《福尔摩斯探案集·红发会》第9节
“‘Never.’ “‘Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies.’ “‘And what are they worth?’ I asked. “‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’ “Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for the business has not been over good for some years, and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. “‘Tell me all about it,’ said I. “‘Well,’ said he, showing me the advertisement, ‘you can see for yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to do.’
注释摘要
在这一小段对话里，威尔逊向我们复述了他的助手文森特·斯波尔丁怎样一步步把红发会的诱饵送到他嘴边。威尔逊刚说完自己从未听说过红发会，斯波尔丁立刻抛出一句看似随口、实则精心设计的话——“你本人就符合其中一个空缺的条件”。这话表面上是对一个巧合的惊叹，实际上是在把威尔逊从一个旁观者拉进局中。随后斯波尔丁把待遇轻描淡写地报出来：“一年不过两百英镑左右，但工作轻松，…