评论
打印
On the evening of our arrival we were sitting in the colonel's gun-room after dinner, Holmes stretched upon the sofa, while Hayter and I lookedover his little armory of Eastern weapons.
在我们来到的那天傍晚，我们吃过晚餐，坐在上校的贮枪室里，福尔摩斯伸开四肢躺在沙发上，海特和我正在看他那贮藏东方武器的小军械室。
"By the way," said he suddenly, "I think I'll take one of these pistols upstairs with me in case we have an alarm."
"顺便说一下，"上校突然说道，"我想从这里拿一支手枪带上楼去，以防遇到警报。"
"An alarm!" said I.
"警报？！"我说道。
"Yes, we've had a scare in this part lately. Old Acton, who is one of our county magnates, had his house broken into last Monday. No great damage done, but the fellows are still at large."
"是的，最近我们这个地区出了事，使我们大受惊扰。老阿克顿是本地的一个富绅。上星期一有人闯进他的住宅。他虽然没有遭到很大损失，可是那些家伙却依然逍遥法外。"
"No clue?" asked Holmes, cocking his eye at the colonel.
"没有一点线索吗？"福尔摩斯望着上校问道。
"None as yet. But the affair is a petty one, one of our little country crimes, which must seem too small for your attention, Mr. Holmes, after this great international affair."
"现在还没有线索。不过这是小事一桩，是我们村子里的一件小小的犯罪案件，在你办过这样巨大的国际案件之后，它一定不会引起你的注意吧，福尔摩斯先生。"
Holmes waved away the compliment, though his smile showed that it had pleased him.
福尔摩斯摆手叫他不要称赞自己，可是却面露笑容，说明这些赞美之词使他很高兴。
"Was there any feature of interest?"
"有什么重要的征候没有？"
"I fancy not. The thieves ransacked the library and got very little for their pains.
"我想没有。那里盗贼在藏书室大搜了一通，尽管费了很大劲，却没得到什么东西。
The whole place was turned upside down, drawers burst open, and presses ransacked, with the result that an odd volume of Pope's Homer, two plated candlesticks, an ivory letter-weight, a small oak barometer, and a ball of twine are all that have vanished."
整个藏书室翻了个底朝天，抽屉全敲打开了，书籍都被翻得乱七八糟。结果只有一卷起柏翻译的荷马的诗，两只镀金烛台，一方象牙镇纸，一个橡木制的小晴雨计和一团线不见了。"
"What an extraordinary assortment!" I exclaimed.
"真是五花八门，稀奇古怪！"我喊道。
"Oh, the fellows evidently grabbed hold of everything they could get."
"唉，这些家伙显然是顺手牵羊，碰到什么拿什么。"
Holmes grunted from the sofa. "The county police ought to make something of that," said he; "why, it is surely obvious that..."
福尔摩斯在沙发上哼了一声。"地区警察应当从这里面发现一些线索，"福尔摩斯说道，"喂，显然是..."
But I held up a warning finger. "You are here for a rest, my dear fellow. For heaven's sake don't get started on a new problem when your nerves are all in shreds."
可是我伸出手指警告他道："你是到这里来休息的，我亲爱的朋友。在你的神经还十分疲惫的情况下，请你务必不要着手搞新的案件。"
Holmes shrugged his shoulders with a glance of comic resignation towards the colonel, and the talk drifted away into less dangerous channels.
福尔摩斯耸了耸肩，无可奈何地向上校那里溜了一眼，我们便转到无关紧要的话题上去了。
It was destined, however, that all my professional caution should be wasted,
然而，凡事自有天定，命里注定我作为医生提醒他注意的所有那些话都白费了，
for next morning the problem obtruded itself upon us in such a way that it was impossible to ignore it, and our country visit took a turn which neither of us could have anticipated.
因为第二天早晨，这个案件本身迫使我们进行了干预，使我们不能置之不理，我们的乡村之行发生了我们两人都料想不到的变化。
