The visitor mentioned by the Master, Lord Asriel, was her uncle, a man whom she admired and feared greatly. He was said to be involved in high高级高层 politicsˈpɒlətɪks政治, in secret exploration ˌekspləˈreɪʃn勘探, in distant warfare ˈwɔːfeə(r)战争, and she never knew when he was going to appear. He was fierce fɪəs凶狠的 : if he caught her in here she'd be severely sɪ'vɪə(r)li 严厉地 punished, but she could put up with 忍受容忍 that.What she saw next, however, changed tʃeɪndʒd 改变 things completely kəmˈpliːtli 彻底地.
The Master took from his pocket a foldedˈfəʊldɪd折叠的 paper and laid leɪd安放 it on the table beside the wine. He took the stopperˈstɒpə(r)瓶塞 out of the mouth入口开口 of a decanter dɪˈkæntə(r)雕花玻璃酒瓶 containingkənˈteɪnɪŋ含有 a rich 浓郁 golden wine, unfolded ʌnˈfəʊldɪd展开 the paper,and poured pɔːd倒出 a thin stream of 一小股 white powder ˈpaʊdə(r)粉末 into the decanter dɪˈkæntə(r)] 雕花玻璃酒瓶 before crumpling ˈkrʌmplɪŋ 压皱 the paper and throwingˈθrəʊɪŋ扔 it into the fire. Then he took a pencil from his pocket, stirred stɜːd搅拌the wine until the powder had dissolved dɪˈzɒlvd 溶解,and replaced rɪˈpleɪst放回(原处) the stopper.
His daemon gave a soft 轻柔的 brief briːf简短的 squawk skwɔːk粗厉的叫声. The Master replied rɪˈplaɪd回答 in an undertoneˈʌndətəʊn低声地小声地, and looked around with his hoodedˈhʊdɪd眼皮耷拉 状似半睁半闭的, cloudedˈklaʊdɪd眼神阴沉忧郁的 eyes before leaving through the door he'd come in by.
Lyra whispered, “Did you see that, Pan?”
“Of course I did!Now hurry out快出去, before the Stewardˈstjuːəd 管理员 comes!”
But as he spoke , there came the sound of a bell ringing once from the far end of the hall. “That's the Steward's bell!” said Lyra. “I thought we had more time than that.” Pantalaimon flutteredˈflʌtəd振翅 swiftlyˈswɪftli 迅速地 to the hall door,and swiftly back.
“The Steward's there already,” he said. “And you can't get out of the other door...”
The other door, the one the Master had entered and left by, opened onto the busy
corridor ˈkɒrɪdɔː(r)走廊过道通道 between the library and the Scholars' common room ˈkɒmən ruːm(学校、学院等的)公共休息室. At this time of day it was thronged θrɒŋd挤满 with men
pulling on穿上 their gowns gaʊnz长袍礼服 for dinner, or hurrying to leave papers or
briefcasesˈbriːfˌkeɪsɪz公文包公事包 in the common room before moving into the hall. Lyra had planned to leave the way she'd come, banking on ˈbæŋkɪŋ ɒn 寄希望于 another few minutes before the Steward's bell rang.
