2 The Odd Job

Chapter 2 The Odd Job Wilson paused to sip some tea and mop his forehead with a handkerchief. "Your story is one of the strangest I've heard in a long time," remarked Sherlock Holmes. "It gets stranger, sir," said Wilson. "As we stood waiting to go into the office, I saw the dejected faces of all the men coming out and my heart sank. I didn't believe I stood a chance. Finally, we were admitted. A man was seated there behind a desk with hair even redder than my own. "When he saw me, he sprang to his feet. 'Well, well,' he said, and he gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then he seized it with both hands and tugged, causing me to yelp with pain. 'There's water in your eyes,' he observed. 'I'm sorry, but we have to be careful. People have tried to deceive us with wigs and even red paint, would you believe? But yours, I see, is genuine

威尔逊停下来喝了口茶，用手帕擦了擦额头。 福尔摩斯说："你的故事是我很久以来听到的最奇怪的故事之一。 “越来越奇怪了，先生，”威尔逊说。 当我们站在那里等着进办公室的时候，我看到所有人都是垂头丧气的样子，我的心一沉。 我不相信我有机会。 最后，我们被录取了。 桌子后面坐着一个男人，他的头发比我还红。 “当他看到我时，他跳了起来。 “好吧，好吧，”他说，他盯着我的头发，直到我感到很害羞。 然后他用两只手抓住它，使劲地拽，弄得我痛得大叫起来。 “你的眼睛里有水，”他说。 “我很抱歉，但我们必须小心。 人们试图用假发甚至红漆来欺骗我们，你相信吗？ 但你的，我看，是真诚的

and of a truly magnificent shade. I know already that we won't find a better candidate today.' "He shook my hand and congratulated me. Then he stepped over to the window and shouted at the top of his voice that the vacancy had been filled. I could hear the groans of disappointment from the street below. "The man introduced himself as Mr. Duncan Ross. He asked if I could start work tomorrow. I explained I had a business to run, but Spaulding told me not to worry about that. He could look

而且是真正华丽的阴影。 我已经知道我们今天找不到更好的候选人了。’”他握着我的手，向我表示祝贺。 然后他走到窗前，扯着嗓子大声说，空缺已经填满了。 我能听到楼下街道上失望的呻吟声。 那个人介绍自己是邓肯·罗斯先生。 他问我明天是否可以开始工作。 我解释说我有生意要做，但斯波尔丁让我别担心。 他可以看

after the shop while I did this other job. Then Mr. Ross explained what the job involved. "I was to come to the office each day from ten o'clock until two and I had to stay there the whole time. Mr. Ross was very strict on this point. If I left the office even briefly during those four hours, I would lose the job. I asked him what work I had to do, and he said I had to copy the Encyclopedia Britannica. I was to supply my own ink, pens, and blotting paper, and the League would provide me with a table and chair."

在我做其他工作的时候照看一下商店。 然后罗斯先生解释了这份工作的内容。 “我必须每天从十点到两点到办公室，而且我必须一直呆在那里。 罗斯先生在这一点上非常严格。 如果我在这四个小时里离开办公室，哪怕只是短暂地离开一下，我就会丢掉这份工作。 我问他我要做什么工作，他说我要抄《大英百科全书》。 墨水、笔和吸墨纸由我自己提供，协会给我一张桌子和一把椅子。”

"And for this they'd pay you how much?" I asked. "Four pounds a week," said Wilson. "But that's more than two hundred pounds a year!" I exclaimed. "One could live very handsomely on such a sum. And all for copying an encyclopedia?" "At first I suspected it was some sort of joke," said Wilson. "Yet when I arrived at the office the next day, there was the table set out for me with the encyclopedia all ready. So I began copying it, starting with all the entries beginning with A. Mr. Ross was there to let me in and see me out, and at the end of the day he complimented me on how much I had written. The same thing happened the following day and the day after that. I came in at ten each morning and left at two, and on Saturday I received four pounds in gold sovereigns. As the days went by, Mr. Ross came in less and less until eventually he didn't come in at all. Eight weeks passed like this. I wrote about Abbots, Archery, Architecture, and Australia, and I was looking forward to getting

“为此他们会付你多少钱？”我问。 “一星期四镑，”威尔逊说。 “可那一年就是二百多英镑啊！”我叫道。 “有这么一笔钱，生活就可以过得很富足了。 就因为抄了一本百科全书？”“起初我怀疑这是某种玩笑，”威尔逊说。 然而，当我第二天到达办公室时，已经为我摆好了桌子，百科全书已经准备好了。 所以我开始复制它，从所有以A开头的元素开始。 罗斯先生在那里让我进去，送我出去，在一天结束的时候，他称赞我写了很多东西。 第二天和第三天，同样的事情又发生了。 我每天早上10点来，2点走，星期六我收到4镑金币。 日子一天天过去，罗斯先生来的越来越少，直到最后他根本不来了。 八个星期就这样过去了。 我写了关于修道院、射箭、建筑和澳大利亚的文章，我期待着得到

onto the B's. But then this morning, the whole thing suddenly stopped." "Stopped?" said Holmes, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, sir. I went to the office as usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked. A notice had been nailed to it. I've brought it with me." He showed us a cardboard sign reading: "THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE HAS BEEN CLOSED DOWN. October 9, 1890."

转到B上。但是今天早上，整个事情突然停止了。” 福尔摩斯扬起眉毛说：“停了吗？” “是的,先生。我像往常一样在十点钟去了办公室，但是门关着，锁着。 上面钉着一张告示。 我把它带来了。”他给我们看了一张纸板，上面写着：“红发联盟被关闭了。 1890年10月9日。”

Sherlock Holmes and I took one look at this sign and at the mournful face behind it and couldn't help bursting into laughter. "I cannot see what's so funny!" cried Wilson, his face turning almost as red as his hair. "If all you can do is laugh at me, I shall take my business elsewhere."

歇洛克·福尔摩斯和我看了一眼这个牌子，又看了看招牌后面那张悲伤的脸，不禁哈哈大笑起来。 “我看不出有什么好笑的！”威尔逊叫道，他的脸几乎和他的头发一样红。 “如果你只会嘲笑我，那我就到别处去办我的事。”