領(lǐng)略原汁原味漢英對照經(jīng)典名作

四簽名

? ? ? Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle and rolled back his left shirt cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist, all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture marks. Finally, he thrust the point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvetlined armchair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
? ? ? Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance, but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. On the contrary, from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject;but there was that in the cool, nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. His great powers, his masterly manner, and the experience which I had had of many extraordinary qualities, all made me diffident and backward in crossing him. Yet upon that afternoon, whether it was the Beaune which I had taken with my lunch or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner, I suddenly felt that I could bold out no longer.
? ? ? “Which is it today,” I asked, “morphine or cocaine?”
? ? ? He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened.
? ? ? “It is cocaine,” he said, “a seven-percent solution. Would you care to try it?”
? ? ? “No, indeed,” I answered brusquely. “My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it.”
? ? ? He smiled at my vehemence. “Perhaps you are right, Watson,” he said. “I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. I find it, however, so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.”
? ? ? “But consider!” I said earnestly. “Count the cost! Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process which involves increased tissue-change and may at least leave a permanent weakness. You know, too, what a black reaction comes upon you. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed? Remember that I speak not only as one comrade to another but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable.”
? ? ? He did not seem offended. On the contrary, he put his finger-tips together, and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair, like one who has a relish for conversation.
? ? ? “My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems , give me work, give me the mos t abs t rus e cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
? ? ? “The only unofficial detective?” I said, raising my eyebrows.
? ? ? “The only unofficial consulting detective,” he answered.
? ? ? “I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. When Gregson, or Lestrade, or Athelney Jones are out of their depths—which, by the way, is their normal state—the matter is laid before me. I examine the data, as an expert, and pronounce a specialist’s opinion. I claim no credit in such cases. My name figures in no newspaper. The work itself, the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar powers, is my highest reward. But you have yourself had some experience of my methods of work in the Jefferson Hope case.”
? ? ? “Yes, indeed,” said I cordially. “I was never so struck by anything in my life. I even embodied it in a small brochure, with the somewhat fantastic title of ‘A Study in Scarlet.’ ”
? ? ? He shook his head sadly.
? ? ? “I glanced over it,” said he. “Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth-proposition of Euclid.”
? ? ? “But the romance was there,” I remonstrated. “I could not tamper with the facts.”
? ? ? “Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes, by which I succeeded in unravelling it.”
? ? ? I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. I confess, too, that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings. More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion’s quiet and didactic manner. I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather.
? ? ? “My practice has extended recently to the Continent,” said Holmes after a while, filling up his old brier-root pipe. “I was consulted last week by Fran?ois le Villard, who, as you probably know, has come rather to the front lately in the French detective service. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition, but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art. The case was concerned with a will and possessed some features of interest. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases, the one at Riga in 1857, and the other at St. Louis in 1871, which have suggested to him the true solution. Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance.”
? ? ? He tossed over, as he spoke, a crumpled sheet of foreign notepaper. I glanced my eyes down it, catching a profusion of notes of admiration, with stray magnifiques, coup-de-maitres and tours-de-force, all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman.
? ? ? “He speaks as a pupil to his master,” said I.
? ? ? “Oh, he rates my assistance too highly,” said Sherlock Holmes slightly. “He has considerable gifts himself. He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. He is only wanting in knowledge, and that may come in time. He is now translating my small works into French.”

