He was lifting the latch: a sudden thought occurred to me.
他提起門栓時,一個念頭驀地閃過我腦際。
"Stop one minute!" I cried.
“再呆一分鐘!”我叫道。
"Well?"
“怎么?”
"It puzzles me to know why Mr. Briggs wrote to you about me;
“我不明白為什么布里格斯先生會為我的事寫信給你,
or how he knew you, or could fancy that you, living in such an out-of-the-way place, had the power to aid in my discovery."
或者他怎么知道你,或者設想你住在這么個偏僻的地方,會有能力幫助他找到我呢。”
"Oh! I am a clergyman," he said;
“呵,我是個牧師,”他說,
"and the clergy are often appealed to about odd matters."
“而奇奇怪怪的事往往求牧師解決。”
Again the latch rattled.
門栓又一次格格響了起來。
"No; that does not satisfy me!" I exclaimed:
“不,那不能使我滿意!”我嚷道,
and indeed there was something in the hasty and unexplanatory reply which, instead of allaying, piqued my curiosity more than ever.
其實他那么匆忙而不作解釋的回答,不但沒有消除我的好奇心,反而更刺激了它。
"It is a very strange piece of business," I added;
“這件事非常奇怪,”我補充說,
"I must know more about it."
“我得再了解一些。”
"Another time."
“改天再談吧。”,
"No; to-night! -- to-night!"
“不行,今天晚上!
and as he turned from the door, I placed myself between it and him.
當他轉身離開門時,我把自己擋在門和他之間。
He looked rather embarrassed.
他看起來很尷尬。
"You certainly shall not go till you have told me all," I said.
“你不統統告訴我就別想走?”我說。
"I would rather not just now."
“現在我還是不講為好。”
"You shall! -- you must!"
“你要講!
"I would rather Diana or Mary informed you."
“我情愿讓黛安娜和瑪麗告訴你。”
Of course these objections wrought my eagerness to a climax:
當然,他的反復拒絕把我的焦急之情推向了高潮:
gratified it must be, and that without delay; and I told him so.
我必須得到滿足,而且不容拖延。我把這告訴了他。
"But I apprised you that I was a hard man," said he, "difficult to persuade."
“不過我告訴過你,我是個鐵石心腸的男人,”他說,“很難說服。”
"And I am a hard woman, -- impossible to put off."
“而我是個鐵石心腸的女人—一無法拖延。”
"And then," he pursued, "I am cold: no fervour infects me."
“那么,”他繼續說,“我很冷漠,對任何熱情都無動于衷。”