铜山毛榉案 02对华生文笔的探讨(2)

"It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," I remarked with some coldness,

"在这个问题上我看我对你还是十分公正的，"我有点冷淡地说，

for I was repelled¹ by the egotism which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my friend's singular character.

因为我不止一次地观察到我的朋友的奇特性格中有很强的自私自利的因素而颇为反感。

"No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as was his wont², my thoughts rather than my words.

"不，这不是我自私自利或自高自大，"他回答说。和往常一样，他不是针对我所说的话而是针对我的思想。

"If I claim full justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal³ thing -- a thing beyond myself.

"如果我要求十分公正地对待我的技艺，这是因为它不是属于个人的东西，一种不属于我自己的身外物。

Crime is common. Logic⁴ is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.

犯罪是常有的事，逻辑是难得的东西。因此你详细记述的应该是逻辑而不是罪行。

You have degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales."

可是你已经把本来应该是讲授的课程降低为讲一连串的故事。"

It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at Baker⁵ Street.

这是一个寒冷的初春的早晨，我们吃过早餐后，两人相对坐在贝克街老房子里熊熊的炉火旁边。

A thick fog rolled down between the lines of dun-coloured houses,

一阵浓雾滚滚而来，弥漫于成排的暗褐色的房子之间，

and the opposing windows loomed⁶ like dark, shapeless blurs⁷ through the heavy yellow wreaths.

对面的窗户在这深黄色的团团浓雾中，隐隐约约成为阴暗的、不成形状的一片模糊不清的东西。

Our gas was lit and shone on the white cloth and glimmer⁸ of china and metal, for the table had not been cleared yet.

我们点着气灯，它照在白台布上，照在微微闪光的瓷瓶和金属器皿上，因为当时餐桌还没有收拾千净。

Sherlock Holmes had been silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last,

歇洛克·福尔摩斯整个早晨一直沉默地不断翻阅着一系列报纸的广告栏，最后，

having apparently⁹ given up his search, he had emerged in no very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.

他显然放弃了查阅，似乎带点情绪地对我文笔上的缺点教训了我一顿。

"At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he had sat puffing¹⁰ at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire,

"同时，"他稍微停顿了一下，一边坐着抽他的长烟斗，一边盯着炉火说，

"you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself in,

"不会有谁指责你用了危言耸听的笔法的，因为在这些你那么感到兴趣的案件中，

a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, at all.

相当大的一部分不是法律意义上的犯罪行为。

The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland,

我尽力帮助波希米亚国王的那件小事，玛丽·萨瑟兰小姐的奇异经历，

the problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble bachelor,

有关那歪唇男人的难解的问题，那个贵族单身汉事件，

were all matters which are outside the pale of the law.

这些都是属于法律范围以外的事情。

But in avoiding the sensational¹¹, I fear that you may have bordered on the trivial."

你尽力避免耸人听闻，但是我担心你的记述也许是太繁琐了。"

1 repelled   

v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• They repelled the enemy. 他们击退了敌军。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. 而丁梅斯代尔牧师却哆里哆嗦地断然推开了那老人的胳臂。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

2 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

3 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 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。

6 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 blurs   

n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• The electron clouds are clearly visible as blurs surrounding the invisible nuclei. 电子云就象环绕着看不见的核的一片云雾。 来自辞典例句
• The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。 来自辞典例句

8 glimmer   

v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光

参考例句：

• I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她，感到了一线希望。
• A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。