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He had spoken in jesting vein, but the twitching of his bushy eyebrows bespoke his disappointment and irritation.
他说话时虽然用的是开玩笑的语气，可是颤动的浓眉却反映出了内心的失望和恼怒。
I sat helpless and unhappy, staring into the fire.
我也无可奈何闷闷不乐地坐在那里，凝视着炉火。
A long silence was broken by a sudden exclamation from Holmes, who dashed at a cupboard, from which he emerged with a second yellow-covered volume in his hand.
忽然间，福尔摩斯的一声欢呼打破了长时间的沉默，他奔向书橱，从里面拿出第二本黄色封面的书来。
"We pay the price, Watson, for being too up-to-date!" he cried.
"华生，我们吃了太时新的亏了！"他大声说道。
"We are before our time, and suffer the usual penalties. Being the seventh of January, we have very properly laid in the new almanac.
“咱们追求时髦，所以受到了应得的惩罚。今天是一月七号，我们非常及时地买了这本新年鉴。
It is more than likely that Porlock took his message from the old one. No doubt he would have told us so had his letter of explanation been written.
看来很可能波尔洛克是根据一本旧年鉴凑成他那封信的。毫无疑问，如果他把那封说明信写完的话，他一定会告诉我们这一点的。
Now let us see what page 534 has in store for us. Number thirteen is 'There,' which ismuch more promising. Number one hundred and twenty-seven is 'is' -- 'There is'"
现在我们看看第534页都讲了些什么。第十三个字是‘There’，这就有希望得多了。第一百二十七个字里'is' -- 'There is'"。
Holmes's eyes were gleaming with excitement, and his thin, nervous fingers twitched as he counted the words.
福尔摩斯兴奋得两眼发光，在他数一个个字的时候，他那细长而激动的手指不住地颤抖着。
"'danger.' Ha! Ha! Capital! Put that down, Watson. 'There is danger–may–come–very–soon–one.'
“'danger’，哈！哈！好极了！华生，把它记下来。'There is danger–may–come–very–soon–one.'
Then we have the name 'Douglas'–'rich–country–now–at–Birlstone–House–Birlstone–confidence–is–pressing.'
接下去是'Douglas’这个人名，再下面是'rich–country–now–at–Birlstone–House–Birlstone–confidence–is–pressing.'
There, Watson! What do you think of pure reason and its fruit?
你看，华生！你觉得纯推理和它的成果如何？
If the green-grocer had such a thing as a laurel wreath, I should send Billy round for it."
如果鲜货店有桂冠这种商品出售，我一定要叫毕利去买一顶来。"
I was staring at the strange message which I had scrawled, as he deciphered it, upon a sheet of foolscap on my knee.
福尔摩斯一面破译那密码，我一面在膝上把它草草记在一张大页书写纸上，我不禁全神贯注地凝视着这些奇怪的词句。
"What a queer, scrambling way of expressing his meaning!" said I.
"他表达意思的方法是多么古怪而勉强。"我说道。
"On the contrary, he has done quite remarkably well," said Holmes.
"恰恰相反，他干得简直太妙了，"福尔摩斯说道。
"When you search a single column for words with which to express your meaning, you can hardly expect to get everything you want.
"当你只在一栏文字里找那些用来表达你的意思的字眼时，你很难指望能找到你所需要的每个词。
You are bound to leave something to the intelligence of your correspondent. The purport is perfectly clear.
因此你也只好留下一些东西，让你的收信人靠他的智慧去理解了。这封信的意思，十分清楚。
Some deviltry is intended against one Douglas, whoever he may be, residing as stated, a rich country gentleman.
有些恶魔正在和一个叫道格拉斯的人作对，不管这个人是谁，信上说明他是一个富乡绅。
He is sure -- 'confidence' was as near as he could get to 'confident' -- that it is pressing.
他确信--他找不到'confident'这个字，只能找到与它相近的字'confidence'来代替。事情已经万分紧急了。
There is our result -- and a very workmanlike little bit of analysis it was!"
这就是我们的成果--而且是一点非常像样的分析工作呢！"
Holmes had the impersonal joy of the true artist in his better work, even as he mourned darkly when it fell below the high level to which he aspired.
福尔摩斯好像一个真正的艺术家那样，即使在他没有达到自己孜孜以求的高标准而暗自失望的时候，对于自己比较好的工作成果还是会产生一种不带个人品见的欣喜的。
