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"The famous scientific criminal, as famous among crooks as..."
"那个著名的手段高超的罪犯，在贼党中的名声犹如..."
"My blushes, Watson!" Holmes murmured in a deprecating voice.
"别说外行话，华生，"福尔摩斯不赞成地嘟囔着。
"I was about to say, as he is unknown to the public."
"我是想说，犹如在公众中一样默默无闻。"
"A touch! A distinct touch!" cried Holmes.
"妙！你真有过人的机灵！"福尔摩斯大声说道。
"You are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humour, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself.
“真没想到你说起话来也富有狡黠的幽默腔调呢。华生，这我可要小心提防着点呢。
But in calling Moriarty a criminal you are uttering libel in the eyes of the law -- and there lie the glory and the wonder of it!
可是把莫里亚蒂叫做罪犯，从法律上讲，你却是公然诽谤--这正是奥妙之所在！
The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld,
他是古往今来最大的阴谋家，是一切恶行的总策划人，是黑社会的首脑，
a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations -- that's the man!
一个足以左右民族命运的智囊！他就是这样一个人。
But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune from criticism, so admirable in his management and self-effacement,
可是一般人对他却毫无怀疑，他从未受到任何指摘，他的善于处世为人和厌恶自我表现的风度又是那么令人钦佩，
that for those very words that you have uttered he could hale you to a court and emerge with your year's pension as a solatium for his wounded character.
因此，就凭你说的这几句话，他就可以把你拖上法庭，罚你一年的年金去抵偿他的名誉损失。
Is he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid,
他不就是《小行星力学》这部书的驰名作者么，
a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it?
这部书上升到纯数学罕有的高度，据说科学界没有人能对它提出什么批评。
Is this a man to traduce? Foulmouthed doctor and slandered professor -- such would be your respective roles!
这样的人，是可以中伤的么？信口雌黄的医生和受人诽谤的教授--这就是你们两人将分别得到的头衔！
That's genius, Watson. But if I am spared by lesser men, our day will surely come."
那可真是个天才呢，华生。可是，只要那些小爪牙弄不死我，我们就总有一天会得胜的。"
"May I be there to see!" I exclaimed devoutly. "But you were speaking of this man Porlock."
"但愿能看到这一天！"我热诚地欢呼道。"可是你刚才提到波尔洛克..."
"Ah, yes -- the so-called Porlock is a link in the chain some little way from its great attachment.
"噢，不错，这个所谓的波尔洛克是整个链条中的一环，离它连接着的那个庞然大物并不远。
Porlock is not quite a sound link -- between ourselves. He is the only flaw in that chain so far as I have been able to test it."
波尔洛克不是十分坚固的一环--这只是咱俩之间这样说罢了。就我所能测到的来说，他是这个链条中唯一的薄弱环节。"
"But no chain is stronger than its weakest link."
"可是一环薄弱，全局也不能坚固啊！"
"Exactly, my dear Watson! Hence the extreme importance of Porlock.
"一点不错！我亲爱的华生。因此，波尔洛克就非常重要了。
Led on by some rudimentary aspirations towards right, and encouraged by the judicious stimulation of an occasional ten-pound note sent to him by devious methods,
他还有点起码的正义感，我又偶尔暗地里送给他一张十镑的钞票，在这一点适当的鼓励下，
he has once or twice given me advance information which has been of value -- that highest value which anticipates and prevents rather than avenges crime.
他已经有一两次事先给我送来了有价值的消息，其所以很有价值，因为它能使我预见并防止某一罪行，而不是让我事后去惩办罪犯。
I cannot doubt that, if we had the cipher, we should find that this communication is of the nature that I indicate."
我毫不怀疑，如果手头有密码，我们就能发现这正是我上面说过的那种信。"
