福尔摩斯从抽屉里取出一个颜色晦暗的小圆纸筒，解开绳带，交给我一张石青色的纸，这是一封字迹潦草的短简，上面写着：
Holmes took out a small round paper tube with a dull color from the drawer, untied the rope, and handed me a piece of stone-blue paper, which was a scrawled note that read:
ThesupplyofgameforLondonisgoingsteadilyup(itran).HeadkeeperHudson,Webelieve,hasbeennowtoldtoreeiveallordersforfly-paperand-for-preservationofyourhen-pheasant'slife.
（按字面可译为：伦敦野味供应正稳步上升。
The supply of game in London is steadily rising.
我们相信总保管赫德森现已奉命接受一切粘蝇纸的订货单并保存你的雌雉的生命——译者）
We believe that Hudson, the general keeper, has been ordered to accept all orders for sticky fly paper and save the life of your female pheasant.

读完这封莫名其妙的短简，我抬起头，看见福尔摩斯正在观看我的表情，还抿着嘴发笑。
After reading this inexplicable short note, I looked up and saw that Holmes was watching my expression and sipping his mouth and laughing.

“你似乎有点弄糊涂了吧？”他说道。
"You seem a little confused, don't you?" He said.

“我看不出象这样的一份短简怎么能把人吓死。
"I don't see how a short note like this can scare people to death.
在我看来其内容只不过是荒唐胡言罢了。”
In my opinion, its content is nothing but nonsense. "

“不错。
"yes.
可是事实上，那位健壮的老人，读完这封短简，竟如手枪射中的靶子一样，应声而倒一命呜呼了。”
But in fact, the strong old man, after reading this short note, fell dead like a target hit by a pistol. "

“你倒惹起了我的好奇心，”我说道，“可是刚才你为什么说，我有特别的原因，一定要研究这件案子呢？”
"You have aroused my curiosity," I said, " but why did you say just now that I had a special reason to study this case?"

“因为这是我着手承办的第一桩案件啊。”
"Because this is the first case I started to undertake."

我一直都在设法探问我的同伴，想让他讲讲当初是什么原因使他下决心转向侦探犯罪活动的，可是他一直也没有兴致讲。
I've been trying to ask my companion what made him decide to turn to detective criminal activities at the beginning, but he hasn't been interested.
这时他俯身坐在扶手椅上，把文件铺在膝盖上，然后点起烟斗吸了一阵子，并把文件翻来覆去地察看着。
At this moment, he bent down in an armchair, spread the papers on his knees, then lit his pipe and smoked for a while, and looked at the papers over and over again.

“你从来没听我谈起过维克托-特雷佛么？”他问道，“他是我在大学两年中结识的唯一好友。
"Have you never heard me talk about Victor Trevor?" he asked, " he is the only good friend I have known in my two years in college.
我本来极不善交游，华生，总喜欢一个人愁眉苦脸地呆在房里，训练自己的思想方法，所以极少与同年人交往。
Originally, I was extremely bad at making friends, Watson. I always liked to stay in my room alone with a sad face and train my own thinking methods, so I seldom associate with people of the same age.
除了击剑和拳术以外，我也不很爱好体育，而那时我的学习方法与别人也截然不同。
Besides fencing and boxing, I didn't like sports very much, and at that time, my learning method was completely different from others.
因此，我们根本没有往来的必要。
Therefore, there is no need for us to communicate at all.
特雷佛是我唯一结识的人。
Trevor is the only person I know.
这是因为有一天早晨，我到小教堂去，他的猛犬咬了我的踝骨，这样一件意外的事使我们相识了。
This is because one morning, when I went to the chapel, his fierce dog bit my ankle, such an accident made us know each other.

