福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第18期:勞瑞斯頓花園街的慘案(6)

Sherlock Holmes chuckled to himself, and appeared to be about to make some remark,

福爾摩斯暗自笑了一笑，正要說些什么，

when Lestrade, who had been in the front room while we were holding this conversation in the hall,

這時(shí)雷斯垂德又來了，洋洋得意地搓著雙手。

reappeared upon the scene, rubbing his hands in a pompous and self-satisfied manner.

我們和葛萊森在屋里談話的時(shí)候，他是在前屋里。

"Mr. Gregson," he said, "I have just made a discovery of the highest importance,

"葛萊森先生，"他說，"我剛才發(fā)現(xiàn)了一件頂頂重要的事情。

and one which would have been overlooked had I not made a careful examination of the walls."

要不是我仔細(xì)地檢查了墻壁，就會(huì)把它漏過了。"

The little man's eyes sparkled as he spoke,

這個(gè)小個(gè)子說話時(shí)，眼睛閃閃有光，

and he was evidently in a state of suppressed exultation at having scored a point against his colleague.

顯然是因?yàn)樗麆龠^了他同僚一著而在自鳴得意。

"Come here," he said, bustling back into the room,

"到這里來，"他一邊說著，一邊很快地回到前屋里。

the atmosphere of which felt clearer since the removal of its ghastly inmate.

由于尸體已經(jīng)抬走，屋中空氣似乎清新了許多。

"Now, stand there!" He struck a match on his boot and held it up against the wall.

"好，請(qǐng)站在那里！"他在靴子上劃燃了一根火柴，舉起來照著墻壁。

"Look at that!" he said, triumphantly.

"瞧瞧那個(gè)！"他得意地說。

I have remarked that the paper had fallen away in parts.

我前面說過，墻上的花紙已經(jīng)有許多地方剝落了下來。

In this particular corner of the room a large piece had peeled off,

就在這個(gè)墻角上，在有一大片花紙剝落了的地方，

leaving a yellow square of coarse plastering.

露出一塊粗糙的黃色粉墻。

Across this bare space there was scrawled in blood-red letters a single word--RACHE

在這處沒有花紙的墻上，有一個(gè)用鮮血潦草寫成的字：拉契（RACHE）

"What do you think of that?" cried the detective, with the air of a showman exhibiting his show.

"你對(duì)這個(gè)字的看法怎么樣？"這個(gè)偵探象馬戲班的老板夸耀自己的把戲一樣地大聲說道，

"This was overlooked because it was in the darkest corner of the room, and no one thought of looking there.

"這個(gè)字所以被人忽略，因?yàn)樗窃谖葜凶詈诎档慕锹淅铮l也沒有想起到這里來看看。

The murderer has written it with his or her own blood.

這是兇手蘸著他或者是她自己的血寫的。

See this smear where it has trickled down the wall!

瞧，還有血順墻往下流的痕跡呢！

That disposes of the idea of suicide anyhow.

從這點(diǎn)就可以看出：無論如何這決不是自殺。

Why was that corner chosen to write it on?

為什么要選擇這個(gè)角落寫呢？

I will tell you. See that candle on the mantelpiece.

我可以告訴你，你看壁爐上的那段蠟燭。

It was lit at the time, and if it was lit this corner would be the brightest instead of the darkest portion of the wall."

當(dāng)時(shí)它是點(diǎn)著的，如果是點(diǎn)著的，那么這個(gè)墻角就是最亮而不是最黑的地方了。"

"And what does it mean now that you have found it?" asked Gregson in a depreciatory voice.

葛萊森輕蔑地說："可是，你就是發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)字跡，又有什么意義呢？"

"Mean? Why, it means that the writer was going to put the female name Rachel,

"什么意義嗎？這說明寫字的人是要寫一個(gè)女人的名字'瑞契兒' ，

but was disturbed before he or she had time to finish.

但是有什么事打攪了他，因此他或者是她就沒有來得及寫完。

You mark my words, when this case comes to be cleared up, you will find that a woman named Rachel has something to do with it.

你記住我的話，等到全案弄清楚以后，你一定能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)名叫' 瑞契兒' 的女人和這個(gè)案子有關(guān)系。

It's all very well for you to laugh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

你現(xiàn)在盡可以笑話我，福爾摩斯先生；

You may be very smart and clever, but the old hound is the best, when all is said and done."

你也許是非常聰明能干的，但歸根結(jié)底，生姜還是老的辣。"

"I really beg your pardon!" said my companion, who had ruffled the little man's temper by bursting into an explosion of laughter.

我的同伴聽了他的意見后，不禁縱聲大笑起來，這樣就激怒了這個(gè)小個(gè)子。福爾摩斯說："實(shí)在對(duì)不起！

"You certainly have the credit of being the first of us to find this out and, as you say,

你的確是我們?nèi)齻€(gè)人中第一個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)字跡的，自然應(yīng)當(dāng)歸功于你。而且正如你所說的一樣，

it bears every mark of having been written by the other participant in last night's mystery.

由此可以充分看出，這字是昨夜慘案中另一個(gè)人寫的。

I have not had time to examine this room yet, but with your permission I shall do so now."

我還沒來得及檢查這間屋子。你如允許，我現(xiàn)在就要進(jìn)行檢查。"

As he spoke, he whipped a tape measure and a large round magnifying glass from his pocket.

他說著，很快地就從口袋里拿出一個(gè)卷尺和一個(gè)很大的圓形放大鏡。

With these two implements he trotted noiselessly about the room,

他拿著這兩樣工具，在屋里默默地走來走去，

sometimes stopping, occasionally kneeling, and once lying flat upon his face.

有時(shí)站住，有時(shí)跪下，有一次竟趴在地上了。

So engrossed was he with his occupation that he appeared to have forgotten our presence,

他全神貫注地工作著，似乎把我們?nèi)纪袅耍?/p>

for he chattered away to himself under his breath the whole time,

他一直在自言自語地低聲嘀咕著，

keeping up a running fire of exclamations, groans, whistles, and little cries suggestive of encouragement and of hope.

一會(huì)兒驚呼，一會(huì)兒嘆息，有時(shí)吹起口哨，有時(shí)又象充滿希望、受到鼓舞似地小聲叫了起來。