It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed.
事情发生在一八八三年四月初的时候。一天早上，我一觉醒来，发现歇洛克·福尔摩斯穿得整整齐齐，站在我的床边。
He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven,
一般来说，他是一个爱睡懒觉的人，而壁炉架上的时钟，才刚七点一刻，
I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits.
我有些诧异地朝他眨了眨眼睛，心里还有点不乐意，因为我自己的生活习惯是很有规律的。
"Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the common lot this morning.
"对不起，把你叫醒了，华生，"他说，"但是，你我今天早上都命该如此。
Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, and I on you."
先是赫德森太太被敲门声吵醒，接着她报复似地来吵醒我，现在是我来把你叫醒。"
"What is it, then... a fire?"
"那么，什么事，失火了吗？"
"No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me.
"不，是一位委托人。好象是一位年轻的女士来临，她情绪相当激动，坚持非要见我不可。
She is waiting now in the sitting-room.
现在她正在起居室里等候。

Now, when young ladies wander about the metropolis at this hour of the morning,
你瞧，如果有些年轻的女士这么一清早就徘徊于这个大都市，
and knock sleepy people up out of their beds,
甚至把还在梦乡的人从床上吵醒，
I presume that it is something very pressing which they have to communicate.
我认为那必定是一件紧急的事情，她们不得不找人商量。
Should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset.
假如这件事将是一件有趣的案子，那么，我肯定你一定希望从一开始就能有所了解。
I thought, at any rate, that I should call you and give you the chance."
我认为无论如何应该把你叫醒，给予你这个机会。"
"My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything."
"我的老兄，那我是无论如何也不肯失掉这个机会的。"
I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations,
我最大的乐趣就是观察福尔摩斯进行专业性的调查工作，
and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis,
欣赏他迅速地做出推论，他推论之敏捷，犹如是单凭直觉而做出的，但却总是建立在逻辑的基础之上，
with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him.
他就是依靠这些解决了委托给他的疑难问题。