Skandal in Bohemia

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|TO SHERLOCK HOLMES she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer–excellent for drawing the veil from men’s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

|Fo Sherlok Holms ela es sempre "sey gina". Rarem hi me he audi lu mensioni ela sub koy otre nam. In suy okos ela eklipsi e domini ol elay sexu. It bu bin tak, ke lu senti-te koy emosion simile a luba versu Iren Adler. Oli emosion, e osobem toy-la, bin nafra-ney a suy lenge, exakte bat admirivalem balansi-ney menta. Lu bin, me suposi, zuy perfekte resoni-she e observi-she mashina ke munda he vidi, bat kom lubijen lu wud plasi swa inu false posision. Lu neva shwo-te om pyu dule pasiones, exepte ke kun moka. Li bin kosas admirival fo observer – gro-hao fo tiri vual fon motives e aktas jen-ney. Bat fo jen do tamrini-ney rasum, tu admiti tal intrusas in suy prope delikate e fainem ajusti-ney temperamenta wud bi tu introdukti elementa distrakti-she, kel wud mog lansi duba on oli suy mentale resultas. Defekta in sensitive tul oda krek in un fon suy mahtaful linsas bu wud bi pyu disturbi-she kem forte emosion in tal natura kom luy. E yedoh ye-te sol un gina fo lu, e toy gina bin Iren Adler bu pyu jiva-ney, do dubival memoria.

|Для Шерлока Холмса она всегда оставалась "Этой Женщиной". Я редко слышал, чтобы он называл ее каким-либо другим именем. В его глазах она затмевала всех представительниц своего пола. Не то чтобы он испытывал к Ирэн Адлер какое-либо чувство, близкое к любви. Все чувства, и особенно любовь, были ненавистны его холодному, точному, но удивительно уравновешенному уму. По-моему, он был самой совершенной мыслящей и наблюдающей машиной, какую когда-либо видел мир; но в качестве влюбленного он оказался бы не на своем месте. Он всегда говорил о нежных чувствах не иначе, как с презрительной насмешкой, с издевкой. Нежные чувства были в его глазах великолепным объектом для наблюдения, превосходным средством сорвать покров с человеческих побуждений и дел. Но для изощренного мыслителя допустить такое вторжение чувства в свой утонченный и великолепно налаженный внутренний мир означало бы внести туда смятение, которое свело бы на нет все завоевания его мысли. Песчинка, попавшая в чувствительный инструмент, или трещина в одной из его могучих линз - вот что такое была бы любовь для такого человека, как Холмс. И все же для него существовала одна женщина, и этой женщиной была покойная Иран Адлер, особа весьма и весьма сомнительной репутации.

|Para Sherlock Holmes ella es siempre la mujer. Rara vez he oído que la mencione por otro nombre. A sus ojos, ella eclipsa al resto del sexo débil. No es que haya sentido por Irene Adler una emoción que pueda compararse al amor. Todas las emociones, y ésa particularmente, son opuestas a su mente fría, precisa, pero admirablemente equilibrada. Es, puedo asegurarlo, la máquina de observación y razonamiento más perfecta que el mundo ha visto; pero como amante, como enamorado, Sherlock Holmes había estado en una posición completamente falsa. Jamás hablaba de las pasiones, aun de las más suaves, sin un dejo de burla y desprecio. Eran cosas admirables para el observador... excelentes para recorrer el velo de los motivos y acciones de los hombres. Pero para el razonador preparado, admitir tales intromisiones en su propio temperamento, cuidadosamente ajustado, era introducir un factor que distraería y descompensaría todos los delicados resultados mentales. Una basura en un instrumento sensitivo o una grieta en un lente finísimo, no habría sido más perjudicial que una emoción intensa en una naturaleza como la suya. Y, sin embargo, para él no hubo más que una mujer, y esa mujer fue la difunta Irene Adler, de dudosa y turbia memoria.

|I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former friend and companion.  

