《巴斯克威尔猎犬》 25出逃的囚犯(3)

I suddenly had an idea. "I think he was sending a message, " I said. "Let's see if there's an answer from someone on the moor¹. "

我突然灵机一动。“我想他那时是在传送信号，”我说道。“我们来看一下沼地上是否有人回答信号。”

I held the light up to the window, and looked out into the darkness. Suddenly a light answered from the moor.

我把蜡烛高举向窗口并注视着漆黑的外面。突然之间，一个光点从沼地那边回应着。

"There it is, "I cried. I waved my light backwards² and forwards across the window. The light on the moor answered by moving in the same way.

“就在那儿，”我喊道。我在窗户边前后晃动着蜡烛。沼地上的灯光也以同样的方式移动着以回应我们。

"Now, Barrymore, who is your friend on the moor? What's going on?"

“我说，白瑞摩，沼地上的你的那个朋友是谁？发生着什么事情？”

"That's my business, "said Barrymore, "I won't tell you. "

“那是我个人的事，”白瑞摩说道。“我不会告诉您的。”

"Are you making some criminal plan against me?" Sir Henry said.

“你是在搞什么阴谋加害我吗？”亨利爵士说道。

"No, it's nothing against you, sir, "said a voice behind us. It was Mrs Barrymore. She had followed us and was standing³ at the door. "He's doing it for me. My unhappy brother is cold and hungry on the moor. We cannot let him die. Our light is to tell him that food is ready for him. His light shows us where to take it. "

“不，爵爷，不是害您呀！”从我们身后传来了一个声音。此人是白瑞摩太太。她一直跟踪着我们，现在正站在门口。“是为了我他才这么干的。我那不幸的弟弟正在沼地上忍饥受冻。我们不能让他死。这烛光是告诉他食物已经给他准备好了。他那边的灯光则向我们表明我们该把食物送到什么地点。”

"Then your brother is..."began Sir Henry.

“那么说，你的弟弟是……”亨利爵士开口道。

"The escaped prisoner, sir. Selden, the murderer. He is my younger brother. He has done evil things, but to me he is still the little boy I loved and cared for. I had to help him. Everything my husband has done has been for me. Please don't take his job from him. It's not his fault. "

“是那个潜逃的罪犯，爵爷。塞尔登，那个杀人凶手。他是我弟弟，他干了许多坏事。但是对我来讲他依旧是我曾爱护过的那个小男孩。我得帮他。我丈夫所做的一切都是为了我。请别把他辞掉。这不是他的过错。”

Sir Henry turned to Barrymore and said:

亨利爵士转向白瑞摩，并说道：

"I cannot blame you for helping⁴ your wife. Go to bed, and we'll talk about this in the morning."

“你帮你太太的忙，我不能为此怪你。去上床睡觉吧，我们明早再谈这件事。”

1 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

2 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。