IN THE VAULT - H.P. Lovecraft

undertaker (承擔者, 承辦人; 承辦喪葬者, 殯儀業者)

calloused無情的

Birch was lax不嚴格的; 馬馬虎虎的, insensitive, and professionally undesirable; yet I still think he was not an evil man.

liquorish講究吃的

The undertaker grew doubly lethargic瞌睡的; 愛睡的in the bitter weather

flimsier脆弱的; 易損壞的; 輕薄的and ungainlier caskets

nonchalant漠不關心的; 若無其事

nonagenarian九十多歲的人

fateful重大的; 決定命運的

To him Birch had felt no compunction良心的責備; 悔恨; 內疚in assigning分配, 分派the carelessly made coffin which he now pushed out of the way in his quest for the Fenner casket.

The narrow transom【美】楣窗; 氣窗; 橫檔; 橫楣; 過樑; 橫樑admitted only the feeblest of rays

recalcitrant反抗的; 頑強的; 不聽話的

a victim of his own oversight

His day's work was sadly interrupted,

The air had begun to be exceedingly unwholesome不衛生的; 不健康的; 有害身心的

tenebrous陰暗的; 黑暗的

tenacity固執; 堅持, 頑強, 不屈不撓

impending即將發生的; 逼近的; 迫在眉切的

his form had the indolent stoutness of early middle age

poignantly令人辛酸地;深刻地, 強烈地;尖刻地

in his ghastly【口】極壞的, 糟透的; 令人不快的; 可怕的, 恐怖的situation

In another moment he knew fear for the first time that night

in his mind was a vortex of fright mixed with an unquenchable materialism

the emerging moon must have witnessed a horrible sight

he sought to drain from the weakened undertaker every least detail of his horrible experience.

diminutive小的, 微小的Fenner

He always remained lame跛腳的, 瘸的, for the great tendons had been severed; but I think the greatest lameness was in his soul. His thinking processes, once so phlegmatic and logical, had become ineffaceably scarred

He changed his business, but something always preyed upon him.

His drinking, of course, only aggravated what it was meant to alleviate.

Steeled使像鋼; 使堅強, 使下決心by old ordeals in dissecting rooms

He was the devil incarnate

skimp(及物動詞:捨不得給; 克扣; 對...不夠用心; 不及物動詞: 克儉, 節省;不夠用心)

Birch, but you got what you deserved.

The skull turned my stomach, but the other was worse--those ankles cut neatly off to fit Matt Fenner's cast-aside拋棄coffin!"