蓝宝石案 17蓝宝石现身(7)

"Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" "I cannot tell."

"你认为霍纳这个人是无罪的了？""我说不上来。"

"Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker¹, had anything to do with the matter?"

"好，那么你认为另外那个人亨利·贝克和这件事有牵连了？"

"It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely innocent man,

"我想亨利·贝克很可能是绝对清白无辜的，

who had no idea that the bird which he was carrying was of considerably² more value than if it were made of solid gold.

他决不会想到他手里的鹅的价值比一只金子铸成的鹅的价值还要多得多。

That, however, I shall determine by a very simple test if we have an answer to our advertisement."

不管怎么样，如果我的启事得到答复，我就能通过一个极其简单的检验来测定这一点。"

"And you can do nothing until then?" "Nothing."

"在此之前你无事可做了吗？""没有什么可做的了。"

"In that case I shall continue my professional round.

"既然是这样，我将继续处理我的日常业务。

But I shall come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned,

不过我今天晚上会在你刚才说的时间回来，

for I should like to see the solution of so tangled³ a business."

因为我很想看看如此复杂的事情是怎样迎刃而解的。"

"Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I believe.

"我会很高兴再见到你，我七点钟吃晚饭，我相信会吃到一只山鹬。

By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop."

顺便提一下，考虑到最近出现的情况，也许我应该请赫德森夫人检查一下那只山鹬的嗉囊。"

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

3 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。