福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第40期:一線光明(4)

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Sherlock Holmes's earnest demeanour had so far convinced us that we all sat in silence, watching the animal intently, and expecting some startling effect.

福爾摩斯認真的態(tài)度已經(jīng)使我們深信不疑了，我們都靜靜地坐在那里，留心地看著那只狗，并期待著某種驚人的結(jié)果發(fā)生。

None such appeared, however.

但是，什么特別現(xiàn)象也沒有發(fā)生，

The dog continued to lie stretched upon the cushion, breathing in a laboured way, but apparently neither the better nor the worse for its draught.

這只狗依舊躺在墊子上，吃力地呼吸著。很明顯，藥丸對它既沒有什么好處，可也沒有什么壞的影響。

Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without result, an expression of the utmost chagrin and disappointment appeared upon his features.

福爾摩斯早已掏出表來瞧著，時間一分鐘一分鐘地過去了，可是毫無結(jié)果，他的臉上顯得極端懊惱和失望。

He gnawed his lip, drummed his fingers upon the table, and showed every other symptom of acute impatience.

他咬著嘴唇，手指敲著桌子，表現(xiàn)出十分焦急的樣子。

So great was his emotion that I felt sincerely sorry for him, while the two detectives smiled derisively, by no means displeased at this check which he had met.

他的情緒極為激動，我的心中也不由得替他難過。可是這兩位官方偵探的臉上卻顯出譏諷的微笑，他們很高興看到福爾摩斯受到了挫折。

"It can't be a coincidence," he cried, at last springing from his chair and pacing wildly up and down the room;

"這不可能是偶然的事，"福爾摩斯終于大聲地說出話來，一面站了起來，在室內(nèi)情緒煩躁地走來走去，

"it is impossible that it should be a mere coincidence.

"絕不可能僅僅是由于巧合。

The very pills which I suspected in the case of Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson.

在錐伯一案中我疑心會有某種藥丸，現(xiàn)在這種藥丸在斯坦節(jié)遜死后真的發(fā)現(xiàn)了。

And yet they are inert. What can it mean? Surely my whole chain of reasoning cannot have been false. It is impossible!

但是它們竟然不起作用。究竟是怎么一回事？肯定地說，我所做的一系列的推論絕不可能發(fā)生謬誤！絕不可能！

And yet this wretched dog is none the worse. Ah, I have it! I have it!"

但是這個可憐的東西并沒有吃出毛病來。哦，我明白了！我明白了！"

With a perfect shriek of delight he rushed to the box, cut the other pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it to the terrier.

福爾摩斯高興地尖叫了一聲，跑到藥盒前，取出另外一粒，把它切成兩半，把半粒溶在水里，加上牛奶，放在狗的面前。

The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to have been moistened in it before it gave a convulsive shiver in every limb,

這個不幸的小動物甚至連舌頭還沒有完全沾濕，它的四條腿便痙攣顫抖起來，

and lay as rigid and lifeless as if it had been struck by lightning.

然后就象被雷電擊斃一樣，直挺挺地死去了。

Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath, and wiped the perspiration from his forehead.

福爾摩斯長長地吁了一口氣，擦了擦額頭上的汗珠。

"I should have more faith," he said; "I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions, it invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation.

"我的信心還不夠堅強；剛才我就應當體會到，如果一個情節(jié)似乎和一系列的推論相矛盾，那么，這個情節(jié)必定有其他某種解釋方法。

Of the two pills in that box, one was of the most deadly poison, and the other was entirely harmless.

那個小匣里的兩粒藥丸，一粒是烈性的毒藥，另外一粒則完全無毒。

I ought to have known that before ever I saw the box at all."

其實在我沒有看到這個小盒子以前，早就應該推論到的。"

This last statement appeared to me to be so startling that I could hardly believe that he was in his sober senses.

我認為，福爾摩斯最后所說的這段話過于驚人，很難使人相信他是神智清醒的。

There was the dead dog, however, to prove that his conjecture had been correct.

但是死狗又明明地擺在眼前，證明他的推斷是正確的。

It seemed to me that the mists in my own mind were gradually clearing away, and I began to have a dim, vague perception of the truth.

我似乎覺得我腦子里的疑云已逐漸消失，我開始對于案子的真象有了隱隱約約的認識。

"All this seems strange to you," continued Holmes, "because you failed at the beginning of the inquiry to grasp the importance of the single real clue which was presented to you.

福爾摩斯繼續(xù)說道："這一切你們聽來似乎都覺得奇怪，因為你們在開始偵查的時候，就沒有領(lǐng)悟到擺在你們面前的那個惟一正確線索的重要性。

I had the good fortune to seize upon that, and everything which has occurred since then has served to confirm my original supposition, and, indeed, was the logical sequence of it.

我幸而抓住了這個線索，此后所發(fā)生的每件事都足以用來證實我最初的設(shè)想，這些事也確是邏輯的必然結(jié)果。

Hence things which have perplexed you and made the case more obscure have served to enlighten me and to strengthen my conclusions.

因此，那些使你們大惑不解并且使案情更加模糊不清的事物，卻會對我有所啟發(fā)，并且能加強我的論斷。

It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.

把奇怪和神秘混為一談，這是錯誤的。

The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious, because it presents no new or special features from which deductions may be drawn.

最平淡無奇的犯罪行為往往卻是最神秘的，因為它看不出有什么新奇或特別的地方，足以作為推理的根據(jù)。

This murder would have been infinitely more difficult to unravel had the body of the victim been simply found lying in the roadway without any of those outré and sensational accompaniments which have rendered it remarkable.

如果這個案子里被害者的尸體是在大路上發(fā)現(xiàn)的，而且又沒有任何使這個案子顯得突出的那些超出常軌和駭人聽聞的情節(jié)，那么，這個謀殺案解決起來就要困難得多了。

These strange details, far from making the case more difficult, have really had the effect of making it less so."

所以說，情節(jié)奇特不但絲毫沒有增加解決案子的困難，反而使辦案的困難減少了。"