領(lǐng)略原汁原味漢英對(duì)照經(jīng)典名作
駝背男子
? ? ? One summer night a few months after my marriage, I was seated by my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel, for my day’s work had been an exhausting one. My wife had already gone upstairs, and the sound of the locking of the hall door some time before told me that the servants had also retired. I had risen from my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the bell.
? ? ? I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. This could not be a visitor at so late an hour. A patient evidently, and possibly an all-night sitting.
? ? ?With a wry face I went out into the hall and opened the door. To my astonishment it was Sherlock Holmes who stood upon my step.
? ? ? “Ah, Watson,” said he, “I hoped that I might not be too late to catch you.”
? ? ? “My dear fellow, pray come in.”
? ? ? “You look surprised, and no wonder! Relieved, too, I fancy! Hum! You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days, then! There’s no mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat. It’s easy to tell that you have been accustomed to wear a uniform, Watson. You’ll never pass as a pure-bred civilian as long as you keep that habit of carrying your handkerchief in your sleeve. Could you put me up to-night?”
? ? ? “With pleasure.”
? ? ? “You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, and I see that you have no gentleman visitor at present. Your hat-stand proclaims as much.”
? ? ? “I shall be delighted if you will stay.
? ? ? “Thank you. I’ll fill the vacant peg then. Sorry to see that you’ve had the British workman in the house. He’s a token of evil. Not the drains, I hope?”
? ? ? “No, the gas.”
? ? ? “Ah! He has left two nail-marks from his boot upon your linoleum just where the light strikes it. No, thank you, I had some supper at Waterloo, but I’ll smoke a pipe with you with pleasure.”
? ? ? I handed him my pouch, and he seated himself opposite to me and smoked for some time in silence. I was well aware that nothing but business of importance would have brought him to me at such an hour, so I waited patiently until he should come round to it.
? ? ? “I see that you are professionally rather busy just now,” said he, glancing very keenly across at me.
? ? ? “Yes, I’ve had a busy day,” I answered. “It may seem very foolish in your eyes,” I added, “but really I don’t know how you deduced it.”
? ? ? Holmes chuckled to himself.
? ? ? “I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson,” said he. “When your round is a short one you walk, and when it is a long one you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough to justify the hansom.”
? ? ? “Excellent!” I cried.
? ? ? “Elementary,” said he. “It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader. Now, at present I am in the position of these same readers, for I hold in this hand several threads of one of the strangest cases which ever perplexed a man’s brain, and yet I lack the one or two which are needful to complete my theory. But I’ll have them, Watson, I’ll have them!” His eyes kindled and a slight flush sprang into his thin cheeks. For an instant the veil had lifted upon his keen, intense nature, but for an instant only. When I glanced again his face had resumed that red-Indian composure which had made so many regard him as a machine rather than a man.
? ? ? “The problem presents features of interest,” said he. “I may even say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked into the matter, and have come, as I think, within sight of my solution. If you could accompany me in that last step you might be of considerable service to me.”
? ? ? “I should be delighted.”
? ? ? “Could you go as far as Aldershot to-morrow?’
? ? ? “I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice.”
? ? ? “Very good. I want to start by the 11:10 from Waterloo.”
? ? ? “That would give me time.”
? ? ? “Then, if you are not too sleepy, I will give you a sketch of what has happened, and of what remains to be done.”
? ? ? “I was sleepy before you came. I am quite wakeful now.”
? ? ? “I will compress the story as far as may be done without omitting anything vital to the case. It is conceivable that you may even have read some account of the matter. It is the supposed murder of Colonel Barclay, of the Royal Munsters, at Aldershot, which I am investigating.”
? ? ? “I have heard nothing of it.”
? ? ? “It has not excited much attention yet, except locally. The facts are only two days old. Briefly they are these:
? ? ? “The Royal Munsters is, as you know, one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army. It did wonders both in the Crimea and the Mutiny, and has since that time distinguished itself upon every possible occasion. It was commanded up to Monday night by James Barclay, a gallant veteran, who started as a full private, was raised to commissioned rank for his bravery at the time of the Mutiny, and so lived to command the regiment in which he had once carried a musket.
? ? ? “Colonel Barclay had married at the time when he was a sergeant, and his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy Devoy, was the daughter of a former colour sergeant in the same corps. There was, therefore, as can be imagined, some little social friction when the young couple (for they were still young) found themselves in their new surroundings. They appear, however, to have quickly adapted themselves, and Mrs. Barclay has always, I understand, been as popular with the ladies of the regiment as her husband was with his brother officers. I may add that she was a woman of great beauty, and that even now, when she has been married for upward of thirty years, she is still of a striking and queenly appearance.

