四签名 55贝克街的侦探小队（8）

"A savage¹!" I exclaimed. "Perhaps one of those Indians who were the associates of Jonathan Small."

我喊道："一个生番！可能是和琼诺赞·斯茂同伙的一个印度人。"

"Hardly that," said he. "When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was inclined to think so,

他道：“这倒不太象。最初在我看到好象有破怪的武器的时候，我也这样想过。

but the remarkable² character of the footmarks caused me to reconsider my views.

可是由于那特殊的脚印，我就另向其他方面考虑了。

Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men,

印度半岛的居民有的是矮小的，

but none could have left such marks as that.

可是没有能留这样的脚印的。

The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet.

印度土著的脚是狭长的，

The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others because the thong³ is commonly passed between.

穿凉鞋的回教人因为鞋带缚在紧靠大拇指的趾缝里，拇指和其他脚趾是分开的。

These little darts⁴, too, could only be shot in one way. They are from a blow-pipe.

这些木刺只有从吹管向外发放的一个方法。这样的生番，

Now, then, where are we to find our savage?"

我们应当往哪里去找呢？"

"South America," I hazarded.

我道："从南美洲。"

He stretched his hand up and took down a bulky volume from the shelf.

他伸出胳臂，从书架上取下了一本厚书，说道：

"This is the first volume of a gazetteer⁵ which is now being published.

"这是新出版的地理辞典第一卷，

It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. What have we here?

可以认为是最新的权威著作了。这里写的是什么？

"Andaman Islands, situated⁶ 340 miles to the north of Sumatra, in the Bay of Bengal.

'安达曼群岛位于孟加拉湾，距苏门答腊三百四十英里。'

Hum! hum! What's all this?

喝！喝！这又是什么？

Moist climate, coral reefs, sharks, Port Blair, convict barracks, Rutland Island, cottonwoods– – Ah, here we are! "

'气候潮湿、珊瑚暗礁、鲨鱼、布勒尔港、囚犯营、罗特兰德岛、白杨树--'啊！在这里！

The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth,

'安达曼群岛的土人，可以称为世界上最小的人了，

though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa, the Digger Indians of America, and the Terra del Fuegians.

虽然人类学者亦有说非洲的布史人或美洲的迪格印第安人和火地人是最矮小的。

The average height is rather below four feet,

里的人品均高度不到四英尺，

although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this.

成年人比这个还矮的也不少。

They are a fierce, morose⁷, and intractable people,

这他们生性凶狠、易怒而又倔强，

though capable of forming most devoted⁸ friendships when their confidence has once been gained.

但是只要和他们建立了信任和感情，他们就能至死不渝。'

1 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

2 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。

3 thong   

n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带

参考例句：

• He fastened the dog to the post with a thong.他用一根皮带把狗拴到柱子上。
• If I switch with Harry,do I have to wear a thong?如果我和哈里调换，我应该穿皮带吗？

4 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gazetteer   

n.地名索引

参考例句：

• Any atlas,containing many pages of maps,normally includes an index,called a gazetteer.任何载有多幅地图的地图集，一般都附有一份地名索引。
• The entire "Geographia" is the first atlas and gazetteer.全部《地理学》可说是第一本地图集和地名辞典。

6 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

7 morose   

adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的

参考例句：

• He was silent and morose.他沉默寡言、郁郁寡欢。
• The publicity didn't make him morose or unhappy?公开以后，没有让他郁闷或者不开心吗？

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。