四签名 52贝克街的侦探小队（5）

We pulled up at the Great Peter Street Post-Office, and Holmes dispatched his wire.

我们在大彼得街邮电局停下，福尔摩斯发了一封电报。

"Whom do you think that is to?" he asked as we resumed our journey.

他上车后问我道："你知道我给谁发电报？"

"I am sure I don't know."

"我不知道。"

"You remember the Baker¹ Street division of the detective police force whom I employed in the Jefferson Hope case?"

"你还记得在杰弗逊·侯波一案里我们雇用的贝克街侦探小队吗？"

"Well," said I, laughing. "This is just the case where they might be invaluable².

我笑道："就是他们呀！""在这个案子里，他们可能很有用处。

If they fail I have other resources, but I shall try them first.

他们若是失败了，我还有别的办法，不过我愿意先用他们试一试。

That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant³, Wiggins,

那封电报就是发给我那个小队长维金斯的，

and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast."

他们这群孩子在咱们没吃完早餐前就能来到了。"

It was between eight and nine o'clock now,

这时正是早晨八九点钟。

and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night.

一夜的辛苦，使我感觉万分疲乏，

I was limp and weary, befogged in mind and fatigued⁴ in body.

走起路来两腿也跛了，真是精疲力竭。

I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on,

论起这桩案子，在侦查上我没有我的伙伴的那种忠于职业的热情，

nor could I look at the matter as a mere⁵ abstract intellectual problem.

同时我也不把它仅仅看成是个抽象的理论问题。

As far as the death of Bartholomew Sholto went,

至于巴索洛谬·舒尔托的被害，

I had heard little good of him and could feel no intense antipathy⁶ to his murderers.

因为大家对于他素日的行为并没有好气，所以我对于凶手们也没有太大的反感。

The treasure, however, was a different matter.

可是论到宝物，那就另当别论了。

That, or part of it, belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan.

这些宝物--或者宝物的一部分--按理是应属于摩斯坦小姐的。

While there was a chance of recovering it I was ready to devote my life to the one object.

在可能有机会找回宝物的时候，我愿尽毕生之力，把它找回来。

True, if I found it, it would probably put her forever beyond my reach.

不错，如果宝物能够找回，我个人可能就永远不能和她接近了。

Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that.

可是爱情如果被这种想法所左右，这种爱情也就成为无聊和自私的了。

If Holmes could work to find the criminals,

如果福尔摩斯能够找到凶手，

I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure.

我就该加上十倍的努力去找宝物。

A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully.

在贝克街家中洗了一个澡，重新换了衣服，使我的精神大大地振作品来。

When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Holmes pouring out the coffee.

等到下楼，看见早餐早已备好，福尔摩斯正在那里斟咖啡。

"Here it is," said he, laughing and pointing to an open newspaper.

他笑着指着一张打开的报纸向我说道："你看看，

"The energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed⁷ it up between them.

这位好高务远的琼斯和一个庸俗的记者把这个案子一手包办了。

But you have had enough of the case. Better have your ham and eggs first."

这案子把你搞得也够烦的了，还是先吃你的火腿蛋吧。"

I took the paper from him and read the short notice,

我从他手里接过报纸来，

which was headed "Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood."

上边标题写着《上诺伍德的破案》。

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。