《福尔摩斯探案集·铜山毛榉案》第21节
“I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one corner of the building. “For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after breakfast and whispered something to her husband. “‘Oh, yes,’ said he, turning to me, ‘we are very much obliged to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should both be extremely obliged.’
注释摘要
维奥莱特·亨特说自己会尽量不遗漏任何重要的事，然后话锋一转，首先谈的不是这个家的主人，而是仆人。这个叙述顺序本身就值得注意：她本能地把"仆人的样貌和举止"列为踏入铜山毛榉之后第一个"令人不快"的发现。这在维多利亚时代一位受过教育的女家庭教师口中说出，是合乎身份的——家庭教师处于一种尴尬的社会夹层，她既不是主人，也不是仆役，因此对下人的品性反而格外敏感，因为…