《福尔摩斯探案集·波希米亚丑闻》第31节
“It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal it was of use to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a glimpse of it as she half drew it out. When I cried out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had come in, and as he was watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all.” “And now?” I asked.
注释摘要
这一节是整场戏法揭底的时刻。福尔摩斯在街上向华生解释，刚才那一幕闹剧究竟是如何运作的。注意他的解说词气：不是从头说起，而是先扔出一个普遍原理——“当一个女人以为房子着火，她的本能就是立刻冲向自己最珍视的东西。”他把它称为一种“压倒一切的冲动”，并且说自己不止一次利用过这一点，还随口举出了两个旧案的名字作为例证。然后他给出了两种标准反应模式：已婚女人会抱起婴…