孤僻暴躁、落魄失意之人。作者用morose表示“孤僻暴躁，脾气坏的”，而不是angry，因为morose的含义更加丰富，它除了表达“易怒的，暴躁的”以外，还透露出一种郁郁不得志，以及对现实的无奈之感。回到原文的具体情境中体会，继父的生活在打死印度管家前刚有起色，很快就能脱离原始家庭环境了，可这样的一次重击将他的一切努力和坚持化为灰烬，他重新跌入谷底，甚至比之前更惨，连借钱求学的穷学生都不如，多年的牢狱生活把他之前对未来所抱有的积极信念彻底打碎，这里用morose描述他这时的心境和状态就显得异常精准了。但命运似乎没有绝情地对海伦继父关闭所有的门，他在印度行医时认识了海伦的母亲——一位少将的年轻遗孀。少将走后，她便得到了一笔数量非常可观的遗产，后来和继父成婚。
· perpetrate
v.
犯（罪），做（恶）
· imprisonment
n.
监禁，关押
sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother's remarriage. She had a considerable sum of money— not less than £ 1000 a year— and this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the
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海伦和她的双胞胎姐姐朱莉娅在她们母亲再婚那年才两岁。这里对遗产的修饰，使用considerable一词，意思是“相当的，可观的”。在故事一开始福尔摩斯对海伦的描述中，描写她情绪相当激动，同样是用的这个词。同一个词在同一个故事或文章不同的语境中出现，读者首次遇到它可能觉得陌生，再次遇到它时，联系上下文，大概率就可以确定它正确的释义了。回到情节中，当时海伦的母亲究竟多有钱？根据原文叙述可知，每年的收入不下1000英镑，用现今的汇率来看，1000英镑大约为1万元人民币，但文章背景是19世纪的英国，当时的1英镑大抵相当于现在3000元人民币，那么1000英镑就相当于300万人民币了，这么一算确实就相当可观了。当时海伦姐妹和母亲、继父四人虽生活在一起，但鉴于这笔庞大的遗产，母亲并非对继父全然托付、毫无保留，她留了个心眼儿。她在遗嘱中言明将遗产都留给继父的条件就是海伦姐妹成婚后，继父需要每年支付给姐妹俩一定数量的金额。
· bequeath
v.
遗赠
· reside
v.
居住
· provision
n.
规定，条款
· annual
adj.
一年一次的；年度的
event of our marriage.Shortly after our return to England my mother died — she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran.The money which my mother had left was enough for our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.
“But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time.
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这位母亲像能预知未来一样，等一家四口回到英国后不久，也就是8年前，她就在一次火车事故中罹难了。刚立完遗嘱就遇难，这份遗嘱兑现得太快了。自此，海伦的继父彻底打消了自力更生、继续行医、重新创业的念头，把海伦和茱莉娅姐妹两人带到祖先在斯托克莫兰留下的老宅子里一同生活。这段原文中，第三次出现了practice这个词，与前面的释义一致，表示“业务”。
虽然继父无心赚钱，带着两姐妹回了老家，但海伦的母亲留下的巨额遗产足够支撑三人的日常开销，日子想来并不难过。
可回到老家后的继父变化巨大，性格越发孤僻暴躁。
· ancestral
adj.
祖先的，祖传的
· obstacle
n.
障碍，阻碍
Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out, save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics . A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at
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而且继父极少出门社交，他既不交朋友也不和邻居互相拜访，而是把自己关在房间里，很少外出，即便出门也是频频与人发生激烈的争吵。原文中，有个词组exchange visits，字面意思可理解为“相互拜访，互相做客”，而这一段中的另一个词quarrel表示“争吵”，与常见的argument（争论；争吵）不同，这个词强调的是争端发生得异常频繁，而文中确实也是表达继父一旦出门就会与不同人发生激烈争吵。
海伦认为继父这种暴虐性情，其实是源于整个家族的遗传，再加上他曾经长时间在热带地区生活，加剧了坏脾气。
随着这种不光彩的争吵斗殴行为接连发生，久而久之，继父的暴脾气和大力气使他成为全村的恐怖人物。
· indulge
v.
