福尔摩斯探案集·四签名 第75期:凶手的末日(8)
We were all eager by this time, even the policemen and stokers, who had a very vague idea of what was going forward.
这时我们都很焦急，就是那几个对于我们的任务不太清楚的警长和火夫，也在那里现出跃跃欲试的神气。
"We have no right to take anything for granted," Holmes answered.
福尔摩斯答道："我们没有权利把任何事情视为理所当然。
"It is certainly ten to one that they go downstream, but we cannot be certain.
虽然十分之九他们会往下游去的，可是我们不能擅自把上游忽略了。
From this point we can see the entrance of the yard, and they can hardly see us.
从我们目前这个地方能够看见船坞的出入口，可是他们却不容易看见咱们。
It will be a clear night and plenty of light. We must stay where we are.
今晚没有云雾，月光很亮，咱们就在这儿吧。
See how the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight."
你看见那边煤气灯光的下面，来往的人够多么拥挤。"
"They are coming from work in the yard."
"那都是从船坞下工的工人们。"
"Dirty-looking rascals, but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him.
"这些人的外表虽然肮脏粗俗，可是每个人的内心全有一些不灭的生气。
You would not think it, to look at them. There is no a priori probability about it. A strange enigma is man!"
只看他们的外表，你是想不到的。这并不是先天的，人生就是一个谜。"
"Someone calls him a soul concealed in an animal," I suggested.
我道："有人说：人是动物中有灵魂的。"
"Winwood Reade is good upon the subject," said Holmes.
福尔摩斯道："温伍德·瑞德对这个问题有很好的解释。
"He remarks that, while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.
他论道虽然每个人都是难解的谜，可是把人类聚合起来，就有定律了。
You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will do,
譬如说，你不能预知一个人的个性，
but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to.
可是能够确知人类的共性。
Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant. So says the statistician.
个性不同，共性却是永恒的，统计家们也是这样的说法
But do I see a handkerchief? Surely there is a white flutter over yonder."
你们看见那条手巾了吗？那边确有一个白色的东西在挥动着。"
