血字的研究 91尾声（2）

"I confess," said I, "that I do not quite follow you."

我说："说老实话，我还不大明白你的意思。"

"I hardly expected that you would. Let me see if I can make it clearer.

"我也很难指望你能够弄得清楚。让我试试看我是否能够把它说得更明确一些。

Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be.

大多数人都是这样的：如果你把一系列的事实对他们说明以后，他们就能把可能的结果告诉你，

They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass.

他们能够把这一系列事实在他们的脑子里联系起来，通过思考，就能得出个什么结果来了。

There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result,

但是，有少数的人，如果你把结果告诉了他们，

would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result.

他们就能通过他们内在的意识，推断出所以产生出这种结果的各个步骤是什么。

This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward, or analytically¹."

这就是在我说到'回溯推理'或者'分析的方法'时，我所指的那种能力。"

"I understand," said I.

我说："我明白了。"

"Now this was a case in which you were given the result and had to find everything else for yourself.

"现在这件案子就是一个例子，你只知道结果，其他一切必须全部你自己去发现了。

Now let me endeavour to show you the different steps in my reasoning.

好，现在让我把我在这个案件中进行推理的各个不同步骤尽量向你说明一下吧。

To begin at the beginning.

我从头说起。

I approached the house, as you know, on foot, and with my mind entirely² free from all impressions.

正如你所知道的一样，我是步行到那座屋子去的。当时，我的思想中丝毫没有先入为主的成见。

I naturally began by examining the roadway, and there, as I have already explained to you,

我自然要先从检查街道着手，就象我已经向你解释过的一样，

I saw clearly the marks of a cab, which, I ascertained³ by inquiry⁴, must have been there during the night.

我在街道上清清楚楚地看到了一辆马车车轮的痕迹。经过研究以后，我确定这个痕迹必定是夜间留下的。

I satisfied myself that it was a cab and not a private carriage by the narrow gauge⁵ of the wheels.

由于车轮之间距离较窄，因此我断定这是一辆出租的四轮马车，而不是自用马车，

The ordinary London growler is considerably⁶ less wide than a gentleman's brougham.

因为伦敦市上通常所有出租的四轮马车都要比自用马车狭窄一些。

"This was the first point gained.

"这就是我观察所得的第一点。

I then walked slowly down the garden path,

接着，我就慢慢地走上了花园中的小路。

which happened to be composed of a clay soil, peculiarly suitable for taking impressions.

碰巧，这条小路是一条粘土路，它特别容易留下迹印。

No doubt it appeared to you to be a mere⁷ trampled⁸ line of slush,

毫无疑问，在你看起来，这条小路只不过是一条被人践踏得一塌胡涂的烂泥路而已。

but to my trained eyes every mark upon its surface had a meaning.

可是，在我这双久经锻炼的眼睛看来，小路上每个痕迹都是有它的意义的。

There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.

侦探学所有各个部门中，再没有比足迹学这一门艺术更重要而又最易被人忽略的了。

Happily, I have always laid great stress upon it, and much practice has made it second nature to me.

幸而我对于这门科学一向是十分重视的；经过多次实践以后，它已成为我的第二天性了。

I saw the heavy footmarks of the constables⁹,

我看到了警察们的沉重的靴印，

but I saw also the track of the two men who had first passed through the garden.

但是我也看到最初经过花园的那两个人的足迹。

It was easy to tell that they had been before the others,

他们的足迹，比其他人的在先，这一点是很容易说明的；

because in places their marks had been entirely obliterated¹⁰ by the others coming upon the top of them.

因为从一些地方可以看出，他们的足印被后来人的足印践踏，已经完全消失了。

In this way my second link was formed, which told me that the nocturnal visitors were two in number,

这样我的第二个环节就构成了。这个环节告诉我，夜间来客一共有两个，

one remarkable¹¹ for his height (as I calculated from the length of his stride),

一个非常高大，这是我从他的步伐长度上推算出来的；

and the other fashionably dressed, to judge from the small and elegant impression left by his boots.

另一个则是衣着入时，这是从他留下的小巧精致的靴印上判断出来的。

1 analytically   

adv.有分析地，解析地

参考例句：

• The final requirement,'significant environmental impact", is analytically more difficult. 最后一个规定“重大的环境影响”，分析起来是比较困难的。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The overwhelming majority of nonlinear differential equations are not soluble analytically. 绝大多数非线性微分方程是不能用解析方法求解的。

2 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。

3 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

6 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

7 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。

8 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

9 constables   

n.警察( constable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn. 警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。 来自辞典例句
• There were also constables appointed to keep the peace. 城里也有被派来维持治安的基层警员。 来自互联网

10 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。