領(lǐng)略原汁原味漢英對(duì)照經(jīng)典名作
布魯斯-帕廷頓圖紙

? ? ? In the third week of November, in the year 1895, a dense yellow fog settled down upon London. From the Monday to the Thursday I doubt whether it was ever possible from our windows in Baker Street to see the loom of the opposite houses. The first day Holmes had spent in cross-indexing his huge book of references. The second and third had been patiently occupied upon a subject which he had recently made his hobby—the music of the Middle Ages. But when, for the fourth time, after pushing back our chairs from breakfast we saw the greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops upon the window-panes, my comrade’s impatient and active nature could endure this drab existence no longer. He paced restlessly about our sitting-room in a fever of suppressed energy, biting his nails, tapping the furniture, and chafing against inaction.
? ? ? “Nothing of interest in the paper, Watson?” he said.
? ? ? I was aware that by anything of interest, Holmes meant anything of criminal interest. There was the news of a revolution, of a possible war, and of an impending change of government; but these did not come within the horizon of my companion. I could see nothing recorded in the shape of crime which was not commonplace and futile. Holmes groaned and resumed his restless meanderings.
? ? ? “The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow,” said he in the querulous voice of the sportsman whose game has failed him. “Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloud-bank. The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim.”
? ? ? “There have,” said I, “been numerous petty thefts.”
? ? ? Holmes snorted his contempt.
? ? ? “This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that,” said he. “It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.”
? ? ? “It is, indeed!” said I heartily.
? ? ? “Suppose that I were Brooks or Woodhouse, or any of the fifty men who have good reason for taking my life, how long could I survive against my own pursuit? A summons, a bogus appointment, and all would be over. It is well they don’t have days of fog in the Latin countries—the countries of assassination. By Jove! here comes something at last to break our dead monotony.”
It was the maid with a telegram. Holmes tore it open and burst out laughing.
? ? ? “Well, well! What next?” said he. “Brother Mycroft is coming round.”
? ? ? “Why not?” I asked.
? ? ? “Why not? It is as if you met a tram-car coming down a country lane. Mycroft has his rails and he runs on them. His Pall Mall lodgings, the Diogenes Club, Whitehall—that is his cycle. Once, and only once, he has been here. What upheaval can possibly have derailed him?”
? ? ? “Does he not explain?”
? ? ? Holmes handed me his brother’s telegram.
? ? ? Must see you over Cadogan West. Coming at once.
? ? ? Mycroft.
? ? ? “Cadogan West? I have heard the name.”
? ? ? “It recalls nothing to my mind. But that Mycroft should break out in this erratic fashion! A planet might as well leave its orbit. By the way, do you know what Mycroft is?”
I had some vague recollection of an explanation at the time of the Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.
? ? ? “You told me that he had some small office under the British government.”
Holmes chuckled.
? ? ? “I did not know you quite so well in those days. One has to be discreet when one talks of high matters of state. You are right in thinking that he is under the British government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government.”
? ? ? “My dear Holmes!”
? ? ? “I thought I might surprise you. Mycroft draws four hundred and fifty pounds a year, remains a subordinate, has no ambitions of any kind, will receive neither honour nor title, but remains the most indispensable man in the country.”
? ? ? “But how?”
? ? ? “Well, his position is unique. He has made it for himself.
There has never been anything like it before, nor will be again. He has the tidiest and most orderly brain, with the greatest capacity for storing facts, of any man living. The same great powers which I have turned to the detection of crime he has used for this particular business. The conclusions of every department are passed to him, and he is the central exchange, the clearing-house, which makes out the balance. All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience. We will suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices from various departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus them all, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other. They began by using him as a short-cut, a convenience; now he has made himself an essential. In that great brain of his everything is pigeon-holed and can be handed out in an instant. Again and again his word has decided the national policy. He lives in it.
? ? ? He thinks of nothing else save when, as an intellectual exercise, he unbends if I call upon him and ask him to advise me on one of my little problems. But Jupiter is descending to-day. What on earth can it mean? Who is Cadogan West, and what is he to Mycroft?”
? ? ? “I have it,” I cried, and plunged among the litter of papers upon the sofa. “Yes, yes, here he is, sure enough! Cadogan West was the young man who was found dead on the Underground on Tuesday morning.”
? ? ? Holmes sat up at attention, his pipe halfway to his lips.
? ? ? “This must be serious, Watson. A death which has caused my brother to alter his habits can be no ordinary one. What in the world can he have to do with it? The case was featureless as I remember it. The young man had apparently fallen out of the train and killed himself. He had not been robbed, and there was no particular reason to suspect violence. Is that not so?”
? ? ? “There has been an inquest,” said I, “and a good many fresh facts have come out. Looked at more closely, I should certainly say that it was a curious case.”

