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"All about it" proved to be disappointingly little, and yet there was enough to assure us that the case before us might well be worthy of the expert's closest attention.
"一切情况"少得令人失望，但是它却足以使我们确信，我们面临的案子是非常值得一位专家密切注意的。
He brightened and rubbed his thin hands together as he listened to the meagre but remarkable details.
当福尔摩斯倾听那少得可怜但却值得注意的细节时，他面露喜色，不住搓弄两只瘦手。
A long series of sterile weeks lay behind us, and here at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers which,
漫长而又百无聊赖的几个星期总算是过去了，眼下终于有了一个适合的案件来发挥那些非凡的才能了，
like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use.
这种非凡的才能，正像一切特殊的禀赋一样，当它毫无用武之地的时候，就变得使它们的主人感到厌倦。
That razor brain blunted and rusted with inaction.
敏锐的头脑也会由于无所事事而变得迟钝生锈的。
Sherlock Holmes's eyes glistened, his pale cheeks took a warmer hue, and his whole eager face shone with an inward light when the call for work reached him.
歇洛克·福尔摩斯遇到了要求他解决的案子，他的两眼炯炯传神，苍白的双颊微现红晕，急于求成的面庞神采奕奕。
Leaning forward in the cab, he listened intently to MacDonald's short sketch of the problem which awaited us in Sussex.
他坐在车上，上身前倾，聚精会神地倾听麦克唐纳讲述这个案子的简要情况，这个案子正等待着我们到苏塞克斯去解决呢。
The inspector was himself dependent, as he explained to us, upon a scribbled account forwarded to him by the milk train in the early hours of the morning.
警官向我们解释说，他是根据送给他的一份草草写成的报告讲的，这份报告是清晨通过送牛奶的火车带给他的。
White Mason, the local officer, was a personal friend, and hence MacDonald had been notified much more promptly than is usual at Scotland Yard when provincials need their assistance.
地方官怀特·梅森是他的好朋友，在别处的人需要他们帮忙的时候，麦克唐纳总是比苏格兰场收到通知要快得多。
It is a very cold scent upon which the Metropolitan expert is generally asked to run.
这是一桩无从下手的案子，这样的案子一般需要由大城市的专家去解决的。
"Dear Inspector Macdonald (said the letter which he read to us):
“亲爱的麦克唐纳警官（他念给我们的信上这样说）：
"Official requisition for your services is in separate envelope. This is for your private eye.
这信是写给你个人的，另有公文送到警署。
Wire me what train in the morning you can get for Birlstone, and I will meet it -- or have it met if I am too occupied.
请打电报通知我，你坐早晨哪一班车到伯尔斯通来，以便我去迎候。如果我不能脱身，也将派人去接。
This case is a snorter. Don't waste a moment in getting started.
这个案件不比寻常。请你火速前来，不要耽误一点时间。
If you can bring Mr. Holmes, please do so; for he will find something after his own heart.
如果你能和福尔摩斯先生一起来，务请同行。他会发现一些完全合他心意的事。
We would think the whole thing had been fixed up for theatrical effect if there wasn't a dead man in the middle of it. My word! It is a snorter."
如果不是其中有一个死人，我们就会以为全部案子是戏剧性地解决了呢。哎呀，这真是个不寻常的案子啊！"
"Your friend seems to be no fool," remarked Holmes.
"你的朋友似乎并不愚蠢，"福尔摩斯说道。
"No, sir, White Mason is a very live man, if I am any judge."
"对，先生，如果让我评价的话，怀特·梅森是一个精力非常充沛的人。"
"Well, have you anything more?"
"好，你还有什么别的话要说吗？"
"Only that he will give us every detail when we meet."
"咱们遇到他时，他会把一切详情告诉咱们的。"
"Then how did you get at Mr. Douglas and the fact that he had been horribly murdered?"
"那么，你是怎么知道道格拉斯先生和他惨遭杀害的事实的？"
"That was in the inclosed official report. It didn't say 'horrible': that's not a recognized official term.
"那是随信附来的正式报告上说的。报告上没有用那'惨遭'二字，这不是一个公认的正式术语。
It gave the name John Douglas. It mentioned that his injuries had been in the head, from the discharge of a shotgun.
只是说死者叫约翰·道格拉斯，提到他伤在头部，是被火枪射中的。
It also mentioned the hour of the alarm, which was close on to midnight last night.
还提到案发的时间是昨晚接近午夜时分。
It added that the case was undoubtedly one of murder, but that no arrest had been made,
还说这案件无疑是一桩谋杀案，不过还没有对任何人实行拘捕。
and that the case was one which presented some very perplexing and extraordinary features.
此案案件具有非常复杂和分外离奇的持点。
That's absolutely all we have at present, Mr. Holmes."
福尔摩斯先生，这就是当前我们所知道的全部情况。"
"Then, with your permission, we will leave it at that, Mr. Mac.
"那么，麦克先生，你如果赞成，我们就谈到这里。
The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.
根据不足过早做出判断，这对咱们的工作是极为有害的。
I can see only two things for certain at present -- a great brain in London, and a dead man in Sussex. It's the chain between that we are going to trace."
当前我只能肯定两件事--伦敦的一个大智囊和苏塞克斯的死者。我们所要查清的正是这两者之间的联系。"
