伊恩先生对西尔维亚女士的到来表示微笑。

Sir Ian smiled as Lady Sylvia arrived.

“西尔维亚，我很高兴你这么做了！

“Sylvia, I’m so glad you could make it!

你完全知道我绝不会错失一个帮助我最喜爱的慈善事业的机会！”

You know perfectly well I’d never miss an opportunity to help my favourite charity!”

听到西尔维亚女士的声音，伊恩先生微笑着，她的宏亮的声调唤起了他对加勒比岛屿的联想。

Sir Ian smiled when he heard Lady Sylvia’s voice whose rich tones reminded him of the Caribbean islands.

“你会很高兴地知道，我们已经将在圣诞节上募集的钱花在了我们儿童医院的新设备上！”

“You’ll be happy to know that we have spent the money that was raised at Christmas on new equipment for our Children’s Hospital!”

“非常棒，伊恩！

“Excellent, Ian!

但我肯定你已经准备为其它东西寻找更多的资金！” 西尔维亚女士说道并挑选了一个开胃菜。

But I’m sure that you’re already planning to find more funds for something else!” said Lady Sylvia picking up an appetiser.

她四十多岁了，虽然没有人知道她的准确的年龄，但是她仍然是一个有魅力的女人。尽管不是很漂亮，没有在现代意义上较好的体态，但是她设法将整个房间充满她的友好的微笑和慈爱。

She was in her late forties – nobody knew her exact age - but was still an attractive woman, not so much beautiful in the modern sense of perfect plastic features, but she managed to fill a room with her friendly smile and humanity.

伊恩先生略有些脸红。

Sir Ian blushed slightly.

“那么，我们是有一个迫切的问题。

“Well, we do have an urgent problem.

似乎在巴克斯特区有结构性问题，你知道，我们非常认真地对待孩子得病，但……”

It seems that there are structural problems in the Baxter Ward – you know, where we treat very seriously ill children, but…”

“你资金不足！”西尔维亚女士打断道。

“You lack funds!” broke in Lady Sylvia.

“我去看看我能做什么！”

“I’ll see what I can do!”

西尔维亚女士被认为是一个非常人道的和慷慨的人。

Lady Sylvia was known as a very humane and generous person.

她的丈夫雷金勋爵因肺炎离开了她，但是她慎重地让自己的日子总有一些有趣的或者值得的事情去做。

Her husband, Lord Reginald, had been lost to her to pneumonia but she deliberately filled her days always having something interesting or worthwhile to do.

她每周访问伦敦，她从来没有错过一部很好的片子或音乐的首映礼，而且她还爱着她乡下的房子还有她的马，松鼠和兔子。

Her visits to London were weekly – she never missed a première of a good play or musical, but also loved her country estate with its horses, squirrels and rabbits.

所有在场的人都是LHCN的成员。让我们帮助儿童的慈善机构在儿童医院举行他们的会议。

All present were members of the LHCN Let’s Help Children Now charity which held their meetings at the Children’s Hospital.

多数成员互相认识，西尔维亚女士很高兴在那里以了解该医院的最新计划。

Most members knew one another and Lady Sylvia was happy to be there to find out about the latest plans for the hospital.

鸡尾酒会每隔几个月左右就会被安排在那举行一次，当新成员首次到来，伊恩先生总是非常高兴。但是现在他想和一位老朋友说话。

A cocktail party was arranged there every few months or so and Sir Ian was always very happy when new members came along for the first time but now he wanted to speak to an old friend.

“呃…… 西尔维亚！

“Er... Sylvia!

你愿意来我的办公室一会儿吗，我有一些东西给你看！伊恩先生问道。

Would you like to pop into my office for a moment – I’ve got something to show you!” asked Sir Ian.

“好，我们走吧！” 西尔维亚女士回答道。她想知道到底是什么让伊恩先生这么神神秘秘的。

“Fine, let’s go!” replied Lady Sylvia wondering what on earth Sir Ian was being so mysterious about.

伊恩先生打开他办公室的门并且邀请西尔维亚女士坐下。

Sir Ian opened the door of his office and invited Lady Sylvia to sit down.

“你知道我们有相当数量的匿名捐赠者，但是有一个人……尤其特别。

“You know we have quite a number of anonymous benefactors, but there is one who is… well, rather special.

我可以向您展示她的最新捐赠记录吗？”

May I show you the record of her latest contribution?”

