《福尔摩斯探案集·红发会》第20节
“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his forehead.” Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I thought as much,” said he. “Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for earrings?” “Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he was a lad.” “Hum!” said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is still with you?” “Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.” “And has your business been attended to in your absence?” “Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a morning.” “That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.” “Well, Watson,” said Holmes when our visitor had left us, “what do you make of it all?” “I make nothing of it,” I answered frankly. “It is a most mysterious business.” “As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.”
注释摘要
这一段对话看似只是人物外貌的描述和几句闲谈，实际上却是整篇故事的第一道分水岭。在它之前，读者和华生一起，听着杰贝兹·威尔逊讲了一个离奇又可笑的故事；在这一段之后，福尔摩斯已经完成了他的推理，而读者仍被留在五里雾中。柯南·道尔在这里极为精妙地操控了信息的流向，他让福尔摩斯知道了一些事，却只让读者看到福尔摩斯知道这些事的反应，而非其内容。 先看字面上发生的事。…