|In laste taim me vidi-te Holms rarem. May gaming he mah nu floti wek un fon otre. May prope komplete felisitaa e dom-gwansi-ke intereses, kel apari in manjen hu pa un-ney ves findi swa masta de prope hom, bin sufi-she fo absorbi may integre atenta, duran ke Holms, kel nafri-te oli forma de sosietaa bay ol suy boheme atma, resti-te in nuy flet in Beiker-strit, sirkumi-ney bay suy dave kitabas, alterni-yen fon wik a wik den kokain e den aktive gunsa, den somna do narko e den ferose energia de suy prope flama-ney natura. Lu bin haishi, kom sempre, glubem atrakti-ney bay studa de krimen, e okupi-te suy gro-kapablitaas e nopinchan observa-potensias bay shuki krimen-ney klef e klarisi toy misterias, kel es kwiti-ney kom sin-nada-ney bay ofisiale polis. Fon taim a taim me audi-te koy vage rakonta om luy aktas: om ke oni voki lu a Odessa in kasu de Trepov-kila, om ke lu klarisi ajibe tragedia de Atkinson bratas in Trinkomali, e fin-nem om mision ke lu fulfil tanto delikatem e kun sukses fo regi-she familia de Nederland. Yedoh krome sey signas de suy aktivitaa, ke me simplem parti-te kun oli lekti-sha de dey-ney pres, me jan-te shao hi om may bifoo-ney amiga e kompanion.  

|За последнее время я редко виделся с Холмсом - моя женитьба отдалила нас друг от друга. Моего личного безоблачного счастья и чисто семейных интересов, которые возникают у человека, когда он впервые становится господином собственного домашнего очага, было достаточно, чтобы поглотить все мое внимание. Между тем Холмс, ненавидевший своей цыганской душой всякую форму светской жизни, оставался жить в нашей квартире на Бейкер-стрит, окруженный грудами своих старых книг, чередуя недели увлечения кокаином с приступами честолюбия, дремотное состояние наркомана - с дикой энергией, присущей его натуре. Как и прежде, он был глубоко увлечен расследованием преступлений. Он отдавал свои огромные способности и необычайный дар наблюдательности поискам нитей к выяснению тех тайн, которые официальной полицией были признаны непостижимыми. Время от времени до меня доходили смутные слухи о его делах: о том, что его вызывали в Одессу в связи с убийством Трепова, о том, что ему удалось пролить свет на загадочную трагедию братьев Аткинсон в Тринкомали, и, наконец, о поручении голландского королевского дома, выполненном им исключительно тонко и удачно. Однако, помимо этих сведений о его деятельности, которые я так же, как и все читатели, черпал из газет, я мало знал о моем прежнем друге и товарище.

|Había visto poco a Holmes últimamente. Mi matrimonio nos había alejado. Mi propia felicidad y los intereses domésticos que surgen alrededor del hombre que se encuentra por primera vez convertido en amo y señor de su casa, eran suficientes para absorber toda mi atención; mientras que Holmes, que odiaba cualquier forma de sociedad con toda su alma de bohemio, permaneció en nuestras habitaciones de Baker Street, sumergido entre sus viejos libros y alternando, de semana en semana, entre la cocaína con la ambición, la somnolencia de la droga con la feroz energía de su propia naturaleza inquieta. Continuaba, como siempre, profundamente interesado en el estudio del crimen y ocupando sus inmensas facultades y sus extraordinarios poderes de observación en seguir las pistas y aclarar los misterios que habían sido abandonados por la policía oficial, como casos desesperados. De vez en cuando escuchaba algún vago relato de sus hazañas: su intervención en el caso del asesinato Trepoff, en Odessa; su solución en la singular tragedia de los hermanos Atkinson, en Trincomalee, y, finalmente, en la misión que había realizado, con tanto éxito, para la familia reinante de Holanda. Sin embargo, más allá de estas muestras de actividad, que me concretaba a compartir con todos los lectores de la prensa diaria, sabía muy poco de mi antiguo amigo y compañero.  

|One night -- it was on the twentieth of March, 1888 -- I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own.  

|Unves pa nocha – es 20 marto 1888 – me zai returni fon safara a pasienta (bikos me returni-te nau a sivile praktika), e may dao dukti me via Beiker-strit. Wen me pasi bli hao remembi-ney dwar, kel mus sempre bi konekten in may menta kun may kuring e kun tume insidentas de "Etuda do rude tones", me en-gro-yao vidi Holms snova e en-jan, komo lu exploti luy nopinchan potensias. Luy shambas es lumisi-ney yarkem, e al kan uupar me vidi luy gao e slim figura kel pasi dwaplem kom siluet kontra kurtena. Lu zai go ahir-adar tra shamba ajilem, energikem, al kapa sinki-ney on sina e al handas hunti-ney baken lu. A me, kel koni oli suy muda e abyas, ta-ney suluka e manera reveli mucho. Lu zai gun snova. Lu he weksheiki drimas kreati-ney bay narko e zai shuki sagarmem klef fo koy nove problema. Me gloki, e oni dukti me uupar a shamba kel bifooen bin may-la toshi.

