第二天傍晚，当我们闲谈着这件事情的时候，福尔摩斯说道：“葛莱森和雷斯垂德知道这个人死了，他们一定要起得发疯。
The next evening, while we were chatting about this matter, Holmes said, "Grayson and Lested know this person is dead, and they must get up crazy.
这样一来，他们自吹自擂的本钱不就完蛋了吗？”
So, won't their self proclaimed capital be ruined?"

　　我回答说：“我看不出，他们两个人在捉拿凶手这件事上，究竟干了多少工作。”
I replied, "I can't see how much work the two of them have done in catching the killer."

　　我的伙伴尖酸地说道：“在这个世界上，你到底做了些什么，这倒不关紧要。
My partner said sarcastically, "it doesn't matter what you've done in this world.
要紧的是，你如何能够使人相信你做了些什么。”
What matters is how you can make people believe what you've done."
停了一会，他又轻松地说：“没关系。
After a moment of pause, he said lightly, "it's okay.
不管怎样，我也不会放过这件案子的。
Anyway, I won't let this case go.
在我的记忆中，再没有比这件案子更为精采的了。
In my memory, there's nothing more brilliant than this case.".
它虽然简单，但是其中有几点却是值得深以为训的。”
Although it is simple, there are a few points worth emulating

　　“简单！”我情不自禁地叫了起来。
"Easy!" I couldn't help but shout.

　　“是的，的确是简单。
"Yes, it is indeed simple.
除此以外，很难用别的字眼来形容它。”歇洛克·福尔摩斯说。
Besides that, it is difficult to describe it with any other words," said Sherlock Holmes.
他看到我满脸惊讶的神色，不觉微笑了起来。
He saw my surprised expression on his face and couldn't help but smile.
“你想，没有任何人的帮助，只是经过一番寻常的推理，我居然在三天之内捉到了这个罪犯，这就证明案子实质上是非常简单的了。”
"You see, without anyone's help, after some ordinary reasoning, I actually caught this criminal within three days, which proves that the case is actually very simple."

　　我说：“这倒是实在的。”
I said, " this is quite real."

　　“我已经对你说过，凡是异乎寻常的事物，一般都不是什么阻碍，反而是一种线索。
I have already told you that anything unusual is generally not an obstacle, but rather a clue.
在解决这类问题时，最主要的事情就是能够用推理的方法，一层层地回溯推理。
When solving such problems, the most important thing is to be able to use reasoning methods to backtrack reasoning layer by layer.
这是一种很有用的本领，而且也是很容易的，不过，人们在实践中却不常应用它。
This is a very useful skill, and it is also very easy, but people do not often apply it in practice.
在日常生活中，向前推理的方法用处大些，因此人们也就往往容易忽略回溯推理这一层。
In daily life, the method of forward reasoning is more useful, so people often overlook the layer of backward reasoning.
如果说有五十个人能够从事务的各个方面加以综合推理的话，那么，能够用分析的方法推理的，不过是个把人而已。”
If there are fifty people who can comprehensively reason from various aspects of affairs, then those who can reason using analytical methods are just a few people

　　我说：“说老实话，我还不大明白你的意思。”
I said, " to be honest, I don't quite understand what you mean yet."

　　“我也很难指望你能够弄得清楚。
I also find it hard to expect you to figure it out.
让我试试看我是否能够把它说得更明确一些。
Let me see if I can make it clearer.
大多数人都是这样的：如果你把一系列的事实对他们说明以后，他们就能把可能的结果告诉你，他们能够把这一系列事实在他们的脑子里联系起来，通过思考，就能得出个什么结果来了。
Most people are like this: if you explain a series of facts to them, they can tell you the possible results, they can connect this series of things in their minds, and through thinking, they can come up with some results
但是，有少数的人，如果你把结果告诉了他们，他们就能通过他们内在的意识，推断出所以产生出这种结果的各个步骤是什么。
. However, there are a few people who, if you tell them the results, can infer from their inner consciousness what the various steps that produce such results are.
这就是在我说到'回溯推理'或者'分析的方法'时，我所指的那种能力。”
This is the kind of ability I refer to when I talk about 'retrospective reasoning' or 'analytical methods'. "

　　我说：“我明白了。”
I said, "I understand."