西尔维亚女士凝视着总数，似乎有点不知所措。“哦，是的。三万英镑——黛玛阿根托。她是意大利人？”

Lady Sylvia gazed at the sum seemingly bewildered, “Oh, yes. Thirty thousand pounds – Thelma Argento. Is she Italian?”

伊恩先生会意地笑了笑，“哦，是的，有可能，就是说，没有人知道她是谁或者曾经见过她。

Sir Ian smiled knowingly, “Oh yes, it’s possible – that is, no-one knows who she is or has ever met her.

她也不在电话簿上，我们所知道的是，她的支票总是值得尊敬！”

She’s not in the telephone directory either – all we know is that her cheques are always honoured!”

“嗯，如果她向您发送另一张支票，让我们希望它将再次被尊敬！” 西尔维亚女士大声说道。

“Well, if she sends you another cheque let’s hope it’ll be honoured too!” exclaimed Lady Sylvia.

“我确信它会是的！只是我不能给予她足够的感谢。

“I’m sure it will be! It’s just that I can’t thank her enough.

你认为我曾经见过她吗，西尔维亚，或者我已经见过她了！”

Do you think I will ever meet her, Sylvia – or perhaps I have already!”

“那么，也许你已经见过了。这种事很难说，是吗？”

“Well, maybe you have. You never can tell, can you?”

“顺便说一下，西尔维亚，‘阿根托’ 是意大利语中银的意思，我相信。”

“By the way Sylvia, ‘Argento’ is Italian for silver, I believe.”

“哦，真的！伊恩，我们是不是该回到聚会去了?” 西尔维亚女士说着从她的凳子上起来。

“Oh, really! Shall we get back to the party, Ian?” said Lady Sylvia getting up from her chair.

那天晚上西尔维亚女士准备睡觉前她陷入了沉思，“因此，伊恩似乎已猜到我是黛玛阿根托，但他当然不知道我是组织者！”

As Lady Sylvia got ready for bed that night she mused, “So Sir Ian seems to have guessed that I am Thelma Argento - but he certainly doesn’t know that I am The Arranger!”

西尔维亚女士打电话给她的管家。

Lady Sylvia rang for her butler.

“亚历克斯，”她调低了她播放着的三十年代爵士乐的CD并说道，“我有一些工作给你。”

“Alex,” she said, turning down her CD of jazz of the thirties. “I have a little job for you.”

虽然亚历克斯是西尔维亚女士的正式管家，但是这仅仅是她出现在这个府邸的一个理由。在这个府邸的东座二楼他有着自己的公寓，包括一个开发他独特发明的实验室和一个巨大的放置他多种伪装物的衣柜。

Alex was officially Lady Sylvia’s butler but this was only an excuse for his presence in the mansion where he had his own apartments on the second floor in the east wing, including a laboratory for developing his unique inventions and a huge wardrobe of clothes for his manifold disguises.

亚历克斯曾经作为一个化妆师为一家电影公司工作，但是后来成为一个特效和假肢设计师，有为科幻电影和电视节目提供的一系列仿真怪物的能力。

Alex used to work for a film company as a make-up artist but went on to become a special effects and prosthetics designer capable of supplying a whole range of realistic monsters for science fiction films and television programmes.

随着时间的推移，他提高了自己特殊的技术，将艺术的掩饰手段提高到了一个新的完美的境界。

In time he had developed his own special techniques which took the art of disguise onto a new level of perfection.

为西尔维亚女士工作，他有时担任她在宾客前的管家，他不介意这么做，因为这给了他需要的完美的外观。

Working for Lady Sylvia, he sometimes acted as her butler in front of visitors, which he didn’t mind doing at all as this gave him the perfect façade he needed.

西尔维亚女士等到女佣离开房间，然后继续说道，“皮埃尔·阿曼桑刚刚打电话给我。

Lady Sylvia waited until the maid had left the room and then continued, “Pierre Amsang has just telephoned me.

鲁克蕾齐亚波吉亚匣子已经浮出水面！”

The Lucrezia Borgia casket has resurfaced!”

“我们的鲁克蕾齐亚波吉亚匣子？

“Our Lucrezia Borgia casket?

“是的，就是那个。

“Yes, the very one.

也就是说，有着她著名肖像的那个！

That is, the one in her famous portrait!

