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The Noble Bachelor
單身貴族案
The Lord ST. SIMON marriage, and its curious termination,
圣西蒙勛爵的婚事及其奇怪的結局，
have long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves.
長久以來已不再是他這位不幸的新郎與之周旋的上流社會人士所感興趣的話題了。
Fresh scandals have eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away from this four-year-old drama.
新的丑聞已經使之黯然失色，它們那些更加妙趣橫生的細情，已將四年前的這一戲劇性事件推向幕后。
As I have reason to believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to the general public,
然而，由于我有理由認為這件案子的全部真相從未向大眾透露過，
and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the matter up,
而我的朋友歇洛克·福爾摩斯又曾為弄清這事件作出過重大貢獻，
I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of this remarkable episode.
所以，我覺得如果不對這一很不尋常的事件作一簡要的描述，那對他的業績的記錄將是不夠完整的。
It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street,
那還是我和福爾摩斯一起住在貝克街的時候，我結婚前幾個星期的一天，
that he came home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table waiting for him.
福爾摩斯午后散步回來，看到桌子上有他的一封信。
I had remained indoors all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds,
我整天呆在家里，因為那天突然陰雨綿綿，加上秋風勁吹，
and the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence.
我的胳臂由于殘留著作為我當年參加阿富汗戰役的紀念品的那顆阿富汗步槍子彈，又隱隱作痛不止。
With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers
我躺在一張安樂椅里，把雙腿搭在另一張椅子上，埋頭在擺滿身邊的報紙堆里，
until at last, saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless,
直到最后，腦袋里裝滿了當天的新聞，我才把報紙丟開，無精打采地躺在那里，
watching the huge crest and monogram upon the envelope upon the table
看著桌子上那封信的信封上端的巨大飾章和交織字母，
and wondering lazily who my friend's noble correspondent could be.
一面懶洋洋地揣度著是哪位貴族給我的朋友寫了這封信。
