《新福尔摩斯》精讲 74

What do we know about this corpse¹?

我们从尸体上知道了什么

The killer²'s not left us with much,just the shirt and the trousers.

杀手没给我们留下什么线索 除了衬衫和裤子

They'reprettyformal, maybe he was going out for the night.

穿着很正规 他可能是晚上要出门

The trousers are heavy duty.Polyester, nasty, same as the shirt, cheap.

裤子材料是涤纶 很耐穿 和衬衫一样都是便宜的低档货

They're both too big for him.So some kind of standard-issue uniform.

但衣服裤子对他来说都太大 所以应该是某种标准配置的制服

Dressed for work, then. What kind of work?

是工作制服 什么样的工作呢

There's a hook on his belt... for a walkie-talkie.

他皮带上有个机套...放对讲机的

Tube driver?Security guard?

地铁驾驶员吗 保安

More likely.That'll be borne out by his backside.

更有可能 从他后背就看得出来

Backside?!Flabby, you'd think he led a sedentary life.

后背怎么了 后背松弛无力 让人联想到他经常坐着

Yet the soles of his feet and the nascent³ varicose veins⁴ in his legs show otherwise.

但脚掌和新生的小腿静脉曲张却刚好相反

So, a lot of walking anda lot of sitting around.

所以一天到晚不是坐着就是在走路

Security guard's looking good. The watch helps too.

更可能是保安 还有他的手表

The alarm shows he did regular night shifts.

闹铃显示他经常值晚班

Why regular? Maybe he set his alarm like that the night before he died?

怎么知道是经常 也许他只是碰巧在死前一晚设了闹铃

No, no, no. The buttons are stiff, hardly touched.He set his alarm like that a long time ago,his routine never varied⁵.

不不不 按钮都还很僵硬 基本没有动过 他很久以前就设了那个闹铃 工作时间一直没变过

But there's something else.The killer must have been interrupted,otherwise he would have stripped the corpse completely.

但还有别的 杀手肯定是被打断了 要不他会把整个尸体都扒光

There was some kind of badge or insignia on the shirt front that he tore off,

他衬衫前面有个徽章或者标记之类的东西被杀手撕走了

suggesting the dead man works somewhere recognisable,some kind of institution.

说明他是在某个容易辨认的地方工作 应该是某种机构

I found this inside his trouser pockets.Sodden⁶ by the river, but still recognisably...

我在他裤子口袋里找到了这个 被河水完全浸湿了 但还是能依稀辨认出是...

Tickets?Ticket stubs.

门票吗 检票存根

He worked in a museum or gallery. Did a quick check.The Hickman Gallery has reported one of its attendants as missing,Alex Woodbridge.

他在博物馆或者美术馆工作 马上搜索了下 希曼美术馆 报案称有名员工失踪了 叫亚历·伍布里奇

Tonight, they unveil the rediscovered masterpiece.

今晚他们要展出再度重现的大师之作

Now, why would anyone want to pay the Golem to suffocate⁷ a perfectly⁸ ordinary gallery attendant?

现在的问题是 为什么会有人雇格木扼杀一位再普通不过的工作人员呢

Inference, the dead man knew something about it,something that would stop the owner getting paid ￡30 million.

说明死者知道了内幕 会让物主的三千万英镑打水漂

The pictures are fake.

画是赝品

Fantastic.Meretricious⁹.And a Happy New Year.

帅呆了 哗众取宠罢了 难得你还懂得谦虚

Poor sod.

可怜的人

I'd better get my feelers out for this Golem character.

我让手下去找找这位格木先生吧

Pointless, you'll never find him, but I know a man who can.

无用功 你永远找不到他 不过我知道有人可以

Who?Me.

谁 我呗

1 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

4 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

6 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

7 suffocate   

vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展

参考例句：

• If you shut all the windows,I will suffocate.如果你把窗户全部关起来，我就会闷死。
• The stale air made us suffocate.浑浊的空气使我们感到窒息。

8 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。

9 meretricious   

adj.华而不实的，俗艳的

参考例句：

• A wooden building painted to look like marble is meretricious.一座漆得像大理石般的木制建筑物外表是美丽的。
• Her room was painted in meretricious technicolour.她的房间刷着俗艳的颜色。