《福尔摩斯探案集·蓝宝石案》第5节
“Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?” I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker’s name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials “H. B.” were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. “I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend. “On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences.” “Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?” He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective fashion which was characteristic of him. “It is perhaps less suggestive than it might have been,” he remarked, “and yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.”
注释摘要
华生接过那顶破帽子，翻来覆去地看，心里其实有些不是滋味。在他看来，这就是一顶再普通不过的旧圆顶黑毡帽，质地已经变硬，磨损得不成样子。原本该是红绸的衬里褪色得厉害，没有制造商的标记，只有福尔摩斯已经指出的那两个缩写的名字首字母“H. B.”歪歪扭扭地写在一侧。帽檐上留着帽绳扣的小孔，但弹力绳早已不见了。帽子有几处开裂，布满灰尘，还有好几块污渍，虽然似乎有人试…