1 The Evil Genius

ThE Final PROBLEM

最后一个问题

Chapter 1 The Evil Genius On the evening of Friday, April 24, 1891, I was surprised to receive a visit from my old friend, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. I had seen little of him during the previous few months. The last I'd heard, he was in Paris helping the French government on a secret matter. "Holmes!" I said. "How lovely to see you! Are you quite well? You look even paler and thinner than usual." "It's true, I've been under a little pressure lately," he said, wiping some sweat from his brow. "Do you mind if I close your shutters?" Without waiting for my approval, he began striding from window to window, throwing the shutters closed and bolting them securely. The room became gloomy, the only light coming from a lamp on the table where I had been reading.

1891年4月24日星期五的晚上，我很惊讶地接到了老朋友、著名侦探夏洛克·福尔摩斯的来访。 在过去的几个月里，我很少见到他。 据我所知，他在巴黎协助法国政府处理一件机密事务。 “福尔摩斯!”我说。“见到你真高兴!”你还好吗？ 你看起来比平时更苍白更瘦了。” “这是真的，我最近有点压力，”他说，擦了擦额头上的汗水。 “你介意我关上百叶窗吗？”不等我同意，他就开始从一扇窗户大步走到另一扇窗户，把百叶窗关上，再把它们牢牢地拴上。 房间里变得阴沉起来，唯一的光亮来自我刚才看书的桌子上的一盏灯。

"Are you afraid of something?" I asked. "As it happens, I am, yes." "Of what?" "Air guns." "My dear Holmes, what do you mean?" "I think you know by now that I am not a fearful man, Watson. Yet neither am I a stupid one, and it would be sheer stupidity not to recognize danger when it's close at hand." Holmes seated himself in an armchair. "I'm sorry for visiting so late," he said. "That's alright." "Would you mind very much if I were to leave your house later by scrambling over your back

“你害怕什么吗？”我问。 “碰巧的是，是的。” “什么?”“空气枪。”“我亲爱的福尔摩斯，你这是什么意思？”“我想你现在已经知道，我并不是一个胆小怕事的人，华生。 但我也不傻，危险近在咫尺，如果不认识到这一点，那就太愚蠢了。” 福尔摩斯在扶手椅上坐了下来。 “很抱歉这么晚才来，”他说。 “好吧。”“如果我晚些时候爬上你的背离开你的房子，你会非常介意吗

garden wall?" "Why on earth would you want to do that?" Holmes held out his hand and I saw in the light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were cut and bleeding. "This trouble I'm in is not imaginary, Watson," he said. "It's real enough to break a man's skin. Are you extremely busy right now?" "Not exactly." "Would you like to come away with me for a week on the continent" "Where on the continent?" "Oh, anywhere. It's all the same to me."

花园的墙吗?”“你到底为什么要这么做？”福尔摩斯伸出手来，借着灯光，我看到他的两个指关节被割伤了，正在流血。 “我所遇到的麻烦并不是凭空想象出来的，华生，”他说。 “它真实得足以让人破皮。 你现在特别忙吗？”“不完全是。” “你愿意和我一起去大陆上玩一个星期吗？”“大陆上什么地方？”“哦,任何地方。 对我来说都是一样的。”

There was something very strange about all this. I didn't like the way he kept changing the subject, and this suggestion of an aimless holiday was quite unlike him. He had the pale complexion, bright eyes, and clenched jaw of a man under severe stress. I was seriously worried about him. "Holmes, please tell me what's going on?" Seeing the worry in my face, he folded his hands together, sighed deeply, and began to explain. "I don't suppose you've heard of Professor James Moriarty?" he said. "No." "Quite incredible!" said Holmes, shaking his head. "He's the greatest criminal of the century, yet no one has heard of him. That is his genius. I tell you, Watson, if I could rid the world of that man, it would be the most important thing I'd ever done. Nothing I could do after that would match it. With Moriarty behind bars, I could happily retire to my chemistry experiments and my violin. But while he continues to walk free on the streets of London, I can never feel at ease."

这一切都很奇怪。 我不喜欢他老是变换话题，这种漫无目的度假的建议完全不像他。 他脸色苍白，眼睛炯炯有神，下巴紧绷着，就像一个承受着巨大压力的人。 我真的很担心他。 “福尔摩斯，请告诉我发生了什么事？”看到我脸上忧虑的表情，他双手合十，深深地叹了口气，开始解释。 “我想你没有听说过詹姆斯·莫里亚蒂教授吧？”他说。 “没有。”福尔摩斯摇着头说：“简直难以置信！” “他是本世纪最大的罪犯，可是没有人听说过他。 这就是他的天才。我告诉你，华生，如果我能让这个世界摆脱那个人，那将是我做过的最重要的事情。 在那之后我做什么都比不上它。 莫里亚蒂进了监狱，我就可以愉快地回到我的化学实验和小提琴中去了。 但只要他继续在伦敦街头自由行走，我就永远不会感到安心。”

"What's he done, then?" "His life has been extraordinary. The pity of it is that with his intelligence, he could have done so much good in the world. From an early age, he displayed a natural gift for numbers. At the youthful age of twenty-one, he was appointed professor of mathematics at a top university. A brilliant career lay before him. "Yet he lacked many of the ordinary qualities most of us have, like compassion, pity, and guilt. He had no conscience—no sense of right and wrong. His heart was cold, his appetite for power and wealth, limitless.

“那么，他做了什么？”“他的一生非同寻常。 遗憾的是，以他的聪明才智，他本可以在世界上做很多好事的。 从很小的时候起，他就表现出对数字的天赋。 在他21岁的时候，他被任命为一所顶尖大学的数学教授。 辉煌的事业在他面前展现。 然而，他缺乏我们大多数人拥有的许多普通品质，比如同情、怜悯和内疚。 他没有良心——没有是非观念。 他的心是冷酷的，他对权力和财富的欲望是无限的。