铜山毛榉案 03对华生文笔的探讨(3)

"The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold to have been novel and of interest."

"结果可能是这样，"我回答说，"但是我所采用的方法是新颖而又饶有趣味的。"

"Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant public,

"啐，我的好朋友，对公众，广大不善于观察的公众来说，

who could hardly tell a weaver¹ by his tooth or a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of analysis and deduction²!

他们根本不可能从一个人的牙齿看出他是一名编织工，或从一个人的左拇指看出他是一名排字工，他们才不会去注意什么是分析和推理的细微区别哩！

But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot blame you, for the days of the great cases are past.

但是，如果你确实写得太繁琐，我也不能责备你，因为作大案的时代已经过去了。

Man, or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality³.

一个人，或至少是一个犯刑事罪的人，已经没有过去的那种冒险的和创新的精神了。

As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating⁴ into an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools.

我自己的小行业，似乎也退化到一家代理处的地步，只办理一些为人家寻找失掉的铅笔，以及替寄宿学校的年轻姑娘们出出主意。

I think that I have touched bottom at last, however.

我想，无论如何，我的事业已经是无可挽回地一落千丈了。

This note I had this morning marks my zero-point, I fancy. Read it!"

今天早上我收到的这张条子，我想，正标志着我的事业的最低点。你读读这个吧！"

He tossed a crumpled⁵ letter across to me.

他将揉成一团的一封信扔过来给我。

It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and ran thus:

这是前天晚上从蒙塔格奇莱斯寄来的，内容如下：

Dear Mr. Holmes: I am very anxious to consult you as to whether I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered to me as governess.

亲爱的福尔摩斯先生：我急切地想找你商量一下关于我应不应该接受人家聘请我当家庭女教师的问题。

I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, Violet Hunter.

如果方便的话，我明天十点三十分来拜访你。你的忠实的维奥莱特·亨特。

"Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "Not I."

"你认识这位年轻的小姐吗？" "我不认识。"

"It is half-past ten now."

"现在已经是十点半了。"

"Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring."

"对，我敢肯定这是她在拉门铃。"

"It may turn out to be of more interest than you think.

"这件事也许比你想象的要有趣得多。

You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to be a mere⁶ whim⁷ at first,

你还记得蓝宝石事件开头的研究好象只不过是一时的兴趣，

developed into a serious investigation⁸. It may be so in this case, also."

后来却发展成为严肃的调查，这件事也许同样如此。"

"Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question."

"唔，但愿如此。我们的疑团很快就会解开，因为要是我没搞错的话，当事人这就来了。"

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 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。

3 originality   

n.创造力，独创性；新颖

参考例句：

• The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
• He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。

4 degenerating   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denied that some young people today were degenerating. 他否认现在某些青年在堕落。
• Young people of today are not degenerating. 今天的青年并没有在变坏。

5 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。

6 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。

7 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。