福尔摩斯探案集·波希米亚丑闻 第12期:高贵的委托者(10)
"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858.
"让我瞧瞧，"福尔摩斯说，"嗯！一八五八年生于新泽西州。
Contralto–hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw–yes!
女低音--嗯！意大利歌剧院--嗯！华沙帝国歌剧院首席女歌手--对了！
Retired from operatic stage–ha! Living in London–quite so!
退出了歌剧舞台--哈！住在伦敦--一点不错！
Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters,
据我理解，陛下和这位年轻女人有牵连。您给她写过几封会使自己受连累的信，
and is now desirous of getting those letters back."
现在则急于想把那些信弄回来。"
"Precisely so. But how..."
"一点不错。但是，怎么才能..."
"Was there a secret marriage?" "None." "No legal papers or certificates?" "None."
"曾经和她秘密结过婚吗？""没有。""没有法律文件或证明吗？""没有。"
"Then I fail to follow your Majesty.
"那我就不明白了，陛下。
If this young person should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?"
如果这位年轻女人想用信来达到讹诈或其他目的时，她怎么能够证明这些信是真的呢？"
"There is the writing." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery."
"有我写的字。""呸！伪造的。"
"My private note-paper." "Stolen." "My own seal." "Imitated." "My photograph." "Bought."
"我私人的信笺。""偷的。""我自己的印鉴。""仿造的。""我的照片。""买的。"
"We were both in the photograph."
"我们两人都在这张照片里哩。"
"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion."
"噢，天哪！那就糟了。陛下的生活的确是太不检点了。"
"I was mad–insane." "You have compromised yourself seriously."
"我当时真是疯了--精神错乱。""您已经对您造成了严重的损害。"
"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "It must be recovered."
"当时我只不过是个王储，还很年轻。现在我也不过三十岁。""那就必须把那张像重新收回。"
"We have tried and failed." "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought."
"我们已经试过，但是都失败了。""陛下必须出钱，把照片买过来。"
"She will not sell." "Stolen, then." "Five attempts have been made.
"她一定不卖。""那么就偷吧。""我们已经试过五次了。
Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled.
有两次我出钱雇小偷搜遍了她的房子。一次她在旅行时我们调换了她的行李。
Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no result."
还有两次我们对她进行了拦路抢劫。可是都一无所获。"
"No sign of it?" "Absolutely none." Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he.
"那张像片的痕迹一点都没有？""一丝一毫都没有。"福尔摩斯笑了，说道："这完全是一个微不足道的问题。"
"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully.
"但是对我来说，却是个十分严重的问题。"国王用责备的口气顶了他一句。
