四签名 22秃头人的故事（5）

"When we entered his room he was propped¹ up with pillows and breathing heavily.

"当我们走进房间的时候，他呼吸急促地倚在高枕上面。

He besought² us to lock the door and to come upon either side of the bed.

他叫我们把门锁上，到床的两旁来。

Then grasping our hands he made a remarkable³ statement to us in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain.

他紧握我们的手，因为痛苦难堪而又感情激动，所以断断续续地告诉了我们一件惊人的事。

I shall try and give it to you in his own very words.

我现在试用他自己的话来向你们重述一遍。

"'I have only one thing,' he said, 'which weighs upon my mind at this supreme⁴ moment.

"他说：'在我临终的时候，只有一件事象是一块石头似的压在我的心上，

It is my treatment of poor Morstan's orphan⁵.

就是我对待摩斯坦孤女的行为实是遗憾。

The cursed greed which has been my besetting⁶ sin through life has withheld⁷ from her the treasure,

由于我一生不可宽恕的贪心，使她没能得到这些宝物

half at least of which should have been hers.

其中至少一半是属于她的。

And yet I have made no use of it myself, so blind and foolish a thing is avarice⁸.

可是我也未曾利用过这些宝物，贪婪真是极愚蠢的行为。

The mere⁹ feeling of possession has been so dear to me that I could not bear to share it with another.

只要知道宝物藏在我身边，我就感到心满意足，再也舍不得分给别人。

See that chaplet tipped with pearls beside the quinine-bottle.

你们来看，在盛金鸡纳霜的药品旁边的那一串珠子项圈，

Even that I could not bear to part with, although I had got it out with the design of sending it to her.

虽然是我专为送给她而找出来的，就是这个我也是难以割舍的。

You, my sons, will give her a fair share of the Agra treasure.

我的儿子们，你们应当把阿格拉宝物公平地分给她。

But send her nothing–not even the chaplet–until I am gone.

可是在我咽气以前决不要给她--就是那串项圈也不要给她，

After all, men have been as bad as this and have recovered. "

因为即使病重到我这种地步的人，也说不定还会痊愈呢。"

'I will tell you how Morstan died,' he continued.

他继续说：'我要告诉你们摩斯坦是怎样死的。

'He had suffered for years from a weak heart, but he concealed¹⁰ it from every one. I alone knew it.

他多年以来，心脏就衰弱，可是他从未告诉过人，只有我一个人知道。

When in India, he and I, through a remarkable chain of circumstances, came into possession of a considerable treasure.

在印度的时候，我和他经过一系列的惊奇事故，得到了一大批宝物。

I brought it over to England, and on the night of Morstan's arrival he came straight over here to claim his share.

我把这些宝物带回了英国。在摩斯坦到达伦敦的当天晚上，他就一直跑到这里来要他应得的那一份儿。

He walked over from the station and was admitted by my faithful old Lal Chowdar, who is now dead.

他从车站步行到这里，是由现已死去的忠心老仆拉尔·乔达开门请进来的。

Morstan and I had a difference of opinion as to the division of the treasure, and we came to heated words.

摩斯坦和我之间因为平分宝物意见分歧，争辩得很厉害，

Morstan had sprung out of his chair in a paroxysm of anger,

摩斯坦在盛怒之下从椅子上跳了起来，

when he suddenly pressed his hand to his side, his face turned a dusky hue¹¹,

随后忽然把手放在胸侧，面色阴暗，

and he fell backward, cutting his head against the corner of the treasure-chest.

向后跌倒，头撞在宝箱的角上。

When I stooped over him I found, to my horror, that he was dead. "

当我弯腰扶他的时候，使我感到万分惊恐，他竟已死了。"

'For a long time I sat half distracted, wondering what I should do.

'我在椅子上坐了好久，精神错乱，不知如何是好。

My first impulse was, of course, to call for assistance;

开始时我自然也想到应该报告警署，

but I could not but recognize that there was every chance that I would be accused of his murder.

可是我考虑到当时的情况，我恐怕无法避免要被指为凶手。

His death at the moment of a quarrel, and the gash¹² in his head, would be black against me.

他是在我们争论当中断气的，他头上的伤口对我更是不利。

Again, an official inquiry¹³ could not be made without bringing out some facts about the treasure,

还有，在法庭上未免要问到宝物的来源，

which I was particularly anxious to keep secret.

这更是我特别要保守秘密的。

He had told me that no soul upon earth knew where he had gone.

他告诉过我：没有一个人知道他来这里。

There seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever should know."

因此这件事似乎没有叫别人知道的必要。"

1 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

2 besought   

v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词)

参考例句：

• The prisoner besought the judge for mercy/to be merciful. 囚犯恳求法官宽恕[乞求宽大]。 来自辞典例句
• They besought him to speak the truth. 他们恳求他说实话. 来自辞典例句

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

6 besetting   

adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌

参考例句：

• Laziness is my besetting sin. 懒惰是我积重难返的恶习。 来自辞典例句
• His besetting sin is laziness. 他所易犯的毛病就是懒惰。 来自辞典例句

7 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 avarice   

n.贪婪；贪心

参考例句：

• Avarice is the bane to happiness.贪婪是损毁幸福的祸根。
• Their avarice knows no bounds and you can never satisfy them.他们贪得无厌，你永远无法满足他们。

9 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

10 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

11 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

12 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

13 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。