福尔摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第20期:警察栾斯的叙述(1)

Chapter 4

第四章

WHAT JOHN RANCE HAD TO TELL

警察栾斯的叙述

IT WAS one o'clock when we left No. 3, Lauriston Gardens.

我们离开劳瑞斯顿花园街3号的时候，已是午后一点钟了。

Sherlock Holmes led me to the nearest telegraph office, whence he dispatched a long telegram.

福尔摩斯同我到附近的电报局去拍了一封长电报。

He then hailed a cab, and ordered the driver to take us to the address given us by Lestrade.

然后，他叫了一部马车，吩咐车夫把我们送到雷斯垂德告诉我们的那个地点。

"There is nothing like first-hand evidence," he remarked;

福尔摩斯说："什么也比不上直接取得的证据来得重要，

"as a matter of fact, my mind is entirely made up upon the case, but still we may as well learn all that is to be learned."

其实，这个案子我早已胸有成竹了，可是咱们还是应当把要查明的情况弄个清楚。"

"You amaze me, Holmes," said I.

我说："福尔摩斯，你真叫我莫名其妙。

"Surely you are not as sure as you pretend to be of all those particulars which you gave."

刚才你所说的那些细节，你自己也不见得象你假装的那样有把握吧。"

"There's no room for a mistake," he answered.

"我的话绝对没错。"他回答说，

"The very first thing which I observed on arriving there was that a cab had made two ruts with its wheels close to the curb.

"一到那里，我首先便看到在马路石沿旁有两道马车车轮的痕迹。

Now, up to last night, we have had no rain for a week,

由于昨晚下雨以前，一个星期都是晴天，

so that those wheels which left such a deep impression must have been there during the night.

所以留下这个深深轮迹的马车一定是在夜间到那里的。

There were the marks of the horse's hoofs, too,

除此以外，还有马蹄的印子。

the outline of one of which was far more clearly cut than that of the other three, showing that that was a new shoe.

其中有一个蹄印比其它三个都要清楚得多，这就说明那只蹄铁是新换的。

Since the cab was there after the rain began, and was not there at any time during the morning

这辆车子既然是在下雨以后到那里的，同时根据葛莱森所说，整个早晨又没有车辆来过，

I have Gregson's word for that–it follows that it must have been there during the night,

由此可见，这辆马车一定是昨天夜间在那里停留过；

and therefore, that it brought those two individuals to the house."

因此，也就正是这辆马车把那两个人送到空房那里去的。"

"That seems simple enough," said I;

"这看来好象很简单，"我说，

"but how about the other man's height?"

"但是其中一人的身高你又是怎样知道的呢？"

"Why, the height of a man, in nine cases out of ten, can be told from the length of his stride.

"唔，一个人的身高，十之八九可以从他的步伐的长度上知道。

It is a simple calculation enough, though there is no use my boring you with figures.

计算方法虽然很简单，但是现在我一步步地教给你也没有什么用处。

I had this fellow's stride both on the clay outside and on the dust within.

我是在屋外的粘土地上和屋内的尘土上量出那个人步伐的距离的。

Then I had a way of checking my calculation.

接着我又发现了一个验算我的计算结果是否正确的办法。

When a man writes on a wall, his instinct leads him to write above the level of his own eyes.

大凡人在墙壁上写字的时候，很自然会写在和视线相片行的地方。

Now that writing was just over six feet from the ground. It was child's play."

现在壁上的字迹离地刚好六英尺。简直就象儿戏一样的简单。"

"And his age?" I asked.

"至于他的年龄呢？"我又问道。

"Well, if a man can stride four and a half feet without the smallest effort,

"好的，假若一个人能够毫不费力地一步跨过四英尺半，

he can't be quite in the sere and yellow.

他决不会是一个老头儿。

That was the breadth of a puddle on the garden walk which he had evidently walked across.

小花园里的甬道上就有那样宽的一个水洼，他分明是一步迈过去的，

Patent-leather boots had gone round, and Square-toes had hopped over.

而皮靴子却是绕着走的，方头靴子则是从上面迈过去的。

There is no mystery about it at all.

这丝毫没有什么神秘的地方。

I am simply applying to ordinary life a few of those precepts of observation and deduction which I advocated in that article.

我只不过是把我那篇文章中所提出的一些观察事物和推理的方法应用到日常生活上去罢了。

Is there anything else that puzzles you?"

你还有什么不解的地方吗？"

"The finger-nails and the Trichinopoly," I suggested.

"手指甲和印度雪茄烟呢？"我又提醒他说。

"The writing on the wall was done with a man's forefinger dipped in blood.

"墙上的字是一个人用食指蘸着血写的。

My glass allowed me to observe that the plaster was slightly scratched in doing it,

我用放大镜看出写字时有些墙粉被刮了下来。

which would not have been the case if the man's nail had been trimmed.

如果这个人指甲修剪过，决不会是这样的。

I gathered up some scattered ash from the floor.

我还从地板上收集到一些散落的烟灰，

It was dark in colour and flaky –such an ash is only made by a Trichinopoly.

它的颜色很深而且是呈起状的，只有印度雪茄的烟灰才是这样。

I have made a special study of cigar ashes–in fact,

我曾经专门研究过雪茄烟灰。

I have written a monograph upon the subject.

事实上，我还写过这方面的专题论文呢。

I flatter myself that I can distinguish at a glance the ash of any known brand either of cigar or of tobacco.

我可以夸口，无论什么名牌的雪茄或纸烟的烟灰，只要我看上一眼，就能识别出来。

It is just in such details that the skilled detective differs from the Gregson and Lestrade type."

正是在这些细微末节的地方，一个干练的侦探才与葛莱森、雷斯垂德之流有所不同。"