【前情回顾】：
两人在贝克街221b号公寓开始新的生活。但福尔摩斯的生活习性、兴趣爱好和独特观点逐渐引起了华生的注意。尤其是他对文学政治等的无知同样让华生好奇福尔摩斯的职业。
【今日翻译】：
However, he soon told me himself.
As I remember, it was on the 4th of March.
I rose somewhat earlier than usual, and found that Sherlock Holmes had not yet finished his breakfast.
I picked up a magazine from the table and attempted to pass the time with it, while my companion ate silently.
不过，很快我就知道了答案，是他主动讲的。
我记得那天是3月4日。
我比往常起的早了点，然后发现我的小伙伴正好在吃早餐。
由于小伙伴奉行食不言政策，我只好从桌子上拎起一份杂志准备打发时间。
One of the articles had a pencil mark at the heading, and I naturally began to run my eye over it.
Its somewhat ambitious(野心勃勃的) title was “The Book of Life,”
and it attempted to show how much an observant man might learn by an accurate(正确无误的) and careful examination of all that came in his way.
The reasoning was close and intense(深刻的), but the conclusions(结论) appeared to me to be far-fetched and exaggerated(夸张的).
随便翻了翻，有篇文章上有铅笔标记，于是一下子抓住了我的注意力。
题目看起来就感觉要吊炸天：“生命之书”。
主要是讲一个人可以通过精准仔细的观察他接触到的生活，获得不知繁多的信息。
文中推理结构严谨深刻，但结果对我来说，显得过于牵强夸张。
The writer claimed by a temporary(瞬间的) expression, a twitch(抽动) of a muscle(肌肉) or a glance of an eye, to find out a man’s inner(内心的) thoughts.
According to(根据) him, it was impossible to fool a man who has been trained in such observation and analysis(分析).
His conclusions(结论) were very definite(肯定的).
To the untrained, his results would appear very surprising.
作者声称，通过微表情，肌肉的抽动，眼睛看向的方向，就能够知道一个人的内心想法。
“From a drop of water,” said the writer, “a logician could gather the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other.
So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it.
By a man’s finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his shoes, by his clothes, by his expression—by each of these things a man’s work is plainly revealed(揭示).”
作者说，“一个推理家哪怕完全没有见过Atlantic（大西洋）或者Niagara（尼亚加拉），但是从一滴水也能看出它是来自哪个洋的。
所以，所有的生命都是一个链条，当我们看到它单个链环的时候，也就能知道它的本质。
从一个人的指甲，外套，鞋子，衣服，表情，等每一个环节，都能知道他的工作是什么。”
“What nonsense(胡说八道)!” I cried, throwing the magazine down on the table, “I never read such rubbish in my life.”
“What is it?” asked Sherlock Holmes.
“This article,” I said, pointing at it with my egg spoon as I sat down to my breakfast.
“这简直是胡说八道！”我没办法赞同这个理论，直接把杂志扔桌子上了，“读这种观点真实辣眼睛！从来没看到过这么荒谬的。”
“什么东西？”
“就这个文章。”用我的蛋勺指了下杂志，我准备吃我的早餐。
“I see that you have read it, since you have marked it.
I don’t deny(否认) that it is cleverly written. It bothers(惹恼) me though. It is not practical.
I should like to see him sit down in a third class carriage on the Underground, and figure out the profession(职业) of all the travelers.
I would lay a thousand to one against him.”
“我知道你读过这个文章，上面有你的标记。
我不否认它的推理很有趣，但我还是看它不顺眼。太不现实了。
我真想看看，如果是在地下的三级车厢里，他是不是能指出所有乘客的职业。
我赌一千比一。”
“You would lose your money,” Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly.
“As for the article, I wrote it myself.”
“You!”
“那你要倾家荡产了。”Sherlock说的好冷静。“毕竟，那篇文章是我写的。”
“你？！”
“Yes, I have a natural talent both for observation and for deduction(推理).
The theories which I have expressed there, and which appear to you to be so absurd(荒谬的), are extremely practical—
so practical that I depend upon(依靠) them for my bread and cheese.”
“嗯哼，我可是具有观察和推理双重天赋的天才。
我写的那篇文章，就是你觉得荒谬的理论，是绝对现实的——这可是我的生活来源。”
“And how?” I asked.
“Well, I have a trade of my own.
I suppose I am the only one in the world.
I’m a consulting(顾问) detective(侦探), if you can understand what that is.
Here in London we have lots of Government detectives(警探) and lots of private ones.
When these men are at fault they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent(轨道).
They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able to give them the right idea, with the help of my knowledge of the history of crime.
Lestrade is a well-known detective(警探).
He got himself into a mess recently over a case. That’s what brought him here.”
“啥意思？”我真的吃惊了。
“嗯，我有我自己的职业。
我想我是这世上最独一无二的。
我是个顾问侦探。希望你听的懂。
伦敦虽然有很多官方侦探和私人侦探。
当他们有解决不了的事情就会来找我，然后我会给他们指明方向。
他们给我提供所有的证据，我靠着我的犯罪历史的相关知识，给他们缕清思路提供方向。
Lestrade（雷斯垂德）是一位著名警探。
最近他有个案件，让他觉得云里雾里的。所有他才来找我。”
“But do you mean to say,” I said, “that without leaving your room you can undo(解开) some knots(结) which other men cannot figure out,
although they have seen every detail(细节) for themselves?”
