The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) --- Edgar Allan Poe

lashes out猛擊

vengefully復仇心切地

penknife小刀

he dismisses(從頭腦中)去除,不考慮,拋棄the possibility of a connection between the two events
She dismissed the idea of going to Paris. 她打消了去巴黎的念頭。

conundrums:Intricate and difficult problems. Riddles whose answers involves puns. 謎語;難題;機智問答

hieroglyphics難以辨認或理解的文字, 象形文字

acumen:Keenness and depth of perception. Power to see what is not evident to the average mind. 銳敏;聰明

The preternatural or praeternatural is that which appears outside or beyond (Latin præter) the natural. While this may include what is more commonly called the supernatural, it may also simply indicate extremity — an ordinary phenomenon taken 'beyond' the natural. One may have, for example, a preternatural desire, a preternatural curiosity, a preternaturally acute ear (sense of hearing), or even preternaturally big ears.
Often used to distinguish from the divine (supernatural) while maintaining a distinction from the purely natural. For instance, in certain theology, the angels, both holy and fallen, are endowed with preternatural powers. Their intellect, speed, and other characteristics are beyond human capacities but are still finite.
Some examples of preternatural creatures in fiction include fairies, werewolves, vampires, zombies, and the Chupacabra.

treatise論文;專著

trump(牌戲的)王牌

the unostentatious不虛飾的;樸素的;不顯目的game of draughts西洋棋(draughts:British name for the game of checkers. )

Whist (類似橋牌的)惠斯特牌戲

frivolous無聊的,瑣碎的

Christendom (總稱)基督教國家
The best chess-player in Christendom (總稱)基督教國家may be little more than the best player of chess; but proficiency in whist implies capacity for success in all those more important undertakings where mind struggles with mind.

manifold各式各樣的;種種的

multiform多樣的;繁雜的

the rules of Hoyle (霍愛爾所著之)紙牌遊戲書

to have a retentive保持的;記性好的memory

chagrin懊惱;悔恨;苦惱

suit同花色的一組紙牌

feint偽裝,假裝;佯攻,虛擊

inadvertent不注意的;怠慢的

trepidation驚恐,慌張,不安

thenceforward從那時以後(或起);從那裡起

phrenologists骨相學家

erroneously錯誤地

of an illustrious著名的,傑出的,卓越的family

by a variety of untoward不幸的;不祥的events, had been reduced to such poverty

his character succumbed屈服beneath it

he ceased to bestir激勵,鼓舞himself in the world, or to care for the retrieval取回;恢復of his fortunes

By courtesy of his creditors債權人;貸方

a small remnant of his patrimony繼承的遺產;祖產

superfluities奢侈品

Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries, and in Paris these are easily obtained

an obscure暗的,黑暗的;朦朧的library

brought us into closer communion(思想等的)交流;親密的交談

the vast extent of his reading

wild fervor熱烈,熱情, and the vivid freshness of his imagination

It was at length最後,終於arranged that we should live together during my stay in the city

be enamored 使傾心;使迷戀of the Night for her own sake

sable紫貂,黑貂;美洲貂; 黑暗的;陰暗的

sallied forth外出 into the streets, arm in arm
I must sally forth into town and buy my week's food.
我必須到鎮上走一趟,採購一星期的食物

任性地,脾氣壞地,無緣無故發脾氣地

Poe was fascinated by the idea of a "bi-part" soul, half imagination, half reason
the Bi-Part Soul, and amused myself with the fancy of a double Dupin --the creative and the resolvent分解的

I replied unwittingly無意地;不經意地;不知不覺地.

phrenologist:A person who studies the conformation of the skull based on the belief that it is indicative of mental faculties and character.

Xerxes:The king of Persia (486-465), invaded Greece by bridging Hellespont. The invasion ultimately failed, signaling beginning of decline of Achaemenid Empire.

, in Crébillon's tragedy so called, and been notoriously Pasquinaded for his pains

pasquinaded: 撰寫諷刺詩文攻擊Publicly made fun of, lampooned. Pasquino was the name given to a statue in Rome on which lampoons were posted.

enabled to fathom推測;揣摸my soul in this matter

fruiterer水果商,

thoroughfare大街,大道;幹線道路

charlatanerie:One making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability. A "charlatan" is a person who pretends to have knowledge or ability for fraudulent purposes.

charlatan裝懂的人;吹牛的人,江湖醫生

rencontre: 邂逅A violent meeting. Can also be a contest between forces or individuals, like combat.

