Page 359 - 血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)

"That was the idea which occurred to me the instant I
saw the drawn muscles of the face. On getting into the room

I at once looked for the means by which the poison had
entered the system. As you saw, I discovered a thorn which
had been driven or shot with no great force into the scalp.
You observe that the part struck was that which would be
turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the man were erect

in his chair. Now examine this thorn."

“我一发现他那面部肌肉收缩的情形，就想到了是这样。一进这个
屋子，我就马上想要找到他中毒的地方。如你所见，我发现了那根轻

轻插入或者射入他头皮的刺。你看，如果死者当时是直挺地坐在椅子

上的话，中刺的部位正是一扭头就会正对着的天花板洞口的位置。现
在，让我们来检查这根刺吧。”

I took it up gingerly and held it in the light of the
lantern. It was long, sharp, and black, with a glazed look
near the point as though some gummy substance had dried
upon it. The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off

with a knife.

我小心翼翼地拿起那根刺，对准了灯。那是一根很长、很尖利的
黑刺，刺尖周围有一层半透明的东西，似乎是涂过什么黏液，然后又

干了。粗钝的底部是用刀修整削圆了的。

"Is that an English thorn?" he asked.

“这是英国产的毒刺吗？”他问。

"No, it certainly is not."

“不，很明显不是。”

"With all these data you should be able to draw some
just inference. But here are the regulars, so the auxiliary
forces may beat a retreat."

“根据所有这些线索，你应该能够得出点儿合理的推论了吧？这是

最主要的部分，其他的细枝末节就很好办了。”