　　“现在这件案子就是一个例子，你只知道结果，其他一切必须全起你自己去发现了。
Now this case is an example, you only know the outcome, and everything else must be discovered by yourself.
好，现在让我把我在这个案件中进行推理的各个不同步骤尽量向你说明一下吧。
Alright, let me explain to you as much as possible the different steps of my reasoning in this case.
我从头说起。
I will start from scratch.
正如你所知道的一样，我是步行到那座屋子去的。
As you know, I walked to that house.
当时，我的思想中丝毫没有先入为主的成见。
At that time, there was no preconception in my mind.
我自然要先从检查街道着手，就象我已经向你解释过的一样，我在街道上清清楚楚地看到了一辆马车车轮的痕迹。
Naturally, I had to start by inspecting the street, as I have already explained to you, I saw clearly the traces of a carriage wheel on the street.
经过研究以后，我确定这个痕迹必定是夜间留下的。
After studying it, I determined that this trace must have been left at night.
由于车轮之间距离较窄，因此我断定这是一辆出租的四轮马车，而不是自用马车，因为伦敦市上通常所有出租的四轮马车都要比自用马车狭窄一些。
Due to the narrow distance between the wheels, I concluded that... it is a rented four wheeled carriage, not a self use carriage, because usually all rented four wheeled carriages in London are narrower than self use carriages.

　　“这就是我观察所得的第一点。
This is the first point I observed.
接着，我就慢慢地走上了花园中的小路。
Then, I slowly walked onto the path in the garden.
碰巧，这条小路是一条粘土路，它特别容易留下迹印。
Coincidentally, this path was a clay road that was particularly prone to leaving marks.
毫无疑问，在你看起来，这条小路只不过是一条被人践踏得一塌胡涂的烂泥路而已。
Undoubtedly, to you, this path appeared to be nothing more than a muddy road that had been trampled upon.
可是，在我这双久经锻炼的眼睛看来，小路上每个痕迹都是有它的意义的。
However, to my trained eyes, every trace on the path had its meaning.
侦探学所有各个部门中，再没有比足迹学这一门艺术更重要而又最易被人忽略的了。
Among all the departments of detective studies, there is no more important and easily overlooked art than footprint studies.
幸而我对于这门科学一向是十分重视的；经过多次实践以后，它已成为我的第二天性了。
Fortunately, I have always attached great importance to this science; after multiple practices, it has become my second nature.
我看到了警察们的沉重的靴印，但是我也看到最初经过花园的那两个人的足迹。
I saw the heavy boot prints of the police, but I also saw the footprints of the two people who first passed through the garden.
他们的足迹，比其他人的在先，这一点是很容易说明的；因为从一些地方可以看出，他们的足印被后来人的足印践踏，已经完全消失了。
It is easy to illustrate that their footprints are ahead of those of others; because it can be seen from some places that their footprints have been trampled upon by the footprints of later generations and have completely disappeared.
这样我的第二个环节就构成了。
This forms my second stage.
这个环节告诉我，夜间来客一共有两个，一个非常高大，这是我从他的步伐长度上推算出来的；另一个则是衣着入时，这是从他留下的小巧精致的靴印上判断出来的。
This section told me that there are two guests at night, one is very tall, which I calculated from his stride length; the other is his fashionable attire, which is judged from the small and exquisite boot prints he left behind.

　　“走进屋子以后，这个推断立刻就得到了证实。
After entering the room, this inference was immediately confirmed.
那位穿着漂亮靴子的先生就躺在我的面前。
The gentleman in beautiful boots was lying in front of me.
如果这是一件谋杀案子的话，那么那个大高个子就是凶手。
If this was a murder case, then the tall man was the culprit.
死者身上没有伤痕，但是从他脸上显露出来紧张、激动的表情，却使我深信在他临死之前，他已料到他的命运如何了。
The deceased had no scars on his body, but the tense and excited expression on his face made me believe that before he died, he had anticipated his fate.
假如是由于心脏病，或者其他突然发生的自然死亡的人，在任何情况下，他们的面容上也决不会现出那种紧张激动的表情的。
If it is due to heart disease or other sudden natural deaths, under no circumstances will their faces show that tense and excited expression.
我嗅了一下死者的嘴唇，嗅出有点酸味，因此我就得出这样的结论：他是被迫服 毒而死的。
I sniffed the deceased's lips and noticed a slight sour smell, so I came to the conclusion that he was forced to take poison and die.

此外，从他脸上那种忿恨和害怕的神情看来，我才说他是被迫的。
Moreover, from the look of resentment and fear on his face, I can tell that he was forced.
我就是利用这种淘汰一切不合理的假设的办法，终于得到了这个结论，因为其他任何假设都不能和这些事实吻合。
I finally came to this conclusion by using this method of eliminating all unreasonable assumptions, because no other assumption can match these facts.
你不要以为这是闻所未闻的妙论。
Don't think this is an unheard of brilliant theory.
强迫服毒在犯罪年鉴中的记载，绝不是一件新闻，任何毒物学家都会立刻想到敖德萨的多尔斯基一案和茂姆培利耶的雷吐里耶一案的。
The record of forced drug use in criminal yearbooks is by no means news, and any toxicologist would immediately think of the Dorsky case in Odessa and the Retulier case in Maumpellier.