福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第21期:警察欒斯的敘述(2)

"And the florid face?" I asked.

"還有那個紅臉的問題呢？"我又問道。

"Ah, that was a more daring shot, though I have no doubt that I was right.

"啊，那就是一個更為大膽的推測了，然而我確信我是正確的。

You must not ask me that at the present state of the affair."

在這個案件的目前情況下，你暫且不要問我這個問題吧。"

I passed my hand over my brow. "My head is in a whirl," I remarked;

我用手摸了摸前額說："我真有點暈頭轉向了，

"the more one thinks of it the more mysterious it grows.

愈想愈覺得神秘莫測。

How came these two men–if there were two men–into an empty house?

比如說，如果真是兩個人的話，那么這兩個人究竟怎樣進入空屋去的？

What has become of the cabman who drove them?

送他們?nèi)サ能嚪蛴衷趺礃恿耍?/p>

How could one man compel another to take poison? Where did the blood come from?

一個人怎能迫使另一個人服毒的？血又是從哪里來的？

What was the object of the murderer, since robbery had no part in it?

這案子既然不是圖財害命，兇手的目的又是什么？

How came the woman's ring there?

女人的戒指又是從哪兒來的？

Above all, why should the second man write up the German word RACHE before decamping?

最要緊的是，兇手在逃走之前為什么要在墻上寫下德文字'復仇'呢？

I confess that I cannot see any possible way of reconciling all these facts." My companion smiled approvingly.

老實說，我實在想不出怎樣把這些問題一一地聯(lián)系起來。"我的同伴贊許地微笑著。

"You sum up the difficulties of the situation succinctly and well," he said.

他說："你把案中疑難之點總結得很簡潔、很扼要，總結得很好。

"There is much that is still obscure, though I have quite made up my mind on the main facts.

雖然在主要情節(jié)上我已有了眉目，但是還有許多地方仍然不夠清楚。

As to poor Lestrade's discovery,

至于雷斯垂德所發(fā)現(xiàn)的那個血字，

it was simply a blind intended to put the police upon a wrong track, by suggesting Socialism and secret societies.

只不過是一種圈套，暗示這是什么社會黨或者秘密團體干的，企圖把警察引入歧途罷了。

It was not done by a German.

那字并不是個德國人寫的。

The A, if you noticed, was printed somewhat after the German fashion.

你如果注意一下，就可以看出字母A多少是仿照德文樣子寫的。

Now, a real German invariably prints in the Latin character,

但是真正的德國人寫的卻常常是拉丁字體。

so that we may safely say that this was not written by one,

因此我們可以十拿九穩(wěn)地說，這字母絕不是德國人寫的，

but by a clumsy imitator who overdid his part.

而是出于一個不高明的摹仿者之手，并且他做的有點畫蛇添足了。

It was simply a ruse to divert inquiry into a wrong channel.

這不過是想要把偵查工作引入歧途的一個詭計而已。

I'm not going to tell you much more of the case, Doctor.

醫(yī)生，關于這個案子我不預備再給你多講些什么了。

You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick;

你知道魔術家一旦把自己的戲法說穿，他就得不到別人的贊賞了；

and if I show you too much of my method of working,

如果把我的工作方法給你講得太多的話，

you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all."

那么，你就會得出這樣的結論：福爾摩斯這個人不過是一個十分平常的人物罷了。"

"I shall never do that," I answered;

我回答說："我決不會如此。

"you have brought detection as near an exact science as it ever will be brought in this world."

偵探術遲早要發(fā)展成為一門精確的科學的，可是你已經(jīng)差不多把它創(chuàng)立起來了。"

My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the earnest way in which I uttered them.

我的同伴聽了這話，而且看到我說話時的誠懇態(tài)度，他高興得漲紅了臉。

I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty.

我早就看出，當他聽到別人對他在偵探術上的成就加以贊揚時，他就會象任何一個姑娘聽到別人稱贊她的美貌時一樣的敏感起來。

"I'll tell you one other thing," he said.

他說："我再告訴你一件事。

"Patent-leathers and Square-toes came in the same cab,

穿皮靴的和穿方頭靴的兩個人是同乘一輛車子來的，

and they walked down the pathway together as friendly as possible–arm-in-arm, in all probability.

而且好象非常友好似的，大概還是膀子挽著膀子一起從花園中小路上走過。

When they got inside, they walked up and down the room–or rather,

他們進了屋子以后，還在屋子里走來走去；

Patent-leathers stood still while Square-toes walked up and down.

更確切地說，穿起皮靴子的是站立不動，而穿方頭靴子的人卻在屋中不停地走動。

I could read all that in the dust; and I could read that as he walked he grew more and more excited.

我從地板上的塵土上就能看出這些情況來。同時我也能看出，他愈走愈激動，。

That is shown by the increased length of his strides.

因為他的步子愈走愈大，這就說明這一點

He was talking all the while, and working himself up, no doubt, into a fury.

他一邊走一邊說著，終于狂怒起來，

Then the tragedy occurred.

于是慘劇就發(fā)生了。

I've told you all I know myself now, for the rest is mere surmise and conjecture.

現(xiàn)在我把我所知道的一切情況都告訴你了，剩下的只是一些猜測和臆斷了。

We have a good working basis, however, on which to start.

好在咱們已有了著手工作的好基礎。

We must hurry up, for I want to go to Halle's concert to hear Norman Neruda this afternoon."

咱們必須抓緊時間，因為我今天下午還要去聽阿勒音樂會，聽聽諾爾曼·聶魯達的音樂呢。"