《福尔摩斯探案集·斑点带子案》第18节
“I cannot think.” “When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter’s marriage, the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines.” “But what, then, did the gipsies do?” “I cannot imagine.” “I see many objections to any such theory.” “And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!” The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.
注释摘要
福尔摩斯在这里做了一次完整但最终会被他自己推翻的推理演示。他当着华生的面——也就是当着读者的面——把目前掌握的所有碎片拼成一幅图：夜间口哨、与医生关系密切的吉普赛人、医生有充分动机阻止继女结婚、垂死者喊出的“带子”、海伦听到的金属哐当声。他把金属声解释为百叶窗的铁闩落回原位，由此推断吉普赛人可能通过窗户进入房间作案。这是一个合乎常理的假设，用福尔摩斯自己的…