它将于下周二十点钟的被拍卖，它是清单上的第一个物品！”

It’s up for auction next Tuesday at ten o’clock, it’s the first item on the list!”

“拍卖……但是它是在哪里出现的？”亚历克斯惊讶地回答。

“Up for auction… but where has it resurfaced from?” replied the astonished Alex.”

“从一个合法的古董商那里，一个叫阿尔弗雷德·库珀布朗的人死于一个多星期前的车祸！”

“From a legitimate antique dealer, a certain Alfred Cooper-Browne who died in a road accident a week or so ago!”

“从来没有听说过他！但是他是怎么得到那个匣子的？”阿历克斯问道。

“Never heard of him! But how is it he had the casket?” asked Alex.

“显然他是法哈姆·伊沙梅尔的一个朋友” 西尔维亚女士回答道。

“Apparently he was a friend of Fahmu Ishmail’s!” replied Lady Sylvia.

“啊，从我们这里偷走盒子的那位先生！”亚历克斯大声说道。

“Ah, that gentleman who stole the casket from us!” exclaimed Alex.

“是的，看来当皮埃尔·阿曼桑和法哈姆·伊沙梅尔，更不要说我们，在两个月前当匣子被送莫斯科博物馆展览的时候抢走了它并用一个你在你实验室花了两个月时间做出来的完美的仿制品取而代之，而就是我们的朋友法哈姆，承包了一个团伙从我们这里把仿制品偷走。”

“Yes. It seems that when Pierre Amsang and Fahmu Ishmail, not to mention us, snatched the casket two months’ ago, while it was being transported to the Moscow museum for an exhibition and substituted it with a perfect copy you took months to make in your laboratory, our friend Fahmu contracted a gang to steal it from us.”

“然后，事实是他是这一切的主谋！”亚历克斯指出。

“Then it is true that he was at the bottom of everything!” Alex pointed out.

“是的，就像我们想的那样！正如你知道的，伊沙梅尔是一个没有古董商店的古董商，我猜想恐怕，他将它保存的房子里，即便是为安全着想，我们应该去他家访问一下……”

“Yes, as we thought! As you know, Ishmail is an antique dealer with no antique shop and I imagine that fearing that if he kept it at his house, even in a safe, we would pay a little visit to his home…”

亚历克斯点头道，“事实上，我们确实潜入了他的家，甚至打开了他的保险箱，但是匣子不在那里。

Alex nodded, “In fact we did burgle his home and even opened up his guaranteed burglar-proof safe but the casket wasn’t there.

我们觉得，他可能已经把它放在银行的一个保险箱里或者其他的什么地方！”

We thought that he might have put it in a security box in the bank or something!”

“哦，”西尔维亚女士说道，“我猜想他可能已经做好了双保险。

“Well,” Lady Sylvia commented, “I imagine he may have thought twice about that.

如果银行被闯入，匪徒可能打开他的保险并且发现那个匣子，然后警察随后而到！

If the bank had been broken into, the robbers might have opened his security box and discovered the casket – or the police afterwards!

藏东西的最安全的地方是有着相似的东西的地方，也就是古董店！”

The safest place to hide something is where there are similar things – in an antique shop!”

“狡猾的某某某！”亚历克斯说。

“The crafty so-and-so!” remarked Alex.

“并非如此狡猾，因为命运伸出一只手正在破坏他的计划。

“Not so crafty, as destiny took a hand in ruining his plans.

伊沙梅尔的朋友突然死了，显然我们的前合伙人没有书面证明那个匣子是他的，所以一切都将被出售拍卖，当然，匣子作为一个仿制品被列入了目录里！” 西尔维亚女士解释道。

Ishmail’s friend died suddenly and apparently our ex-partner has no documentary evidence that the casket was his, so everything is going to be sold at auction – of course, the casket is being advertised in the catalogue as a copy!” explained Lady Sylvia.

“因此，我们去和其它人一样竞拍它？”

“So we go and bid for it like everybody else?”

“那么，皮埃尔·阿曼桑将会去拍卖会并且和我们表现的一样。

“Well, Pierre Amsang will go to the auction and act for us as well.

我们知道它是真品，然而其它人认为它仅仅是一个仿制品，应该是没有任何问题，但是……”西尔维亚女士犹豫了。

As we know it’s the real McCoy, whilst the others think it’s just a copy, it shouldn’t be any problem at all but...” Lady Sylvia hesitated.