|Una noche -fue el 20 de marzo de 1888- volvía de visitar a un paciente (había vuelto al ejercicio de mi profesión como médico civil), cuando mi recorrido de regreso a casa me obligó a pasar por Baker Street. Al pasar por aquella puerta tan familiar para mí, que siempre estará asociada en mi mente a la época de mi noviazgo y a los oscuros incidentes del Estudio en escarlata, me sentí invadido por un intenso deseo de ver a Holmes y de saber cómo estaba empleando, ahora, sus extraordinarias facultades. Sus habitaciones estaban brillantemente iluminadas. Al levantar la mirada hacia ellas, noté su figura alta y esbelta pasar dos veces, convertida en negra silueta, cerca de la cortina. Estaba recorriendo la habitación rápida, ansiosamente, con la cabeza sumida en el pecho y las manos unidas a la espalda. Para mí, que conocía a fondo cada uno de sus hábitos y de sus estados de ánimo, su actitud y su comportamiento eran reveladores. Estaba trabajando de nuevo. Se había sacudido de sus ensueños toxicómanos y estaba sobre la pista candente de algún nuevo caso. Toqué la campanilla y fui conducido a la sala que por tanto tiempo compartí con Sherlock.

|His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.  

|Lu bu expresi yarke emosion. Rarem hi lu expresi emosion; bat lu joi por vidi me, me dumi. Hampi sin worda, al kan me karimem, lu mavi-indiki brachastula a me, muvi suy sigaradan pyu blisem a me, indiki alkoholdan e akwa-gasiser in angula. Poy lu en-stan bifoo agni e kan-kan me pa suy unike manera meditike.

|No fue muy efusivo. Rara vez lo era; pero creo que se alegró de verme. Casi sin decir palabra, aunque con los ojos brillándole bondadosamente, me indicó un sillón, me arrojó su cajetilla de cigarrillos y señaló hacia una botella de whisky y un sifón que había encima de una cómoda. Entonces se puso de pie frente al fuego y me miró con el detenimiento tan peculiar de él.

|"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you."

|"Gama es hao fo yu," lu remarki. "Me dumi, Wotson, ke yur vega fa-pyu pa sem-e-haf paun fon taim ke me vidi-te yu."

| -El matrimonio le sienta bien -me dijo-. Creo, Watson, que ha aumentado unas siete libras y media desde que no nos vemos.

|"Seven!" I answered.

|"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness."

|"Then, how do you know?"

|"Yedoh, komo yu jan?"  

|"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?"

|"Me vidi se, me dedukti se. Pa exampla, komo me jan, ke nodavem yu bin gro-mokre e ke yur servi-gela es gro-nokushale e sinkuyda-ney ?"  

|"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it out."

|"May kare Holms," me shwo, "se es tro. Yu sertem wud bi jal-ney, si yu wud jivi kelke sekla bak. Ver, me fai-te promena in agralanda pa chardi e lai-te a dom in dashat-ney stasa, bat bikos me he shanji may klaida me bu mog imajini komo yu dedukti se. Om Meri Jein, ela es nokorektibile, e may molya he fai warna a ela, bat snova, me fali vidi, komo yu pai gesi om se."

|He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.  

|Lu fai hi-hi a swa e froti suy longe e nerva-ney handas tuhun.

|Holmes sonrió para sí y se frotó las manos largas y nerviosas.  

|"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession."

|"Es simplitaa selfa", lu shwo; "may okos shwo a me, ke on inen-taraf de yur shu lefte, yus wo luma de agni trefi it, piga es raspi-ney pa sit hampi paralele kata. Evidentem li bin kausi-ney bay wan kel he nokuydem raspi sirkum bordas de suola fo udali krosta-ney kicha fon it. Also, vidi, me fai dwaple dedukta, ke yu bin ausen in bade meteo, e ke yu hev osobem nuksanful musta de buta-fendi-she servijenta in London. Om yur praktika, si un sinior zin may shamba fauhi-yen pa iodoforma, hev-she swate marka de nitrata de argenta on suy desne dikifinga, e balja on desne flanka de suy silinda, lo kel diki wo lu he ahfi suy stetoskop, me mus bi stupide, verem, si me bu deklari ke lu es yuan aktive de medike profesion."  

