绿玉皇冠案 27外出跟踪(1)

It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up about the case,

我清楚地知道我的伙伴现在对这个案件已经胸有成竹，

although what his conclusions were was more than I could even dimly imagine.

至于他究竟有了些什么样的结论，我连一点朦胧的印象也没有。

Several times during our homeward journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point,

在我们回家的途中，我屡次想从他那里探听出这一点，

but he always glided¹ away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in despair.

但是他总是扯到别的话题上去，最后我只好失望地放弃了这个意图。

It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our room once more.

还不到下午三时，我们就回到了自己屋里。

He hurried to his chamber², and was down again in a few minutes dressed as a common loafer.

他急忙走进他的房间，几分钟后便打扮成一个普遍的流浪汉下楼来。

With his collar turned up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat³, and his worn boots, he was a perfect sample of the class.

他把领子翻上去，穿着磨得发光的破外衣，打着红领带，穿着一双破旧的皮靴，成了一个典型的流浪汉。

"I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass above the fireplace.

"我这样打扮还像吧，"他一边说一边对着壁炉上的镜子照了一下。

"I only wish that you could come with me, Watson, but I fear that it won't do.

"我真希望你能和我一块去，华生，但是恐怕不行。

I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is.

我可能找到这个案子的线索，也可能是跟着鬼火瞎跑，但是我不久就会明白是哪种可能。

I hope that I may be back in a few hours."

我希望几个小时内就会回来。"

He cut a slice of beef from the joint⁴ upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two rounds of bread,

他从餐柜上放着的大块牛肉上割下一块，夹在两片面包里，

and thrusting this rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition.

然后把这干粮塞进口袋，就出发探险去了。

1 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 cravat   

n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结

参考例句：

• You're never fully dressed without a cravat.不打领结，就不算正装。
• Mr. Kenge adjusting his cravat,then looked at us.肯吉先生整了整领带，然后又望着我们。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。