四签名 95琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（5）（在线收听）

I wasn't destined to do much soldiering, however.

可是，我的军队生活先天注定不能久常。

I had just got past the goose-step and learned to handle my musket, when I was fool enough to go swimming in the Ganges.

在我刚学会鹅步操，学会使用步枪的时候，我愚蠢的到恒河里去游泳。

Luckily for me, my company sergeant, John Holder, was in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the service.

幸运的是，连队的游泳能手、班长约翰·侯德当时也在河里。

A crocodile took me just as I was halfway across and nipped off my right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee.

一条鳄鱼就在中流象外科手术一样干脆地把我整个小腿都咬了下来。

What with the shock and the loss of blood, I fainted,

由于惊吓和失血，我晕了过去，

and should have been drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank.

如果没有侯德抓着我向岸边游去的话我就会被淹死了。

I was five months in hospital over it,

我在医院里养了五个月

and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump,

最后才装上木腿跛着出了院。

I found myself invalided out of the Army and unfitted for any active occupation.

我因残废被取消了军籍，因此就更难找到就业的机会了。

I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time,

你们可以想象，我的运气有多么坏。

for I was a useless cripple, though not yet in my twentieth year.

那时我还不到二十岁，已成了无用的瘸子，

However, my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise.

可是窘困了不久时来运转，

A man named Abel White, who had come out there as an indigo-planter,

恰巧有一个新来印度经营靛青园子的、名叫阿勃怀特的园主

wanted an overseer to look after his coolies and keep them up to their work.

正在找一个人监督靛青园的苦力们的工作。

He happened to be a friend of our colonel's, who had taken an interest in me since the accident.

这个园主碰巧是我原来所属部队团长的朋友。团长因为我的残废时常照顾我，

To make a long story short, the colonel recommended me strongly for the post,

简短来说，团长竭力推荐我。

and, as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my leg was no great obstacle,

因为这个工作主要是骑在马上，我的两膝还能夹得住马腹，

for I had enough thigh left to keep a good grip on the saddle.

虽然残废，骑马还不成问题。

What I had to do was to ride over the plantation, to keep an eye on the men as they worked, and to report the idlers.

我的工作是在庄园内巡行，监督工人和把工人的勤惰情况随时报告园主。

The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting.

报酬很不错，住处也舒适，因此我很有做这靛青事业以终此生的志愿。

Mr. Abel White was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me,

园主阿勃怀特先生为人和蔼可亲，常常到我的小屋里来吸支烟聊聊天，

for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home.

因为在那里的白种人不象在这里的一样，彼此都很关切。