He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective fashion which
was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less suggestive than it might have
been," he remarked, "and yet there are a few inferences which are very
distinct, and a few others which represent at least a strong balance of
probability. That the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the
face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years,
although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now
than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the
decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink,
at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has
ceased to love him."
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Holmes le ramassa et l’examina avec la pénétration
qui était si caractéristique chez lui.
— Il est peut-être moins suggestif qu’il aurait
pu l’être, remarqua-t-il, et cependant j’en tire
un certain nombre de déductions, dont quelques-unes
seulement très claires, d’autres basées sur
de sérieuses probabilités. Il est évident que le possesseur
de ce chapeau était extrêmement intelligent,
et que dans ces dernières années il s’est
trouvé dans une situation, qui, d’aisée, est devenue
difficile. Il a été prévoyant, mais l’est beaucoup moins aujourd’hui,
c’est la preuve d’une rétrogression
morale qui, ajoutée au déclin de sa
fortune, semble indiquer quelque vice dans sa
vie, probablement celui de l’ivrognerie. Ceci explique
suffisamment pourquoi sa femme ne
l’aime plus.
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