《大侦探福尔摩斯》五

精彩对白

Driver: Afternoon, sir. I put the notebooks in this one, sir.

Watson: Thank you.

Mary: What's in these, John?

Watson: Scribbles¹.

Mary: Scribbles?

Watson: Notes.

Mary: They're your adventures. I'd like to read them.

Watson: Come on, what's wrong?

Mary: Do you think he's come to terms with you leaving?

Watson: Mary, look at the ring he's given us. Now, five minutes here and we'll go home.

Mary: Our home.

Watson: Get up those stairs. Don't worry, dear. Suicide is not in his repertoire². He's far too fond of himself for that. Holmes.

Holmes: Oh. Good afternoon. I was trying to deduce the manner in which Blackwood survived his execution. Clearing your good name, as it were. But it had a surprisingly soporific effect and I was carried off in the arms of Morpheus like a caterpillar³ in a cocoon⁴. Good afternoon, dear.

Watson: Get on with it, Holmes.

Holmes: Cleverly concealed⁵ in the hangman's knot was a hook. Oh, dear, my legs have fallen asleep. I should come down.

Mary: John, shouldn't we help him down?

Watson: No, no, no, I hate to cut him off midstream. Carry on.

Holmes: Well, the executioner attached it to a harness allowing the weight to be distributed around the waist...and the neck to remain intact. My Lord, I can't feel my cheeks. Might we continue this at ground level?

Watson: How did you manage it, Holmes?

Holmes: I managed it with braces⁶, belts and a coat hook. Please, my tongue is going, I'll be of no use to you at all.

Watson: Worse things could happen.

Mary: John.

Watson: Yet none of this explains Blackwood's lack of pulse.

Holmes: Right. Now, the medical mystery. We must restore your reputation, Watson. There is a toxin⁷ refined from the nectar of the rhododendron ponticum. It's infamous⁸ in the region of Turkey bordering the Black Sea for its ability to induce an apparently⁹ mortal paralysis¹⁰. Enough to mislead a medical mind even as well-trained as your own. It's known as...

Mary: What's wrong with Gladstone?

Holmes: Mad honey disease. Oh, he's demonstrating the very effect I've just described. He doesn't mind.

Watson: Mary, don't worry, he's seen far worse.

Clark: Mr. Holmes? Doctor. Miss Mary. Sir, Inspector¹¹ Lestrade asks that you come with me right away.

Holmes: What is it is this time, Clarkie?

Clark: It's one of our sergeants¹³, sir. He went missing the day you stopped Lord Blackwood. I'm afraid sewage workers found his body just this morning, sir. We believe the sergeant¹² was our first man on the scene.

Sergeant: Can I help you, officer?

Clark: Shot in the head.

Holmes: Was it a small caliber¹⁴ bullet?

Clark: Yes.

Holmes: Were there powder burns on his eyebrows¹⁵?

Clark: Indeed, sir.

Watson: Point blank range?

Holmes: Moriarty. Professor Moriarty.

Mary: Oh, there's a good boy. Everything's gonna be fine.

Watson: Where is Blackwood's device now?

Clark: Secret Service have it, sir. They've taken over the case.

Holmes: I'd wager¹⁶ there's a piece missing.

Watson: So Moriarty was after a piece of the machine not the poison.

Holmes: There's nothing more elusive¹⁷ than an obvious fact.The wire-free invention was the game all along.

Watson: And Adler was just the diversion.

Holmes: He knew I'd chase her, leaving the machine accessible. A technology of that kind would be worth an untold¹⁸ fortune. Imagine being able to control any device simply by sending a command via radio waves. It's the future, Watson.

Driver: I've loaded the last of your boxes, sir.

Mary: Gladstone.

Watson: Stop him before he gets to the front door.

Holmes: Clarkie. Case reopened.

妙语佳句 活学活用

1. scribble：潦草的文字，胡写乱画的东西。也可以用作动词。

例如：The child is scribbling¹⁹ all over a book.（这孩子正在本子上到处乱画。）

2. come to terms：达成协议，妥协，让步。

例如：He seems to have come to terms with losing his sight.（他好像已经接受了自己将失明这个事实。）

3. repertoire：准备好演出的节目，保留剧目，或指某个人的全部技能。在这里华生的意思是“自杀可不是他的强项”。

4. clearing your good name：clear one's name意思是“为某人洗清罪名，还某人清白”。

我们平时常说的“跳进黄河也洗不清”就可以用There's nothing one can do to clear one's name.来表示。在这里，good name是指“美名，好名声”，与之相对的则是bad name。

5. soporific：催眠的，让人瞌睡的。也可以指催眠药剂，安眠药。

例如：Such detours²⁰ are well worth making and can greatly reduce the soporific boredom²¹ of motorway²² driving.（这些弯路值得一绕，能够大大减低在快车路上行驶时的困乏感。）

6. in the arms of Morpheus：在梦中。Morpheus是希腊神话中的睡神孟菲斯。

7. infamous：声名狼藉的。

例如：That infamous criminal was finally sentenced to death.（那个臭名昭著的罪犯终于被判处死刑。）

8. caliber：口径。这里的small caliber bullet就是指“小口径子弹”。

9. point blank range：近距离射击。Point在这里指“瞄准”，而blank range就是指“近距离”。

10. wager：打赌，保证。

例如：I'll wager you that he won't come.（我敢和你打赌他绝对不会来。）