The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 — Page 8
「但他是个诗人,我认为这与傻瓜只有一步之遥。」
"but then he's a poet, which I take to be only one remove from a fool."
杜邦从他的海泡石烟斗中深吸一口,沉思片刻后说道:「说得对,尽管我自己也曾写过一些打油诗。」
"True," said Dupin, after a long and thoughtful whiff from his meerschaum, "although I have been guilty of certain doggrel myself."
我说:「请你详细说说你们搜查的经过吧。」
"Suppose you detail," said I, "the particulars of your search."
「事实是,我们不慌不忙,把每个地方都搜查遍了。我在这类事务上经验丰富。我把整栋建筑逐间搜查,每个房间花上整整一周的夜晚。我们首先检查了每个房间的家具。」
"Why the fact is, we took our time, and we searched everywhere. I have had long experience in these affairs. I took the entire building, room by room; devoting the nights of a whole week to each. We examined, first, the furniture of each apartment."
「我们打开了每一个可能的抽屉;我相信你知道,对于一个受过良好训练的警察人员来说,所谓暗格根本无处遁形。任何人若在这类搜查中让'暗格'从眼皮底下溜走,那简直就是个蠢货。」
We opened every possible drawer; and I presume you know that, to a properly trained police agent, such a thing as a secret drawer is impossible. Any man is a dolt who permits a 'secret' drawer to escape him in a search of this kind.
「道理很简单。每个柜子都有一定的体积和空间需要考量。我们有精确的方法,连十分之一毫米的误差都逃不过我们。」
The thing is so plain. There is a certain amount of bulk—of space—to be accounted for in every cabinet. Then we have accurate rules. The fiftieth part of a line could not escape us.
「搜完柜子之后,我们检查了椅子。椅垫我们用你见过我使用的那种细长针探查过。桌子的桌面也被我们取下来检查。」
After the cabinets we took the chairs. The cushions we probed with the fine long needles you have seen me employ. From the tables we removed the tops.
「为什么要这样做?」
"Why so?"
「有时候,想要藏匿物品的人会取下桌面或其他类似家具的顶板,然后将桌腿挖空,把物品藏入其中,再将顶板复原。」
"Sometimes the top of a table, or other similarly arranged piece of furniture, is removed by the person wishing to conceal an article; then the leg is excavated, the article deposited within the cavity, and the top replaced."
Vocabulary
- but
- 表示转折,意为"但是"
- then
- 表示"那么"或"然后"
- poet
- 写诗的人,诗人
- take
- 认为;理解为某种意思
- only
- 仅仅,只有
- remove
- 一步之遥;差距一级
- fool
- 愚蠢的人,傻瓜
- True
- 表示同意,确实如此
- thoughtful
- 沉思的,深思熟虑的
- whiff
- 一口(烟),轻吸一口
- meerschaum
- 海泡石烟斗,一种烟斗
- although
- 连词,表示"尽管,虽然"
- guilty
- 有罪的;犯有……过失的
- certain
- 某些;特定的
- doggrel
- 拙劣的打油诗,低劣诗歌
- Suppose
- 假设;请你……,用于提出请求
- detail
- 详细描述;细节
- particulars
- 具体细节,详情
- search
- 搜索,寻找
- fact
- 事实,实际情况
- everywhere
- 到处,每个地方
- experience
- 经验,经历
- affairs
- 事务,事情,案件
- entire
- 整个的,全部的
- building
- 建筑物,楼房
- devoting
- 专门用于,投入(时间精力)
- whole
- 整个的,全部的
- examined
- 仔细检查,审查
- furniture
- 家具(总称)
- apartment
- 公寓,套间
- possible
- 可能的,可能存在的
- drawer
- 抽屉
- presume
- 推测,认为;冒昧假设
- properly
- 适当地,正确地
- trained
- 经过训练的,有经验的
- police
- 警察,警方
- agent
- 特工,代理人,探员
- secret
- 秘密的;隐藏的
- impossible
- 不可能的,无法做到的
- dolt
- 愚笨的人,呆子
- permits
- 允许,准许
- escape
- 逃脱,被忽略
- kind
- 种类;类型
- plain
- 明显的,显而易见的
- amount
- 数量,总量
- bulk
- 体积,大小,庞大的量
- space
- 空间,地方
- accounted
- 被说明;被计算在内
- cabinet
- 橱柜,储藏柜
- accurate
- 精确的,准确的
- rules
- 规则;标尺(此处指测量工具)
- fiftieth
- 第五十;五十分之一
- cabinets
- 橱柜(复数)
- cushions
- 坐垫,靠垫(复数)
- probed
- 用探针探查,仔细检查
- fine
- 细的,精细的
- needles
- 针(复数)
- employ
- 使用,采用(方法工具)
- removed
- 移除,取下,拆下
- tops
- 顶部,桌面(复数)
- Sometimes
- 有时,偶尔
- similarly
- 类似地,同样地
- arranged
- 安排好的,布置好的
- conceal
- 隐藏,藏匿
- article
- 物品,物件
- leg
- 桌腿,椅腿;腿
- excavated
- 挖空,掏空(过去式)
- deposited
- 存放,放入(过去式)
- within
- 在……里面,在……之内
- cavity
- 空腔,洞,空穴
- replaced
- 替换,放回原处(过去式)
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