I arrived at Baker Street at precisely three o’clock. The landlady told me that Holmes had left the house shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire to wait. I was already deeply interested in his new case. It wasn’t surrounded by the grim and strange features that were present in the two crimes which I had already recorded. However, the nature of the case and the royal position of his client gave it a character of its own.
三点钟整，我到了贝克街。房东太太告诉我福尔摩斯早晨刚过八点就离开了房子。我在壁炉旁坐下，开始等他。我已经对他这桩新案子产生了浓厚的兴趣。尽管它不像我记录过的那两件罪案呈现出来的那样，围绕着残忍和不可思议的特征，但这案子的性质和委托人的皇室地位却使它具备应有的特色。
precisely adv.准确地
landlady n.女房东
be surrounded by被...所围绕
of its own本身所具有的
It was nearly four o’clock when the door opened, and a drunken-looking groom walked in. He had messy hair and a red face and dirty clothes. It was Holmes, displaying once again his amazing powers in the use of disguises. He disappeared into the bedroom. After five minutes, Holmes came out wearing a suit and looking respectable.
四点钟左右，屋门开了，一个醉醺醺的马夫走了进来。他头发凌乱，面红耳赤，衣服也脏乱不堪。这正是福尔摩斯，再一次展示着他那惊人的乔装技巧。他消失进了卧室里头，五分钟后，福尔摩斯就穿着正装，风度高雅地走了出来。
groom n.马夫
messy adj.乱七八糟的
display v.展示
disguise v.乔装
disappear v.消失
suit n.西装
respectable adj.令人尊敬的
“I suppose you’ve been watching Miss Irene Adler today?”I asked.
“我猜你今天一直在观察艾琳•艾德勒小姐？”我问道。
suppose v.猜想
“Yes. I left the house a little after eight o’clock this morning, disguised as a groom out of work. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a small villa, with a garden at the back. The front of the house sits right up to the road, and it has two stories. The door has a Chubb lock. There is a large sitting room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor. It also has those stupid English window fasteners which a child could open. Behind there was nothing special, except for the fact that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach house. I walked around it and examined it closely from every point of view. But there was nothing else of interest. I then walked down the street. As I expected, there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the stablemen a hand in rubbing down their horses. In exchange, I reviewed two pence and a lot of information about Miss Adler.”
“正是。今天早晨八点刚过，我就离开了这里，打扮成一个失业的马夫。我很快就找到了布里翁尼府第，那是一栋小巧的别墅，后面有个花园。房子是面对着马路造的，共有两层楼。房门上挂着丘伯锁。房子右边是个宽敞的起居室，装饰得非常好，窗户之长几乎直达地面。那儿还装着那些可笑的英国窗栓，连小孩子都能打开。除了从马车房的房顶可以够得到过道的窗户之外，就没有什么值得注意的了。我绕着别墅走了一圈，从各个角度仔细观察，但没有发现什么别的令人感兴趣的地方。接着我就沿着街道走了下去，果不其然，在靠着花园墙的小巷里我看见了一排马厩。我帮那些马夫梳洗马匹作为交换，他们酬谢了我两个便士和许多有关艾德勒小姐的情况。”
furnish v.装修
fastener n.栓
passage n.过道
mews n.马厩
lane n.小巷
stableman n.马夫
lend...a hand in doing帮助...做某事
in exchange作为交换
