The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough,

房间的墙壁是木头做的，但是地板却是由一个大铁槽构成的。

and when I came to examine it I could see a crust of metallic deposit all over it.

当我开始察看它时，我看到上面积了满满一层金属积屑。

I had stooped and was scraping at this to see exactly what it was

我弯下腰去，正用手指去挖，想看看到底是什么东西，

when I heard a muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at me.

这时只听到一声德语的低沉的惊叫，同时看到上校那张死灰色的脸正朝下望着我。

'What are you doing there?' he asked.

'你在那儿干什么？'他问道。

I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that which he had told me.

由于上了他那精心编造的故事的当，我感到很生气。

'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' said I;

'我正在欣赏您的漂白土，'我说，

'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was used.'

'我想如果我知道了使用这台机器的真正目的，我不是更能向您提供一些有关它的建议吗？'

The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my speech.

可是话一出口，我立即就为自己鲁莽的语言而感到后悔。

His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his gray eyes.

他的脸色变得很难看，灰色的眼睛里射出了邪恶的光芒。

'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.'

'很好，'他说，'你会知道这机器的一切！'

He took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in the lock.

他向后退了一步，砰地一声关上了小门，将插在锁孔里的钥匙转动了一下。

I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle,

我向门冲去，使劲地拉着把手，

but it was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves.

但是这门关得严严实实，尽管我连踢带推，它却纹丝不动。

'Hello!' I yelled. 'Hello! Colonel! Let me out!'

'喂！'我大叫起来。'喂，上校！放我出去！'