四签名 23秃头人的故事（6）

'I was still pondering over the matter, when, looking up, I saw my servant, Lal Chowdar, at the doorway¹.

'当我还在考虑这件事的时候，抬起头来，忽然看见仆人拉尔·乔达站在门口。

He stole in and bolted the door behind him. "Do not fear, sahib," he said;

他偷偷地走了进来，回手闩了门，说道："主人，不要害怕。

"no one need know that you have killed him. Let us hide him away, and who is the wiser?"

没有人会知道你害死了他。咱们把他藏起来，还有谁能知道呢？"

"I did not kill him," said I.

我道："我并没有害死他。"

Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. "I heard it all, sahib," said he;

拉尔·乔达摇头笑道："主人，我都听见了，

"I heard you quarrel, and I heard the blow. But my lips are sealed.

我听见你们争吵，我听见他倒了下去，可是我一定严守秘密。

All are asleep in the house. Let us put him away together."

家里的人全都睡着了。咱们把他掩埋起来吧。"

That was enough to decide me.

这样就使我决定了。

If my own servant could not believe my innocence²,

我自己的仆人还不能相信我，

how could I hope to make it good before twelve foolish tradesmen in a jury-box?

我还能希望十二个坐在陪审席上的愚蠢的商人会宣告我无罪吗？

Lal Chowdar and I disposed of the body that night,

拉尔·乔达和我当天晚上就把尸身掩埋了，

and within a few days the London papers were full of the mysterious disappearance³ of Captain Morstan.

没有几天，伦敦报纸就都登了摩斯坦上尉失踪的疑案。

You will see from what I say that I can hardly be blamed in the matter.

从我所说的过程中你们可以知道，摩斯坦的死亡很难说是我的过失。

My fault lies in the fact that we concealed⁴ not only the body

我的错误是除了隐藏尸身外还隐藏了宝物，

but also the treasure and that I have clung to Morstan's share as well as to my own.

我得到了我应得的宝物，还霸占了摩斯坦的一份，

I wish you, therefore, to make restitution⁵.

所以我希望你们把宝物归还给他的女儿。

Put your ears down to my mouth. The treasure is hidden in...'

你们把耳朵凑到我的嘴边来。宝物就藏在...'

"At this instant a horrible change came over his expression; his eyes stared wildly,

"话还没有说完，他就面色突变，他的两眼向外注视，

his jaw⁶ dropped, and he yelled in a voice which I can never forget,

他的下颏下坠，用一种令我永不能忘的声音喊道：

'Keep him out! For Christ's sake keep him out!'

'把他赶出去！千万把...千万把他赶出去！'

We both stared round at the window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed⁷.

我们一起回头看他所盯住的窗户。

A face was looking in at us out of the darkness.

黑暗里有一个面孔正向我们凝视。

We could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the glass.

我们可以看见他那在玻璃上被压得变白的鼻子。

It was a bearded, hairy face, with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence⁸.

一个多毛的脸，两只凶狠的眼睛，还有凶恶的表情。

My brother and I rushed towards the window, but the man was gone.

我们兄弟二人赶紧冲到窗前，可是那个人已经不见了。

When we returned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat.

再回来看我们的父亲，只见他头已下垂，脉搏已停。

"We searched the garden that night

"当晚我们搜查了花园，

but found no sign of the intruder save that just under the window a single footmark was visible in the flower-bed.

除了窗下花床上的一个鲜明的脚印以外，这个不速之客并未留有其他痕迹。

But for that one trace, we might have thought that our imaginations had conjured⁹ up that wild, fierce face.

但是只根据这一点迹象，我们或者还会猜疑那个凶狠的脸是出于我们的幻想。

We soon, however, had another and a more striking proof that there were secret agencies at work all round us.

不久，我们就另外得到了更确切的证明，原来在我们附近有一帮人对我们正在进行秘密活动。

The window of my father's room was found open in the morning, his cupboards and boxes had been rifled,

我们在第二天早晨发现了父亲卧室的窗户大开，他的橱柜和箱子全都经过了搜查，

and upon his chest was fixed a torn piece of paper with the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled¹⁰ across it.

在他的箱子上钉着一张破纸，上面潦草地写着：'四个签名' 。

What the phrase meant or who our secret visitor may have been, we never knew.

这句话怎样解释和秘密来过的人是谁，我们到现在也不知道。

As far as we can judge, none of my father's property had been actually stolen, though everything had been turned out.

我们所能断定的只是：虽然所有的东西全都被翻动过了，可是我父亲的财物并没有被窃。

My brother and I naturally associated this peculiar¹¹ incident with the fear which haunted my father during his life,

我们兄弟二人自然会联想到，这回事情和他平日的恐惧是有关联的，

but it is still a complete mystery to us."

但仍然还是一个完全不能了解的疑案。"

1 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

2 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

3 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

4 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。

5 restitution   

n.赔偿；恢复原状

参考例句：

• It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿，这是再公平不过的了。
• The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 malevolence   

n.恶意，狠毒

参考例句：

• I had always been aware of a frame of malevolence under his urbanity. 我常常觉察到，在他温文尔雅的下面掩藏着一种恶意。 来自辞典例句

9 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

10 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

11 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。