2 The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle Two days after Christmas, I decided to visit Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to wish him a merry Christmas. When I arrived at Baker Street, I found my friend resting on the sofa. Next to him, an old, worn, dirty hat was slouched over the back of a chair. I saw a magnifying glass sitting on a nearby table. "I suppose this hat has something to do with a crime?" I asked. "No, my dear Watson," answered Holmes.

圣诞节后两天，我决定去拜访歇洛克·福尔摩斯。 我想祝他圣诞快乐。 当我到达贝克街时，我发现我的朋友正在沙发上休息。 在他旁边，一顶又旧又破又脏的帽子耷拉在椅背上。 我看见旁边的桌子上放着一个放大镜。 “我想这顶帽子跟犯罪有关吧？”我问。 “不，我亲爱的华生，”福尔摩斯回答说。

"Not a crime. Just one of those odd little events that take place in a large city like London. I received the hat on Christmas morning from a policeman named Peterson. He told me he was walking home on Christmas Eve when he saw a man wearing this hat and carrying a goose over his shoulder." "No doubt for his Christmas dinner," I said. "No doubt, Watson," Holmes replied. "Peterson then explained that a group of thugs appeared and began to bother the man. They pushed him and knocked off his hat. The man tried to defend himself by swinging his cane and accidentally broke a store window. "That's when Peterson ran to help the poor stranger. When the gang saw Peterson coming, they ran. But their victim ran, too.

“不是犯罪。只是在伦敦这样的大城市里发生的奇怪的小事件之一。 圣诞节早晨，我从一个名叫彼得森的警察那里收到了这顶帽子。 他告诉我，他在平安夜回家的路上，看见一个人戴着这顶帽子，肩上背着一只鹅。” “毫无疑问是为了他的圣诞晚餐，”我说。 “毫无疑问，华生，”福尔摩斯答道。 彼得森接着解释说，一群暴徒出现并开始骚扰这名男子。 他们推了他，把他的帽子撞掉了。 这名男子试图挥动手杖自卫，结果不小心打破了商店的一扇窗户。 就在那时，彼得森跑去帮助那个可怜的陌生人。 当那伙人看到彼得森走过来时，他们就跑了。 但是他们的受害者也逃跑了。

The old man must have thought Peterson would arrest him for breaking the window. "And so the officer was left with the hat and the goose. A piece of paper was tied to the bird. It read: 'For Mrs. Henry Baker.' And the initials 'H. B.' are on the hat. But there must be hundreds of Henry Bakers in London. It would be impossible to find the right Henry Baker and return his hat and goose to him. "Peterson knows that I am interested in even the smallest problem," said Holmes. "So he brought the items to me. Since I couldn't keep the goose forever, Peterson came back and took it for his dinner tonight. Meanwhile, I have been learning about the stranger by studying his hat." "But what can you possibly learn from examining a hat?" I exclaimed. "You know how I work, Watson," Holmes

老人一定以为彼得森会以打破窗户的罪名逮捕他。 就这样，军官只得到了帽子和鹅。 鸟身上绑着一张纸。 上面写着：“给亨利·贝克夫人。”还有首字母“H”。 B。“在帽子上。”但伦敦肯定有好几百个叫亨利·贝克的人。 要找到真正的亨利·贝克并把他的帽子和鹅还给他是不可能的。 福尔摩斯说：“彼得森知道我对最小的问题也感兴趣。 于是他把东西拿给我。 因为我不能永远养这只鹅，彼得森回来把它作为他今晚的晚餐。 与此同时，我通过研究他的帽子来了解这个陌生人。” “但是你从一顶帽子里能学到什么呢？”我叫道。 “你知道我是怎么办事的，华生，”福尔摩斯说

replied. "Here is my magnifying glass. You tell me what you can discover about our stranger." I took the hat and looked it over. It was an ordinary black hat, but it had become worn with age. The red silk lining was faded. I saw the initials "H. B." inside. There were holes in the brim for an elastic band to hold the hat on the wearer's head. But the elastic was missing. The hat was cracked, dusty, and had worn spots all over it. Someone had colored the spots with ink.

回答。“这是我的放大镜。 你告诉我，你能发现我们这位陌生人的什么情况。” 我拿起帽子仔细看了看。 这是一顶普通的黑帽子，但随着时间的推移，它已经戴上了。 红色的丝绸衬里褪色了。 我看到了首字母“ h.b. ” 在里面。帽沿上有一些洞，可以用松紧带把帽子固定在佩戴者的头上。 但是松紧带不见了。 这顶帽子破了，满是灰尘，到处都是磨损的斑点。 有人用墨水给这些斑点上色了。

"I can see nothing," I said, handing the hat back to my friend. "On the contrary, Watson. You see everything. But you don't understand the meaning of what you see." "Then what can you tell me about the hat's owner?" I asked. Holmes explained, "Three years ago the owner was a fairly wealthy man. But since then, he has become much poorer. He was a careful person, but isn't anymore. Something has caused these changes. Perhaps he is gambling. This may be why his wife no longer loves him. "Despite all this, our stranger is still careful about his appearance. But he doesn't go out much. He is middle-aged and not in the best of health. He has gray hair, cut within the last few days, to which he applies a cream. And he probably uses candles to light his

“我什么也看不见，”我说着，把帽子还给了我的朋友。 “恰恰相反，华生。你看到了一切。 但你不明白你所看到的是什么意思。” “那你能告诉我这顶帽子的主人是谁吗？”我问。 福尔摩斯解释说：“三年前，房子的主人是个相当富有的人。 但从那以后，他变得更穷了。 他以前是个细心的人，但现在不是了。 有些东西引起了这些变化。 也许他是在赌博。这也许就是他的妻子不再爱他的原因。 “尽管如此，我们的陌生人仍然很注意自己的外表。 但是他不常出去。 他人到中年，身体不好。 他的头发是灰白的，是几天前剪的，他在头发上涂了一种面霜。 他可能会用蜡烛来点燃他的