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The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived.
老妇人回到了她居住的公寓楼 心里很高兴
Her shopping had tired her
去商店买东西把她搞得筋疲力尽
and her basket had grown heavier with every step of the way home.
在回家的路上 她每走一步 就感到手里的篮子又重了一点
In the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest;
她乘上电梯后 只想着午餐和好好休息一下
but when she got out at her own floor,
但她到自己的楼层走出电梯后
both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open.
就把这两件事忘了个干净 因为她突然发现她家的大门开着
She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning
她心想明天上午一定要好好训斥那个干家务的帮手
for such a monstrous piece of negligence,
她竟如此疏忽大意
when she remembered that she had gone shopping after the home help had left
但突然记起来了 帮手是在她出去买东西之前走的
and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks.
她还记得曾用了两把钥匙把大门锁上了
She walked slowly into the hall
她慢慢地走进前厅
and at once noticed that all the room doors were open,
立即发现所有的房门都敞开着
yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out.
而她记得在出门买东西前 她按老规矩是把房门一一锁上的
Looking into the drawing room,
她往起居室里看去
she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk.
写字台边一片狼籍
It was as clear as daylight then
事情很清楚
that burglars had forced an entry during her absence.
在她外出时 窃贼曾闯进家门
Her first impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves,
她第一个条件反射是各个房间搜寻一下窃贼
but then she decided that at her age
但转念一想 像她这个年纪
it might be more prudent to have someone with her,
最好找个人一起去
so she went to fetch the porter from his basement.
于是她到地下室去找看门的人
By this time her legs were beginning to tremble,
这时她两腿累得开始发抖
so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea,
于是坐了下来 喝了一杯浓茶
while he telephoned the police.
与此同时 看门的人给警察挂了电话
Then, her composure regained,
此刻老妇人也镇定了下来
she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to search for any intruders
准备在看门人的协助下搜寻
who might still be lurking in her flat.
可能仍躲藏在她房里的窃贼
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing,
他俩搜遍每一个房间 小心翼翼地不接触任何东西
as they did not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints.
因为他们怕妨碍警察寻找指纹
The chaos was inconceivable.
房间里的紊乱状况是无法想像的
She had lived in the flat for 30 years
老妇人在这套公寓里住了30年
and was a veritable magpie at hoarding;
她又是个名副其实的收藏家
and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out
看来她的每一件东西都被翻了出来
and turned over and over.
并且被里里外外看了遍
At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago
这样一来 她倒是容易
was now being made easier for her.
将那些几年前就该扔掉的东西找出来了
Then a police inspector arrived with a constable
过了一会儿 一位巡官带着一名警察来了
and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat.
她向他们讲述了发现公寓遭劫的经过
The inspector began to look for fingerprints,
巡官开始搜寻指纹
while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced,
警察经检查发现大门锁头并无撬过的迹象
thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys
由此可以证明 窍贼或者是用万能钥匙
or entered over the balcony.
或者是翻越阳台进来的
There was no trace of fingerprints,
巡官没有发现指纹
but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery
却发现了一个装有珠宝的 肮脏的红包袱
which the old lady said was not hers.
老妇人说那不是她的
So their entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day
很明显 闯进这套公寓的窃贼那天并不是首次作案
and they must have been disturbed.
而且他一定受了惊吓
The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check
巡官请老妇人在次日之前
what was missing by the next day
设法查清丢了些什么
and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights.
并劝她几夜之内不要独自一人在公寓过夜
The old lady thought he was a fussy creature,
老妇人觉得巡官大惊小怪
but since the porter agreed with him,
但既然看门人也同意他的意见
she rang up her daughter
她只得打电话向女儿求援
and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.
说她碰到了一点儿小麻烦
