You remember Neave's hands — thin, sallow, dry, with long inquisitive fingers thrown out like antennae?

你还记得 Neave 的手——瘦弱、蜡黄、干燥， 长着好奇的长手指， 像触角一样伸出来？

There was hardly a poor bit in the lot; and my wonder grew at Neave's madness.

这片土地上几乎没有穷人。 我对尼夫的疯狂感到奇怪。

" Look here, Neave, what are you up to" ?

“看这里，Neave，你在干什么”？

His grin broadened, and he answered: " Neave" .

他的笑容扩大了，他回答说：“Neave”。

Meanwhile, what was Neave doing? For a long time I didn't hear, and chance kept me from returning to Rome.

同时，Neave在做什么？很长一段时间我都没有听到，偶然的机会让我没有回到罗马。

Neave wanted what he appreciated — wanted it with his touch and his sight as well as with his imagination.

尼夫想要他欣赏的东西——用他的触觉、他的视觉和他的想象力想要它。

" In the name of magic, Neave, how did you do it" ?

“以魔法的名义，尼夫，你是怎么做到的”？

" But you can't get her, Neave, " I objected.

“但你不能得到她，Neave，”我反对道。

" Hold up, Neave — the Daunt Diana" ?

“坚持住，Neave——胆小的戴安娜” ？

Well, some fifteen years ago, in London, I ran across Neave at Christie's.

大约十五年前，在伦敦，我在佳士得遇到了Neave。

It's the precise combination that results in romance; and poor little Neave was romantic.

这是导致浪漫的精确组合； 可怜的小尼夫很浪漫。

Neave's taste was too exquisite for his means — was like some strange, delicate, capricious animal, that he cherished and pampered and couldn't satisfy.

Neave 的品味对于他的手段来说太过精致了——就像某种奇怪的、精致的、反复无常的动物，他珍惜和宠爱它却无法满足。

But they weren't nameless or meaningless to Neave; his strength lay in his instinct for identifying, putting together, seeing significant relations.

但它们对 Neave 来说并非无名或无意义； 他的长处在于他对重要关系的识别、整合和观察的本能。

It amused me at the time — the idea of little Neave making eyes at any of Daunt's belongings. He might as well have coquetted with the Kohinoor.

当时我觉得很有趣——小尼夫盯着当特的任何物品的想法。他还不如跟 Kohinoor 撒娇呢。

He had all my sympathy, poor Neave; yet these were trials inseparable from the collector's lot, and not always without their secret compensations.

他得到了我所有的同情，可怜的尼夫；然而，这些考验与收藏家的命运密不可分，而且并非总是没有秘密补偿。

You see, the worst of Neave's state was the fact of his not being a mere collector, even the collector raised to his highest pitch of efficiency.

你看，Neave 最糟糕的状态是他不仅仅是一个收藏家，即使是收藏家也提高了他的最高效率。

But that wasn't Neave's fault — the poor fellow was so beset by people clamouring to see his collection that he had to barricade himself, literally.

但这不是 Neave 的错——这个可怜的家伙被吵着要看他的收藏的人围得水泄不通，以至于他不得不硬着头皮把自己关起来。

The outbreak was so unlike Neave that I remember every word of it: remember, too, saying in answer: " But, look here, Neave, you wouldn't take Daunt's hands for yours, I imagine" ?

爆发是如此不同于 Neave，以至于我记得它的每一个字：也记得，在回答时说：“但是，看这里，Neave，我想你不会把 Daunt 的手据为己有”？

I believe Neave drove straight from Euston to Daunt House: at any rate, within two months the collection was his, and at a price that made the trade sit up.

我相信 Neave 直接从 Euston 开车到 Daunt House：无论如何， 在两个月内， 这些藏品就归他了， 而且价格也让生意兴隆起来。

The uncle had a son, and Neave had never dreamed of seeing a penny of the money; but the son died suddenly, and the father followed, leaving a codicil that gave everything to our friend.

叔叔有一个儿子，Neave 做梦也没想到能分到一分钱。但是儿子突然死了，父亲也跟着死了，留下一份遗嘱，把一切都给了我们的朋友。