四签名 51贝克街的侦探小队（4）

"The main thing with people of that sort," said Holmes as we sat in the sheets of the wherry,

坐到船上以后，福尔摩斯道：“和这种人讲话，

"is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you.

最要紧的是不要叫他们知道他们所说的消息是与你有关的，

If you do they will instantly shut up like an oyster¹.

否则他们马上就会绝口不言。

If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely to get what you want."

假若你用话逗引着，你就会得到你所要知道的事了。"

"Our course now seems pretty clear," said I.

我道：“咱们应当采取的步骤已经很清楚了。"

"What would you do, then?"

"你想应当采取什么步骤呢？"

"I would engage a launch and go down the river on the track of the Aurora²."

"雇一只汽船到下游去寻找'曙光'号。"

"My dear fellow, it would be a colossal³ task.

"我的好伙计，你这个办法太费事啦。

She may have touched at any wharf⁴ on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich.

这只船可能靠在从这里到格林威治的两岸任何一个码头上。

Below the bridge there is a perfect labyrinth⁵ of landing-places for miles.

桥那边几十里内全是停泊的地方。

It would take you days and days to exhaust them if you set about it alone."

如果你一个一个地去找，不知要用多少日子呢？"

"Employ the police, then."

"那么请警察协助？"

"No. I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment.

"不，在最后的紧要的关头我也许会把埃瑟尔尼·琼斯叫来。

He is not a bad fellow, and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally.

他这个人还不错，我也不愿意影响他的职务。

But I have a fancy for working it out myself, now that we have gone so far."

咱们已经侦察到这个地步，我很想自己单独干下去。"

"Could we advertise, then, asking for information from wharfingers?"

"咱们可不可以在报纸上登广告，以便从码头主人那里得到'曙光'号的消息呢？"

"Worse and worse!

"那更糟了！

Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels, and they would be off out of the country.

这样一来匪徒们就会知道咱们正在追寻他们，他们就要赶快离开英国了，

As it is, they are likely enough to leave,

就是现在他们也未尝不想离境远走呢。

but as long as they think they are perfectly⁶ safe they will be in no hurry.

可是在他们还以为是安全的时候，他们就不急于快走。

Jones's energy will be of use to us there,

琼斯的行动对于咱们在这方面是有利的。

for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press,

因为他的意见在报纸上每天全可以看见，

and the runaways⁷ will think that everyone is off on the wrong scent⁸."

这些匪徒会认为大家都在向错误方向侦察，他们可以苟安一时呢。"

"What are we to do, then?" I asked as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary⁹.

当我们在密尔班克监狱门前下船时，我问道：“究竟咱们怎么办呢？"

"Take this hansom, drive home, have some breakfast, and get an hour's sleep.

"现在咱们坐这部车子回去，吃些早餐，睡一个钟头，

It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to-night again.

说不定今晚咱们还得跑路呢。

Stop at a telegraph office, cabby! We will keep Toby, for he may be of use to us yet."

车夫，请在电报局停一停。我们暂时留一留透比，以后或者还要用它。"

1 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

4 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

5 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 runaways   

（轻而易举的）胜利( runaway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They failed to find any trace of the runaways. 他们未能找到逃跑者的任何踪迹。
• Unmanageable complexity can result in massive foul-ups or spectacular budget "runaways. " 这种失控的复杂性会造成大量的故障或惊人的预算“失控”。

8 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

9 penitentiary   

n.感化院；监狱

参考例句：

• He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
• While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候，她的父亲死了，家庭就拆散了。