福尔摩斯探案集·四签名 第4期:演绎法的研究(4)

"My practice has extended recently to the Continent," said Holmes after a while, filling up his old brier-root pipe.

停了一会，福尔摩斯装满了烟斗，慢慢说道："最近我的业务已经发展到欧洲大陆了。

"I was consulted last week by Francois le Villard, who, as you probably know,

上星期就有一个叫做福朗斯瓦·勒·维亚尔的人来向我请教，你也许知道，

has come rather to the front lately in the French detective service.

这个人在法国侦探界里最近已崭露头角。

He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition,

他具有凯尔特民族的敏感性，

but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art.

可是缺乏提高他的技术所必需的广泛学识。

The case was concerned with a will and possessed some features of interest.

他所请教的是有关一件遗嘱的案子，很有趣味。

I was able to refer him to two parallel cases,

我介绍了两个相似的案情给他作参考：

the one at Riga in 1857, and the other at St. Louis in 1871, which have suggested to him the true solution.

一件是一八五七年里加城的案件，另一件是一八七一年圣路易城的那个案子。这两个案情给他指明了破案的途径。

Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance."

这就是今天早晨接到的他的致谢信。"

He tossed over, as he spoke, a crumpled sheet of foreign notepaper.

说着他就把一张弄皱的外国信纸递给了我。

I glanced my eyes down it, catching a profusion of notes of admiration,

我看了看，信里夹杂着许多恭维话，

with stray magnifiques, coup-de-matres and tours-de-force, all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman.

充满了"伟大"，"高超的手段"，"有力的行动"等等表示这位法国人的热情、景仰和称赞的话。

"He speaks as a pupil to his master," said I.

我道："他象是个在和老师讲话的小学生。"

"Oh, he rates my assistance too highly," said Sherlock Holmes lightly.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯轻轻地说道："啊，他把我所给他的帮助估价过高了，

"He has considerable gifts himself.

他自己也有相当的才能呢。

He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective.

一个理想的侦探家所必备的条件，他大半都有。

He has the power of observation and that of deduction.

他有观察和推断的能力，只是缺乏学识，

He is only wanting in knowledge, and that may come in time.

这个，他将来还是可以得到的。

He is now translating my small works into French."

他现在正在把我的几篇短作译成法文。"

"Your works?"

"你的作品？"

"Oh, didn't you know?" he cried, laughing.

他笑道："你不知道吗？

"Yes, I have been guilty of several monographs. They are all upon technical subjects.

很惭愧，我写过几篇专论，全是技术方面的。

Here, for example, is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos.'

你记得不记得那一篇：'论各种烟灰的辨认' 。

In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar, cigarette, and pipe tobacco,

在那里面，我举出了一百四十种雪茄烟、纸烟、烟斗丝的烟灰，

with coloured plates illustrating the difference in the ash.

还用彩色的插图说明各种烟灰的区别。

It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials,

这是在刑事案件审判中常常出现的证据，

and which is sometimes of supreme importance as a clue.

有时甚至是全案最重要的线索。

If you can say definitely, for example, that some murder had been done by a man who was smoking an Indian lunkah,

譬如说你能确定在一个谋杀案里的凶手是吸印度雪茄烟的，

it obviously narrows your field of search.

这样，显然就把你的侦查范围缩小了。

To the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye

印度雪茄烟的黑灰和'鸟眼'烟的白灰的不同，在训练有素的人看来，

as there is between a cabbage and a potato."

就如同白菜和马铃薯的区别一样的分明。"

"You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae," I remarked.

我道："你对审查细微的事物确实具有特殊的才能。"

"I appreciate their importance.

"我感觉到了它们的重要性。

Here is my monograph upon the tracing of footsteps,

这就是我写的关于跟踪脚印的专论，

with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses.

里边还提到使用熟石膏保存脚印的方法。

Here, too, is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand,

这里还有一篇新奇的小论文，说明一个人的职业可以影响到他的手形，

with lithotypes of the hands of slaters, sailors, cork-cutters, compositors, weavers, and diamond-polishers.

附有石工、水手、木刻工人、排字工人、织布工人和磨钻石工人的手形插图。

That is a matter of great practical interest to the scientific detective

这些对于科学的侦探术是有很大的实际意义的。

especially in cases of unclaimed bodies, or in discovering the antecedents of criminals.

特别是在遇有无名尸体的案件和探索罪犯身分等时都有用处。

But I weary you with my hobby."

噢，我只顾谈我的嗜好，使你心烦了吧？"