福爾摩斯探案集·四簽名 第6期:演繹法的研究(6)

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"I have heard you say it is difficult for a man

"我常常聽你說，在任何一件日用品上面，

to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it

很難不留下一些能顯示使用者特征的痕跡，

in such a way that a trained observer might read it.

受過訓(xùn)練的人是很容易辨認(rèn)出來的。

Now, I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession.

現(xiàn)在我這里有一只新得來的表，

Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"

你能不能從上面找出它的舊主人的性格和習(xí)慣呢？"

I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart,

我把表遞給了他，心里不禁好笑。

for the test was, as I thought, an impossible one,

因?yàn)橐牢蚁雭?，這個(gè)試驗(yàn)是無法解答的，

and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed.

也可算是我給他平日獨(dú)斷作風(fēng)的一個(gè)教訓(xùn)吧。

He balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, and examined the works,

他把表拿在手里，仔細(xì)地端詳著，看了看表盤，又打開表蓋，留心察看了里面的機(jī)件，

first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens.

先用肉眼，后來又用高倍放大鏡觀察。

I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back.

他面部沮喪的表情，幾乎使我笑了出來，最后，他關(guān)上表蓋，把表還給了我。

"There are hardly any data," he remarked.

他道："這里幾乎沒有遺留的痕跡可尋，

"The watch has been recently cleaned, which robs me of my most suggestive facts."

因?yàn)檫@只表最近擦過油泥，把最主要的痕跡搞掉了。"

"You are right," I answered. "It was cleaned before being sent to me."

我答道："不錯(cuò)，這只表是擦過了油泥以后才落到我的手里的。"

In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure.

我心中對我伙伴用這一點(diǎn)作借口來掩飾他的失敗很不以為然。

What data could he expect from an uncleaned watch?

就是一只未修過的表，又能尋出什么有助于推斷的痕跡呢？

"Though unsatisfactory, my research has not been entirely barren," he observed,

"雖然遺痕不多，我的觀察也并沒有完全落空。

staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustre eyes.

他用半閉無神的眼睛仰望著天花板說道

"Subject to your correction, I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother, who inherited it from your father."

姑且說一說請你指正吧。我想這只表是你哥哥的，是你父親留給他的。"

"That you gather, no doubt, from the H.W. upon the back?"

"很對，你是從在表的背面上所刻的H·W·兩個(gè)字頭知道的吧？"

"Quite so. The W. suggests your own name.

"不錯(cuò)，W代表你的姓。

The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back,

這只表差不多是五十年前制造的，

and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation.

表上刻的字和制表的時(shí)期差不多，所以我知道這是你上一輩的遺物。

Jewellery usually descends to the eldest son,

按照習(xí)慣，凡是珠寶一類的東西，多傳給長子，

and he is most likely to have the same name as the father.

長子又往往襲用父親的名字。

Your father has, if I remember right, been dead many years.

如果我記憶不錯(cuò)，你父親已去世多年，

It has, therefore, been in the hands of your eldest brother."

所以我斷定這只表是在你哥哥手里的。"

"Right, so far," said I. "Anything else?"

我道："這都不錯(cuò)，還有別的沒有？"

"He was a man of untidy habits–very untidy and careless.

"他是一個(gè)放蕩不羈的人。

He was left with good prospects, but he threw away his chances,

當(dāng)初他很有光明的前程，可是他把好機(jī)會(huì)都放過去了，

lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity,

所以常常生活潦倒，偶然也有時(shí)景況很好，

and finally, taking to drink, he died. That is all I can gather."

最后因?yàn)楹镁贫?。這都是我所看出來的。"

I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart.

我從椅子上跳起來，忍不住在屋內(nèi)無精打采地踱來踱去，內(nèi)心有無限辛酸。