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"What is it?"
"是什么问题呢？"
"Well, it seems to me that it is just possible that the arrival of this poor fellow William was not before, but after, the entrance of the burglar into the house. You appear to take it for granted that although the door was forced the robber never got in."
"啊，据我看来，可怜的威廉的到来，很可能不在盗贼进屋之前，而在盗贼进屋之后。看来你们只是想当然地认为，虽然门被弄开了，强盗却没有进屋。"
"I fancy that is quite obvious," said Mr. Cunningham gravely. "Why, my son Alec had not yet gone to bed, and he would certainly have heard anyone moving about."
"我想这是十分明显的，"坎宁安先生严肃地说道，"呃，我的儿子亚历克还没有睡，如果有人走动，他是一定能够听到的。"
"Where was he sitting?"
"他那时坐在什么地方？"
"I was smoking in my dressing-room."
"我那时正坐在更衣室里吸烟。"
"Which window is that?"
"哪一扇窗子是更衣室的？"
"The last on the left, next my father's."
"左边最后一扇窗子，紧挨着我父亲卧室的那一扇。"
"Both of your lamps were lit, of course?"
"那你们两个房间的灯自然都亮着的？"
"Undoubtedly."
"不错。"
"There are some very singular points here," said Holmes, smiling.
"现在有几点是很奇怪的，"福尔摩斯微笑着说道。
"Is it not extraordinary that a burglar–and a burglar who had some previousexperience -- should deliberately break into a house at a time when he could see from the lights that two of the family were still afoot?"
"一个盗贼，而且是一个颇有经验的盗贼，一看灯光就知道这一家有两个人还没睡，却有意闯进屋里去，这难道不奇怪吗？"
"He must have been a cool hand."
"他一定是一个冷静沉着的老手。"
"Well, of course, if the case were not an odd one we should not have been driven to ask you for an explanation," said young Mr. Alec.
"啊，当然了，要不是这个案子稀奇古怪，我们也就不会被迫来向你请教了，"亚历克先生说道。
"But as to your ideas that the man had robbed the house before William tackled him, I think it a most absurd notion. Wouldn't we have found the place disarranged and missed the things which he had taken?"
"不过，你说在威廉抓住盗贼以前，盗贼已经进了这间屋子，我认为这种看法简直荒唐可笑。屋子不是没有被搞乱，也没有发现丢东西吗？"
"It depends on what the things were," said Holmes. "You must remember that we are dealing with a burglar who is a very peculiar fellow, and who appears to work on lines of his own.
"这要看是什么东西了，"福尔摩斯说道，"你不要忘记，我们是跟这样一个强盗打交道--他很不简单，看来有他自己的一套办法。
Look, for example, at the queer lot of things which he took from Acton's -- what was it? A ball of string, a letter-weight, and I don't know what other odds and ends."
你看看，他从阿克顿家拿去的那些古怪东西，都是些什么呢？一个线团，一方镇纸，还有一些我不知道的其它零星东西。"
"Well, we are quite in your hands, Mr. Holmes," said old Cunningham. "Anything which you or the inspector may suggest will most certainly be done."
"好了，我们一切都托付给你了，福尔摩斯先生，"老坎宁安说道，"一切听从你或警官的吩咐。"
"In the first place," said Holmes, "I should like you to offer a reward -- coming from yourself, for the officials may take a little time before they would agree upon the sum, and these things cannot be done too promptly.
"首先，"福尔摩斯说道，"我希望你能悬赏，因为官方要同意这笔款子，可能要费一些时间，同时这些事情也不可能马上就给办。
I have jotted down the form here, if you would not mind signing it. Fifty pounds was quite enough, I thought."
我已经起了个草，如果你不反对的话，请你签字。我想，五十镑足够了。"
"I would willingly give five hundred," said the J. P., taking the slip of paper and the pencil which Holmes handed to him.
"我情愿出五百镑，"治安官接过福尔摩斯递给他的那张纸和铅笔，说道。
"This is not quite correct, however," he added, glancing over the document.
"但是，这不完全对，"他浏览了一下底稿，又补充了一句。
"I wrote it rather hurriedly."
"我写得太仓促了。"
"You see you begin, 'Whereas, at about a quarter to one on Tuesday morning an attempt was made,' and so on. It was at a quarter to twelve, as a matter of fact."
"你看你开头写的：'鉴于星期二凌晨零点三刻发生了一次抢劫未遂案，'等等。事实上，是发生在十一点三刻。"
I was pained at the mistake, for I knew how keenly Holmes would feel any slip of the kind.
我看到出了这个差错很痛心，因为我知道，福尔摩斯对这类疏忽，总是感到很尴尬。
It was his specialty to be accurate as to fact, but his recent illness had shaken him, and this one little incident was enough to show me that he was still far from being himself.
把事实搞得很准确，是他的特长，可是他最近的病把他折腾得够呛，眼前这件小事，也足以向我表明，他的身体还远远没有复原。
He was obviously embarrassed for an instant, while the inspector raised his eyebrows, and Alec Cunningham burst into a laugh.
显然，他感到很窘，警官扬了扬眉毛，亚历克·坎宁安则哈哈大笑起来。
The old gentleman corrected the mistake, however, and handed the paper back to Holmes. "Get it printed as soon as possible," he said; "I think your idea is an excellent one."
那个老绅士立即把写错的地方改正了，把这张纸还给了福尔摩斯。"尽快送去付印吧，"老坎宁安说道，"我认为你的想法是很高明的。"
Holmes put the slip of paper carefully away into his pocketbook.
福尔摩斯却小心翼翼地把这张纸收起来，夹在他的记事本里。
"And now," said he, "it really would be a good thing that we should all go over the house together and make certain that this rather erratic burglar did not, after all, carry anything away with him."
"现在，"他说道，“我们最好一起把这宅院仔细检查一下，弄清楚这个古怪的盗贼是否确实没有偷走任何东西。"