“开始交往虽很平淡，但令人难忘。
"Although the beginning of communication is very dull, it is unforgettable.
我在床上躺了十天，特雷佛常来看望我。
I stayed in bed for ten days, and Trevor often came to visit me.
最初他闲聊几分钟就走，可是不久，我们交谈的时间延长了。
At first, he left after chatting for a few minutes, but soon, our conversation was prolonged.
到那学期结束以前，我们已成了莫逆之交。
By the end of that semester, we had become best friends.
他精神饱满，血气方刚，精力充沛，在许多方面和我恰恰相反，但我们也有一些相同之处。
He is full of energy, vigorous and energetic. He is just the opposite of me in many ways, but we also have some similarities.
当我发现他也和我一样落落寡合时，我们便越加亲密。
When I found out that he was as lonely as I was, we became closer and closer.
后来他请我到他父亲那里去，他父亲住在诺福克郡的敦尼索普村，我接受了他的邀请，去度一个月的假期。
Later, he asked me to go to his father, who lives in Dunnisop Village, Norfolk County. I accepted his invitation to spend a month's holiday.

“老特雷佛是治安官，又是一个地主，显然有钱有势。
"Old Trevor is a sheriff and a landlord, obviously rich and powerful.
敦尼索普村在布罗德市郊外，是朗麦尔北部的一个小村落。
Dunsop Village is a small village in the north of Longmire, on the outskirts of Broad City.
特雷佛的宅邸是一所老式的、面积很大的栎木梁砖瓦房，门前有一条通道，两旁是茂盛的菩提树。
Trevor's mansion is an old-fashioned, large-area brick house with oak beams, there is a passage in front of it, and there are lush bodhi trees on both sides.


附近有许多沼泽地，那是狩猎野鸭的绝妙场所，更是垂钓的好地方。
There are many marshes nearby, which are wonderful places for hunting wild ducks, and also good places for fishing.
有一个小而精致的藏书室，我听说，是从原来的房主手中随房屋一起购买的。
There is a small and exquisite library, which, I heard, was purchased with the house from the original owner.
此外，有一位还算不错的厨子。
Besides, there is a fairly good cook.
故而一个人在这里度一个月假，倘若仍不能心满意足，那他就是一个过分挑剔的人了。
Therefore, a person who spends a month's vacation here is a picky person if he is still unsatisfied.

“老特雷佛妻子已故，我朋友是他的独生子。
"Old Trevor's wife died, and my friend was his only child.

“我听说，他原来还有一个女儿，但在去伯明翰途中，患白喉死去。
"I heard that he had a daughter, but on his way to Birmingham, he died of diphtheria.
老特雷佛使我非常感兴趣。
Old Trevor interested me very much.
他知识并不多，可是体力和脑力都相当强。
He doesn't have much knowledge, but his physical strength and brain power are quite strong.
他对书本所知甚少，但曾经远游，见过许多世面，对于所见所闻，都能牢记不忘。
He knows little about books, but he has traveled far and seen many worlds, and he can always remember what he saw and heard.
从外貌上看，他体格很结实，身材粗壮，一头蓬乱的灰白头发，一张饱经风霜的褐色面孔，一双蓝色的眼睛，眼光锐利得近乎凶残。
From the appearance, he is physically strong, stout, with disheveled gray hair, a weather-beaten brown face, blue eyes, and sharp eyes that are almost ferocious.
但他在乡中却以和蔼、慈善著称，盛传他在法院理案时也以宽大为怀。
However, he is famous for his kindness and charity in the countryside, and it is widely rumored that he is lenient when handling cases in the court.

“在我到他家不久，一天傍晚，饭后我们正坐在一起喝葡萄酒，小特雷佛忽然谈到我所养成的那些观察和推理习惯。
"Shortly after I arrived at his house, one evening, after dinner, we were sitting together drinking wine. Little Trevor suddenly talked about the observation and reasoning habits I had developed.
那时我已经把它归纳成一种方法，虽然还未体会到它对我一生将起的作用。
At that time, I had summed it up as a method, although I didn't realize what it would do for my whole life.
这位老人显然认为他的儿子言过其实，把我的一点雕虫小技过分夸大了。
The old man obviously thinks his son is exaggerating, exaggerating my little tricks.