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中文翻譯
? ? ? 一八九五年十一月的第三個(gè)星期，濃重的黃霧在倫敦扎下了營(yíng)盤?，F(xiàn)在我依然懷疑，在那個(gè)星期，星期一到星期四的那段時(shí)間里，從我們貝克街寓所的窗子望出去，究竟有沒(méi)有過(guò)能看見(jiàn)對(duì)面房子輪廓的時(shí)候。第一天，福爾摩斯打發(fā)時(shí)間的方法是替他那本大部頭參考手冊(cè)編制互見(jiàn)索引，第二天和第三天，他耐著性子研究中世紀(jì)的音樂(lè)，那是他新近培養(yǎng)起來(lái)的一個(gè)愛(ài)好?？墒?，到了第四天，我們又一次吃完早飯，把椅子從餐桌跟前挪開(kāi)，又一次看見(jiàn)那股油乎乎、沉甸甸的黃褐色渦流飄過(guò)眼前，看見(jiàn)它在窗子玻璃上凝成一顆顆油汪汪的水珠，我這位天生急躁好動(dòng)的室友終于對(duì)這種死水一潭的生活忍無(wú)可忍。無(wú)處發(fā)泄的精力驅(qū)使他沒(méi)完沒(méi)了地在客廳里踱來(lái)踱去，咬著指甲、敲著家具，為這種百無(wú)聊賴的局面大光其火。
“報(bào)紙上找不出什么有意思的東西嗎，華生？”
? ? ? 他說(shuō)道。
? ? ? 我早就已經(jīng)知道，福爾摩斯嘴里的“有意思”，意思就是有意思的罪案。報(bào)紙上講到了一次革命，講到了一場(chǎng)可能爆發(fā)的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，還講到了一個(gè)即將更迭的政府，只可惜，這些事情都不在我室友的考慮范圍之內(nèi)。我沒(méi)能在報(bào)紙上找到什么奇案大案，福爾摩斯哀嘆一聲，沒(méi)完沒(méi)了的踱步再次開(kāi)始。
? ? ? “毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，倫敦的罪犯都是些庸碌之輩，”他說(shuō)話的口氣憤憤不平，活脫脫是一名找不到稱心獵物的獵手?！澳阃白油饷婵纯窗?，華生?？纯茨切┤擞?，看他們?cè)趺礉u漸浮現(xiàn)，模模糊糊地露個(gè)臉，轉(zhuǎn)眼就再次消失在濃霧之中。這樣的日子里，竊賊和兇手完全可以放開(kāi)手腳嘛，他們可以在倫敦隨意游蕩，就像是密林之中的老虎，即便到了發(fā)起突襲的那一刻，也只有受害者能把他們看個(gè)清楚?！?br> ? ? ? “報(bào)紙上登了啊，”我說(shuō)道，“小偷小摸的事情多得很呢?！?br> ? ? ? 福爾摩斯不屑一顧地哼了一聲。
? ? ? “這么一個(gè)恢宏肅穆的舞臺(tái)是為那些更有分量的演出準(zhǔn)備的，”他說(shuō)道，“我沒(méi)有成為一名罪犯，這個(gè)社會(huì)真應(yīng)該感到慶幸?！?br> ? ? ? “確實(shí)如此，千真萬(wàn)確！”我發(fā)自肺腑地表示同意。
? ? ? “假設(shè)我是布魯克斯或者伍德豪斯，或者是其他某個(gè)有充分理由取我性命的人，那樣的人一共有五十個(gè)，那么，面臨我自己的追殺，我能活多久呢？一張傳票、一次虛假的約會(huì)，一切不就完結(jié)了嘛。那些暗殺成風(fēng)的拉美國(guó)家沒(méi)有霧天，倒還真是件好事哩。
? ? ? 天哪！瞧，終于有點(diǎn)兒事情來(lái)打破這種死氣沉沉的局面了?！?br> ? ? ? 原來(lái)是女仆送來(lái)了一封電報(bào)。福爾摩斯拆開(kāi)電報(bào)，突然間大笑起來(lái)。
? ? ? “好，好??！接下來(lái)會(huì)是什么呢？”他說(shuō)道，“眼下的事情是，我哥哥邁克羅夫特要來(lái)了?！?br> ? ? ? “這有什么好奇怪的呢？”我問(wèn)道。
? ? ? “有什么好奇怪？這樣的情形好比是一輛有軌電車出現(xiàn)在了鄉(xiāng)村小路上。邁克羅夫特有他自己的軌道，輕易也不會(huì)脫軌。位于樸爾莫爾大街的寓所、第歐根尼俱樂(lè)部，再加上白廳，他生活的圈子不外如是。他來(lái)過(guò)這兒一次，也只有那么一次。眼下他居脫離了自己的軌道，到底是出了什么樣的亂子呢？”
? ? ? “他自己沒(méi)有說(shuō)嗎？”
? ? ? 福爾摩斯把他哥哥的電報(bào)遞給了我。
? ? ? 因卡多根?韋斯特事亟需面晤。即往你處。
? ? ? 邁克羅夫特
? ? ? “卡多根?韋斯特？我聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)這個(gè)名字。”
