領(lǐng)略原汁原味漢英對照經(jīng)典名作
紅圈會
? ? ? “WELL, Mrs. Warren, I cannot see that you have any particular cause for uneasiness, nor do I understand why I, whose time is of some value, should interfere in the matter. I really have other things to engage me.” So spoke Sherlock Holmes and turned back to the great scrapbook in which he was arranging and indexing some of his recent material. But the landlady had the pertinacity and also the cunning of her sex. She held her ground firmly.
? ? ? “You arranged an affair for a lodger of mine last year,” she said—“Mr. Fairdale Hobbs.”
? ? ? “Ah, yes—a simple matter.”
? ? ? “But he would never cease talking of it—your kindness, sir, and the way in which you brought light into the darkness. I remembered his words when I was in doubt and darkness myself. I know you could if you only would.”
? ? ? Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery, and also, to do him justice, upon the side of kindliness. The two forces made him lay down his gum-brush with a sigh of resignation and push back his chair.
? ? ? “Well, well, Mrs. Warren, let us hear about it then. You don’t object to tobacco, I take it? Thank
? ? ? you, Watson—the matches! You are uneasy, as I understand, because your new lodger remains in?his rooms and you cannot see him. Why, bless you, Mrs. Warren, if I were your lodger you often would not see me for weeks on end.”
? ? ? “No doubt, sir, but this is different. It frightens me, Mr. Holmes. I can’t sleep for fright. To hear his quick step moving here and moving there from early morning to late at night, and yet never to catch so much as a glimpse of him—it’s more than I can stand. My husband is as nervous over it as I am, but he is out at his work all day, while I get no rest from it. What is he hiding for? What has he done? Except for the girl, I am all alone in the house with him, and it’s more than my nerves can stand.”
? ? ? Holmes leaned forward and laid his long, thin fingers upon the woman’s shoulder. He had an almost hypnotic power of soothing when he wished. The scared look faded from her eyes, and her agitated features smoothed into their usual commonplace. She sat down in the chair which he had indicated.
? ? ? “If I take it up I must understand every detail,” said he. “Take time to consider. The smallest point may be the most essential.
? ? ? You say that the man came ten days ago and paid you for a fortnight’s board and lodging?”
? ? ? “He asked my terms, sir. I said fifty shillings a week. There is a small sitting-room and bedroom, and all complete, at the top of the house.”
? ? ? “Well?”
? ? ? “He said, ‘I’ll pay you five pounds a week if I can have it on my own terms.’ I’m a poor woman, sir, and Mr. Warren earns little, and the money meant much to me. He took out a tenpound note, and he held it out to me then and there. ‘You can have the same every fortnight for a long time to come if you keep the terms,’ he said. ‘If not, I’ll have no more to do with you.’ ”
? ? ? “What were the terms?”
? ? ? “Well, sir, they were that he was to have a key of the house. That was all right. Lodgers often have them. Also, that he was to be left entirely to himself and never, upon any excuse, to be disturbed.”
? ? ? “Nothing wonderful in that, surely?”
? ? ? “Not in reason, sir. But this is out of all reason. He has been there for ten days, and neither Mr. Warren, nor I, nor the girl has once set eyes upon him. We can hear that quick step of his pacing up and down, up and down, night, morning, and noon; but except on that first night he has never once gone out of the house.”
? ? ? “Oh, he went out the first night, did he?”
? ? ? “Yes, sir, and returned very late—after we were all in bed. He told me after he had taken the rooms that he would do so and asked me not to bar the door. I heard him come up the stair after midnight.”
? ? ? “But his meals?”
? ? ? “It was his particular direction that we should always, when he rang, leave his meal upon a chair, outside his door. Then he rings again when he has finished, and we take it down from the same chair. If he wants anything else he prints it on a slip of paper and leaves it.”
? ? ? “Prints it?”
? ? ? “Yes, sir, prints it in pencil. Just the word, nothing more. Here’s one I brought to show you—soap. Here’s another— match. This is one he left the first morning— daily gazette. I leave that paper with his breakfast every morning.”
? ? ? “Dear me, Watson,” said Holmes, staring with great curiosity at the slips of foolscap which the landlady had handed to him, “this is certainly a little unusual. Seclusion I can understand; but why print? Printing is a clumsy process. Why not write? What would it suggest, Watson?”

中文翻譯??

