"Well, I told you just now that there is a cottage not far from our house.
"好，我刚才告诉你们，离我们住处不远，有一所小别墅。
There is just a field between us, but to reach it you have to go along the road and then turn down a lane.
在我们住所和小别墅之间有一块田野，可是你要到小别墅去，就得沿大道走到对过，然后再绕到一条小路上去。
Just beyond it is a nice little grove of Scotch firs,
就在小别墅那边，有一频繁茂的苏格兰枞树，
and I used to be very fond of strolling down there, for trees are always a neighbourly kind of thing.
我平常很喜欢在那里散步，因为，在树林中散步总是令人心旷神怡的。
The cottage had been standing empty this eight months,
八个月来，这所小别墅一直无人居住，但
and it was a pity, for it was a pretty two-storied place, with an old-fashioned porch and a honeysuckle about it.
这太可惜了，因为那是一座很漂亮的两层楼，有一道古式的游廊，周围到处是金银花。
I have stood many a time and thought what a neat little homestead it would make.
我经常在那里逗留，并且经常想，如果住在这里该是多么惬意。
Well, last Monday evening I was taking a stroll down that way when I met an empty van coming up the lane
咳，上星期一傍晚，我走在这条路上，遇到一辆空篷车转到小路上，
and saw a pile of carpets and things lying about on the grass-plot beside the porch.
同时看到游廊旁草地上有一堆地毯和一些别的东西。
It was clear that the cottage had at last been let.
很明显，这所小别墅终于租出去了。
I walked past it, and then stopping, as an idle man might, I ran my eye over it and wondered what sort of folk they were who had come to live so near us.
我走过去，像一个游手好闲的人那样停下来打量一番，想知道住得离我们这么近的究竟是什么人。

And as I looked I suddenly became aware that a face was watching me out of one of the upper windows.
可是我正在打量，突然意识到上面一扇窗户里有一张面孔也正在看着我。
I don't know what there was about that face, Mr. Holmes, but it seemed to send a chill right down my back.
福尔摩斯先生，我当时不知道这张面孔的样子，可是，我背上似乎冒出了冷汗。
I was some little way off, so that I could not make out the features, but there was something unnatural and inhuman about the face.
我站得稍微远了一点，所以看不清面貌如何。不过这张面孔有点不自然而且不像人脸。
That was the impression that I had, and I moved quickly forward to get a nearer view of the person who was watching me.
这就是我那时的印象，我便急忙走向前去，以便把窥视我的那个人看得更清楚些。
But as I did so the face suddenly disappeared, so suddenly that it seemed to have been plucked away into the darkness of the room.
但我走近以后，那张面孔突然不见了，仿佛突然被拉到室内的暗处。
I stood for five minutes thinking the business over and trying to analyze my impressions.
我站了足有五分钟，仔细考虑这件事，打算把我得到的印象分析一下。
I could not tell if the face was that of a man or a woman.
我很难说明这究竟是一张男人的面孔，还是女人的。
It had been too far from me for that. But its colour was what had impressed me most.
它离我太远了。可是这张面孔的颜色给我留下的印象却是很深的。
It was of a livid chalky white, and with something set and rigid about it which was shockingly unnatural."
它就象青灰色的白垩土一样，而且有点僵硬呆板，不自然得吓人。"