"I have heard you say it is difficult for a man
"我常常听你说，在任何一件日用品上面，
to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it
很难不留下一些能显示使用者特征的痕迹，
in such a way that a trained observer might read it.
受过训练的人是很容易辨认出来的。
Now, I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession.
现在我这里有一只新得来的表，
Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"
你能不能从上面找出它的旧主人的性格和习惯呢？"
I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart,
我把表递给了他，心里不禁好笑。
for the test was, as I thought, an impossible one,
因为依我想来，这个试验是无法解答的，
and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed.
也可算是我给他平日独断作风的一个教训吧。
He balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, and examined the works,
他把表拿在手里，仔细地端详着，看了看表盘，又打开表盖，留心察看了里面的机件，
first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens.
先用肉眼，后来又用高倍放大镜观察。
I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back.
他面部沮丧的表情，几乎使我笑了出来，最后，他关上表盖，把表还给了我。
"There are hardly any data," he remarked.
他道："这里几乎没有遗留的痕迹可寻，
"The watch has been recently cleaned, which robs me of my most suggestive facts."
因为这只表最近擦过油泥，把最主要的痕迹搞掉了。"
"You are right," I answered. "It was cleaned before being sent to me."
我答道："不错，这只表是擦过了油泥以后才落到我的手里的。"
In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure.
我心中对我伙伴用这一点作借口来掩饰他的失败很不以为然。
What data could he expect from an uncleaned watch?
就是一只未修过的表，又能寻出什么有助于推断的痕迹呢？
"Though unsatisfactory, my research has not been entirely barren," he observed,
"虽然遗痕不多，我的观察也并没有完全落空。
staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustre eyes.
他用半闭无神的眼睛仰望着天花板说道
"Subject to your correction, I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother, who inherited it from your father."
姑且说一说请你指正吧。我想这只表是你哥哥的，是你父亲留给他的。"
"That you gather, no doubt, from the H.W. upon the back?"
"很对，你是从在表的背面上所刻的H·W·两个字头知道的吧？"
"Quite so. The W. suggests your own name.
"不错，W代表你的姓。
The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back,
这只表差不多是五十年前制造的，
and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation.
表上刻的字和制表的时期差不多，所以我知道这是你上一辈的遗物。
Jewellery usually descends to the eldest son,
按照习惯，凡是珠宝一类的东西，多传给长子，
and he is most likely to have the same name as the father.
长子又往往袭用父亲的名字。
Your father has, if I remember right, been dead many years.
如果我记忆不错，你父亲已去世多年，
It has, therefore, been in the hands of your eldest brother."
所以我断定这只表是在你哥哥手里的。"
"Right, so far," said I. "Anything else?"
我道："这都不错，还有别的没有？"
"He was a man of untidy habits–very untidy and careless.
"他是一个放荡不羁的人。
He was left with good prospects, but he threw away his chances,
当初他很有光明的前程，可是他把好机会都放过去了，
lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity,
所以常常生活潦倒，偶然也有时景况很好，
and finally, taking to drink, he died. That is all I can gather."
最后因为好酒而死。这都是我所看出来的。"
I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart.
我从椅子上跳起来，忍不住在屋内无精打采地踱来踱去，内心有无限辛酸。