? ? ? “呃，沃倫太太，我看您并沒有什么非擔(dān)心不可的理由，而我也看不出來，我這么個
時間也算寶貴的人干嗎要摻和這件事情。不瞞您說，我真的還有其他事情要辦?！闭f到這里，歇洛克·福爾摩斯回過頭去，繼續(xù)整理他那本碩大的剪貼簿，為他新近收集的各種材料編制索引。不過，這位女房東不光是性子執(zhí)拗，而且不欠缺女性特有的巧妙手腕。她頑強(qiáng)地堅守著自己的陣地。
? ? ? “去年的時候，您還幫我的一個房客辦過事呢，”她說道——“我是說費爾戴爾·霍布斯先生?！?br> ? ? ? “是的，沒錯——小事而已?！?br> ? ? ? “可他總把那件事情掛在嘴上——說您的心腸多么多么的好，先生，又說您掃清迷霧的本領(lǐng)多么多么的高超。所以啊，等到我自個兒陷進(jìn)迷霧的時候，我就想起了他的話。我知道您肯定有辦法幫我，只要您愿意就成。”
福爾摩斯架不住恭維，還有呢，替他說句公道話，也架不住別人勸他行善的懇求。兩種力量合在一起，他無可奈何地嘆了一聲，放下手里的膠水刷子，把自個兒的椅子往后挪了挪。
? ? ? “好啦，好啦，沃倫太太，把您的事情說來聽聽吧。
按我看，您應(yīng)該不反對我抽煙吧？麻煩你，華生——火柴！我沒理解錯的話，您之所以擔(dān)心，是因為您的新房客一直待在自己的房間里，您看不見他?？龋系郾Ｓ幽?，沃倫太太，您那個房客要是跟我一樣的話，一連幾個星期不露面也是常事?！?br> ? ? ? “那是當(dāng)然，先生，不過，這一回的情形可不一樣。這事情把我嚇得夠戧，福爾摩斯先生，嚇得我夜里睡不著覺。我光是聽見他在房里急急忙忙地走來走去，從清早走到深夜，但卻連他的影子也瞧不見——這樣的情形真讓我受不了。我丈夫跟我一樣，也被這件事情弄得非常緊張，可他白天好歹要去外面上班，我卻得一刻不停地遭受折磨。他到底在躲什么？他干過些什么事情？除了那個幫忙的小姑娘之外，整座屋子里就只有他跟我，這樣的情形真讓我吃不消啦?！?br> ? ? ? 福爾摩斯探身向前，把瘦長的手指搭在了這個女人的肩頭。只要他想，他總是能夠施放幾近催眠的安撫力量。這么著，女人眼里的驚恐神色漸漸消失，緊張的面容也放松下來，恢復(fù)了素日里的平凡模樣。緊接著，她在福爾摩斯指給她的那把椅子上坐了下來。
? ? ? “既然接下了這件事情，我就得知道所有的細(xì)節(jié)，”福爾摩斯說道，“您不用著急，想好了再說。最細(xì)小的事情興許就是最關(guān)鍵的地方。您剛才說，這個人是十天之前來的，預(yù)付了兩個星期的食宿費，對嗎？”
? ? ? “他問我房錢怎么算，先生，于是我跟他說，每周五十先令，出租的是頂樓的一間臥房，帶一個小小的起居室，所有東西都齊?！?br> ? ? ? “然后呢？”
? ? ? “他說，‘我可以給你每周五鎊，可你得按我的規(guī)矩來辦?！沂莻€窮苦女人，先生，沃倫先生掙得也很少，這筆租金對我來說很重要。緊接著，他掏出一張十鎊的票子，當(dāng)場遞到了我的面前?！灰阕袷匚业囊?guī)矩，接下來的很長一段時間里面，你每兩個星期就能有這么一張，’他說，‘不行的話，咱們就不用打交道了?！?br> ? ? ? “他的規(guī)矩是什么呢？”“呃，先生，規(guī)矩就是他要有屋子大門的鑰匙，這倒是沒什么，別的房客也經(jīng)常這樣。除此之外，他要求絕對的清靜，我們不能在任何時候以任何理由去打攪他?！?br> ? ? ? “這也沒什么古怪啊，不是嗎？”
? ? ? “按常理說，確實是沒什么古怪，先生。只不過，接下來的事情完全不合常理。他已經(jīng)在我們那兒住了十天，與此同時，不管是我、沃倫先生，還是那個小姑娘，都沒有瞧見過他，一次都沒有。
? ? ? 光聽見他急急忙忙地走來走去，走來走去，晚上走，早上走，中午也走。可是，除了第一天晚上之外，他從來沒有離開過屋子?！?br> ? ? ? “噢，第一天晚上他出去過，對嗎？”
? ? ? “是的，先生，而且很晚才回來，回來的時候我們都已經(jīng)睡了。租下房間之后，他跟我說他要出去，還叫我不要閂上屋門。過了十二點，我才聽見了他上樓的腳步聲?！?br> ? ? ? “他怎么吃飯呢？”
? ? ? “他特意交代過，聽到他拉鈴才能送飯，還得把飯擺在他門外的一把椅子上。吃完之后，他會把杯盤放在椅子上，拉鈴叫我們?nèi)ト?。需要其他東西的時候，他會用印刷體寫在紙片上，然后就把紙片放在門外?！?br> ? ? ? “印刷體？”
? ? ? “是的，先生，用鉛筆寫的印刷體。紙片上沒有別的內(nèi)容，只有物品的名稱。喏，我?guī)Я艘粡垇斫o您看——‘soap’（肥皂）。這又是一張——‘match’（火柴）。這兒還有一張，是他剛搬來的第一天早上放在門外的——‘daily gazette’（《每日公報》）。每天早上，我都會把他要的那份報紙跟早餐一起送上去?！?br> ? ? ? ?“天哪，華生，”福爾摩斯說道，驚奇不已地盯著女房東遞給他的那幾張紙條，“這確實有點兒不同尋常。閉門謝客我還可以理解，可他干嗎要用印刷體呢？印刷體寫起來很費工夫啊。為什么不用手寫體呢？這會是什么意思呢，華生？”

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