血字的研究 14劳瑞斯顿花园街的惨案(2)

"Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders," my friend remarked;

我的朋友说道："葛莱森在伦敦警察厅中不愧是首屈一指的能干人物。

"he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot.

他和雷斯垂德都算是那一群蠢货之中的佼佼者。

They are both quick and energetic, but conventional–shockingly so.

他们两人也称得起是眼明手快、机警干练了，但都因循守旧，而且守旧得厉害。

They have their knives into one another, too.

他们彼此明枪暗箭、勾心斗角，

They are as jealous as a pair of professional beauties.

就象两个卖笑妇人似的多猜善妒。

There will be some fun over this case if they are both put upon the scent¹."

如果这两个人都插手这件案子的话，那就一定会闹出笑话来的。"

I was amazed at the calm way in which he rippled² on.

看到福尔摩斯还在不慌不忙、若无其事地侃侃而谈，我非常惊讶。

"Surely there is not a moment to be lost," I cried;

因此我大声叫道："真是一分钟也不能耽误了，

"shall I go and order you a cab?"

要我给你雇辆马车来吗？"

"I'm not sure about whether I shall go.

"连去不去我还没有肯定呢。

I am the most incurably³ lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather–that is, when the fit is on me, for I can be spry enough at times."

我确实是世界上少有的懒鬼，可是，那只是当我的懒劲儿上来的时候才这样，因为有时我也非常敏捷哩。"

"Why, it is just such a chance as you have been longing⁴ for."

"什么？这不正是你一直盼望着的机会吗？"

"My dear fellow, what does it matter to me?

"亲爱的朋友，这和我又有什么关系呢？

Supposing I unravel⁵ the whole matter, you may be sure that Gregson, Lestrade, and Co.will pocket all the credit.

我如果把这件案子全盘解决了，肯定地说，葛莱森和雷斯垂德这一帮人是会把全部功劳归为己有的。

That comes of being an unofficial personage."

这是因为我是个非官方人士的缘故。"

"But he begs you to help him."

"但是他现在是求助于你呀。"

"Yes. He knows that I am his superior, and acknowledges it to me;

"是的。他知道我胜他一筹，当我面他也会承认；

but he would cut his tongue out before he would own it to any third person.

但是，他宁愿割掉他的舌头，也决不愿在任何第三者的面前承认这一点。

However, we may as well go and have a look. I shall work it out on my own hook.

虽然如此，咱们还是可以瞧瞧去。我可以自己单干，一个人破案。

I may have a laugh at them, if I have nothing else. Come on!" 、

即使我得不到什么，也可以嘲笑他们一番。走罢！"

He hustled⁶ on his overcoat, and bustled⁷ about in a way that showed that an energetic fit had superseded⁸ the apathetic⁹ one.

他披上大衣，那种匆忙的样子说明他跃跃欲试的心情已压倒了无动于衷和消极冷淡的一面。

"Get your hat," he said.

他说："戴上你的帽子。"

"You wish me to come?"

"你希望我也去吗？"

"Yes, if you have nothing better to do."

"是的，如果你没有别的事情要做的话。"

A minute later we were both in a hansom, driving furiously for the Brixton Road.

一分钟以后，我们就坐上了一辆马车，急急忙忙地向布瑞克斯顿路驶去。

It was a foggy, cloudy morning, and a dun-coloured veil hung over the housetops,

这是一个阴霾多雾的早晨，屋顶上笼罩着一层灰褐色的帷幔，

looking like the reflection of the mud-coloured streets beneath.

恰似下面泥泞街道的反映。

My companion was in the best of spirits,

我同伴的兴致很高，

and prattled¹⁰ away about Cremona fiddles¹¹ and the difference between a Stradivarius and an Amati.

喋喋不休地大谈意大利克里莫纳出产的提琴以及斯特莱迪瓦利提琴与阿玛蒂提琴之间的区别，

As for myself, I was silent,

而我却一言不发，静悄悄地听着，

for the dull weather and the melancholy¹² business upon which we were engaged depressed¹³ my spirits.

因为沉闷的天气和这种令人伤感的任务使我的情绪非常消沉。

"You don't seem to give much thought to the matter in hand," I said at last, interrupting Holmes's musical disquisition.

最后我终于打断了福尔摩斯在音乐方面的议论，我说："你似乎不大考虑眼前的这件案子。"

"No data yet," he answered.

他回答说："还没有材料哪。

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases¹⁴ the judgment¹⁵."

没有掌握全部证据之前，先作出假设来，这是绝大的错误。那样就会使判断产生气差。"

"You will have your data soon," I remarked, pointing with my finger;

"你很快就可以得到材料了。"我一面说，一面用手指着前面，

"this is the Brixton Road, and that is the house, if I am not very much mistaken."

"若是我没弄错的话，这就是布瑞克斯顿路，那里就是出事所在的房子。"

"So it is. Stop, driver, stop!"

"正是。停下，车夫，快停车！"

We were still a hundred yards or so from it,

我们离那所房子还有一百码左右，

but he insisted upon our alighting, and we finished our journey upon foot.

他就坚持要下车，剩下的一段路，我们就步行。

1 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。

2 rippled   

使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
• The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田，泛起一片麦浪。

3 incurably   

ad.治不好地

参考例句：

• But young people are incurably optimistic and women have a special knack of forgetting their troubles. 可是青年人，永远朝着愉快的事情想，女人们尤其容易忘记那些不痛快。
• For herself she wanted nothing. For father and myself she was incurably ambitious. 她为她自己并无所求，可为父亲和我，却有着无法遏制的野心。

4 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

5 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

6 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

7 bustled   

闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促

参考例句：

• She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
• The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。

8 superseded   

[医]被代替的，废弃的

参考例句：

• The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
• The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。

9 apathetic   

adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

参考例句：

• I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。
• You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

10 prattled   

v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的过去式和过去分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯

参考例句：

• She prattled on about her children all evening. 她整个晚上没完没了地唠叨她的孩子们的事。
• The water prattled over the rocks. 水在石上淙淙地流过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 fiddles   

n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 )；欺诈；（需要运用手指功夫的）细巧活动；当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddles with his papers on the table. 他抚弄着桌子上那些报纸。 来自辞典例句
• The annual Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life celebrates hands-hands plucking guitars and playing fiddles. 一年一度的美国民间的“史密斯索尼安节”是赞美人的双手的节日--弹拔吉他的手，演奏小提琴的手。 来自辞典例句

12 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

13 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

14 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。