“但是问题是伊沙梅尔，不是么？”亚历克斯说。

“But the problem is Ishmail, isn’t it?” said Alex.

“是的。我们必须找到方法阻止他及时到达拍卖会，因此皮埃尔·阿曼桑能够在没有竞购对手知道它的真实价值的情况下，竞标得到那个匣子。

“Yes. We have to find a way of stopping him from arriving at the auction in time so that Pierre Amsang can bid for the casket without having a rival bidder who also knows how much it’s really worth.

亚历克斯，这次我们似乎有机会从伊沙梅尔那里将我们自己的拿回来。”

Alex, this time it seems we have the opportunity of getting our own back on Ishmail.”

现在是亚历克斯做自己的工作的时候。

Now it was time for Alex to do his homework.

他开车到伊沙梅尔先生城镇外的住所并仔细勘察了地理情况。

He drove to Mr. Ishmail’s out-of-town residence and studied the ‘geography’ carefully.

他知道，他们以前的朋友独居在装修精美的都铎式房子，前面有一个小花园和一个他用来放1935年大奔驰的车库。

He knew that their former friend lived alone in a beautifully refurbished Tudor-style house with a small garden in front and a garage where he kept his 1935 Grand Mercedes.

亚历克斯还发现伊沙梅尔每周一、三和五有一个清洁女工，这意味着星期二，拍卖会那天，伊沙梅尔将独自在家。

Alex also discovered that Ishmail had a cleaning lady every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which meant that on Tuesday, the day of the auction, Ishmail would be alone in his house.

第二个星期二的早晨亚历克斯从繁忙的城镇中心的停车场“借”了一辆货车。

The next Tuesday morning Alex “borrowed” a van from a car park in a busy town centre.

然后他将它开到了伊沙梅尔先生居住的村庄并且将这辆货车停在了离他的车库门口几码远的地方。

He then drove to the village where Mr. Ishmail lived and parked the van a few yards away from the entrance of his garage.

亚历克斯改变了他自己的外形，变成了一个非常年轻的人的样子，黑色的头发在后面扎着马尾辫，穿着最新潮的牛仔并带着昂贵的太阳眼镜。

Alex had transformed his appearance into a much younger man with black hair pulled back in a ponytail who was wearing the very latest jeans and expensive sunglasses.

当他看到车库门滑动的时候，他开始自我准备起来。

As he saw the garage door sliding up he prepared himself.

正当伊沙梅尔驾驶着他的梅塞德斯从车库出来的时候，亚历克斯将货车向前移动以阻挡住房子的入口处。

Just as Mr. Ishmail came out of his garage in his Mercedes, Alex moved forward blocking the entrance to the house with the van.

“你能挪动下那辆货车吗，我不能出来了？”非常富有的伊沙梅尔先生大喊道，他从他的老式奔驰车走了出来，习惯性地指挥着周围的人并非常焦急地看着他的手表。

“Can you move that van – I can’t get out?” bawled the very rich Mr. Ishmail, getting out of his vintage Mercedes, who was used to ordering people around and looked very anxiously at his watch.

亚历克斯从货车里出来。

Alex got out of the van.

“你是在和我讲话吗？”他用非常时髦的腔调回答道。

“Are you talking to me?” he replied in a very posh accent.

“是的，是我。马上挪动一下你的货车，我有一个非常重要的会议要参加！” 伊沙梅尔先生不住地看着他的手表。

“Yes I am. Move your van at once - I’ve got a very important meeting to go to!” Mr. Ishmail kept looking at his watch.

“一个很重要的会议?”亚历克斯继续抬了抬他的眉毛，具有讽刺意味的微笑着对伊沙梅尔说。

“A ve-ry im-portant meet-ing?” continued Alex raising his eyebrows and smiling at Mr. Ishmail ironically.

“如果你礼貌地要求我，非常礼貌的，我可能会！”

“If you ask me politely – very politely – I might!”

“我没有时间做这个，我要叫警察……”被激怒的伊沙梅尔从他的口袋中拿出手机并开始拨打电话，但是亚历克斯俯身越过大门并抢走了他的电话.

“I haven’t got time for this – I’m calling the police…” The exasperated Mr. Ishmail pulled his mobile out of his pocket and started dialling a number but Alex leaned over the gate and snatched his mobile away from him.

