身份案 15进行初步推理(1)

For all the preposterous¹ hat and the vacuous² face, there was something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect.

我们的客人，尽管戴着一顶可笑的帽子，显得茫然若失。但是她那纯仆的忠诚之心带有一种高尚的情操，使我们不得不肃然起敬。

She laid her little bundle of papers upon the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever she might be summoned.

她把一小束文件放在桌上就离开了，答应需要她的时候，当即再来。

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his finger-tips still pressed together,

福尔摩斯沉默了几分钟，他的手指尖仍然顶着手指尖，

his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling.

两腿向前伸展，眼睛朝上盯着天花板。

Then he took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor,

然后，他从架子上取下使用年久、满是油腻的陶制烟斗，这烟斗对他好象是一个顾问。

and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of infinite languor³ in his face.

点燃烟丝以后，他朝后靠在椅子上，那浓浓的蓝色烟雾袅袅萦绕，脸上现出无限沉思的神情。

"Quite an interesting study, that maiden⁴," he observed.

他说："那个姑娘本身就是一个非常有趣的研究对象。

"I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite⁵ one.

我发现她本人比她小小的问题更有意思。顺便说一下，她的问题不过是一个很平常的问题。

You will find parallel cases, if you consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of the sort at The Hague last year.

如果翻阅一下我的案例、一八七七年安多弗索引的话，就能找到同样的例子，而且去年在海牙也发生过一些类似事件。

Old as is the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new to me. But the maiden herself was most instructive."

那都是些老主意，我看其中有一两个情节倒是新鲜的。可是这位姑娘本人却是最发人深省的。"

"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me," I remarked.

我说："你似乎能在她身上看出很多我看不出来的东西。"

"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important.

"不是看不出，华生，而是不注意。你不知道该看哪里，所以忽略了所有重要的东西。

I can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.

我从来没有使你认识到袖子的重要性，从大拇指指甲中看出问题，或者在鞋带上发现大问题。

Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it."

好，你从这个姑娘的外表看到了什么呢？你描述一下吧。"

1 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

2 vacuous   

adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的

参考例句：

• Male models are not always so vacuous as they are made out to be.男模特儿并不总像人们说的那样愚蠢。
• His eyes looked dull,almost vacuous.他看上去目光呆滞，茫然若失。

3 languor   

n.无精力，倦怠

参考例句：

• It was hot,yet with a sweet languor about it.天气是炎热的，然而却有一种惬意的懒洋洋的感觉。
• She,in her languor,had not troubled to eat much.她懒懒的，没吃多少东西。

4 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

5 trite   

adj.陈腐的

参考例句：

• The movie is teeming with obvious and trite ideas.这部电影充斥着平铺直叙的陈腐观点。
• Yesterday,in the restaurant,Lorraine had seemed trite,blurred,worn away.昨天在饭店里，洛兰显得庸俗、堕落、衰老了。