|I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours."

|Me bu mog fai sin ridi por fasilitaa, kun kel lu expliki suy prosesa de dedukta. <br>"Wen me audi yu dai yur resones", me remarki, "kosa sempre sembli a me tanto ridivalem simple, ke me selfa wud mog fasilem resolvi it, obwol al kada nove kasu me es perplexe til ke yu expliki a me yur dumi-prosesa. E yedoh me kredi, ke may okos es sam hao kom yur."  

 

|"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."

|"Totem tak," lu jawabi, agnisi-yen sigareta, e lansi-yen swa in brachastula. "Yu vidi, bat yu bu observi. Distinta es klare. Fo exampla, yu he oftem vidi sulam kel dukti uupar fon vestibul a sey shamba."  

|"Frequently."

|"How often?"

|"Well, some hundreds of times."

|"Then how many are there?"

|"How many? I don't know."

|"Kwanto? Me bu jan."  

|"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are interested in these little problems, and since you are good enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this." <br>He threw over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. <br>"It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud."

|"Totem tak! Yu bu he observi. E yedoh yu he vidi. To es yus may punta. Yedoh, me jan, ke ye shi-sem gradina, bikos me he i vidi i observi. Apropoo, bikos yu fai interes om sey syao problemas, e bikos yu he kroniki sufi-shem hao un o dwa fon may anubaves nomuhim, yu mog fai interes om se." <br>Lu lansi lif de grose rose papir, kel lagi-te ofni-ney on tabla. <br>"It lai-te bay laste meil," lu shwo. "Lekti se lautem."  

|The note was undated, and without either signature or address.  

| Nota bin sin datum e sin signatura oda adres.

|"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.  

|"Sey aksham klok ot sin charfen sertene sinior kel yao konsulti yu om dela do zuy gro-ney muhimtaa, ve visiti yu. Yur nodave servas fo un fon regale domes de Europa he diki, ke yu es jen kel mog gei fidi sigurem om delas, kel-ney muhimtaa bu mog bi troisi-ney. Sey rakonta om yu fon oli taraf nu he resivi. Bi ba in yur shamba in toy ora, e bye missamaji, si yur visiter porti maska."  

|"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that it means?"

|"Se es verem misteria," me remarki. "Kwo, yu dumi, se signifi?"  

|"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. What do you deduce from it?"

|"Me bu haishi hev koy informa. Es prime galta tu fai teoria bifoo ke oni hev informa. Sinmerkem oni begin torsi faktas dabe li fiti teorias, inplas shanji teorias, dabe li fiti faktas. Bat om nota selfa. Kwo yu dedukti fon it?"  

|I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written.  

|"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, endeavoring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff."

|"Peculiar -- that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light."

| "Osobe - to es exakte worda," Holms shwo. "It totem bu es inglish papir. Teni it kontra luma."  

|I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper.  

| Me zwo tak, e vidi gran "E" kun syao "g", "P" e gran "G" kun syao "t" texi-ney in surfas de papir.

| Lo hice y vi una E mayúscula con una g minúscula, una P y una G mayúsculas con una t minúscula, marcadas en la superficie del papel.  

|"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes.  

| "Kwo yu samaji fon to?" Holmes kwesti.

| -¿Qué deduce de esto? -preguntó Holmes.  

|"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather."

| "Nam de fabriker, sin duba; oda luy monograma, pyu-nem."  

|"Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "Eglow, Eglonitz -- here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking country -- in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.  

| "Totem non. "G" kun "t" syao signifi "Gesellschaft" kel es doiche fo "Firma". Es pinchan abreviasion kom nuy "Co". "P", evidentem, signifi "Papir". Nau vidi "Eg". Nu kan ba nuy "Kontinentike geografike info-kitaba.” Lu pren nich fon suy tanas den grave brun tom. "Eglow, Eglonitz... Walaa: Egria. It es in doiche-shwo-ke landa - in Bohemia, bu dalem fon Karlsbad. Merkival kom morta-loko de Wallenshtain, e por suy menga-ney glas- e papir-fabrikas. Ha-ha, may boy, kwo yu samaji fon to?" Luy okos brili e lu sendi uupar den gran blu triumfi-she badal fon suy sigareta.