“嘿，太有意思了，那个是我刚买的镀金的版本！

“Hey, that’s very interesting - a gold-plated version of the very one I’ve just bought!

非常好，虽然很昂贵！”

Very nice – expensive though!”

“你竟敢这样，将我的手机立马还给我！” 伊沙梅尔大喊道，现在他在两件事情之间挣扎，他的手机和去拍卖会。

“How dare you – give me my mobile back immediately!” shouted Mr.Ishmail, now torn between wanting two things at the same time, his mobile and going to the auction. 

“你的表演有点过头，不是么你？”亚历克斯走回了几步并突然把手机扔向了天空中说道“好哇！”然后抓住它就像一个魔术师。

“You’re a bit of a show-off – aren’t you?” Alex took a couple of steps back and suddenly threw the mobile up in the air saying “Hooray!” and then caught it like a juggler.

“我要把你逮捕，” 伊沙梅尔先生反击说，脸被气得通红。

“I’ll have you arrested,” retorted Mr. Ishmail who was getting very red in the face by now.

“你再说下去啊！那将是个非常有意思的经历，你曾经被逮捕过么？”

“Go on then! That’ll be an interesting experience. Have you ever been arrested?”

伊沙梅尔先生开始显得非常紧张，“你疯了吗？

Mr. Ishmail began to look very tense, “Are you mad?

你想要什么，你要钱吗？”

What is it you want – do you want money?”

亚历克斯开始假声唱歌，“钱，钱，钱……”并且在门前的人行道上跳起舞来。

Alex began singing in falsetto, “Money, money, money….” and danced around on the pavement in front of the gate.

伊沙梅尔先生开始害怕这个在他面前的男人是个疯子，他非常紧张地用高音调说，“看，我现在真的得走了，如果你立马挪动你的货车的话我会给你我的手表，”他边说边脱下他昂贵的手表并且把它拿给亚历克斯。

Mr. Ishmail began to fear the man in front of him was a madman and spoke in a very nervous high pitched voice, “Look, I’ve really got to go now, I’ll give you my watch if you move your van immediately,” he said taking off his expensive watch and offering it to Alex.

“对我来说太闪光了。所有你需要说的是对不起！”

“Too flash for me. All you need to say is sorry!”

十分钟已经过去了，时间对于伊沙梅尔先生来说越来越短了。

Ten minutes had already passed and time was getting short for Mr. Ishmail.

但是他的倔强的性格继续难以得到他的路。

But his difficult character continued to get in his way.

“我不会对你或对任何其它人说对不起！”他愤怒地说并用遥控装置打开了院子的门，似乎他最终决定了对这样的行为做些什么。

“I’m not saying sorry to you or anybody else!” he said aggressively and opened the garden gate with his remote control as though he had finally decided to do something about it.

亚历克斯像一个学校老师一样对他摇晃手指说，“噢，你这个顽皮的小孩！

Alex shook his finger at him like a schoolteacher, “Oh, you naughty boy!

当你不能得到你的路的时候你会生气。

You get angry when you can’t get your own way.

好的，你赢了，这是你的手机！”

Ok, you win, here’s your mobile!”

伊沙梅尔先生对他的这种心意的突然改变感到惊讶。

Mr. Ishmail was astonished at this sudden change of heart.

亚历克斯将它还给了伸出手来接电话的法哈姆，但是在最后一分钟，亚历克斯将电话扔过了门口，仍进了房子前面被长草环绕的玫瑰花床上。

Alex went to give it back to Fahmu who held his hand out to receive it but at the last minute Alex threw it over the gate into a bed of roses surrounded by long grass in the garden in front of the house.

“我敢肯定，修剪一点草坪不会有出差错！”亚历克斯开玩笑的说。

“I’m sure a bit of lawn-mowing wouldn’t go amiss!” Alex joked.

“无论如何，我迟到了，我不能再让你将我困在这里了。再见。”

“Anyway I’m late, I can’t let you keep me any longer. Bye bye.”

亚历克斯突然转生，进入了货车里，当伊沙梅尔先生一直在荆棘间疯狂寻找他的镀金电话的时候开走了。

Alex suddenly turned round, got into the van and drove away while Mr. Ishmail was looking frantically for his gold-plated mobile amongst the thorns.

当亚历克斯离开了视线的时候，他将车停在一个转弯处，走回伊沙梅尔先生必经的主要的道路，因为这是上高速公路最快的线路。

When Alex was out of sight, he parked the van in a side turning and walked back to the main road down which Mr. Ishmail was bound to drive along, as it was the quickest route to the motorway.