沉溺；参与（尤指违法活动）
· mania
n.
狂热，热衷
· hereditary
adj.
（特点或疾病）遗传的
· intensify
v.
加剧，增强
· tropics
n.
热带地区
· brawl
n.
喧闹，斗殴，闹事
last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.
“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure . He had no friends at all, save the wandering gypsies , and he would
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村民们看到继父就立即远远躲开。原文这里出现两个词：一个词是immense，指“巨大的”，强调大到无法测量；另一个词是fly，常用于表达与“飞”有关的动作。这句话按字面意思直译就是：村里人见到继父都“飞”了，但村里人也不是鸟呀，为什么会“飞”呢？其实，fly也有“快速移动；疾行”的意思，和“飞”的意思有一些关联。在这里，作者就是取其“飞奔”的意思，描述村里人见到这样一个力大无穷、性格孤僻暴虐的壮汉，望而生畏、避之不及的样子。
就在上周，继父又把村里的铁匠扔到了河里，最后还是海伦想办法赔钱才平息了此事，避免了又一次的丑闻。“避免”用的是avert，与常见的近义词avoid不同，avert除了表示“防止，避免”，又有“转移（目光、注意力等）”的意思，用在此处更为合适。
虽然这位性格孤僻古怪的继父没有朋友，却收留了一群到处流浪的吉卜赛人。wondering在这里是“流浪的”的意思。
· hurl
v.
猛扔；猛摔
· blacksmith
n.
铁匠
· parapet
n.
栏杆，扶手
· exposure
n.
曝光；被报道
· gypsy
n.
吉卜赛人
give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent , and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon , which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master .
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继父允许这些流浪汉在象征着家族地位却早已荒芜的土地上安营扎寨，而他自己也常常去帐篷里，和这群人厮混在一起，甚至经常会和他们一起去流浪几周。
此外，继父还爱好饲养印度的动物，他从一位记者那里获得了一只印度豹和一只狒狒，它们终日游荡在属于他的土地上，给村里的人们带来了等同于它们主人般的恐惧和威慑。截止到这一段，细心的读者会发现有个单词在这个故事中重复出现了四次之多，它就是wander，光在这一段中就出现了三次。第一次出现时是以定语的形式，the wandering gypsies，这里wander加上了ing，变为形容词，修饰吉卜赛人，译为“流浪的”；第二次出现，主语是继父，作现在分词，译为“流浪”；第三次出现时，它的主语是两只动物，仍作动词，译为“漫步，游荡”。
· encamp
v.
扎营，露营
· represent
v.
代表，象征
· passion
n.
热情，热衷的爱好
· correspondent
n.
记者；通讯员
· cheetah
n.
猎豹
· baboon
n.
狒狒
· master
n.
主人
“You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten , even as mine has.”
“Your sister is dead, then?”