中文翻譯
? ? ? 歇洛克?福爾摩斯從壁爐臺的角落拿起一只藥瓶，又把一支皮下注射器從整潔的山羊皮匣子里拿了出來。接著，他用修長白皙的手指小心翼翼地裝好細(xì)細(xì)的針頭，然后就把左邊的襯衫袖口挽了起來。
有那么一小會兒，他只是若有所思地看著自己強健有力的前臂和手腕，上面已經(jīng)布滿了數(shù)不清的針眼。到最后，他把針頭扎了進(jìn)去，又把針筒一推到底，跟著就再次倒進(jìn)那把天鵝絨面的扶手椅，心滿意足地長出了一口氣。
? ? ? 好幾個月以來，同樣的表演我每天都要看三次。不過，看得多并不意味著看得慣。恰恰相反，我對這種場景的反感日益加深，每天晚上都會受到良心的譴責(zé)，責(zé)備自己缺乏抗議的勇氣。我一次又一次地發(fā)誓要清除這個良心上的包袱，可是，我室友那種冷漠淡然的架勢讓人萬萬不敢在他面前有絲毫放肆。他非凡的本領(lǐng)，高高在上的態(tài)度，還有我業(yè)已有所領(lǐng)教的一些特異性情，全都讓我畏葸退縮，不敢去冒犯他。
? ? ? 不過，就在這天下午，或者是因為我午餐時和他一起喝了點兒博訥葡萄酒，又或是因為他那副慢條斯理、不厭其煩的樣子讓人格外煩躁，我突然覺得，再裝看不見已經(jīng)不行了。
? ? ? ?“今天又是什么呢，”我問道，“是嗎啡，還是可卡因？”
? ? ? 他剛剛翻開一本古舊的書籍，此時便無精打采地抬了抬眼皮。
? ? ? “是可卡因 ，”他說道，“百分之七的溶液。你想試試嗎？”
? ? ? “不想，絕對不想，”我粗魯?shù)卮鸬??！拔业纳眢w還沒從阿富汗戰(zhàn)爭當(dāng)中恢復(fù)過來呢，我可不想再讓它承受什么新的傷害。”
? ? ? 看到我激烈的反應(yīng)，他笑了一笑?！耙苍S你說得對，華生，”他說道?！鞍次铱矗瑥纳砩险f，它的確是有害的。不過，我發(fā)現(xiàn)它特別地提神醒腦，跟這個比起來，副作用也就是小事一
樁了?！?br> ? ? ? “可你得想想！”我懇切地說道?！跋胂肫渲械拇鷥r！它也許的確有你說的那種效力，可以讓你的腦子興奮起來，可是，這個過程是病態(tài)的，會加快身體組織的變化，往最輕的方面說也會造成永久性的身體虛弱。它把你弄得多么沮喪，你自己應(yīng)該也很清楚。毫無疑問，這是件得不償失的事情。它帶來的快感不過是一瞬間，卻可能會讓你失去那些天生的非凡稟賦，你干嗎要冒這樣的險呢？
? ? ? 你一定得記住，我說這話可不光因為咱倆是朋友，還因為我是一名醫(yī)生，對你的健康負(fù)有一定的責(zé)任?！?br> ? ? ? 他好像并沒有生氣的意思，恰恰相反，他把雙手的指尖攏到一起，還把雙肘支在了椅子的扶手上，一副談興很高的樣子。
? ? ? “我的腦子，”他說道，“受不了死水一潭的局面。給我個問題，給我件工作，只管把最深奧難解的密碼或是最錯綜復(fù)雜的分析扔到我面前，我馬上就會進(jìn)入最佳的狀態(tài)。那樣的話，我就可以放棄這些人造的興奮劑?？墒牵艺娴氖菍Π床烤桶嗟膯握{(diào)生活深惡痛絕，非?？释裆系膹娏掖碳?。就是由于這個原因，我才選擇了這份特殊的職業(yè)，準(zhǔn)確說的話，是創(chuàng)造了這份特殊的職業(yè)，因為這世上干這行的只有我一個。”
? ? ? “私家偵探只有你一個？”我揚起了眉毛。