那里有标志说明‘前方道路施工，不许车通过。’亚历克斯确定了没有一个人在周围，将标志拿起并将它们藏在一棵树的后面。

There were signs up saying ‘Road Works Ahead - No cars allowed.’ Alex made sure no one was around, picked the signs up and hid them behind a tree.

几分钟后，法哈姆终于自由地独自驾驶着他那辆大奔驰去拍卖会。

A couple of minutes later Fahmu was driving his Grand Mercedes along, free at last to go to the auction.

他甚至开始吹起他最喜欢的口哨的调子，他突然意识到马路对面有一个障碍并且有一名警察在招手示意他停下。

He even began whistling his favourite tune to himself when he suddenly realised that there was a barrier up across the road and a policeman waving at him to stop.

“先生，你不认识这个吗，还是你只是故意无视路口处道路施工的标志？”这个警官尖刻地问他。

“Can’t you read, sir – or are you just deliberately ignoring the road works signs at the beginning of the road?” the constable asked him acidly.

“你说的是什么道路施工的标志？” 伊沙梅尔先生自我辩护地回答。

“What road works signs are you talking about?” replied Mr. Ishmail very defensively.

“那里什么都没有！”

“There were none!”

“哦，真的吗，那么如果你将你的车驶回去大约二十码，我们俩都去看看是否你是对的！”

“Oh really, then if you will reverse your car back twenty yards or so we’ll both have a look to see if you’re right!”

亚历克斯，在此期间，已经将消失的标志放回了。

Alex, in the mean time, had replaced the missing signs.

当警察和法哈姆来到了道路口，古董商开始抗议在几分钟之前那个标志不在那里。

When the policeman and Fahmu arrived at the beginning of the road the antiquarian began to protest that the signs weren’t there a few minutes ago.

“好吧，如果你说你看不到那里有路牌，我严重质疑你的视力和驾驶能力。

“Well, if you say you can’t see that there are road works signs there, I seriously question your eyesight and ability to drive.

先生，我能看一下你的驾驶证吗?”

Sir, can I have your driving license, please?”

与此同时，亚历克斯已经将货车还回去了。

In the meantime Alex had returned to the van.

他把货车驾驶回停车场车主人原先停着的地方，并仔细擦拭他有可能触碰到的货车上的任何地方，另外，他也一直带着手套。

He then drove back to the car park where its owner had originally left it, carefully wiping any part of the van he might have touched, for good measure, even though he had worn gloves all the time.

最后，亚历克斯从他的口袋里拿出了一个精心准备的装有一百磅的信封并留在汽车仪表板的小柜上以作为对这位未知名的车辆拥有者，租赁其货车的报答。

Finally Alex pulled out a carefully prepared envelope from his pocket with a hundred pounds in it and left it in the glove compartment to repay the unknown owner for the “rental” of his vehicle.

当伊沙梅尔先生最终到达他的目的地的时候，他大汗淋淋，已经九点五十五了！

When Mr. Ishmail finally got to his destination he was perspiring freely as it was already five minutes to ten!

拍卖行是一个高大的爱德华建筑，有着排窗，让它看起来相当地令人难以接近。

The auction house was a tall Edwardian building with rows of windows making it look rather forbidding.

一个优雅的年轻女子身穿深蓝色西装在门口等他。

An elegant young lady wearing a dark navy-blue suit was waiting for him at the door.

我能为您效劳吗先生？”她问他。当他告诉她他正在寻找库珀布朗珠宝藏品的时候，她说她将陪他去那里。

Can I help you sir?” she asked him, and when he told her he was looking for the Cooper-Browne jewellery collection she said she would accompany him there herself.

伊沙梅尔先生只想着自己，他毫不怀疑她是被拍卖会组织者安排好的。

Mr. Ishmail was so full of his own importance that he didn’t doubt she had been laid on especially by the auction organisers.

当他们转身要向左走时，法哈姆指着墙上的指示板说库珀布朗珠宝藏品是在二楼。

As they turned to go leftwards, Fahmu pointed to the display board on the wall which said that the Cooper-Browne collection was on the second floor.

那位年轻的女士回答道，“那是库珀布朗图书藏品，你不是说你对珠宝感兴趣的么？”

The young lady replied, “That’s the Cooper-Browne collection of books – didn’t you say you were interested in the jewellery?”

