四签名 53贝克街的侦探小队（6）

About twelve o'clock last night, said the Standard

这张《旗帜报》报道道：

Mr. Bartholomew Sholto, of Pondicherry Lodge¹, Upper Norwood,

"昨夜十二时左右，上诺伍德樱沼别墅主人巴索洛谬·舒尔托先生

was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul² play.

在室内身亡，显系被人暗杀。

As far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. Sholto's person,

据本报探悉，死者身上并无伤痕可寻，

but a valuable collection of Indian gems³ which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off.

可是死者所继承他父亲的一批印度宝物却已全部被窃。

The discovery was first made by Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson,

歇洛克·福尔摩斯先生和华生医师首先发现了死者被害

who had called at the house with Mr. Thaddeus Sholto, brother of the deceased.

他们是与死者之弟塞笛厄斯·舒尔托先生同来访问死者的。

By a singular piece of good fortune, Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force,

侥幸彼时警署著名侦探埃瑟尔尼·琼斯先生

happened to be at the Norwood police station and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm.

适在诺伍德警察分署，因此能于惨案发生后半小时内赶到现场主持一切。

His trained and experienced faculties⁴ were at once directed towards the detection of the criminals,

他训练有素，经验丰富，到场不久即已发现线索。

with the gratifying result that the brother, Thaddeus Sholto, has already been arrested,

死者之弟塞笛厄斯·舒尔托因嫌疑重大，已被逮捕。

together with the housekeeper⁵, Mrs. Bernstone, an Indian butler named Lal Rao, and a porter, or gatekeeper, named McMurdo.

同时被捕者尚有女管家博恩斯通太太、印度仆人拉尔·拉奥和看门人麦克默多。

It is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house,

现已证实凶手对于房屋出入路径非常熟悉。

for Mr. Jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation

由于琼斯先生的熟练技术和精密的观察，

have enabled him to prove conclusively⁶ that the miscreants⁷ could not have entered by the door or by the window

已证明凶手既不能由门窗进入室内，

but must have made their way across the roof of the building,

必定是由房间的屋顶

and so through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found.

经过一个暗门潜入尸体被发现的这个房间。

This fact, which has been very clearly made out, proves conclusively that it was no mere⁸ haphazard⁹ burglary.

由这个明显的事实，可以得出结论：这并非普通窃案。

The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and masterful mind.

警署方面的这种及时和负责的处理，说明了在这种情形下，必须有一位老练的官长主持一切，

We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized,

并且说明了对于把全市警署侦探力量分散驻守，

and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate.

以便及时赶到进行侦查的建议，是值得考虑的。"

"Isn't it gorgeous!" said Holmes, grinning over his coffee cup. "What do you think of it?"

福尔摩斯喝着咖啡笑道：“这太伟大了！你的意见如何？"

"I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime."

"我想咱们也险些被指为凶手，遭到逮捕呢。"

"So do I. I wouldn't answer for our safety now if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy."

"我也这么想，只要他又来个灵机一动，到现在还保不住咱们不会被捕呢。"

At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell,

正在这时，门铃大作，

and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our landlady¹⁰, raising her voice in a wail¹¹ of expostulation and dismay.

随后听见我们的房东赫德森太太高声和人争吵。

"By heavens, Holmes," I said, half rising, "I believe that they are really after us."

我半站起来，说道：“天啊！福尔摩斯，这些家伙们真捉咱们来啦！"

"No, it's not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force–the Baker¹² Street irregulars."

"还不至于吧。这是我们的非官方的部队--贝克街的杂牌军来了。"

1 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

2 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

3 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

4 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

6 conclusively   

adv.令人信服地，确凿地

参考例句：

• All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 miscreants   

n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I ordered the miscreants to let me out. 我命令这些土匪放我出去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Local people demanded that the District Magistrate apprehend the miscreants. 当地人要求地方法官逮捕那些歹徒。 来自辞典例句

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 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

10 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

11 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。