? ? ? “我倒是一點(diǎn)兒印象也沒(méi)有。不過(guò)，想想吧，邁克羅夫特竟然會(huì)以這么古怪的方式打破常規(guī)！簡(jiǎn)直就跟行星脫離了軌道差不多。
? ? ? 對(duì)了，你知道邁克羅夫特是干什么的嗎？”
? ? ? 我依稀記得，在處理“希臘譯員案”的時(shí)候，福爾摩斯曾經(jīng)跟我說(shuō)過(guò)這件事情。
? ? ? “你以前告訴過(guò)我，他是中央政府的一名小職員?！?br> ? ? ? 福爾摩斯吃吃地笑了起來(lái)。
? ? ? “那個(gè)時(shí)候，我還不怎么了解你呢。談?wù)搰?guó)家大事的時(shí)候，不謹(jǐn)慎一點(diǎn)兒是不行的。你說(shuō)他替中央政府做事，沒(méi)錯(cuò)；如果你說(shuō)他有些時(shí)候就是中央政府，從某種意義上說(shuō)，也沒(méi)錯(cuò)?！?br> ? ? ? “親愛(ài)的福爾摩斯！”
? ? ? “我就知道你多半會(huì)大吃一驚。邁克羅夫特一年只掙四百五十鎊，老老實(shí)實(shí)地待在幕僚的位置上，沒(méi)有任何雄心壯志，得不到任何榮譽(yù)和頭銜，即便如此，他仍然是這個(gè)國(guó)家里最不可或缺的人物?！?br> ? ? ? “怎么叫不可或缺呢？”
? ? ? “這么說(shuō)吧，他占據(jù)著一個(gè)獨(dú)一無(wú)二的位置。這樣的位置是他自己給自己打造的，以前不曾有過(guò)，將來(lái)也不會(huì)再有。他的頭腦極度縝密、極有條理、極其擅長(zhǎng)儲(chǔ)存事實(shí)，世上無(wú)人可以匹敵。
我用來(lái)偵破罪案的那些高超本領(lǐng)他也有，只不過(guò)被他用在了他自個(gè)兒的特殊行當(dāng)上。政府各部的決議都會(huì)從他手里經(jīng)過(guò)，他好比是情報(bào)交換中樞，好比是票據(jù)交換所，各個(gè)賬戶的盈虧都在他那里得到體現(xiàn)。其他的人都是擅長(zhǎng)某一方面的專家，他的專長(zhǎng)則是無(wú)所不知。打個(gè)比方說(shuō)，某位大臣需要了解某個(gè)問(wèn)題，那個(gè)問(wèn)題同時(shí)牽扯到海軍事務(wù)、印度事務(wù)、加拿大事務(wù)和金銀復(fù)本位貨幣制度。在這種情況下，那位大臣固然可以從相關(guān)部門分別取得相關(guān)的材料，可是，只有邁克羅夫特同時(shí)掌握所有的材料，能夠隨口說(shuō)出各種因素之間的相互影響。剛開(kāi)始的時(shí)候，他們只是把他當(dāng)成一條捷徑、一道方便之門，眼下呢，他已經(jīng)把自己變成了一個(gè)不可缺少的人物。他那顆了不起的頭腦分門別類地儲(chǔ)存著所有的材料，要用的時(shí)候就可以馬上取出來(lái)。他的意見(jiàn)一次又一次地決定了國(guó)家的大政方針，這就是他全部的生活。別的事情他一概不想，只有在我向他求教的時(shí)候，他才會(huì)放松放松，想想我?guī)サ哪切┬?wèn)題，權(quán)當(dāng)是練練腦子?？墒?，這樣一位大神卻在今天從天而降，究竟會(huì)是什么意思呢？卡多根?韋斯特到底是誰(shuí)，他跟邁克羅夫特又有什么關(guān)系呢？”
? ? ? “我知道了，”我嚷了一句，一頭扎進(jìn)了沙發(fā)上那堆亂七八糟的報(bào)紙?！皼](méi)錯(cuò)，沒(méi)錯(cuò)，他就在這兒，錯(cuò)不了！卡多根?韋斯特就是那個(gè)小伙子，星期二早晨，人們?cè)诘罔F里發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的尸體?！边@句話立刻攫住了福爾摩斯的注意，他坐直身子，正在往嘴里送的煙斗停在了半空。
? ? ? “這件事情一定是非常嚴(yán)重，華生。能讓我哥哥改變自己的生活習(xí)慣，這樣的死亡事件一定不一般。說(shuō)到底，他跟這件事情能有什么關(guān)系呢？按我的記憶，這件案子并沒(méi)有什么特異之處啊。
這個(gè)小伙子顯然是掉到了車廂外面，自個(gè)兒摔死的。他沒(méi)有遭到搶劫，身上也沒(méi)有明顯的暴力傷害跡象，難道我說(shuō)得不對(duì)嗎？”
? ? ? “死因調(diào)查已經(jīng)結(jié)束了，”我說(shuō)道，“他們又發(fā)現(xiàn)了很多新的情況。要我說(shuō)，細(xì)看起來(lái)，這還真是件古怪的案子呢?！?/p>

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