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"The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our visitors had left us,
"这是一件非常有趣的案子。"我们的客人走后福尔摩斯说，
"because it serves to show very clearly how simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight seems to be almost inexplicable.
"因为它非常清楚地说明，一件在开始时看起来几乎无法解释的事情，后来解释起来却又是多么的简单。
Nothing could be more natural than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady,
没有任何事情比这位女士所叙述的事情发生的先后次序更自然的了。
and nothing stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard."
可是另一些人，比如说苏格兰场的雷斯垂德先生，依他看来，就没有什么事情比这事情的结局更奇怪的了。"
"You were not yourself at fault at all, then?"
"那么，你一直就一点都没有弄错吗？"
"From the first, two facts were very obvious to me,
"从一开始，对我来说就有两件事情非常清楚。
the one that the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony,
一件是那位女士原来非常愿意举行婚礼；
the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of returning home.
另一件是但她在回家后还不到几分钟的时间就后悔了。
Obviously something had occurred during the morning, then, to cause her to change her mind.
那么很明显，一定是早上发生了点什么事，使得她改变了主意。
What could that something be?
这件事可能是什么呢？
She could not have spoken to anyone when she was out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom.
出了门以后，她不可能同任何人说过话，因为新郎一直在陪着她。
Had she seen someone, then?
那么，她有没有看到什么熟人呢？
If she had, it must be someone from America because she had spent so short a time in this country
如果有的话，这个人必然是从美国来的。因为她来到这个国家的日子很短，
that she could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence over her
不可能会有什么人给她造成这么深刻的影响，
that the mere sight of him would induce her to change her plans so completely.
以致只是看了那么一眼，就会使她完全改变她的计划。
You see we have already arrived, by a process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an American.
你瞧，经过一系列的去伪存真，我们已经得到这样一个结论，就是她可能看到了一个美国人。
Then who could this American be, and why should he possess so much influence over her?
那么这个美国人又能是谁呢，他为什么对她具有那么大的影响呢？
It might be a lover; it might be a husband.
可能是个情人，也可能是她的丈夫。
Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in rough scenes and under strange conditions.
我知道，她年轻时是在艰难而奇特的环境中度过的。
So far I had got before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative.
在我听到圣西蒙勋爵的叙述之前，我只了解这么一些。
When he told us of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner,
当他告诉我们以下这些情况：在一排座位里有一位男人，新娘的态度起了变化，
of so transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a bouquet,
显然是为了取得字条而从手里掉下了花束的这么一个把戏，
of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very significant allusion to claim-jumping
她求助于她的心腹女仆以及她提到的侵占土地，
which in miners' parlance means taking possession of that which another person has a prior claim to
这在采矿者的行话中意味着占据别人原来已占有的探矿权
the whole situation became absolutely clear.
整个情况就十分清楚了。
She had gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a previous husband
她跟一个男人走了，那么这个男人不是她的情人，就一定是她过去的丈夫，
the chances being in favour of the latter."
丈夫的可能性要大一些。"