中文翻譯
? ? ? 新婚數(shù)月之后的一個(gè)夏夜，我坐在自家的壁爐跟前，一邊抽睡前的最后一斗煙，一邊對(duì)著一本小說頻頻點(diǎn)頭，因?yàn)槿臻g的工作十分繁忙，讓人筋疲力盡。我妻子已經(jīng)上了樓，早些時(shí)候我還聽見了前廳大門上鎖的聲音，由此知道仆人們也已經(jīng)回房休息。
? ? ? 我從椅子上站起身來，正在磕煙斗上的煙灰，門鈴卻突然叮叮當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)仨懥似饋怼?br> ? ? ?我看了看鐘，時(shí)間是十一點(diǎn)三刻。這時(shí)候不會(huì)有客人上門，來的顯然是一個(gè)病人，興許會(huì)讓我整夜不得休息。想到這里，我愁眉苦臉地走進(jìn)前廳，替來人打開了門。出乎我意料的是，站在我家門口的竟然是歇洛克?福爾摩斯。
? ? ? “噢，華生，”他說道，“我就知道，這時(shí)候來找你還不算太晚。”
? ? ? “親愛的伙計(jì)，趕緊進(jìn)來吧?！?br> ? ? ? “你看起來非常驚訝，當(dāng)然！同時(shí)又顯得如釋重負(fù)，難怪！你還在抽你單身時(shí)抽的那種阿卡迪亞混合煙草，顯然！你外套上那些蓬松的煙灰是個(gè)明白無誤的證據(jù)。華生啊，人家一看就知道你是個(gè)穿慣了制服的人。如果不改掉把手帕塞在袖子里的習(xí)慣，你的平民模樣終歸是有破綻。今晚你可以收留我嗎？”
? ? ? “樂意之至?！?br> ? ? ? “以前你說過，你家有一間供男賓使用的單人客房，眼下呢，我已經(jīng)瞧出來了，你家里并沒有男賓。反正啊，你的帽架是這么說的。”
? ? ? “你愿意留下的話，我會(huì)覺得非常高興的。”
? ? ? “謝謝你，那我就把帽架上的這個(gè)空鉤子占上好了?？上а剑野l(fā)現(xiàn)你家最近請(qǐng)了修理工，他們上門可不會(huì)是什么好事。該不會(huì)是下水道出問題了吧？”
? ? ? “不是，是煤氣管道的問題?！?br> ? ? ? “是嗎！修理工的靴子在你的油布地氈上留下了兩個(gè)鞋釘印子，剛好是在燈光下面。不用，謝謝，晚飯我已經(jīng)在滑鐵盧車站對(duì)付過了。不過，我倒很樂意跟你一塊兒抽一斗煙?！?br> ? ? ? 我把煙草袋子遞給了他，他坐到我的對(duì)面，默不作聲地抽了一會(huì)兒。我心里非常清楚，沒有專業(yè)上的重要事務(wù)，他是不會(huì)在這樣的時(shí)間來找我的，于是我耐心等待，等他自己講明來意。
? ? ? “我說，最近你業(yè)務(wù)很忙啊，”他一邊說，一邊用明察秋毫的目光打量著我。
? ? ? “是啊，今天我確實(shí)挺忙的，”我回答道?！澳憧赡苡X得我這么說很愚蠢，”我補(bǔ)了一句，“可我真的不明白，這你是怎么知道的。”
? ? ? 福爾摩斯吃吃地笑了笑。
? ? ? “我的優(yōu)勢(shì)在于我了解你的習(xí)慣，親愛的華生，”他說道?！俺鲈\的時(shí)候，路近你就走著去，路遠(yuǎn)你就坐馬車。我注意到你的靴子雖然穿過，但卻一點(diǎn)兒也不臟，因此就可以斷定，眼下你忙得夠戧，不得不用馬車代步?！?br> ? ? ? “妙極了！”我贊嘆了一聲。
? ? ? “簡(jiǎn)單之極，”他說道?！斑@是一個(gè)小小的例證，說明演繹專家之所以能制造出讓旁人覺得不可思議的效果，僅僅是因?yàn)榕匀藳]有留意到他用作演繹基礎(chǔ)的那個(gè)小小細(xì)節(jié)。同樣道理，我親愛的伙計(jì)，你撰寫的那些小小故事之所以能有聳人聽聞的效果，實(shí)際上只是因?yàn)槟惆寻盖楫?dāng)中的一些要素捏在了自個(gè)兒的手心里，從來不跟讀者分享。好了，我眼下的處境就跟你那些讀者一模一樣，因?yàn)槲遗錾狭艘患涨半x奇的疑難案子，也掌握了幾條線索，偏偏又缺了那么一兩個(gè)要素，沒法把自己的假設(shè)補(bǔ)充完整。不過，我會(huì)找到它們的，華生，會(huì)找到的！”說到這里，他的雙眼熠熠閃光，瘦削的雙頰也泛起了淡淡的紅暈。有那么一瞬間，他那種機(jī)警熱切的天性從面冪之下探出了頭，不過，這也僅僅是一瞬間而已。等我再看他的時(shí)候，他的面孔已經(jīng)恢復(fù)了印第安人那種鐵板一塊的模樣，就因?yàn)檫@種模樣，許多人都覺得他不像是一個(gè)有血有肉的人，更像是一部機(jī)器。
