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"Is it possible?" gasped the banker.
"這是可能的么？"那銀行家捏了一把汗說。
"You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks.
"正當他認為他很值得你最熱烈地感謝的時候，你對他的謾罵激起了他的怒火。
He could not explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands.
他不能既說明實際情況而又不至于出賣肯定值得他認真考慮手下留情的人。
He took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her secret."
他認為應有騎士風度，于是將她的秘密隱藏了起來。"
"And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the coronet," cried Mr. Holder.
"這就是為什么她一看到那頂皇冠便發出一聲尖叫昏了過去，"霍爾德先生大聲嚷著。
"Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes!
"噢！我的天！我真是瞎了跟的蠢人！是的，他要求過我讓他出去五分鐘！
The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!"
這親愛的孩子是想到爭奪的現場去尋找那皇冠的失落部分。我是多么殘酷無情地冤枉了他！"
"When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes,
"當我來到你屋子的時候，"福爾摩斯接著說，
"I at once went very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in the snow which might help me.
"我立即到四周仔細地察看了一下，看看雪地里有什么痕跡有助于我的調查。
I knew that none had fallen since the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost to preserve impressions.
我知道從前天晚上到現在沒有再下過雪，并且這期間恰好有重霜保護著印跡。
I passed along the tradesmen's path, but found it all trampled down and indistinguishable.
我經過商販所走的那一條小路，但是腳印都已經被踐踏得無法辨別了。
Just beyond it, however, at the far side of the kitchen door,
不過，正好在它這一邊，離廚房門稍遠的地方，
a woman had stood and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed that he had a wooden leg.
卻發現有過一個女人站在那里同一個男人談話時留下的痕跡，那里的腳印有一個是圓的，這正說明此人有一條木制的假腿。
I could even tell that they had been disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door,
我甚至可以斷定有人驚動了他們，因為有那個女人趕緊跑回到門口的痕跡，
as was shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had waited a little, and then had gone away.
這可以從雪上前腳印深后腳印淺的形狀看出來，那個裝木頭假腿的人看來在那里呆了一會兒才走開。
I thought at the time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so.
我那時猜想這可能是那女仆和她情人，有關他們的事你已經告訴過我，后來我經過調查證明確是這樣。
I passed round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, which I took to be the police;
我到花園里繞了一圈，除了雜亂的腳印外，別的沒看到什么，我知道這是警察留下的；
but when I got into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in front of me."
但是我到了通往馬廄的小道時，印在雪地上的一段很長很復雜的情景便展現在我的面前。"
