"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable1 as ever, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture2 which seemed to us to be probable in your rooms at Baker3 Street. Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their conversation I have gathered that they have been married about seven years, that he was a widower4, and that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her father's young wife.
"Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colorless in mind as well as in feature. She impressed me neither favorably nor the reverse. She was a nonentity5. It was easy to see that she was passionately6 devoted7 both to her husband and to her little son. Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every little want and forestalling8 it if possible. He was kind to her also in his bluff9, boisterous10 fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition11 of her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so utterly12 spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage13 fits of passion and gloomy intervals14 of sulking. Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable15 talent in planning the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has little to do with my story."
1 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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2 conjecture | |
n./v.推测,猜测 | |
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3 baker | |
n.面包师 | |
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4 widower | |
n.鳏夫 | |
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5 nonentity | |
n.无足轻重的人 | |
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6 passionately | |
ad.热烈地,激烈地 | |
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7 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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8 forestalling | |
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 ) | |
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9 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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10 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
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11 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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12 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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13 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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14 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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15 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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