蓝宝石案 06一顶奇怪的帽子(6)

"Here is my lens. You know my methods.

"这是我的放大镜，你素来知道我的方法。

What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?"

对于戴这顶帽子的那个人的个性，你能够推测出什么来吗？"

I took the tattered¹ object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully.

我把这顶破烂帽子拿在手里，无可奈何地把它翻过来看看。

It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear.

这是一顶极其普通的圆形黑毡帽，硬邦邦的而且破旧得不堪再戴了。

The lining² had been of red silk, but was a good deal discoloured.

原来的红色丝绸衬里已经大大褪色。

There was no maker's name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were scrawled³ upon one side.

上面没有制帽商的商标，但是正象福尔摩斯说过的，在帽子的一侧，却有潦草涂写的姓名缩写字母'H.B.'。

It was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic⁴ was missing.

为了防止被风刮跑，帽檐曾穿有小孔，但上面的松紧带已经没有了。

For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted⁵ in several places,

至于其它情况，到处开裂，布满灰尘，有好几个地方污点斑斑，

although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing⁶ them with ink.

尽管似乎是为了掩盖帽子上几块褪了色的补丁而用墨水把它们涂黑了。

"I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend.

"我看不出什么来。"我一面说着，一面把帽子递还我的朋友。

"On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything.

"恰恰相反，华生，你什么都能看出来。

You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences."

可是，你没有从所看到的东西作出推论。你对作出推论太缺乏信心了。"

"Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?"

"那么，请你告诉我你能够从这顶帽子作出什么推论呢？"

1 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

2 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

3 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

4 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

5 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 smearing   

污点，拖尾效应

参考例句：

• The small boy spoilt the picture by smearing it with ink. 那孩子往画上抹墨水把画给毁了。
• Remove the screen carefully so as to avoid smearing the paste print. 小心的移开丝网，以避免它弄脏膏印。