“等会儿，你意思是说，你足不出户就能解开案件中的难点？而别人面对真实证据都束手无策？”
“Quite so. I have a kind of instinct(直觉) about those things.
Sometimes a case turns up which is a little more complex.
Then I have to move about and see things with my own eyes.
You see I have a lot of special knowledge which I apply to the problem, and which aids matters wonderfully.
Those rules of deduction(推理) laid down in that article, which stirred(激起) your contempt(轻视), are precious(宝贵的) to me in practical work.
To me, observation is second nature.
On our first meeting, you appeared to be surprised when I told you that you had come from Afghanistan.”
“昂，就这意思。我对这些事情都有敏锐的直觉。
不过有时候有的事情会复杂一点。
那我就得亲自用我的眼睛去侦查了。
你也知道我有很多关于这方面的知识，还有些相关的辅助性知识。
那文章里，你极度蔑视的那些推理，都是我在实际工作中的法宝。
对于我来说，观察是我的第二天赋。
咱俩第一次见面的时候，好像我说你是从Afghanistan（阿富汗）来的时候你很惊讶。”
“You were told, no doubt.”
“肯定是别人告诉你的。”
“Nothing of the sort. I knew you came from Afghanistan.
From long habit the sequence(一系列) of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the conclusion(结论) without being aware of the intermediate(中间的) steps.
There were such steps, however.
My thoughts went like this, ‘Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man.
Clearly an army doctor, then.
He has just come from the tropics(热带地区), for his face is dark, and that is not the natural color of his skin, for his wrists(手腕) are fair.
He has experienced suffering and sickness, as his worn face says clearly.
His left arm has been wounded.
He holds it in a stiff(僵硬的) and unnatural manner.
Where in the tropics(热带地区) could an English army doctor have seen much suffering and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.’
The whole train of thought did not take a second.
I then remarked that you came from Afghanistan, and you were shocked.”
“屁。我是自己看出来的。
我有个习惯，一堆念头从脑海中飘过去到我得出结论，中间甚至都没有经过具体的步骤。
不过，大概是有些顺序的。
我当时大概是这样想的——
【这位绅士整体形象是医疗人员，不过带有军人的气质。
那就是一名军医。
然后，他的脸很黑，完全和他的肤色不搭，毕竟从他的手能看出来，所以他刚刚从热带地区回来。
他饱经病痛，因为他的脸看起来很憔悴。
他左胳膊受过伤。因为用的时候很僵硬，不自然。
热带地区哪里会出现一位英国军医饱经磨难胳膊受伤的情况？很明显阿富汗嘛。】
这一系列想法都不需要一秒钟。
然后我说你来自阿富汗，你很震惊。”
“It is simple enough when you explain it,” I said, smiling.
“No man lives, or has ever lived, who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the detection(侦察) of crime as I have done.
And what is the result? There is no crime to detect(侦察), or, at most, some stupid crimes with a motive(动机) so obvious that even a Scotland Yard official can see through it.”
“听你这么一说，好像真的挺简单。”我也笑了。
“到现在，从没有人像我这样在侦察方面如此有天赋。
结果呢？现在没有罪行让我发挥所长了。顶多能有些傻不拉几的连Scotland Yard（苏格兰法院）的官员都能看出来的动机。”
I was annoyed at his arrogant(自大的) style of conversation.
I thought it best to change the topic.
“I wonder what that fellow is looking for.”I asked, pointing to a plainly-dressed man who was walking slowly down the other side of the street, looking anxiously at the numbers.
He had a large blue envelope(信封) in his hand, and was evidently carrying a message to someone.
“You mean the retired sergeant(中士) of Marines(海军),” said Sherlock Holmes.
这自大的对话方式真实让人生气。
我觉得还是赶紧换个话题比较好。
“我想知道那个哥们儿在找什么。”我指着街对面那个穿着整齐的神情焦虑的看门牌号的男的。
他手里拿着一个大号蓝色信封，估计是个传信员。
“你是说那位退休海军中士。”Sherlock说。
“Nonsense(胡说八道)!” I thought to myself.
“He knows that I cannot verify(证实) his guess.”
The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were watching caught sight of(看见) the number on our door, and ran rapidly across the road.
We heard a loud knock, a deep voice below, and heavy steps climbing the stair(楼梯).
“他知道我没法证实他的推测所以肯定是在胡扯！”我心里默默吐槽。
不过当看到那个男的看到我们门牌号，然后就迅速穿过马路的时候，我默默的咽回去了这个想法。
然后我们就听到了大力的敲门声，和沉重的爬楼梯的 。
“For Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” he said, stepping into the room and handing my friend the letter.
Here was an opportunity of taking the pride out of him.
He little thought of this when he made that random(随意的) guess.
“Sherlock先生，有你的信。”那男的走进房间把信给我小伙伴。
哦这真是个好机会，看我的小伙伴还不得啪啪打脸，让他胡扯。
“May I ask, my man,” I said, “what your job may be?”
“Messenger(信使), sir,” he said. “My uniform is away to be mended.”
“And you were?” I asked.
“A sergeant(中士), sir, Royal Marine(海军) Light Infantry, sir. No answer? Right, sir.”
He clicked his heels together, raised his hand in a salute(敬礼), and was gone.
“您好，我先问下，你的工作是什么？”
“我是个传信员，先生。我的工作服被送去修补了。”
“那你以前呢？”
“哦我是个海军中士，先生。海军陆战队士兵。没什么事儿我就先走了。”
他脚跟一合，啪的一声敬了个礼，走了。
over，不定时翻译。