Epicurus:Epicurus was a philosopher from 300 B.C. He thought the highest pleasure (tranquility and freedom from fear) was obtained by knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the enjoyment of simple pleasures, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites.

stereotomy:Stonecutting. The science or art of cutting stones into certain figures or sections, as arches, and the like.

the holes and ruts凹痕in the pavement

late nebular星雲的;星雲狀的cosmogony宇宙進化論
cosmogony:A theory of the origin of the universe.

assuming the buskin (舊時的)高統靴;悲劇

Perdidit antiquum litera prima sonum“He has ruined the old sound with the first letter,”
Orion獵戶座, formerly written Urion

pungencies辛辣;刺激

immolation: 供奉牲禮;犧牲;祭品to be killed as a sacrificial victim.

gait步伐,步態

gendarme: (法國等的)憲兵A police officer. A member of a body of soldiers especially in France serving as an armed police force for the maintenance of public order.

bedstead床架

besmeared塗抹;弄髒with blood

Napoleons:French 20-franc gold coins.

an ear-ring of topaz黃寶石

métal d'Alger: a tin–lead alloy that gives the false appearance of

other papers of little consequence重大,重要(性)

excoriations: 剝皮;皮膚擦傷Abrasions of the skin. Places where the skin is worn off.

To this horrible mystery there is not as yet, we believe, the slightest clew線索

We give below all the material testimony elicited 引出;誘.

laundress洗衣女,

deposes(律】宣誓作證 that she has known both the deceased for three years

connexions【英】=connection

gateway途徑,方法[S1][(+to)]
Hard work is the gateway to success.
勤奮乃成功之母。

Corroborates證實,確證the testimony of Musèt in general

restaurateur【法】餐館老板

a bye次要的-street --very lonely.

mansardes: 雙重斜坡的屋頂;摺線形屋頂 garrets (小而簡陋的)閣樓A mansard roof has two slopes on all sides with the lower slope steeper than the upper one. Usually there are attic rooms with windows placed within the lower slope.

confectioner糕點、糖果製造人

expostulating勸告;告誡

'sweeps'猛烈移動,猛推,猛拉

every flue煙道;暖氣管in the house

The body of Mademoiselle L'Espanaye was so firmly wedged把...楔住,把...楔牢in the chimney

sacking麻袋布,粗麻布

The throat was greatly chafed磨損,磨壞

The left tibia脛骨;(昆蟲)脛節much splintered裂成碎片

obtuse愚鈍的, 鈍的weapon

if wielded行使(權力);施加(影響) by the hands of a very powerful man

fresh examinations of witnesses instituted開始;著手

The Parisian police, so much extolled讚美;頌揚for acumen銳敏;聰明

When these qualities are unavailing無益的;無用的;徒勞的, their schemes fail

a loge(劇場的)包廂,前座,特別座de concierge

outré奇特的;怪異的character of its features.

no means of egress出路 without the notice of the party ascending

They have fallen into the gross粗略的but common error of confounding使混亂;使困惑;使不知所措the unusual with the abstruse深奧的,難懂的.

I stared at the speaker in mute astonishment.perpetrator做壞事者;犯罪者 of these butcheries

entirely preclude排除;防止,杜絕the idea of self-destruction

Let me now advert注意

The witnesses, as you remark, agreed about the gruff voice; they were here unanimous全體一致的;一致同意的;無異議的.

Each likens把...比作[(+to)] it --not to the voice of an individual of any nation with whose language he is conversant熟悉的;精通的 --but the converse相反的,顛倒的,逆的.

but, not being cognizant已認知的of that tongue語言;方言;口語

denizens居住者,居民of the five great divisions of Europe

supererogation:The act of performing more than is required by duty, obligation, or need.

posteriori:Reasoning from observed facts.

habiliment:Clothing. The dress characteristic of an occupation or occasion.

vacillating:Hesitating. Going back and forth between two opinions or courses of action.

the brutal ferocity兇猛;殘暴 of these deeds

Monsieur Dumas, and his worthy coadjutor助手Monsieur Etienne,

hermetically密封地

madmen, even in their wildest paroxysms(疾病週期性)發作

disentangled解開 this little tuft (頭髮、羽毛、草等的)一簇,一束

Ourang-Outang:The modern spelling is orangutan. A largely herbivorous arboreal ape of Borneo and Sumatra that is about two thirds as large as the gorilla and has brown skin, long sparse reddish brown hair, and very long arms.

imitative propensities癖好,偏愛 of these mammalia

expostulation勸告;告誡

he could never have re-captured it. It is still at large逍遙法外,未被捕
The escaped criminal is still at large.
逃走的罪犯仍逍遙法外。
無固定職業的,無特定任務的
全部的;充分地;總的說來
A few years ago there was unrest in the country at large.
幾年前全國發生了動亂

at fault 出毛病
My memory is at fault.
我想不起來了。

unprepossessing不討人喜歡的;不吸引人的

neufchatelish:Refers to Neufchâtel-en-Bray (town of Normandy - France). Town famed for its cheese-making.

which renders you culpable該責備的;有罪的

Archipelago群島,列島archipelago:A group of islands.

Borneo: 婆羅洲Borneo (including the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia, and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. It has an area of 743,330 sq km (287,00 sq mi), and is located at the center of the Malay archipelago and Indonesia. Borneo is considered part of the geographic region of Southeast Asia.

intractable不聽話的;倔強的 ferocity of his captive俘虜;囚徒;獵獲物

made off走開;逃掉