“She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I
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通过这些叙述，不难想象海伦和姐姐过往的生活有多么灰暗，在这种氛围下，家里甚至连个仆人都留不住，唯有姐妹二人顶替仆人，操持着家里的一切事务。海伦的姐姐茱莉娅去世时刚刚三十岁，那时她的头发已经开始变白，就和现在海伦的头发一样。文中用whiten表示“变白”，white指的是“白色”，后加en，就变为了动词，意为“（使其）变白”。通过以上实例可以看出，en这个字母的组合，可以把形容词或名词变为动词，表“使其……”。例如large表示“大的”，那么同理enlarge就是“扩大”的意思。
福尔摩斯听到这里，身为一名侦探的敏锐神经马上就被触动了，他抓住了事情的重点，没等海伦继续说下去，便就海伦姐姐去世一事表现出疑问，而这得到了海伦肯定的答复。原来姐姐茱莉娅死于两年前。海伦到访的原因，以及她所有的恐惧和困惑，正是围绕这件事而起。
have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines , to whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred which
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当时的姐妹二人，拥有那样一位继父，家中毫无温情与欢愉，村里的人们又对她们避之不及，她们几乎没有机会结交任何和她们年龄地位相仿的朋友。唯一一位未婚的姨妈，住在哈罗附近，继父也仅是偶尔才允许她们去那里小住。就在这样的机遇下，姐姐在两年前一次拜访姨妈的过程中结识了一位海军陆战队的少校，随后二人顺利订婚。继父得知此事后并未表示反对，所有事情看似都很顺利而美满。可就在离举行婚礼不到两周的时候，可怕的事发生了。原文中，fortnight表示“两周，半个月”，night是“夜晚”，fort在这个词里是“14”的意思，也就是fourteen，进而我们可以将fortnight这个单词理解为“14个夜晚”，也就是“两周，半个月”。
· maiden
adj.
（女子）未婚的
· marine
n.
水兵，海军陆战队士兵
· engagement
n.
婚约，订婚
· objection
n.
反对，异议
has deprived me of my only companion .”
Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids now and glanced across at his visitor.
“Pray be precise as to details,”said he.
“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory . . . ”
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这件事令海伦失去了那时她唯一的伙伴，也就是她的姐姐。companion，意为“伙伴”，它和company（公司）这个词很像，两者有共同的词根pan，其含义是“面包，食物”。前缀com-则表示“共同”，后缀-ion表示该词为名词词性，三者合一，就是“共同吃一个面包（的关系）”，即“伴侣，伙伴”。而company是众人以营利为共同利益组建的一个集体，即公司。companion和company的释义都可以通过com和pan这两个词缀和词根的含义引申而来。
原本福尔摩斯头枕软垫，闭着眼睛躺在椅子上，可听到这里后，他却将闭着的双眼半睁开，询问海伦关于这场事故更多的细节。而这些细节，包括在那段时间里发生的每一件事，恰恰是令海伦记忆深刻并且充满恐惧的。那么海伦口中的恐怖过往究竟都是什么呢？
· deprive
v.
剥夺；使丧失
· lid
n.
眼睑
· precise
adj.
精确的，准确的
· sear
v.
烙印
双语名作一词通 在语境中记单词
successive /səkˈsesɪv/ adj. 连续的
1 The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency.
这个家族一度曾是英国最富有的家族之一，其地产超出了本郡边界，北至伯克郡，西至汉普郡，非常宽广。然而，到了上个世纪，连续四代继承人全都是肆意挥霍、荒淫无度之人，最终在摄政时期（编注：1811—1820年），家族中的一个大赌棍把整个家族弄得倾家荡产。
——《福尔摩斯探案之斑点带子案》
2 He took out his shooting diary, in which he recorded the exact time he took each picture down to the minute, and discovered the difference between two successive numbers on the photographs corresponded to the difference in time between when they were taken.
他拿出了拍摄笔记，上面详细记录了每张照片的拍摄时间，精确到分。他发现两张照片上计时的差值与它们实际拍摄的时间间隔是一致的。
——《三体》
3 When the Resolving Imager had just been developed, scanning such a huge quantity of cross sections generated powerful radiation that was fatal to any life being scanned, but successive improvements had brought the radiation below the danger line, and a large number of tests had demonstrated that so long as filming was kept below a set length of time, the Resolving Imager would not cause any damage to the brain.
在解析摄像机刚研制出来的时候，巨量断面的同时扫描产生了强大的辐射，任何一个被拍摄的生命体都会产生致命的损害，但经过多次改进，拍摄时的辐射已经降低到安全线以下。大量试验表明，只要不超过规定的拍摄时间，解析摄像机不会对大脑产生任何损害。
——《三体之黑暗森林》
4 Brought up by the Dursleys, there were many things that wizards took for granted that were revelations to Harry, but these surprises had become fewer with each successive year.
