证券经纪人的书记员02

“Ha! nothing could be better,” said Holmes, leaning back in his chair and looking keenly at me from under his half-closed lids. “I perceive that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little trying.”

“I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it.”

“So you have. You look remarkably¹ robust².”

“How, then, did you know of it?”

“My dear fellow, you know my methods.”

“You deduced it, then?”

“Certainly.”

“And from what?”

“From your slippers³.”

I glanced down at the new patent-leathers which I was wearing. “How on earth —” I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was asked.

“Your slippers are new,” he said. “You could not have had them more than a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment presenting to me are slightly scorched⁴. For a moment I thought they might have got wet and been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small circular wafer of paper with the shopman’s hieroglyphics⁵ upon it. Damp would of course have removed this. You had, then, been sitting with your feet outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a June as this if he were in his full health.”

Like all Holmes’s reasoning the thing seemed simplicity⁶ itself when it was once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile had a tinge⁷ of bitterness.

“I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain.” said he. “Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come to Birmingham, then?”

“Certainly. What is the case?”

“You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a four-wheeler. Can you come at once?”

“In an instant.” I scribbled⁸ a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the doorstep.

“哈！这再好也没有了！”福尔摩斯向后仰靠在椅子上，眯缝着双眼敏锐地望着我，”我发现你最近一定身一体不好，夏天感冒总是有点令人讨厌的。”

“上星期我得了重感冒，三天没有出门。可是，我想我现在已经完全好了。”

“这一点不错，你看起来很壮实。”

“那么，你怎么知道我生过病呢？”

“我亲一爱一的伙计，你是知道我的方法的。”

“那么，又靠你的推理法了。”

“一点也不错。”

“从何说起呢？”

“从你的拖鞋上。”

我低头看了看我脚上穿的那双新漆皮拖鞋，“你究竟是怎样……”我开始说，可是福尔摩斯没等我问完就先开了口。

“你的拖鞋是新的，”他说道，“你买来还不到几个星期。可是我看那冲向我这边的鞋底已经烧焦了。起初我以为是沾了水后在火上烘干时烧焦的。可是鞋面上有个小圆纸起，上面写着店员的代号。如果鞋子沾过水，这代号纸片早该掉了。所以你一定是依炉伸脚烤火烤焦了鞋底。一个人要是无病无灾，即使在六月份这样潮一湿的天气，他也不会轻易去烤火的。”

就象福尔摩斯的所有推理一样，事情一经解释，本身看来非常简单。他从我脸上看出了我的想法，笑了起来，但却有些挖苦的意味。

“恐怕我这么一解释，就泄露了天机，”他说道，“只讲结果不讲原因反而会给人留下更深的印象。那么，你是准备到伯明翰去了？”

“当然了。这件案子是怎么一回事？”

“到火车上我把这一切讲给你听。我的委托人在外面四轮马车上等着。你能马上走吧？”

“稍等一等，”我急匆匆地给邻人写了一条便条，跑上楼去向我妻子说明了一下，到门外石阶上赶上了福尔摩斯。

1 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

2 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

3 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

4 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

5 hieroglyphics   

n.pl.象形文字

参考例句：

• Hieroglyphics are carved into the walls of the temple. 寺庙的墙壁上刻着象形文字。
• His writing is so bad it just looks like hieroglyphics to me. 他写的糟透了，对我来说就像天书一样。

6 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

7 tinge   

vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息

参考例句：

• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
• There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。

8 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。