The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 — Page 12

我说，去他的吧——是的；不过我还是按照杜邦的建议重新检查了一遍——但这完全是白费力气，我早就知道会这样。

Confound him, say I—yes; I made the re-examination, however, as Dupin suggested—but it was all labor lost, as I knew it would be.

"您说悬赏的金额是多少来着？"杜邦问道。

"How much was the reward offered, did you say?" asked Dupin.

"哦，数目相当可观——非常丰厚的悬赏——我不想说确切的数字；但有一点我可以说，要是谁能帮我找回那封信，我愿意亲自开一张五万法郎的支票给他。事实上，这件事每天都变得越来越重要；而且悬赏金额最近已经翻倍了。就算翻三倍，我也无法比现在做得更多了。"

"Why, a very great deal—a very liberal reward—I don't like to say how much, precisely; but one thing I will say, that I wouldn't mind giving my individual check for fifty thousand francs to any one who could obtain me that letter. The fact is, it is becoming of more and more importance every day; and the reward has been lately doubled. If it were trebled, however, I could do no more than I have done."

"嗯，是啊，"杜邦拖着长腔说道，一边在海泡石烟斗的烟雾之间吐着烟，"我确实——觉得，G先生，您在这件事上还没有——竭尽全力。您也许可以——再多做一点，我想，是吧？"

"Why, yes," said Dupin, drawlingly, between the whiffs of his meerschaum, "I really—think, G——, you have not exerted yourself—to the utmost in this matter. You might—do a little more, I think, eh?"

"怎么做？——用什么方式？"

"How?—in what way?"

"为什么——噗，噗——您可以——噗，噗——在这件事上聘请顾问，是吧？——噗，噗，噗。您还记得他们讲的那个关于阿伯内西的故事吗？"

"Why—puff, puff—you might—puff, puff—employ counsel in the matter, eh?—puff, puff, puff. Do you remember the story they tell of Abernethy?"

"不记得；去他的阿伯内西！"

"No; hang Abernethy!"

"当然！让他去吧，随便。不过，从前有一个吝啬的富翁，心里打起了从这位阿伯内西身上骗取医疗意见的主意。为了达到这个目的，他在一个私人聚会上制造了一次普通的闲聊，以一个虚构人物的病情为由，将自己的症状透露给了这位医生。

"To be sure! hang him and welcome. But, once upon a time, a certain rich miser conceived the design of spunging upon this Abernethy for a medical opinion. Getting up, for this purpose, an ordinary conversation in a private company, he insinuated his case to the physician, as that of an imaginary individual.