单身贵族案 01贵族来信(1)（在线收听）

The Noble Bachelor

单身贵族案

The Lord ST. SIMON marriage, and its curious termination,

圣西蒙勋爵的婚事及其奇怪的结局，

have long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves.

长久以来已不再是他这位不幸的新郎与之周旋的上流社会人士所感兴趣的话题了。

Fresh scandals have eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away from this four-year-old drama.

新的丑闻已经使之黯然失色，它们那些更加妙趣横生的细情，已将四年前的这一戏剧性事件推向幕后。

As I have reason to believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to the general public,

然而，由于我有理由认为这件案子的全部真相从未向大众透露过，

and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the matter up,

而我的朋友歇洛克·福尔摩斯又曾为弄清这事件作出过重大贡献，

I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of this remarkable episode.

所以，我觉得如果不对这一很不寻常的事件作一简要的描述，那对他的业绩的记录将是不够完整的。

It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street,

那还是我和福尔摩斯一起住在贝克街的时候，我结婚前几个星期的一天，

that he came home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table waiting for him.

福尔摩斯午后散步回来，看到桌子上有他的一封信。

I had remained indoors all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds,

我整天呆在家里，因为那天突然阴雨绵绵，加上秋风劲吹，

and the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence.

我的胳臂由于残留着作为我当年参加阿富汗战役的纪念品的那颗阿富汗步枪子弹，又隐隐作痛不止。

With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers

我躺在一张安乐椅里，把双腿搭在另一张椅子上，埋头在摆满身边的报纸堆里，

until at last, saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless,

直到最后，脑袋里装满了当天的新闻，我才把报纸丢开，无精打采地躺在那里，

watching the huge crest and monogram upon the envelope upon the table

看着桌子上那封信的信封上端的巨大饰章和交织字母，

and wondering lazily who my friend's noble correspondent could be.

一面懒洋洋地揣度着是哪位贵族给我的朋友写了这封信。