证券经纪人的书记员01（在线收听）

Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the Paddington district.  Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it, had at one time an excellent general  practice; but his age, and an affliction of the nature of St. Vitus’s dance  from which he suffered, had very much thinned it. The public not unnaturally  goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole, and  looks askance at the curative powers of the man whose own case is beyond the  reach of his drugs. Thus as my predecessor weakened his practice declined, until  when I purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more than  three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my own youth and energy and  was convinced that in a very few years the concern would be as flourishing as  ever.

For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely at work  and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy to visit Baker  Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon professional business. I  was surprised, therefore, when, one morning in June, as I sat reading the  British Medical Journal after breakfast, I heard a ring at the bell, followed by  the high, somewhat strident tones of my old companion’s voice.

“Ah, my dear Watson,” said he, striding into the room, “I am very delighted  to see you! I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered from all the little  excitements connected with our adventure of the Sign of Four.”

“Thank you, we are both very well,” said I, shaking him warmly by the hand.

“And I hope, also,” he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, “that  the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the interest which  you used to take in our little deductive problems.”

“On the contrary,” I answered, “it was only last night that I was looking  over my old notes, and classifying some of our past results.”

“I trust that you don’t consider your collection closed.”

“Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such  experiences.”

“To-day, for example?”

“Yes, to-day, if you like.”

“And as far off as Birmingham?”

“Certainly, if you wish it.”

“And the practice?”

“I do my neighbour’s when he goes. He is always ready to work off the debt.”

我婚后不久，在帕丁顿区买了一个诊所，是从老法夸尔先生手中买下的。有一个时期老法夸 尔先生的诊疗业务非常兴旺，可是由于他的年纪大了，又加上遭受一种舞蹈病的折磨，他的 门庭也就逐渐冷落下来。因为人们很自然地遵守一条准则，那就是：医生必须首先自身健康 ，才能治好别人；如果连自己也不能药到病除，那人们对他的医术自然要冷眼相视了。所以 ，我的这位老前辈身一体越衰弱，他的收入就越微薄，到我买下这个诊所时，他的收入已经 由每年一千二百镑降到三百多镑了。然而，我偏以自己年岁正轻、一精一力旺盛而自信，认 为不要几年，这个诊所一定会恢复旧日的兴旺。

开业后三个月，我一直忙于医务，很少见到我的朋友歇洛克-福尔摩斯。因为我非常忙，无 暇到贝克街去，而福尔摩斯自己，除了侦探业务需要，也很少到别处走走。六月里的一天清 晨，早餐后，我正坐下来阅读《英国医务杂志》，忽听一阵铃声，随后就传来我那老伙伴高 一亢而有点刺耳的话语声，这真令我十分惊奇。

“啊，我亲一爱一的华生，”福尔摩斯大踏步走进房内说道，”非常高兴见到你！我相信， ”四签名”案件尊夫人受了惊，现在想必完全恢复健康了。”

“谢谢你，我们两个人都很好，”我非常热情地握着他的手说。

“我也希望，”他坐到摇椅上，继续说道，“尽避你关心医务，可不要把你对我们小小的推 理法产生的兴趣完全忘掉了。”

“恰恰相反，”我回答道，”就在昨天夜晚，我还把原来的笔记一一过目，并且还把我们的 破案成果分了类呢。”

“我相信你不会认为资料搜集到此为止了吧。”

“一点也不会的。我希望这样的经历愈多愈好！”

“譬如说，今天就去怎么样。”

“可以，如果你愿意，今天就去吧。”

“去伯明翰这样远的地方也行吗？”

“如果你愿意，当然可以。”

“那么你的医务呢？”

“我邻居外出，我就替他行医。他总想报答我这份情意。”