| -De ningún modo. La G mayúscula con la t minúscula significan Gesellschaft, que es el equivalente en alemán de Compañía. Es la abreviatura acostumbrada, equivalente a nuestra Cía. La P, desde luego, significa Papier. Ahora veamos lo de la Eg. Consultemos nuestra Guía continental -bajó un pesado volumen marrón de uno de los anaqueles-. Eglow, Eglonitz... aquí estamos, Egria. Es un país en que hablan alemán... en Bohemia, no lejos de Carlsbad. "Notable por haber sido la escena de la muerte de Wallenstein, y por sus numerosas fábricas de vidrio y de papel." ¡Ja! ¡Ja! ¿Qué le parece eso, hijo mío? -sus ojos brillaban y arrojó una gran nube azulosa de su cigarrillo.  

|"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said.  

| "Papir bin fabriki-ney in Bohemia," me shwo.

| -El papel fue hecho en Bohemia -exclamé.  

|"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence -- 'This account of you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian could not have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts."

| "Exaktem. E jen kel skribi-te nota es doiche. Ob yu merki osobe konstrukta de frasa - 'Sey rakonta om yu fon oli taraf nu he resivi'. Franse oda ruski bu wud mog skribi to. Doiches hi trati swa-ney zwo-worda tanto bulatifem. It resti sol, ergo, tu deskovri kwo gei yao bay sey doichejen kel skribi on Bohemia-ney papir e preferi porti maska kem diki suy fasa. E walaa lu lai, si me bu galti, fo resolvi oli nuy duba."  

|As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes whistled.  

| Wen lu shwo, nu audi suon agude de kaval-huf e rotas skwili-she kontra kamina-borda, sekwi-ney bay agude tiras de glok. Holms wisli-ki.

|Se escuchó el ruido claro de las herraduras de los caballos y el rozar de las ruedas sobre el pavimento, seguidos por el llamado brusco de la campanilla. Holmes silbó.  

|"A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else."

| "Para kaval, suon indiki se," lu shwo. "Ya," lu kontinu, al kan fon winda. "Prival syao keb e para de jamilas. Sto petshi gini per un. Sey kasu gwansi mani, Wotson, mani enikas."  

|"I think that I had better go, Holmes."

| "Shayad es pyu hao ke me go, Holms."  

|"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it."

| "Ga non, doktor. Resti wo yu es. Me es lusi-ney sin may biografier. E dela suli bi interes-ney. Wud bi afsos si yu paslasi it."  

|"But your client --"

| "Bat yur klienta ..."  

|"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention."

| "Bu dumi om lu. Me mog nidi yur helpa, e lu toshi. Walaa lu lai. Sidi in toy brachastula, doktor, e atenti ba gro."

|A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.  

|Lente e grave stepas ke bin audi-ney on sulam e in koridor, stopi yus ausen dwar. Poy oni audi laute e komandalik tuka.

| Unos pasos lentos y pesados, que se habían escuchado en las escaleras y en el corredor, se detuvieron exactamente frente a nuestra puerta. Entonces se escuchó un llamado brusco e imperativo.  

|"Come in!" said Holmes.  

|"Zin!" Holms shwo.

| -¡Pase! -ordenó Holmes.  

|A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame-colored silk and secured at the neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.  

|"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to address.  

|"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases. Whom have I the honor to address?"

|"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honor and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone."

|"Yu mog adresi me kom Komta Fon Kramm, noble Bohemia-jen. Me nadi ke sey sinior, yur amiga, es jen do honor e chaukitaa, a kel me mog konfidi dela do extreme muhimtaa. Si non, me'd gro-preferi komuniki kun yu sole."

| -Habla usted con el conde Von Kramm, un noble bohemio. Tengo entendido que este caballero, su amigo, es un hombre de honor y discreción, en cuya presencia puedo hablar sobre un asunto de la más grande importancia. Si no, preferiría hablar a solas con usted.  

|I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back into my chair. <br>"It is both, or none," said he. "You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."