? ? ? “私家顧問偵探只有我一個，”他回答道?！拔沂莻商叫挟?dāng)之中最后也最高的上訴法庭。格雷森啦，雷斯垂德啦，埃瑟尼?瓊斯啦，這些人一旦山窮水盡——當(dāng)然，山窮水盡是他們的正常狀態(tài)——就會把案子擺到我的面前。作為行業(yè)之中的專家，我會檢查相關(guān)的材料，向他們提供專業(yè)的意見。我從不為這些案子邀功請賞，我的名字也不會出現(xiàn)在任何一張報紙上。工作本身就已經(jīng)是最高的獎賞，因為我為自己的特殊本領(lǐng)找到了一塊用武之地。當(dāng)然嘍，我那些工作方法，你應(yīng)該已經(jīng)通過杰弗遜?霍普一案有了一點兒切身體會吧?！?br> ? ? ? “沒錯，深有體會，”我誠心誠意地說道?！斑@輩子我還沒見過比它更驚人的事呢。甚至啊，我還把它寫成了一本小冊子，又起了個稀奇古怪的書名，叫做‘暗紅習(xí)作’?！彼У?fù)u了搖頭。
? ? ? “我大概掃了一眼你寫的東西，”他說道?！罢f實在話，我沒法向你表示祝賀。偵探工作是，或者說應(yīng)該是，一門精密的科學(xué)，因此就應(yīng)該像其他精密科學(xué)一樣，得到不帶感情色彩的冷靜對待。
可你卻試圖給它加上一點兒浪漫色彩，最后的效果呢，就跟把愛情故事或者私奔情節(jié)塞到歐幾里得第五命題當(dāng)中差不多。”
? ? ? “可是，案子里面的確有浪漫的情節(jié)啊，”我抗議道?！拔铱偛荒艽鄹氖聦嵃?。”
? ? ? “有些事實沒必要寫出來，非要寫的話，也得把握好剪裁的分寸。這件案子里只有一點值得一提，也就是那種抽絲剝繭、以果推因的奇妙演繹方法，全靠了它的幫助，我才能夠成功破案?！?br> ? ? ? 我心里覺得很是惱火，因為我寫這本東西完全是為了討他的好，得到的卻是他的數(shù)落。與此同時，我必須承認(rèn)，他那種自以為是的態(tài)度也是我生氣的原因。他似乎是認(rèn)為，我這本小冊子應(yīng)該專門記述他個人的所作所為，只字不提任何別的東西。跟他一起在貝克街生活的這些年里，我不止一次地注意到，這位室友好為人師的沉靜外表下面藏著一點小小的虛榮。不過，這會兒我并沒有說什么，只是坐在那里揉自己的傷腿。我這條腿曾經(jīng)吃過一顆捷澤爾槍彈，雖然不妨礙走路，天氣變化的時候卻總會疼痛難忍。
? ? ? “最近，我的業(yè)務(wù)已經(jīng)擴展到了歐洲大陸，”一會兒之后，福爾摩斯一邊往他那個古舊的歐石南煙斗里裝煙絲，一邊開口說道。
? ? ? “上個星期，弗朗索瓦?勒?維拉爾來咨詢過我，你沒準(zhǔn)兒也聽說過，這個人近來在法國的偵探界很出風(fēng)頭。他完全繼承了凱爾特人那種敏銳的直覺，要在偵探領(lǐng)域更進(jìn)一步卻還缺少一個必備的條件，那就是廣博而精確的知識。他那件案子牽扯到一份遺囑，有幾個地方也還滿有意思。后來我讓他去參考兩件類似的案子，一件發(fā)生在一八五七年的里加，另一件則發(fā)生在一八七一年的圣路易斯。這么著，他就找到了正確的答案。你瞧瞧，這是我今天早上收到的感謝信?！?br> ? ? ? 說話間，他把一張皺巴巴的外國紙片扔了過來。我飛快地掃了一遍，瞥見了一大堆贊美之辭，處處都是“精彩絕倫”、“大師手筆”和“高招妙著”之類的字眼，充分體現(xiàn)了那位法國偵探五體投地的景仰之情。
? ? ? “他這完全是學(xué)生對老師說話的口氣嘛，”我說道。
? ? ? “哦，他把我的幫助看得太重要了，”歇洛克?福爾摩斯輕聲說了一句?！捌鋵嵞?，他自己也是很有天賦的。理想的偵探需要三個條件，他已經(jīng)具備了兩個。觀察能力和演繹能力他都有，缺的只是知識，而知識也是他遲早會有的東西。眼下，他正在把我的一些拙文譯成法文?！?/p>

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