血字的研究 12演绎法(7)

“Have you read Gaboriau’s works?” I asked.

我问道："你读过加波利奥的作品吗？

“Does Lecoq come up to your idea of a detective?”

你对勒高克这个人物的评价如何，他可算得上一个侦探么？"

Sherlock Holmes sniffed¹ sardonically². “Lecoq was a miserable³ bungler,” he said, in an angry voice;

福尔摩斯轻蔑地哼了一声。他恶声恶气地说道："勒高克是个不中用的笨蛋。

“he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy.

他只有一件事还值得提一提，就是他的精力。

That book made me positively⁴ ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner.

那本书简直使我腻透了。书中的主题只是谈到怎样去辨识不知名的罪犯。

I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so.

我能在二十四小时之内解决这样的问题。可是勒高克却费了六个月左右的工夫。

It might be made a textbook for detectives to teach them what to avoid.”

有这么长的时间，真可以给侦探们写出一本教科书了，教导教导他们应当避免些什么。"

I felt rather indignant at having two characters whom I had admired treated in this cavalier style.

我听到他把我所钦佩的两个人物说成这样一文不值，心中感到非常恼怒。

I walked over to the window and stood looking out into the busy street.

我便走到窗口，望着热闹的街道。

血字的研究“This fellow may be very clever,” I said to myself,

我自言自语地说："这个人也许非常聪明，

“but he is certainly very conceited⁶.”

但是他却太骄傲自负了。"

“There are no crimes and no criminals in these days,” he said, querulously.

他不满地抱怨着说："这些天来一直没有罪案发生，也没有发现什么罪犯，

“What is the use of having brains in our profession?

干我们这行的人，头脑真是没用了。

I know well that I have it in me to make my name famous.

我深知我的才能足以使我成名。

No man lives or has ever lived who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the detection of crime which I have done.

从古到今，从来没有人象我这样，在侦查罪行上既有天赋又有这样精湛的研究。

And what is the result?

可是结果怎样呢？

There is no crime to detect,

竟没有罪案可以侦查，

or, at most, some bungling⁷ villainy with a motive⁸ so transparent⁹ that even a Scotland Yard official can see through it.”

顶多也不过是些简单幼稚的罪案，犯罪动机浅显易见，就连苏格兰场的人员也能一眼识破。"

I was still annoyed at his bumptious¹⁰ style of conversation.

我对他这种大言不惭的谈话，余怒未息。

I thought it best to change the topic.

我想最好还是换个话题。

“I wonder what that fellow is looking for?” I asked,

"我不知道这个人在找什么？"

pointing to a stalwart, plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down the other side of the street,

我指着一个体格魁伟、衣着朴素的人说。他正在街那边慢慢地走着，

looking anxiously at the numbers.

焦急地寻找着门牌号码。

He had a large blue envelope in his hand, and was evidently the bearer of a message.

他的手中拿着一个蓝色大信封，分明是个送信的人。

“You mean the retired¹¹ sergeant¹² of Marines,” said Sherlock Holmes.

福尔摩斯说："你是说那个退伍的海军陆战队的军曹吗？"

“Brag and bounce!” thought I to myself.

我心中暗暗想道："又在吹牛说大话了。

“He knows that I cannot verify his guess.”

他明知我没法证实他的猜测是否正确。"

The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were watching caught sight of the number on our door,

这个念头还没有从我的脑中消逝，只见我们所观察的那个人看到了我们的门牌号码以后，

and ran rapidly across the roadway.

就从街对面飞快地跑了过来。

We heard a loud knock, a deep voice below, and heavy steps ascending¹⁴ the stair.

只听见一阵急促的敲门声，楼下有人用低沉的声音讲着话，接着楼梯上便响起了沉重的脚步声。

“For Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” he said, stepping into the room and handing my friend the letter.

这个人一走进房来，便把那封信交给了我的朋友。他说："这是给福尔摩斯先生的信。"

Here was an opportunity of taking the conceit⁵ out of him.

这正是把福尔摩斯的傲气挫折一下的好机会。

He little thought of this when he made that random¹⁵ shot.

他方才信口胡说，决没想到会有目前这一步。

“May I ask, my lad,” I said, in the blandest¹⁶ voice,

我尽量用温和的声音说道：

“what your trade may be?”

"小伙子，请问你的职业是什么？"

“Commissionaire, sir,” he said, gruffly.

"我是当差的，先生，"那人粗声粗平地回答说，

“Uniform away for repairs.”

"我的制服修补去了。"

“And you were?” I asked, with a slightly malicious¹⁷ glance at my companion.

"你过去是干什么的？"我一面问他，一面略带恶意地瞟了我同伴一眼。

“A sergeant, sir, Royal Marine¹³ Light Infantry¹⁸, sir. No answer? Right, sir.”

"军曹，先生，我在皇家海军陆战轻步兵队中服务过。先生，没有回信吗？好吧，先生。"

He clicked his heels together, raised his hand in salute¹⁹, and was gone.

他碰了一下脚跟，举手敬礼，然后走了出去。

1 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sardonically   

adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地

参考例句：

• Some say sardonically that combat pay is good and that one can do quite well out of this war. 有些人讽刺地说战地的薪饷很不错，人们可借这次战争赚到很多钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Tu Wei-yueh merely drew himself up and smiled sardonically. 屠维岳把胸脯更挺得直些，微微冷笑。 来自子夜部分

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

5 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

6 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

7 bungling   

adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• You can't do a thing without bungling it. 你做事总是笨手笨脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Enough, too,' retorted George. 'We'll all swing and sundry for your bungling.' “还不够吗？”乔治反问道，“就因为你乱指挥，我们都得荡秋千，被日头晒干。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

8 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

9 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

10 bumptious   

adj.傲慢的

参考例句：

• Some of these secular priests were ignorant,bumptious.那些俗里俗气的神父中有些人一窍不通，自以为是。
• His classmates called him a show-off because of his bumptious airs.由于他老是装出一副自以为是的架势，所以同学们就叫他“自大的夜郎”。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

13 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

14 ascending   

adj.上升的，向上的

参考例句：

• Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。

15 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

16 blandest   

adj.（食物）淡而无味的( bland的最高级 )；平和的；温和的；无动于衷的

参考例句：

17 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

18 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

19 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。