《福尔摩斯探案集·歪唇男人》第15节
“So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest.” “But a cripple!” said I. “What could he have done single-handed against a man in the prime of life?”
注释摘要
福尔摩斯对案情的叙述完成了第一个板块——那个拉斯卡鸦片馆老板——之后，话头一转，把聚光灯打到了另一个人物身上。他的用语带着一种严密的叙事节奏：先处理相对次要的角色，再用一个沉甸甸的「现在来说说这个」把读者的注意力拉向真正关键的人。他称这个人为「阴森的瘸子」，住在鸦片馆二楼，而且是「最后一个见到内维尔·圣克莱尔的人」。这个表述在华生的转述里出现得非常自然，但…