|Me en-stan fo go, bat Holms kapti me pa polsa e pushi me bak in may stula. <br>"Es oda nu ambi, oda nulwan," lu shwo. "Yu mog shwo bifoo sey sinior olo ke yu mog shwo a me."

|The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. <br>"Then I must begin," said he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it may have an influence upon European history."

|Komta ek-lifti suy chaure plechas. <br>"Also me mus begin," lu shwo, "al obligi yu oli dwa a absolute sekretnesa duran dwa yar; in fin de toy taim dela bu ve bi muhim. Nau bu es troisa tu shwo ke it hev tal gravitaa, ke it mog influsi Europa-ney historia."

|"I promise," said Holmes.  

|"Me wadi," Holms shwo.

| -Prometo discreción -aseguró Holmes.  

|"And I."

|"You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have just called myself is not exactly my own."

|"I was aware of it," said Holmes drily.  

|"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."

|"I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself down in his armchair and closing his eyes.  

|Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his gigantic client.  

|"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he remarked, "I should be better able to advise you."

|The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. <br>"You are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?"

|Man en-stan pa salta fon stula e begin go-go tra shamba pa gro-agita. Dan, kun denada-ney jesta, lu ek-depon maska fon fas e shwai it on poda. <br>"Yu es prave," lu exklami; "Me es Rego. Way me mus trai ahfi se?"

|"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia."

|"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting you."

|"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.  

|"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the wellknown adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt farmiliar to you."

|"Faktas es brevem tal: sirke pet yar bak, duran longe visita in Varshava, me en-koni-te den hao jan-ney dusaventurnik Iren Adler. Nam es sin duba koni-ney a yu."

|"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes.  

|"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto -- hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw -- yes! Retired from operatic stage -- ha! Living in London -- quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of getting those letters back."

|"Precisely so. But how --"

|"Exaktem tak. Bat komo..."

|"Was there a secret marriage?"

|"None."

|"No legal papers or certificates?"

|"None."

|"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?"

|"There is the writing."

|"Pooh, pooh! Forgery."

|"My private note-paper."

|"Stolen."

|"My own seal."

|"Imitated."

|"My photograph."

|"Bought."

|"Kupi-ney."  

| - Куплена.

| -Comprada.  

|"We were both in the photograph."

|"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion."

|"Oo! To es gro-bade! Yur Mahantaa he verem zwo nochaukitaa."

|"I was mad -- insane."

|"You have compromised yourself seriously."

|"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now."

|"It must be recovered."

|"We have tried and failed."

|"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought."

|"She will not sell."

|"Stolen, then."

|"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no result."

|"Ye-te pet proba. Dwa ves ti me pagi na jen beshuki-te elay dom. Un ves nu ridirigi-te elay bagaja al ke ela safari. Dwa ves nu fai-te ambush. Resulta yok."

|"No sign of it?"

|"Absolutely none."

|Holmes laughed.<br>"It is quite a pretty little problem," said he.  

|Holms fai hi-hi. <br>"Es ya mushkile hi problema-ki." lu shwo.

|Holmes se echó a reír. <br>-Es un problemita bastante complicado -dijo.

|"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully.  

|"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the photograph?"

|"To ruin me."

|"But how?"

|"I am about to be married."

|"So I have heard."

|"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the stnct principles of her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end."

|"And Irene Adler?"

|"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go -- none."

|"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?"

|"I am sure."

|"And why?"

|"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday."

|"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in London for the present?"

|"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Count Von Kramm."

|"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress."

|"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety."

|"Then, as to money?"

|"You have carte blanche."

|"Absolutely?"

|"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have that photograph."

|"And for present expenses?"

| Rego pren fon sub suy mantela den grave gamusa-ney bao e pon it on tabla.

|El rey sacó una pesada bolsa de cuero del interior de su gabán y la colocó sobre la mesa.

|"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in notes," he said.  

|"Se es tristo paun in golda e semsto in bileta," lu shwo.

| -Hay trescientas libras en oro y setecientas en billetes -dijo.  

|Holms skribi resivi-nota on lif de suy dafta e handi it a lu.

| Holmes extendió un recibo por la cantidad en una hoja de papel y se lo entregó.  

|"And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked.  

|"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood."

|Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the photograph a cabinet?"

|"It was."

|"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If you wlll be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you."