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Holmes smiled. He was always warmed by genuine admiration -- the characteristic of the real artist.
福尔摩斯笑了笑。他受到人家真诚的钦佩时总是感到温暖--这可以说是一个真正的艺术家的性格。
"What about Birlstone?" he asked.
他这时问道："到伯尔斯通去的事怎么样了呢？"
"We've time yet," said the inspector, glancing at his watch.
"我们还有时间呢，"警官瞅了一下表说。
"I've a cab at the door, and it won't take us twenty minutes to Victoria.
"我有一辆马车等在门口，用不了二十分钟就可以到维多利亚车站。
But about this picture: I thought you told me once, Mr. Holmes, that you had never met Professor Moriarty."
可是讲起这幅画来，福尔摩斯先生，我记得你曾经对我说过一次，你从来没有见到过莫里亚蒂教授。"
"No, I never have."
"对，我从来没有见到过他。"
"Then how do you know about his rooms?"
"那你怎么能知道他房间里的情形呢？"
"Ah, that's another matter. I have been three times in his rooms, twice waiting for him under different pretexts and leaving before he came.
"啊，这可是另外一回事了。我到他房中去过三次，有两次用不同的借口等候他，在他回来之前，就离开了。
Once -- well, I can hardly tell about the once to an official detective.
还有一次，啊，我可不便对一个官方侦探讲了。
It was on the last occasion that I took the liberty of running over his papers -- with the most unexpected results."
那是最后一次，我擅自把他的文件匆匆检查了一下，获得了完全意外的结果。"
"You found something compromising?"
"你发现了什么可疑的东西吗？"
"Absolutely nothing. That was what amazed me. However, you have now seen the point of the picture.
"一点也没有。这正是使我惊奇的地方。不管怎样，你现在已经看到这张画所具有的意义了。
It shows him to be a very wealthy man. How did he acquire wealth?
它说明莫里亚蒂是一个极为富有的人。他怎么搞到这些财富的呢？
He is unmarried. His younger brother is a station master in the west of England. His chair is worth seven hundred a year. And he owns a Greuze."
他还没有结婚。他的弟弟是英格兰西部一个车站的站长。他的教授职位每年是七百镑。而他竟拥有一张格罗兹的油画。"
"Well?"
"嗯？"
"Surely the inference is plain."
"这样一推论，自然就明白了。"
"You mean that he has a great income and that he must earn it in an illegal fashion?"
"你的意思是说他有很大的收入，而这个收入是用非法的手段得来的吗？"
"Exactly. Of course I have other reasons for thinking so
"一点不错，当然我还有别的理由这样想
dozens of exiguous threads which lead vaguely up towards the centre of the web where the poisonous, motionless creature is lurking.
许多蛛丝马迹，隐隐约约地通向蛛网的中心，而这个毒虫却一动也不动地在那里潜伏着。
I only mention the Greuze because it brings the matter within the range of your own observation."
我仅只提起一个格罗兹，因为你自己已经亲眼见到了。"
"Well, Mr. Holmes, I admit that what you say is interesting: it's more than interesting -- it's just wonderful.
"对，福尔摩斯先生，我承认刚才你所讲的那些话是很有意思的，不只非常有意思，简直奇妙极了。
But let us have it a little clearer if you can. Is it forgery, coining, burglary -- where does the money come from?"
不过，如果你能把它讲得再清楚一些就更好了。究竟他的钱是从哪儿来的？伪造钞票？私铸硬币？还是盗窃来的？"
"Have you ever read of Jonathan Wild?"
"你看过关于乔纳森·怀尔德的故事吗？"
"Well, the name has a familiar sound. Someone in a novel, was he not?
"啊，这个名字听起来倒是很熟悉的。他是一本小说里的人物吧！是不是？
I don't take much stock of detectives in novels -- chaps that do things and never let you see how they do them. That's just inspiration: not business."
我对于小说里的侦探们向来是不感兴趣的，这些家伙做什么事总是不让人家知道他们是怎样做的。那只不过是灵机一动的事，算不上办案。"
"Jonathan Wild wasn't a detective, and he wasn't in a novel. He was a master criminal, and he lived last century -- 1750 or thereabouts."
"乔纳森·怀尔德不是侦探，也不是小说里的人物，他是一个罪魁，生在上一世纪--1750年前后。"
"Then he's no use to me. I'm a practical man."
"那么，他对我就没有什么用处了，我是一个讲究实际的人。"
"Mr. Mac, the most practical thing that you ever did in your life would be to shut yourself up for three months and read twelve hours a day at the annals of crime.
"麦克先生，你一生最实际的事，就是应该闭门读书三个月，每天读十二个小时犯罪史。
Everything comes in circles -- even Professor Moriarty.
任何事物都是往复循环的--甚至莫里亚蒂教授也是如此。
Jonathan Wild was the hidden force of the London criminals, to whom he sold his brains and his organization on a fifteen per cent commission.
乔纳森·怀尔德是伦敦罪犯们的幕后推动力，他靠他那诡谲的头脑和他的组织势力从伦敦罪犯那里收取百分之十五的佣金。
The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.
旧时代的车轮在旋转，同一根轮辐还会转回来的。过去所发生的一切，将来还是要发生的。
I'll tell you one or two things about Moriarty which may interest you."
我要告诉你一两件关于莫里亚蒂的事，它会使你感兴趣的。"
"You'll interest me, right enough."
"你讲的一定会使我非常感兴趣。"
