Page 449 - 血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)
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"We have no right to take anything for granted," Holmes
answered. "It is certainly ten to one that they go
downstream, but we cannot be certain. From this point we
can see the entrance of the yard, and they can hardly see
us. It will be a clear night and plenty of light. We must stay
where we are. See how the folk swarm over yonder in the
gaslight."
“任何事情我们都不能看成是理所当然的，”福尔摩斯答道，“虽
然十之有九，他们会往下游去，可是，我们不能肯定。从这个地方，
我们能够看见船坞的出口，可是他们却很难看见我们。今晚没有云
雾，月光很亮。咱们就在这儿吧。你看那边有煤气灯灯光的地方，人
流多么密集。”
"They are coming from work in the yard."
“那都是从船坞下工的工人们。”
"Dirty-looking rascals, but I suppose every one has
some little immortal spark concealed about him. You would
not think it, to look at them. There is no a priori probability
about it. A strange enigma is man!"
“这些人的外表虽然肮脏、粗俗，可是，我想每个人的内心都有一
些不灭的生气。只看他们的外表，你是想不到的。这其中没有概率可
以推算。人就是一个谜。”
"Someone calls him a soul concealed in an animal," I
suggested.
“有人说，人是有灵魂的动物。”我说。
"Winwood Reade is good upon the subject," said
Holmes. "He remarks that, while the individual man is an
insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a
mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell
what any one man will do, but you can say with precision
what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but
percentages remain constant. So says the statistician. But
