On the night of the 20th?of March, 1888, I was going home after seeing a patient. As I walked through Baker Street, I passed the door of the apartment which I remembered very well. I was suddenly seized with a desire to see Holmes again. I wanted to know what he was doing with his extraordinary gifts. His rooms were brightly lit.
那是1888年3月20日的晚上，我探望完病人，正走在回家的路上。經過貝克街時，我路過了那扇記憶猶新的寓所大門。突然之間，我產生了一種想要再見見福爾摩斯的愿望。我想要知道他正用他那非凡的天賦從事什么事情。他幾間房子里的燈都亮堂堂的。
patient ?n. 病人
suddenly ?adv. 突然地
be seized with ?產生...的感覺
desire ?n. 欲望
gift ?n. 天賦
As I looked up, I saw the silhouette of his tall, spare figure against the blinds. I could tell by the way he walked back and forth that he was at work again. He was thinking hard on some new problem. I rang the bell and was led up to the room which I used to share with Holmes.
我抬起頭來，看見他那高大消瘦的身影映在窗簾上。他來回踱步，我明白他又在工作了。他正在苦苦思索些新難題。我按響了門鈴，被領上了那間我曾和福爾摩斯共同居住過的房間。
silhouette ?n. 身影
spare ?adj. 消瘦的
figure ?n. 身影
blind ?n. 窗簾
back and forth ?前后
share ?v. 分享，合用
As always, Holmes was subtle. But I think he was glad to see me. Without saying a word, but with a kind expression, he pointed to an armchair. I sat down, and he passed me his case of cigars and a glass of brandy. Then he stood before the fire and looked at me in his usual thoughtful way.
和往常一樣，他仍舊不露聲色。但我覺得福爾摩斯很高興見到我。他雖一言不發，但卻神色親切地指了指一張扶手椅示意我坐下。我坐了下來，他把他的雪茄煙盒和一瓶白蘭地遞給了我。隨即，他在爐火前站定，用他慣有的那種沉思的方式打量著我。
subtle ?adj. 不露聲色的
expression ?n. 神色
armchair ?n. 扶手椅
cigar ?n. 雪茄
brandy ?n. 白蘭地
usual ?adj. 慣常的
thoughtful ?adj. 沉思的
“Marriage suits you, Watson,”?he said. “It looks like you’ve gained seven and a half pounds since the last time I saw you.”
“婚姻很適合你，華生，”他說，“看起來自從我上次見到你以來，你體重增加了七磅半。”
suit ?v. 適合
get wet ?弄濕
inexperienced ?adj. 毫無經驗的
careless ?adj. 粗心大意的
“Seven!”?I answered.
“七磅！”我回答道。
“A little more than seven, I think. It also seems that you have been getting yourself very wet lately. And you have an inexperienced and careless servant girl. Am I right?”
“我想，比七磅還再多一點。并且，看起來最近你經常把自己搞得濕漉漉的。你還有個毫無經驗、粗心大意的女仆。我猜對了嗎？”
servant girl ?女仆
“My dear Holmes, you’re right,”?I said. “I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess. But as I have changed my clothes, I don’t know how you knew that. As for Mary Jane, she is helpless. I think my wife is going to fire her. But again, how did you figure that out?”
“我親愛的福爾摩斯，你猜對了，”我回答道，“星期四我步行去了趟鄉下，回家時把自己搞得一團糟。但是我已經換過衣服了，真不知道你是怎么知道的。至于瑪麗?珍，她真是無可救藥了。我想我老婆正打算把她給打發走了。但是，你又是怎么推斷出來的呢？”
in a dreadful mess ?亂七八糟
helpless ?adj. 無可救藥的
figure out ?推斷
He giggled and rubbed his long hands together.
他嘻嘻一笑，搓了搓他那雙細長的手。
giggle ?v. 嘻嘻笑
rub ?v. 搓
“It’s simple,”?said Holmes. “I can see that on the inside of your left shoe, the leather has six cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone carelessly scratching around the edges of the sole to remove mud from it.”
“這簡單得很。”福爾摩斯說，“在你左腳那只鞋的里側，我能看見那里的皮革有六道裂痕。很明顯，這是有人粗心大意地順著鞋跟邊緣刮泥時造成的。”
simple ?adj. 簡單的
leather ?n. 皮革
cut ?n. 裂紋
obviously ?adv. 明顯地
be caused by ?由...造成
carelessly ?adv. 粗心大意地
scratch ?v. 刮
edge ?n. 邊緣
sole ?n. 鞋底
remove ?v. 弄掉
mud ?n. 泥巴
I could not help but laugh at the ease with which he explained everything.
看到他解釋這一切的那幅輕松勁兒，我情不自禁地笑了起來。
cannot help but ?忍不住...
ease ?n. 輕松
explain ?v. 解釋
“When you explain your reasons to me, they always seem so ridiculously simple,”?I said. “My eyes and ears are as good as yours, and I feel like I could easily do it myself. Still, I am always confused until you explain your process.
“當你向我解釋你的推理的時候，它們總是顯得那么簡單，幾乎到了可笑的地步，”我說道，“我的眼睛和耳朵都和你一樣好時，我覺得我自己都能輕易推理出來。但是，直到你把推理過程解釋清楚之后，我才不會感到困惑不解。”
ridiculously ?adv. 可笑地
confused ?adj. 困惑不解的
process ?n. 過程
Holmes lit a cigarette and threw himself down into an armchair.
福爾摩斯點燃了一支香煙，全身舒展地坐進了扶手椅里頭。
light a cigarette ?點燃一根香煙
throw onself down ?全身舒展坐進...
“You see, but you do not observe,”?he said. “For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”
“你在看，但你沒在觀察，”他回答道，“比如說，你經常會看到從下面大廳通往這間屋子的樓梯吧。”
observe ?v. 觀察
frequently ?adv. 經常地
“Yes.”
“沒錯。”
“How many times?”
“看過多少次了？”
“Well, probably hundreds of times.”
“嗯，沒準有幾百次了。”
“Then do you know how many steps there are?”
“那么，你知道那兒有多少階臺階嗎？”
“I don’t know.”
“我不知道。”
“There you go! You have seen, but not observed. I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By the way, you may be interested in this. After all, you are good enough to record one or two of my trifling experiences.”?He gave me a thick, pink-tinted letter which had been lying open on the table. “It came by post,”?he said. “Read it out loud.”
“這就對啦！你只是在看，但是沒有觀察。我知道那兒有十七階臺階，因為我不僅在看，而且還觀察了。順便說聲，你可能會對這個感興趣，畢竟你很擅長把我的一兩次小經歷給記錄下來。”福爾摩斯把一直平放在他桌子上的一張粉紅色的厚厚的信紙遞給了我。“這是郵差送來的，”他說，“大聲念念吧。”
?
after all ?畢竟
record ?v. 記錄
trifling ?adj. 微不足道的
experience ?n. 經歷
pink-tinted ?adj. 粉色的
post ?n.郵差
