血字的研究 92尾声（3）

"On entering the house this last inference was confirmed.

"走进屋子以后，这个推断立刻就得到了证实。

My well- booted man lay before me.

那位穿着漂亮靴子的先生就躺在我的面前。

The tall one, then, had done the murder, if murder there was.

如果这是一件谋杀案子的话，那么那个大高个子就是凶手。

There was no wound upon the dead man's person,

死者身上没有伤痕，

but the agitated¹ expression upon his face assured me that he had foreseen his fate before it came upon him.

但是从他脸上显露出来紧张、激动的表情，却使我深信在他临死之前，他已料到他的命运如何了。

Men who die from heart disease, or any sudden natural cause,

假如是由于心脏病，或者其他突然发生的自然死亡的人，

never by any chance exhibit agitation² upon their features.

在任何情况下，他们的面容上也决不会现出那种紧张激动的表情的。

Having sniffed³ the dead man's lips, I detected a slightly sour smell,

我嗅了一下死者的嘴唇，嗅出有点酸味，

and I came to the conclusion that he had had poison forced upon him.

因此我就得出这样的结论：他是被迫服毒而死的。

Again, I argued that it had been forced upon him from the hatred⁴ and fear expressed upon his face.

此外，从他脸上那种忿恨和害怕的神情看来，我才说他是被迫的。

By the method of exclusion⁵, I had arrived at this result, for no other hypothesis would meet the facts.

我就是利用这种淘汰一切不合理的假设的办法，终于得到了这个结论，因为其他任何假设都不能和这些事实吻合。

Do not imagine that it was a very unheard-of idea.

你不要以为这是闻所未闻的妙论。

The forcible administration of poison is by no means a new thing in criminal annals.

强迫服毒在犯罪年鉴中的记载，绝不是一件新闻，

The cases of Dolsky in Odessa, and of Leturier in Montpellier, will occur at once to any toxicologist.

任何毒物学家都会立刻想到敖德萨的多尔斯基一案和茂姆培利耶的雷吐里耶一案的。

"And now came the great question as to the reason why.

"现在要谈谈' 为什么' 这个大问题了。

Robbery had not been the object of the murder, for nothing was taken.

谋杀的目的并不是为了抢劫，因为死者身上一点东西也没有短少。

Was it politics, then, or was it a woman?

那么，这是一件政治性案件呢，还是一件情杀案呢？

That was the question which confronted me.

这就是我当时面临着的问题了。

I was inclined from the first to the latter supposition.

我的想法比较是侧重后一个。

Political assassins are only too glad to do their work and to fly.

因为在政治暗杀中，凶手一经得手，势必立即逃走。

This murder had, on the contrary, been done most deliberately⁶,

可是这件谋杀案恰恰相反，干得非常从容不迫，

and the perpetrator had left his tracks all over the room, showing that he had been there all the time.

而且凶手还在屋子里到处留下了他的足迹。这就说明，他自始至终一直是在现场的。

It must have been a private wrong, and not a political one,

因此，这就一定是一件仇杀案，而不是什么政治性的，

which called for such a methodical revenge.

只有仇杀案才需要采取这样处心积虑的报复手段的。

When the inscription⁷ was discovered upon the wall, I was more inclined than ever to my opinion.

当墙上的血字被发现后，我对我自己的这个见解也就更加深信不疑了。

The thing was too evidently a blind.

这是故布疑阵，一望便知。

1 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

2 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

3 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

5 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

7 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。