It was a September evening and not yet seven o'clock,
这一天是九月的傍晚，还不到七点钟，
but the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city.
天气阴沉，浓浓的迷雾笼罩了这个大城。
Mud-coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets.
街道上一片泥泞，空中低悬着令人抑郁的卷卷黑云。
Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement.
伦敦河滨马路上的暗淡路灯，照到满是泥浆的人行道上，只剩了萤萤的微光。
The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy,
还有淡淡的黄色灯光从两旁店铺的玻璃窗里射出来，
vaporous air and threw a murky, shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare.
穿过迷茫的雾气，闪闪地照到车马拥挤的大街上。
There was, to my mind, something eerie and ghostlike in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light--sad faces and glad, haggard and merry.
我心里想着：在这闪闪的灯光照耀下络绎不绝的行人，他们的面部表情有喜欢的和忧愁的，有憔悴的和快活的，其中含有无限的怪诞和奇异的事迹，
Like all humankind, they flitted from the gloom into the light and so back into the gloom once more.
好象人类的一生，从黑暗来到光明，又由光明返回黑暗。
I am not subject to impressions, but the dull, heavy evening,
我不是易于产生感触的人，但是这个沉闷的夜晚
with the strange business upon which we were engaged, combined to make me nervous and depressed.
和我们将要遇到的奇事，使我不禁精神紧张起来。
I could see from Miss Morstan's manner that she was suffering from the same feeling.
我可以从摩斯坦小姐的表情中看得出来，她和我有同样的感觉。
Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences.
只有福尔摩斯不受外界的影响。
He held his open notebook upon his knee, and from time to time he jotted down figures and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern.
他将记事簿放在自己的膝盖上，借着怀中电筒的光亮，不断地在记事簿上写字。

At the Lyceum Theatre the crowds were already thick at the side-entrances.
莱西厄姆剧院两旁入口处的观众已经拥挤不堪。
In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four-wheelers were rattling up,
双轮和四轮的马车象流水一般地辚辚而至。
discharging their cargoes of shirt-fronted men and beshawled, bediamonded women.
穿着礼服露着白胸的男子和披着围巾、珠光空气的女人，一个个地从车上下来。
We had hardly reached the third pillar, which was our rendezvous, before a small, dark, brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us.
我们刚刚走近约定的第三个柱子前面，就来了一个身材短小、面貌黧黑、穿着马车夫装束的精壮男子，向我们招呼。
"Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he asked.
他问道："你们是同摩斯坦小姐同来的吗？"
"I am Miss Morstan, and these two gentlemen are my friends," said she.
她答道："我就是摩斯坦小姐，这两位是我的朋友。"
He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us.
那人用细心的眼光逼视着我们，
"You will excuse me, miss," he said with a certain dogged manner,
态度顽强地说道："小姐请原谅我，
"but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer."
我需要请您保证您的同伴中没有警官。"
"I give you my word on that," she answered.
她答道："我可以保证。"
He gave a shrill whistle, on which a street Arab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door.
他用嘴唇吹了一下口哨，就有一个街头流浪的人引着一辆四轮马车来到跟前，他开了车门。
The man who had addressed us mounted to the box, while we took our places inside.
和我们搭话的人跳到车夫的座上，我们陆续上车，
We had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his horse, and we plunged away at a furious pace through the foggy streets.
还没有坐定，马夫已经扬鞭驱车，迅速地驰行在雾气迷蒙的街道上了。