‘Why, dash it all (черт побери)!’ said he, ‘I’ve let them go at six hundred for the three (я уже отдал три камня за шестьсот /фунтов/)!’
vagabond [ˈvæɡǝbɔnd], astute [ǝˈstju:t], denied [dɪˈnaɪd], life-preserver [ˈlaɪfprɪˌzǝ:vǝ]
“I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,” said Mr. Holder.
“Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give him a price for the stones he held 1000 pounds apiece. That brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown.
‘Why, dash it all!’ said he, ‘I’ve let them go at six hundred for the three!’
“I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had them (вскоре мне удалось узнать адрес скупщика, у которого были камни; receiver — получатель; укрыватель или скупщик краденого), on promising him that there would be no prosecution (пообещав сэру Джорджу, что /против него/ не будет возбуждено расследование). Off I set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 pounds apiece (я поехал туда и после долгого торга выкупил камни по тысяче фунтов каждый; to chaffer — спорить о цене, торговаться). Then I looked in upon your son (затем я навестил вашего сына), told him that all was right (сказал ему, что все в порядке), and eventually got to my bed about two o’clock (и в конце концов около двух /ночи/ лег спать: «добрался до кровати»), after what I may call a really hard day’s work (после действительно тяжелого трудового дня).”
“A day which has saved England from a great public scandal (дня, который спас Англию от огромного государственного скандала),” said the banker, rising (сказал банкир, поднимаясь). “Sir, I cannot find words to thank you (сэр, у меня не хватает слов, чтобы выразить благодарность), but you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done (но вы не найдете меня неблагодарным за то, что вы сделали = вы убедитесь, что я не забуду того, что вы сделали). Your skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it (ваше искусство действительно превзошло все, что я слышал о нем). And now I must fly to my dear boy (а сейчас я должен поспешить к моему дорогому мальчику) to apologize to him for the wrong which I have done him (и извиниться перед ним за то, что так несправедливо обошелся с ним; wrong — зло, несправедливость). As to what you tell me of poor Mary (что касается вашего рассказа о бедной Мэри), it goes to my very heart (то он проник в самое мое сердце = ее поступок глубоко поразил меня). Not even your skill can inform me where she is now (но даже вы со всем вашим искусством не сможете сообщить мне, где она).”
“I think that we may safely say (думаю, можно с уверенностью сказать; safely —безопасно; надежно: it may safely be said — можно с уверенностью сказать),” returned Holmes (возразил Холмс), “that she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is (что она там же, где и сэр Джордж Бэрнвелл). It is equally certain, too, that whatever her sins are (и несомненно также, что, каковы бы ни были ее грехи; equally — в равной степени; равным образом), they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment (они в скором времени получат = скоро она понесет за них более чем достаточное наказание).”
receiver [rɪˈsi:vǝ], wrong [rɔŋ], sufficient [sǝˈfɪʃ(ǝ)nt]
“I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o’clock, after what I may call a really hard day’s work.”
“A day which has saved England from a great public scandal,” said the banker, rising. “Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I must fly to my dear boy to apologize to him for the wrong which I have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now.”
“I think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment.”
(постоянный пациент)
Glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of Memoirs (просматривая несколько несвязанные воспоминания; incoherent — бессвязный, непоследовательный, несвязный; series — ряд, последовательность; серия, выпуск) with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes (в которых я попытался проиллюстрировать некоторые интеллектуальные особенности моего друга Шерлока Холмса peculiarity — специфичность, особенность; характерная черта; отличительное качество), I have been struck by the difficulty (я столкнулся с трудностью) which I have experienced in picking out examples (которые я испытал, выбирая примеры) which shall in every way answer my purpose (которые во всех отношениях отвечали бы /поставленной/ задаче). For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some tour de force of analytical reasoning (так как в тех случаях, где Холмс проявил силу своего аналитического мышления; to perform — исполнять; совершать; tour de force — проявление силы, ловкости или изобретательности /франц./), and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation (и продемонстрировал ценность своих необычных методов расследования), the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace (сами обстоятельства часто были столь незначительны и обыденны; slight — легкий, небольшой, незначительный: a slight headache — небольшая головная боль) that I could not feel justified in laying them before the public (что я не чувствую себя вправе предложить их /на суд/ публики; justified — обоснованный; оправданный; правомерный). On the other hand (с другой стороны), it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research (зачастую случалось, что Холмс занимался расследование /таких дел/) where the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character (где события были крайне удивительными и волнующими), but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes (но участие, которое он принимал в определении их причин) has been less pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish (было меньше выраженным, чем я, как его биограф, мог бы желать).
incoherent [ˌɪnkǝuˈhɪ(ǝ)rǝnt], endeavored [ɪnˈdevǝd], pronounced [prǝˈnaunst]
Glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of Memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose. For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some tour de force of analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation, the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace that I could not feel justified in laying them before the public. On the other hand, it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish.
The small matter which I have chronicled under the heading of “A Study in Scarlet (одно небольшое дело, которое я записал под заглавием «Этюд в багровых тонах»; to chronicle — записывать, заносить /в хронику, летопись/; описывать),” and that other later one connected with the loss of the Gloria Scott (и другое, более позднее, связанное с исчезновением «Глории Скотт»), may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis (могут служить примерами этаких Сциллы и Харибды) which are forever threatening the historian (которые всегда угрожают историку). It may be that in the business of which I am now about to write (может быть, в истории, о которой я собираюсь написать) the part which my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated (роль, сыгранная моим другом, не была особенно заметной; sufficiently — достаточно, в достаточной мере; to accentuate — делать ударение; выделять, подчеркивать); and yet the whole train of circumstances is so remarkable (однако вся цепь обстоятельств настолько поразительна; train — поезд; ряд, цепь, вереница; ход, развитие /событий/) that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series (что я не могу заставить себя совсем исключить ее из этого цикла).
