四签名 60线索的中断（4）

"That is satisfactory so far as it goes," thought I.

我想：这还算令人满意，

"Friend Sholto is safe, at any rate.

我们的朋友舒尔托总算是恢复自由了。

I wonder what the fresh clue may be,

新的线索是什么呢？

though it seems to be a stereotyped¹ form whenever the police have made a blunder."

这好象仍是警署方面掩饰错误的老派头。

I tossed the paper down upon the table,

我把报纸扔到桌上，

but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column.

目光忽然又被报上寻人栏里面的一段小广告吸引住了。

It ran in this way: LOST–Whereas Mordecai Smith, boatman, and his son Jim,

广告文曰："寻人：船主茂迪凯·斯密司及其长子吉姆

left Smith's Wharf² at or about three o'clock last Tuesday morning in the steam launch Aurora³,

在星期二清晨三时左右乘汽船'曙光'号离开斯密司码头，至今未归。

black with two red stripes, funnel⁴ black with a white band,

'曙光'号船身黑色，有红线两条，烟囱黑色，有白线一道。

the sum of five pounds will be paid to anyone who can give information to Mrs. Smith,

如有知茂迪凯·斯密司与其船'曙光'号的下落者，

at Smith's Wharf, or at 221B, Baker⁵ Street, as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora.

请向斯密司码头斯密司太太或贝克街221号乙报信，当酬谢金币五镑。"

This was clearly Holmes's doing.

这个小广告显然是福尔摩斯登的，

The Baker Street address was enough to prove that.

贝克街的住址就足以证明了。

It struck me as rather ingenious because it might be read by the fugitives⁶

我以为这个广告的措辞非常巧妙，因为即使匪徒们看到了，

without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband.

也会认为那不过是一个瓶子寻找丈夫的普通广告，并看不出其中的隐秘。

It was a long day.

这一天过得真慢。

Every time that a knock came to the door or a sharp step passed in the street,

每次听到敲门的声音或是街上沉重的脚步声音，

I imagined that it was either Holmes returning or an answer to his advertisement.

我都以为是福尔摩斯或者是看见广告来报信的人来了。

I tried to read, but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest

我试着看书，但是精神不能集中，

and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing.

思想总是跑到我们所追踪的那两个奇怪的匪徒身上去。

Could there be, I wondered, some radical⁷ flaw in my companion's reasoning?

有时我还这样想：会不会是福尔摩斯的理论发生了基本的错误？

Might he not be suffering from some huge self-deception?

他是不是犯了严重的自欺病？

Was it not possible that his nimble and speculative⁸ mind had built up this wild theory upon faulty premises⁹?

会不会是由于这些证据不够真实，他臆断错了？

I had never known him to be wrong,

我从没有看见过他的工作发生错误，

and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally be deceived.

可是智者千虑必有一失，

He was likely, I thought, to fall into error through the over-refinement of his logic¹⁰

我想或者可能因为他的自信力太强了，

his preference for a subtle and bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand.

把一个平淡的问题反而看成一个极复杂极离奇的疑案，以致一误再误？

Yet, on the other hand, I had myself seen the evidence,

可是回过来一想，这些证据又是我亲眼所见的，

and I had heard the reasons for his deductions¹¹.

他的推断的理由我也听见过的。

When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances,

再看一看这一连串的奇怪事实，

many of them trivial in themselves but all tending in the same direction,

虽然其中有的是无关重要的，可是全部都指明了同一方向。

I could not disguise from myself

我不得不承认，

that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling.

纵然就是福尔摩斯的理解真是错误了，这案子本身也必定是异乎寻常的费解。

1 stereotyped   

adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的

参考例句：

• There is a sameness about all these tales. They're so stereotyped -- all about talented scholars and lovely ladies. 这些书就是一套子，左不过是些才子佳人，最没趣儿。
• He is the stereotyped monster of the horror films and the adventure books, and an obvious (though not perhaps strictly scientific) link with our ancestral past. 它们是恐怖电影和惊险小说中的老一套的怪物，并且与我们的祖先有着明显的（虽然可能没有科学的）联系。

2 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

3 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

4 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

5 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。

6 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

9 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

10 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

11 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。