他在德思礼家里长大，巫师们认为理所当然的许多事情，对他来说都是新奇的发现，但随着时间一年年过去，这种大惊小怪的情况越来越少了。
——《哈利·波特与火焰杯》
obtain /əbˈteɪn/ v. 获得
1 The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice.
家族的最后一位地主在那里过着一种十分落魄的生活。但是他的独生子，也就是我的继父，他意识到自己必须适应这种新情况，于是他向一位亲戚借了一笔钱，用这笔钱攻读了一个医学学位，然后出国到加尔各答行医，在那里他凭借精湛的医术和有魄力的性格，业务做得十分兴旺。
——《福尔摩斯探案之斑点带子案》
2 It was therefore a full week later — once they had surreptitiously obtained hairs from innocent Muggles who were Christmas shopping, and had practiced Apparating and Disapparating while underneath the Invisibility Cloak together — that Hermione agreed to make the journey.
因此，整整一个星期后——他们从圣诞节前购物的麻瓜身上偷到了头发，又一起在隐形衣下反复练习了幻影显形和移形——赫敏才同意启程。
——《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》
3 “We spent the resources intended for another space fleet,”said the military consul, “just to obtain a result like this?”
军事执政官说：“花费了一支太空舰队的资源，就得到这么个结果？”
——《三体》
annual /ˈænjuəl/ adj. 每年的
1 And this she bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage.
我们和罗伊洛特医生同住期间，她就立下了遗嘱，把所有财产都遗留给我继父，但是有一个条件，那就是我们姐妹结婚以后，每个人每年都可以得到一定的金额。
——《福尔摩斯探案之斑点带子案》
2 “I am not sure which it is — though I think we can rule out the snake — but I believe it to be hidden in a cave on the coast many miles from here, a cave I have been trying to locate for a very long time: the cave in which Tom Riddle once terrorized two children from his orphanage on their annual trip; you remember?”
“我也不能确定是哪一个——不过我认为可以排除那条蛇——但我相信它藏在遥远的海边的一个山洞里，一个我努力寻找了很久的山洞里。汤姆·里德尔在孤儿院每年一次的旅行中曾经恐吓过两个孤儿的那个山洞，你还记得吗？”
——《哈利·波特与混血王子》
3 Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
魔法部禁止滥用麻瓜物品办公室主任亚瑟·韦斯莱赢得了《预言家日报》年度大奖金加隆奖。
——《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班囚徒》
considerable /kənˈsɪdərəbl/ adj. 相当大（多；重要）的
1 She had a considerable sum of money — not less than £1000 a year.
她每年的收入不下一千英镑，这是一笔非常可观的财产。
——《福尔摩斯探案之斑点带子案》
2 “I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow,”Snape went on.
“我在检查花园时发现，一棵非常珍贵的打人柳似乎受到了很大的损毁。”斯内普继续说。
——《哈利·波特与密室》
3 The droplet had to spend a bit more time destroying the five mostly intact ships because they had already picked up speed and were headed in different directions. The final ship to be destroyed, Ark, had traveled a considerable distance from the cloud, so when the fireball of its explosion lit up space for a few seconds before going out, it was like a solitary lamp in the wind of the wilderness.
水滴消灭剩下的五艘较为完好的战舰费了些时间，因为它们都已经具有了较高的速度，且逃离的方向不同。水滴追上并摧毁最后一艘战舰“方舟”号时，距云团已经相当远了，“方舟”号爆炸的火球在太空深处孤独地亮了几秒钟后就熄灭了，像一盏消失在旷野风中的孤灯。
——《三体之黑暗森林》
4 He slid a considerable way down what felt like a stone slide, then landed on cold, damp earth.
他似乎在石滑梯上滑了长长的一段，然后掉到了寒冷潮湿的泥土地上。
——《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班囚徒》