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"It's very annoying, though, Watson. I was badly in need of a case, and this looks, from the man's impatience, as if it were of importance.
"真叫人生气，华生。我正需要一件案子。从这个人急不可耐的样子来看，似乎是一件重要案子呢。
Hullo! that's not your pipe on the table. He must have left his behind him.
喂！这桌上的烟斗不是你的，一定是这个人丢下的。
A nice old brier with a good long stem of what the tobacconists call amber.
这是一只很好的欧石南根烟斗，斗柄很长，是用烟草商叫做琥珀的那种材料做成的。
I wonder how many real amber mouthpieces there are in London? Some people think that a fly in it is a sign.
我不知道伦敦城里究竟有几支真正的琥珀烟嘴，有人认为里面包着苍蝇的那种才是真正的琥珀。
Well, he must have been disturbed in his mind to leave a pipe behind him which he evidently values highly.
喂，他竟把显然很珍爱的烟斗遗忘了，说明他一定是非常心烦意乱了。"
"How do you know that he values it highly?" I asked.
"你怎么知道他珍爱这只烟斗呢？"我问道。
"Well, I should put the original cost of the pipe at seven and six pence.
"啊，据我看来，这烟斗的原价不过七先令六便士。
Now it has, you see, been twice mended, once in the wooden stem and once in the amber.
可是，你看，已经修补过两次，一次在木柄上，另一次是在琥珀嘴上。
Each of these mends, done, as you observe, with silver bands, must have cost more than the pipe did originally.
你可以看到，每次修补都用的是银箍，比烟斗的原价要高得多。
The man must value the pipe highly when he prefers to patch it up rather than buy a new one with the same money."
这个人宁愿去修理烟斗，也不愿花同样的钱去买一只新的，说明他一定很珍爱这只烟斗了。"
"Anything else?" I asked, for Holmes was turning the pipe about in his hand and staring at it in his peculiar pensive way.
"还有别的吗？"我问道，因为福尔摩斯正把烟斗翻过来掉过去，以独特的沉思神情凝视着它。
He held it up and tapped on it with his long, thin forefinger, as a professor might who was lecturing on a bone.
福尔摩斯把烟斗拿起来，用他那细长的食指弹了弹，好像一个教授在讲授动物骨骼课似的。
"Pipes are occasionally of extraordinary interest," said he.
"烟斗有时是非常重要的，"福尔摩斯说道。
"Nothing has more individuality, save perhaps watches and bootlaces.
"除了表和鞋带以外，没有什么东西比烟斗更能表示一个人的个性了。
The indications here, however, are neither very marked nor very important.
可是这只烟斗的迹象既不明显，也不重要。
The owner is obviously a muscular man, left-handed, with an excellent set of teeth, careless in his habits, and with no need to practise economy."
烟斗的主人显然是一个身强力壮的人，惯用左手，一口好牙齿，粗心大意，经济富裕。"
My friend threw out the information in a very offhand way, but I saw that he cocked his eye at me to see if I had followed his reasoning.
我的朋友丝毫不假思索地信口说出了这些话，我看到他斜视着我，看我是否明白他的推理。
"You think a man must be well-to-do if he smokes a seven-shilling pipe?" said I.
"你认为他用一只七先令的烟斗吸烟，那就是一个有钱的人吗？"我问道。
"This is Grosvenor mixture at eightpence an ounce," Holmes answered, knocking a little out on his palm.
"这是格罗夫纳板烟，八便士一英两，"福尔摩斯说着，把烟斗在手心中磕出一点烟丝来。
"As he might get an excellent smoke for half the price, he has no need to practise economy."
"用这一半的价钱，他就可以抽上等烟了，可见他是经济富裕的了。"
"And the other points?"
"那么，别的几点呢？"
"He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps and gas-jets. You can see that it is quite charred all down one side.
"他有在油灯和煤气喷灯上点烟斗的习惯。你可以看出这烟斗的一边已经烧焦了。
Of course a match could not have done that. Why should a man hold a match to the side of his pipe?
当然用火柴就不会弄成这样了。用火柴点烟怎么会烧焦烟斗边呢？
But you cannot light it at a lamp without getting the bowl charred.
但你在油灯上把烟点着，就不能不烧焦烟斗。
And it is all on the right side of the pipe. From that I gather that he is a left-handed man.
而烧焦的只是烟斗的右侧，由此，我推测他是一个使用左手的人。
You hold your own pipe to the lamp and see how naturally you, being right-handed, hold the left side to the flame.
现在你把你的烟斗在灯上点燃，你就可以看到，因为你惯用右手，自然是左边侧向火焰了。
You might do it once the other way, but not as a constancy. This has always been held so.
有时你也许不这么点烟，但这毕竟不是经常的。所以只能认为他惯用左手。
Then he has bitten through his amber. It takes a muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set of teeth, to do that.
琥珀嘴已被咬穿，说明他身强力壮，牙齿整齐。
But if I am not mistaken I hear him upon the stair, so we shall have something more interesting than his pipe to study."
如果我没有弄错的话，我听到他已走上楼来，那么我们就可以研究一些比这烟斗更有趣的问题了。"
