波希米亚丑闻 11高贵的委托者（9）

"You are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal¹ it?"

"你说对了，"他喊道，"我就是国王，我为什么要隐瞒呢？"

"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes.

"嗯，真的吗？"福尔摩斯喃喃地说，

"Your Majesty² had not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein,

"陛下还没开口，我就知道我是要跟威廉·戈特赖希·西吉斯蒙德·冯·奥姆施泰因交谈，

Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary³ King of Bohemia."

也就是卡斯尔-费尔施泰因大公、波希米亚的世袭国王。"

"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead,

"但是你能理解，"我们奇怪的来客又重新坐下来，用手摸了一下他那又高又白的前额说道，

"you can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my own person.

"你能理解我是不惯于亲自办这种事的。

Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide⁴ it to an agent without putting myself in his power.

可是这件事是如此地微妙，以致于如果我把它告诉一个侦探，就不得不使自己任其摆布。

I have come incognito⁵ from Prague for the purpose of consulting you."

我是为了向你征询意见才微服出行，从布拉格来此的。"

"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.

"那就请谈吧，"福尔摩斯说道，随即又把眼睛阖上了。

"The facts are briefly⁶ these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy⁷ visit to Warsaw,

"简单地说，事情是这样的：大约五年以前，在我到华沙长期访问期间，

I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you."

我认识了大名鼎鼎的女冒险家艾琳·艾德勒。无疑你是很熟悉这名字的。"

"Kindly⁸ look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without opening his eyes.

"医生，请你在我的资料索引中查查艾琳·艾德勒这个人，"福尔摩斯喃喃地说，眼睛睁也没睁开一下。

For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things,

他多年来采取这么一种办法，就是把有关许多人和事的一些材料贴上签条备查。

so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information.

因此，要想说出一个他不能马上提供起情况的人或事，那是很不容易的。

In this case I found her biography

关于这件案子，我找到了关于她的个人经历的材料。

sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph⁹ upon the deep-sea fishes.

它是夹在一个犹太法学博士和写过一起关于深海鱼类专题论文的参谋官这两份历史材料中间的。

1 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

2 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

3 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

4 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

5 incognito   

adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的

参考例句：

• He preferred to remain incognito.他更喜欢继续隐姓埋名下去。
• He didn't want to be recognized,so he travelled incognito.他不想被人认出，所以出行时隐瞒身分。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 monograph   

n.专题文章，专题著作

参考例句：

• This monograph belongs to the category of serious popular books.这本专著是一本较高深的普及读物。
• It's a monograph you wrote six years ago.这是你六年前写的的专论。