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When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light.
看門人走了以后，福爾摩斯拿起寶石對著光線仔細鑒賞。
"It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just see how it glints and sparkles.
"真是一顆美奐絕倫的寶石，"他說，"請看看它是何等地光彩照耀呀。
Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is.
當然，它又是罪惡的淵藪。每顆珍貴的寶石無不如此。
They are the devil's pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed.
它們是魔鬼最得意的誘餌。在更大的和更古老的寶石上，每一個刻面都象征著一個血腥的罪行。
This stone is not yet twenty years old.
這顆寶石問世以來還不到二十年。
It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China
它是在華南廈門河岸上發現的，
and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red.
它的奇異之處在于，除了它是蔚藍色的而不是鮮紅色的這一點之外，它具有紅寶石的一切特點，
In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history.
盡管它流傳在世為時不長，可是已經有過一段不幸的歷史了。
There have been two murders, a vitriol- throwing, a suicide, and several robberies
已經發生了兩起謀殺案，一起澆灑硝鏹水毀人容貌案，一起自殺案，另外還有幾起搶劫案，
brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal.
就是由于這顆重四十谷的結晶碳的緣故。
Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison?
誰能想到如此美麗的小裝飾品竟是向絞刑架和監獄輸送罪犯的供應商呢？
I'll lock it up in my strong box now and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it."
我要把它鎖在我的保險柜里，并寫一封短箋給伯爵夫人，說我們已經覓獲這顆寶石。"
