血字的研究 40一线光明(4)

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.

福尔摩斯认真的态度已经使我们深信不疑了，我们都静静地坐在那里，留心地看着那只狗，并期待着某种惊人的结果发生。

None such appeared, however.

但是，什么特别现象也没有发生，

The dog continued to lie stretched upon the cushion, breathing in a laboured way, but apparently¹ neither the better nor the worse for its draught².

这只狗依旧躺在垫子上，吃力地呼吸着。很明显，药丸对它既没有什么好处，可也没有什么坏的影响。

Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without result, an expression of the utmost chagrin³ and disappointment appeared upon his features.

福尔摩斯早已掏出表来瞧着，时间一分钟一分钟地过去了，可是毫无结果，他的脸上显得极端懊恼和失望。

He gnawed⁴ his lip, drummed his fingers upon the table, and showed every other symptom of acute impatience⁵.

他咬着嘴唇，手指敲着桌子，表现出十分焦急的样子。

So great was his emotion that I felt sincerely sorry for him, while the two detectives smiled derisively⁶, by no means displeased⁷ at this check which he had met.

他的情绪极为激动，我的心中也不由得替他难过。可是这两位官方侦探的脸上却显出讥讽的微笑，他们很高兴看到福尔摩斯受到了挫折。

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

"这不可能是偶然的事，"福尔摩斯终于大声地说出话来，一面站了起来，在室内情绪烦躁地走来走去，

"it is impossible that it should be a mere⁸ coincidence.

"绝不可能仅仅是由于巧合。

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

在锥伯一案中我疑心会有某种药丸，现在这种药丸在斯坦节逊死后真的发现了。

And yet they are inert⁹. What can it mean? Surely my whole chain of reasoning cannot have been false. It is impossible!

但是它们竟然不起作用。究竟是怎么一回事？肯定地说，我所做的一系列的推论绝不可能发生谬误！绝不可能！

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

但是这个可怜的东西并没有吃出毛病来。哦，我明白了！我明白了！"

With a perfect shriek¹⁰ of delight he rushed to the box, cut the other pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it to the terrier.

福尔摩斯高兴地尖叫了一声，跑到药盒前，取出另外一粒，把它切成两半，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,

这个不幸的小动物甚至连舌头还没有完全沾湿，它的四条腿便痉挛颤抖起来，

and lay as rigid¹¹ and lifeless as if it had been struck by lightning.

然后就象被雷电击毙一样，直挺挺地死去了。

Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath, and wiped the perspiration¹² from his forehead.

福尔摩斯长长地吁了一口气，擦了擦额头上的汗珠。

"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 deductions¹³, it invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation¹⁴.

"我的信心还不够坚强；刚才我就应当体会到，如果一个情节似乎和一系列的推论相矛盾，那么，这个情节必定有其他某种解释方法。

Of the two pills in that box, one was of the most deadly poison, and the other was entirely¹⁵ harmless.

那个小匣里的两粒药丸，一粒是烈性的毒药，另外一粒则完全无毒。

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

其实在我没有看到这个小盒子以前，早就应该推论到的。"

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

我认为，福尔摩斯最后所说的这段话过于惊人，很难使人相信他是神智清醒的。

There was the dead dog, however, to prove that his conjecture¹⁶ had been correct.

但是死狗又明明地摆在眼前，证明他的推断是正确的。

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.

我似乎觉得我脑子里的疑云已逐渐消失，我开始对于案子的真象有了隐隐约约的认识。

"All this seems strange to you," continued Holmes, "because you failed at the beginning of the inquiry¹⁷ to grasp the importance of the single real clue which was presented to you.

福尔摩斯继续说道："这一切你们听来似乎都觉得奇怪，因为你们在开始侦查的时候，就没有领悟到摆在你们面前的那个惟一正确线索的重要性。

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.

我幸而抓住了这个线索，此后所发生的每件事都足以用来证实我最初的设想，这些事也确是逻辑的必然结果。

Hence things which have perplexed¹⁸ you and made the case more obscure have served to enlighten me and to strengthen my conclusions.

因此，那些使你们大惑不解并且使案情更加模糊不清的事物，却会对我有所启发，并且能加强我的论断。

It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery.

把奇怪和神秘混为一谈，这是错误的。

The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious, because it presents no new or special features from which deductions may be drawn¹⁹.

最平淡无奇的犯罪行为往往却是最神秘的，因为它看不出有什么新奇或特别的地方，足以作为推理的根据。

This murder would have been infinitely²⁰ more difficult to unravel²¹ had the body of the victim been simply found lying in the roadway without any of those outré and sensational²² accompaniments which have rendered it remarkable²³.

如果这个案子里被害者的尸体是在大路上发现的，而且又没有任何使这个案子显得突出的那些超出常轨和骇人听闻的情节，那么，这个谋杀案解决起来就要困难得多了。

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

所以说，情节奇特不但丝毫没有增加解决案子的困难，反而使办案的困难减少了。"

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

3 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

4 gnawed   

咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• His attitude towards her gnawed away at her confidence. 他对她的态度一直在削弱她的自尊心。
• The root of this dead tree has been gnawed away by ants. 这棵死树根被蚂蚁唼了。

5 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

6 derisively   

adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
• The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。

7 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

10 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

11 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

12 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

13 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

14 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

17 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

18 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

21 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。

22 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

23 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。