巴斯克维尔的猎犬 回忆（9）

 

"The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon followed by SirHenry and you. One word now as to how I stood myself at that time. It may possibly recur to yourmemory that when I examined the paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made aclose inspection for the watermark. In doing so I held it within a few inches of my eyes, and wasconscious of a faint smell of the scent known as white jessamine. There are seventy-five perfumes,which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other, andcases have more than once within my own experience depended upon their prompt recognition.

The scent suggested the presence of a lady, and already my thoughts began to turn towards theStapletons. Thus I had made certain of the hound, and had guessed at the criminal before ever wewent to the west country.

“随后， 斯台普吞夫妇就回到了德文郡。 不久， 亨利爵士和你就在那里跟上了他们。 还要说一下我个人在那时的看法， 也许你还能想得起来， 当我检查那张上面贴着报纸铅印字的信的时候， 我仔细地检查了纸里面的水印。 在检查的时候， 我把它拿在离眼睛只有几英寸的地方， 感觉出有一种象是白迎春花的香味。 香水一共有七十五种， 一个犯罪学专家应当每种都能分辨得出来。 根据我个人的经验， 在不只一件案子里， 全靠能迅速辨别出香水的种类才破的案。 那股香味说明， 案子里面牵涉到一位女士， 当时在我心里已经开始想到了斯台普吞夫妇。 我就是这样地在到西部乡 下去之前肯定了 那猎狗， 并且猜出了罪犯。

"It was my game to watch Stapleton. It was evident, however, that I could not do this if Iwere with you, since he would be keenly on his guard. I deceived everybody, therefore, yourselfincluded, and I came down secretly when I was supposed to be in London. My hardships were notso great as you imagined, though such trifling details must never interfere with the investigation ofa case. I stayed for the most part at Coombe Tracey, and only used the hut upon the moor when itwas necessary to be near the scene of action. Cartwright had come down with me, and in hisdisguise as a country boy he was of great assistance to me. I was dependent upon him for food andclean linen. When I was watching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that Iwas able to keep my hand upon all the strings.

“我玩的把戏就是监视斯台普吞。 可是， 显然， 如果我是和你在一起的话， 我就会干不成这件事了， 因为那样一来， 他就会大加小心了。 因此， 我就把大家——连你在内——全都欺骗了， 当人家以为我还在伦敦的时候， 我已秘密地到乡 下来了。 我所吃的苦， 并不象你所想象得那样多， 决不能让这些细微末节扰乱案件的调查工作。 我大部分时间都呆在库姆· 特雷西， 只有当必须去接近犯罪现场的时候， 我才去住在沼地上的小屋里。 卡特莱和我一同来了， 他假扮成农村小孩， 对我的帮助太大了。 靠着他， 我才能弄到食物和干净衣服， 在我监视着斯台普吞的时候， 卡特莱经常在监视着你， 因此我的手就能抓住了所有的线索。