伊沙梅尔先生焦急地看着他的手表，他勉强礼貌地说“是，是，尽快将我带到那里，拍卖会上有些东西是我追求多年的了。

Looking anxiously at his watch, Mr. Ishmail was barely polite when he said, “Yes, yes – take me there as quickly as possible – there’s something on auction which I’ve been after for years.

这种类型的只有一个，我不能错过购买它。

It’s the only one of its type and I can’t afford to miss buying it!

我已经晚了！” 艾普丽尔，那位年轻女士将这位焦急的顾客带到一个长的走廊，延伸至另一个更长的似乎看不到尽头的走廊。

I’m already late!” April, the young lady, walked the anxious client along a corridor which lead to an even longer corridor which never seemed to end.

古董商开始变得越来越愤怒。

The antiquarian was getting more and more bad-tempered every minute.

“你究竟带我去哪?

“Where on earth are you taking me?

你似乎并不理解！

You don’t seem to understand!

我没有时间浪费，我必须立马达到拍卖会！”

I haven’t got time to waste – I must get to the auction immediately!”

“是的，先生，我正在把您带到那里！”他们穿过了更多的走廊直至伊沙梅尔先生再也不能忍受了，“你现在带我通过的这是什么地狱般的迷宫？

“Yes sir. I’m taking you there!” They rushed along even more corridors until Mr. Ishmail could bear it no longer, “What’s this infernal labyrinth you’re taking me through now?

你使我丧失了一个特别的机会！”

You’re making me loose a unique opportunity!”

“不，先生。别担心！我们将在瞬间到达那里。

“No sir. Don’t worry! We’ll be there in a jiffy.

现在，下这些楼梯，然后我们将坐电梯！”然而，这些楼梯后是另一个在左边的长的走廊。

Now down these steps and we’ll get to the lift!” However the steps let to yet another long corridor on the left.

当他们到达尽头，他们发现有一个障碍上面写着“禁止入内！”

When they reached the end of it, they discovered there was a barrier with a note stuck onto it saying ‘No Entrance!’

“噢，真糟糕，我们不得不回到那些楼梯然后右转……！” 艾普丽尔开始解释说。

“Oh, what a nuisance, we’ll have to go back to the stairs and turn right…!” April started to explain.

伊沙梅尔先生气愤地用自己的母语对自己自言自语，气喘吁吁地抱怨着艾普丽尔。

Mr. Ishmail muttered angrily to himself in his mother tongue, too breathless to complain to April.

“先生，只要耐心等待片刻，我们将要到了，看，我们已经接近电梯了，啊，那里就是！” 艾普丽尔得意洋洋地说。

“Just be patient for a moment sir – we’re arriving – look - we’ve nearly reached the lift - ah, there it is!” April said triumphantly.

当电梯门打开，伊沙梅尔先生走进电梯，一脸惊愕的表情并叫到，“你认为这是什么样的电梯？

As the lift door opened, Mr. Ishmail was just going to get inside when he exclaimed with a horrified expression on his face, “What sort of a lift do you think this is?

它充满了字符串和厚纸板！”

It’s full of bits of string and cardboard!”

“是的，我知道，它是一个服务电梯，因为另外的由于地下室被水淹了所以不工作。

“Yes I know, it’s a service lift because the other lift isn’t working due to flooding in the basement!”

“水灾？哦，不！” 伊沙梅尔先生失控似的推开艾普丽尔的手，“让我按下按钮，否则我们将永远不可能到达那里！”

“Flooding? Oh no!” said Mr. Ishmail pushing April’s hand out of the way, “let me press the button otherwise we’ll never get there!”

对伊沙梅尔先生来说不幸的是，他按下的按钮是单层运行，他们最终停在了仓库！

Unfortunately for Mr. Ishmail the button he had pressed was for one floor down and they ended up in the warehouse!

“瞧，小姐……不用管我了，我将用自己的方式到达！” 伊沙梅尔先生绝望地看着周围。

“Look here, Miss… just leave me alone and I’ll get there on my own!” replied Mr. Ishmail looking around in desperation.

艾普丽尔从电梯中走出来，她认为照他说的做将是一个好机会，然后她彻底消失了。她躲在一大堆纸箱的后面。

April got out of the lift and thought it a good opportunity to do as he said and disappear completely, so she hid behind a huge pile of cartons.