? ? ? “這件案子呈現(xiàn)出了一些有趣的特征，”他說道?！耙牢铱矗f這些特征前所罕見也不為過。我已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了深入的調(diào)查，照我自己的估計(jì)，答案也已經(jīng)近在眼前。如果你能陪我完成最后這個(gè)步驟的話，就算是幫了我一個(gè)大忙?！?br> ? ? ? “樂意效勞。”
? ? ? “明天得去奧爾德肖特那么遠(yuǎn)的地方，你走得開嗎？”
? ? ? “毫無疑問，杰克遜會(huì)幫我處理病人的?！?br> ? ? ? “很好。我打算明天上午去滑鐵盧車站搭十一點(diǎn)十分的火車。”
? ? ? “那我就有足夠的時(shí)間做準(zhǔn)備了?！?br> ? ? ? “那么，如果你不是特別困的話，我這就給你大致講講之前的事情，講講接下來該怎么做?！?br> ? ? ? “你來之前我挺困的，現(xiàn)在倒沒有什么睡意。”
? ? ? “我盡量長(zhǎng)話短說，前提是不落下案情當(dāng)中的關(guān)鍵之處。我甚至覺得，沒準(zhǔn)兒你已經(jīng)讀到了一些相關(guān)的報(bào)道。我正在調(diào)查的是巴克利上校疑似遇害案，上校屬于皇家芒斯特步兵團(tuán)，這個(gè)團(tuán)駐扎在奧爾德肖特。”
? ? ? “我一點(diǎn)兒也沒聽說過這件事情?！?br> ? ? ? “由此看來，除了在案發(fā)當(dāng)?shù)刂?，這件案子還沒有引起廣泛的關(guān)注。案發(fā)時(shí)間離現(xiàn)在只有兩天，案情大致是這樣的：
? ? ? “你應(yīng)該知道，皇家芒斯特步兵團(tuán)是本國(guó)陸軍當(dāng)中最著名的愛爾蘭團(tuán)之一，曾在克里米亞戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和印度兵變期間立下赫赫奇功。從那以后，它在各種場(chǎng)合當(dāng)中的表現(xiàn)也都是卓越不凡。到周一晚上為止，它的指揮官一直都是詹姆斯?巴克利。巴克利是一名勇敢無畏的老兵，起初不過是一名普通戰(zhàn)士，憑借印度兵變之中的英勇表現(xiàn)才有了軍官的身份，后來又在自己的團(tuán)隊(duì)里步步高升，最終就從肩扛步槍的小卒變成了整支團(tuán)隊(duì)的指揮官?！斑€是一名中士的時(shí)候，巴克利上校就成了家，他妻子閨名南希?德沃伊，妻子的父親曾經(jīng)是同一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)里的護(hù)旗軍士?？上攵?，成婚之后，這對(duì)年青夫婦（當(dāng)時(shí)他倆還很年青）發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的外部環(huán)境起了變化，社交方面也受了一些排擠。不過，他倆似乎很快就適應(yīng)了這樣的變化，從我了解的情況來看，巴克利太太一直都很受同團(tuán)女眷的歡迎，她丈夫也很受軍中袍澤的喜愛。我還得補(bǔ)充一點(diǎn)，她是個(gè)非常漂亮的女子，即便是在結(jié)婚三十多年之后的現(xiàn)在，她依然擁有女王一般的驚人美貌。

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