Šerloka Holmsa lietu grāmata

L’AVENTURA DEL CLIENT IL·LUSTRE

The adventure of the illustrious client

—Ara ja no pot fer cap mal

“It can’t hurt now,”

—va ser el comentari del senyor

was Mr.

Sherlock Holmes quan,

Sherlock Holmes’s comment when,

per desena vegada en deu anys,

for the tenth time in as many years,

li vaig demanar permís per revelar la narració que segueix.

I asked his leave to reveal the following narrative.

Així és com per fi vaig obtenir permís per deixar constància del que fou,

So it was that at last I obtained permission to put on record what was,

en certa manera,

in some ways,

el moment culminant de la carrera del meu amic.

the supreme moment of my friend’s career.

Tant Holmes com jo teníem debilitat pels banys turcs.

Both Holmes and I had a weakness for the Turkish Bath.

Mentre fumàvem, en la plaent languidesa de la sala d’assecatge, l’he trobat sempre menys reservat i més humà que en cap altre lloc.

It was over a smoke in the pleasant lassitude of the drying-room that I have found him less reticent and more human than anywhere else.

Al pis de dalt de l’establiment de Northumberland Avenue hi ha un racó aïllat on dos divans reposen l’un al costat de l’altre,

On the upper floor of the Northumberland Avenue establishment there is an isolated corner where two couches lie side by side,

i en aquests jèiem el 3 de setembre

and it was on these that we lay upon September 3,

de 1902,

1902,

el dia en què comença la meva narració.

the day when my narrative begins.

Li havia preguntat si hi havia res en marxa,

I had asked him whether anything was stirring,

i per tota resposta havia tret bruscament el seu braç llarg,

and for answer he had shot his long,

prim,

thin,

nerviós, d’entre els llençols que l’embolcallaven, i havia agafat un sobre de la butxaca interior de l’abric que penjava al seu costat.

nervous arm out of the sheets which enveloped him and had drawn an envelope from the inside pocket of the coat which hung beside him.

—Pot ser algun ximple primmirat,

“It may be some fussy,

pagat de si mateix,

self-important fool,

pot ser una qüestió de vida o mort

it may be a matter of life or death,”

—va dir

said he,

mentre em donava la nota —.

as he handed me the note.

No en sé res més que el que em diu aquest missatge.

“I know no more than this message tells me.”