当电梯门再次关闭，她走出了大楼并打电话给阿曼桑先生的秘书，同时也是皮尔·阿曼桑的女儿。

As soon as the lift door closed again, she made her way out of the building and telephoned Monsieur Amsang’s secretary, who was also Pierre Amsang’s daughter.

“拍卖会进行的怎么样了，索菲？” 艾普丽尔问道。

“How’s the auction going, Sophie?” April asked.

索菲激动地回答道，“一切都结束了，艾普丽尔！

Sophie replied excitedly, “It’s all over, April!

当拍卖师敲下最后一槌的的时候，那位险恶的先生最后出现了！他看起来很可怜！”

Mr. Nasty turned up just as the auctioneer slammed down his gavel for the last time! He looked really pitiful!”

“你们设法买那个匣子吗？”

“And did you manage to buy the casket?”

“是的，我们做到了！其它竞标人似乎并不知道它值一大笔钱，它只拍出了三千八百英镑！”

”Yes, we did! None of the other bidders seemed to know that it’s worth a fortune and it went for only three thousand eight hundred pounds!”

艾普丽尔接着打电话给西尔维亚女士去告诉她这个好消息。

April then phoned Lady Sylvia to tell her the good news.

这天晚上是法哈姆·伊沙梅尔最糟糕的一个夜晚，他意识到他是多么的聪明设计了这一切。而同时，西尔维亚女士，阿历克斯，艾普丽尔，皮尔·阿曼桑和索菲都聚在了一家切尔西的独特的法国餐厅吃晚餐，他们用几瓶最好的香槟酒庆祝他们的胜利直到凌晨。

That evening Ishmail Fahmu had one of his worst evenings ever realising how cleverly he had been set up whilst Lady Sylvia, Alex, April, Pierre Amsang and Sophie all dined together in an exclusive French restaurant in Chelsea and celebrated their triumph with several bottles of the best champagne until the early hours.

阿历克斯早上不得不起床去阻止他们前搭档参加拍卖会的滑稽举动惹得其它人大笑。

Alex made the others laugh at the antics he had had to get up to to prevent their former partner from attending the auction.

然而，西尔维亚女士注意到皮尔·阿曼桑在不停地捋着胡子沉思。

However, Lady Sylvia noticed that Pierre Amsang was deep in thought as he pulled on his moustache repetitively.

每当他这样做的时候，她知道他有他的想法。

Whenever he did this, she knew he had something up his sleeve.

她想知道可能是什么……他将要提出一个新的冒险活动吗？

She wondered what it might be… was he about to propose a new venture?

第二天回到她的府邸，西尔维亚女士拉开了一个在她写字桌里的秘密的存放着她的图章戒指和银烛台的抽屉，

Back at her mansion next day, Lady Sylvia opened a secret drawer in her escritoire where she kept her signet ring and a silver candlestick.

她点燃了蜡烛，倒了几滴热蜡在一张纸上，然后她把她的图章戒指压在上面。

She lit the candle, poured some drops of hot wax onto a sheet of paper, then pressed her signet ring onto it.

在纸的中间出现了字母A，代表了组织者，拉丁铭文写在它的周围：

Now in the middle of the sheet there was the letter A, which stood for The Arranger, with a Latin inscription written around it:

永远的胜利者，永远胜利。

semper victor, always victorious.

然后，她写了一个给法哈姆·伊沙梅尔的信封，把纸很小心的折起并放在信封里。

Then she addressed an envelope to Fahmu Ishmail, folded the sheet of paper carefully and put it inside.

在此之后，西尔维亚女士给儿童医院写了一张支票，写了许多的零在上面，签署自己的名字为黛玛阿根托。

After this Lady Sylvia wrote out a cheque to The Children’s Hospital with a lot of noughts on it, signing herself Thelma Argento.

鲁克蕾齐亚波吉亚匣子第二天被皮尔·阿曼桑卖给了一个富有与软件业有关系的私人收藏家，他也因此得到了七位数字的总价。

The Lucrezia Borgia casket was sold by Pierre Amsang the very next day to a rich private collector with interests in the software industry, for which he received a seven figure sum.

当然，其中一半的钱归于西尔维亚女士。

Naturally, half of the money went to Lady Sylvia.

这个组织者又赢了！

The Arranger had won again!