主题：【原创】嘉木读书---Holmes -- 南方有嘉木

原文是这样的：

I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air -- or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. There I stayed for some time at a private hotel in the Strand, leading a comfortless, meaningless existence, and spending such money as I had, considerably more freely than I ought. So alarming did the state of my finances become, that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in my style of living. Choosing the latter alternative, I began by making up my mind to leave the hotel, and to take up my quarters in some less pretentious and less expensive domicile.

华生的意思是说在每天十一先令收入许可的范围内的自由自在。前面说过这在1887年是很大一笔钱了。问题是华生在伦敦待的地方更贵。他住的饭店是在威斯敏斯特的 Strand 大街上。这个地方以前有不少宫殿、剧院等等，也是有名的文化街，不少知名作家住在这里。属于消费很贵的地方。华生又花钱如流水，到最后当然入不敷出，只好搬地方了。