四签名 83大宗阿格拉宝物（2）

"Well, Jonathan Small," said Holmes, lighting¹ a cigar, "I am sorry that it has come to this."

福尔摩斯燃上了一支雪茄烟，说道："琼诺赞·斯茂，我真不高兴看到事情竟弄到了这样的结局。"

"And so am I, sir," he answered frankly².

他直率地答道："先生，我也不愿意啊。

"I don't believe that I can swing over the job.

这条命，我想也逃不过去了。

I give you my word on the book that I never raised hand against Mr. Sholto.

可是我向您发誓，我实在没有想杀害舒尔托先生，

It was that little hell-hound, Tonga, who shot one of his cursed darts³ into him.

是那个恶鬼童格射出一支混帐的毒刺害死他的。

I had no part in it, sir. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood-relation.

先生，我是毫不知情的。舒尔托先生的死叫我很不好受。

I welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it,

我用绳子鞭打了那小鬼一顿，

but it was done, and I could not undo⁴ it again."

可是人已经死了又有什么办法呢！"

"Have a cigar," said Holmes; "and you had best take a pull out of my flask⁵, for you are very wet.

福尔摩斯道："你先吸一支雪茄烟。你看你全身都湿透了，喝一些我瓶子里的酒先暖和暖和吧。

How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?"

我问你，你在爬绳上去的时候，你怎么会知道那矮小无力的黑小子能够敌得住舒尔托先生呢？"

"You seem to know as much about it as if you were there, sir.

"先生，您说这话好象亲眼看见过似的。

The truth is that I hoped to find the room clear.

我本以为那屋里是没有人的，

I knew the habits of the house pretty well, and it was the time when Mr. Sholto usually went down to his supper.

我对那里的生活习惯都很清楚，那个时候是舒尔托先生气常下楼吃晚饭的时候。

I shall make no secret of the business. The best defence that I can make is just the simple truth.

我丝毫也不隐瞒，我以为说实话就是我最好的辩护。

Now, if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart.

当时要是那个老少校在屋里，那我就会毫不怜惜地掐死他。

I would have thought no more of knifing him than of smoking this cigar.

我杀了他和吸这支雪茄烟没有什么区别。

But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto, with whom I had no quarrel whatever."

现在竟因为小舒尔托而使我被关进监狱，实在令人痛心，因为我和他从来没有任何纠葛。"

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 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》

4 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

5 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。