四签名 04演绎法的研究（4）

"My practice has extended recently to the Continent," said Holmes after a while, filling up his old brier-root pipe.

停了一会，福尔摩斯装满了烟斗，慢慢说道："最近我的业务已经发展到欧洲大陆了。

"I was consulted last week by Francois le Villard, who, as you probably know,

上星期就有一个叫做福朗斯瓦·勒·维亚尔的人来向我请教，你也许知道，

has come rather to the front lately in the French detective service.

这个人在法国侦探界里最近已崭露头角。

He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition,

他具有凯尔特民族的敏感性，

but he is deficient¹ in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art.

可是缺乏提高他的技术所必需的广泛学识。

The case was concerned with a will and possessed² some features of interest.

他所请教的是有关一件遗嘱的案子，很有趣味。

I was able to refer him to two parallel cases,

我介绍了两个相似的案情给他作参考：

the one at Riga in 1857, and the other at St. Louis in 1871, which have suggested to him the true solution.

一件是一八五七年里加城的案件，另一件是一八七一年圣路易城的那个案子。这两个案情给他指明了破案的途径。

Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance."

这就是今天早晨接到的他的致谢信。"

He tossed over, as he spoke³, a crumpled⁴ sheet of foreign notepaper.

说着他就把一张弄皱的外国信纸递给了我。

I glanced my eyes down it, catching⁵ a profusion⁶ of notes of admiration⁷,

我看了看，信里夹杂着许多恭维话，

with stray magnifiques, coup-de-matres and tours-de-force, all testifying to the ardent⁸ admiration of the Frenchman.

充满了"伟大"，"高超的手段"，"有力的行动"等等表示这位法国人的热情、景仰和称赞的话。

"He speaks as a pupil to his master," said I.

我道："他象是个在和老师讲话的小学生。"

"Oh, he rates my assistance too highly," said Sherlock Holmes lightly.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯轻轻地说道："啊，他把我所给他的帮助估价过高了，

"He has considerable gifts himself.

他自己也有相当的才能呢。

He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective.

一个理想的侦探家所必备的条件，他大半都有。

He has the power of observation and that of deduction⁹.

他有观察和推断的能力，只是缺乏学识，

He is only wanting in knowledge, and that may come in time.

这个，他将来还是可以得到的。

He is now translating my small works into French."

他现在正在把我的几篇短作译成法文。"

"Your works?"

"你的作品？"

"Oh, didn't you know?" he cried, laughing.

他笑道："你不知道吗？

"Yes, I have been guilty of several monographs¹¹. They are all upon technical subjects.

很惭愧，我写过几篇专论，全是技术方面的。

Here, for example, is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos.'

你记得不记得那一篇：'论各种烟灰的辨认' 。

In it I enumerate¹² a hundred and forty forms of cigar, cigarette, and pipe tobacco,

在那里面，我举出了一百四十种雪茄烟、纸烟、烟斗丝的烟灰，

with coloured plates illustrating¹³ the difference in the ash.

还用彩色的插图说明各种烟灰的区别。

It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials,

这是在刑事案件审判中常常出现的证据，

and which is sometimes of supreme¹⁴ importance as a clue.

有时甚至是全案最重要的线索。

If you can say definitely, for example, that some murder had been done by a man who was smoking an Indian lunkah,

譬如说你能确定在一个谋杀案里的凶手是吸印度雪茄烟的，

it obviously narrows your field of search.

这样，显然就把你的侦查范围缩小了。

To the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye

印度雪茄烟的黑灰和'鸟眼'烟的白灰的不同，在训练有素的人看来，

as there is between a cabbage and a potato."

就如同白菜和马铃薯的区别一样的分明。"

"You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae," I remarked.

我道："你对审查细微的事物确实具有特殊的才能。"

"I appreciate their importance.

"我感觉到了它们的重要性。

Here is my monograph¹⁰ upon the tracing of footsteps,

这就是我写的关于跟踪脚印的专论，

with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses.

里边还提到使用熟石膏保存脚印的方法。

Here, too, is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand,

这里还有一篇新奇的小论文，说明一个人的职业可以影响到他的手形，

with lithotypes of the hands of slaters, sailors, cork-cutters, compositors, weavers¹⁵, and diamond-polishers.

附有石工、水手、木刻工人、排字工人、织布工人和磨钻石工人的手形插图。

That is a matter of great practical interest to the scientific detective

这些对于科学的侦探术是有很大的实际意义的。

especially in cases of unclaimed bodies, or in discovering the antecedents of criminals.

特别是在遇有无名尸体的案件和探索罪犯身分等时都有用处。

But I weary you with my hobby."

噢，我只顾谈我的嗜好，使你心烦了吧？"

1 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

2 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 profusion   

n.挥霍；丰富

参考例句：

• He is liberal to profusion.他挥霍无度。
• The leaves are falling in profusion.落叶纷纷。

7 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

8 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

9 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

10 monograph   

n.专题文章，专题著作

参考例句：

• This monograph belongs to the category of serious popular books.这本专著是一本较高深的普及读物。
• It's a monograph you wrote six years ago.这是你六年前写的的专论。

11 monographs   

n.专著，专论( monograph的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The scholarly monographs were published as pamphlet. 学术专著是以小册子形式出版的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Subsequent individual monographs will proceed at increasing levels of sophistication. 此后几集将继续提高论述水平。 来自辞典例句

12 enumerate   

v.列举，计算，枚举，数

参考例句：

• The heroic deeds of the people's soldiers are too numerous to enumerate.人民子弟兵的英雄事迹举不胜举。
• Its applications are too varied to enumerate.它的用途不胜枚举。

13 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。