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"I confess," said I, "that I do not quite follow you."
我说："说老实话，我还不大明白你的意思。"
"I hardly expected that you would. Let me see if I can make it clearer.
"我也很难指望你能够弄得清楚。让我试试看我是否能够把它说得更明确一些。
Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be.
大多数人都是这样的：如果你把一系列的事实对他们说明以后，他们就能把可能的结果告诉你，
They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass.
他们能够把这一系列事实在他们的脑子里联系起来，通过思考，就能得出个什么结果来了。
There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result,
但是，有少数的人，如果你把结果告诉了他们，
would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result.
他们就能通过他们内在的意识，推断出所以产生出这种结果的各个步骤是什么。
This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward, or analytically."
这就是在我说到'回溯推理'或者'分析的方法'时，我所指的那种能力。"
"I understand," said I.
我说："我明白了。"
"Now this was a case in which you were given the result and had to find everything else for yourself.
"现在这件案子就是一个例子，你只知道结果，其他一切必须全部你自己去发现了。
Now let me endeavour to show you the different steps in my reasoning.
好，现在让我把我在这个案件中进行推理的各个不同步骤尽量向你说明一下吧。
To begin at the beginning.
我从头说起。
I approached the house, as you know, on foot, and with my mind entirely free from all impressions.
正如你所知道的一样，我是步行到那座屋子去的。当时，我的思想中丝毫没有先入为主的成见。
I naturally began by examining the roadway, and there, as I have already explained to you,
我自然要先从检查街道着手，就象我已经向你解释过的一样，
I saw clearly the marks of a cab, which, I ascertained by inquiry, must have been there during the night.
我在街道上清清楚楚地看到了一辆马车车轮的痕迹。经过研究以后，我确定这个痕迹必定是夜间留下的。
I satisfied myself that it was a cab and not a private carriage by the narrow gauge of the wheels.
由于车轮之间距离较窄，因此我断定这是一辆出租的四轮马车，而不是自用马车，
The ordinary London growler is considerably less wide than a gentleman's brougham.
因为伦敦市上通常所有出租的四轮马车都要比自用马车狭窄一些。
"This was the first point gained.
"这就是我观察所得的第一点。
I then walked slowly down the garden path,
接着，我就慢慢地走上了花园中的小路。
which happened to be composed of a clay soil, peculiarly suitable for taking impressions.
碰巧，这条小路是一条粘土路，它特别容易留下迹印。
No doubt it appeared to you to be a mere trampled line of slush,
毫无疑问，在你看起来，这条小路只不过是一条被人践踏得一塌胡涂的烂泥路而已。
but to my trained eyes every mark upon its surface had a meaning.
可是，在我这双久经锻炼的眼睛看来，小路上每个痕迹都是有它的意义的。
There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.
侦探学所有各个部门中，再没有比足迹学这一门艺术更重要而又最易被人忽略的了。
Happily, I have always laid great stress upon it, and much practice has made it second nature to me.
幸而我对于这门科学一向是十分重视的；经过多次实践以后，它已成为我的第二天性了。
I saw the heavy footmarks of the constables,
我看到了警察们的沉重的靴印，
but I saw also the track of the two men who had first passed through the garden.
但是我也看到最初经过花园的那两个人的足迹。
It was easy to tell that they had been before the others,
他们的足迹，比其他人的在先，这一点是很容易说明的；
because in places their marks had been entirely obliterated by the others coming upon the top of them.
因为从一些地方可以看出，他们的足印被后来人的足印践踏，已经完全消失了。
In this way my second link was formed, which told me that the nocturnal visitors were two in number,
这样我的第二个环节就构成了。这个环节告诉我，夜间来客一共有两个，
one remarkable for his height (as I calculated from the length of his stride),
一个非常高大，这是我从他的步伐长度上推算出来的；
and the other fashionably dressed, to judge from the small and elegant impression left by his boots.
另一个则是衣着入时，这是从他留下的小巧精致的靴印上判断出来的。
