書蟲二級(jí)：有斑點(diǎn)的帶子 - 深夜之死
3.Death in the Night
3．深夜之死
That night we went back to the house. When we saw Helen Stoner's light, Holmes and I got in quietly through the window. Then we waited silently in the middle bedroom in the dark. We waited for three hours and did not move. Suddenly we saw a light and heard a sound from Dr Roylott's room. But nothing happened, and again we waited in the dark. Then there was another sound, a very quiet sound...Immediately Holmes jumped up and hit the bell-rope hard.
當(dāng)天晚上我們回到那所房子。看到海倫·斯托納的燈亮起，福爾摩斯和我悄悄地從窗戶進(jìn)去。然后我們?cè)谥虚g的房間里靜靜地摸黑等著。我們等了3個(gè)小時(shí)，一動(dòng)也沒動(dòng)。突然，我們看到一些亮光，聽到羅伊洛特醫(yī)生的房間里傳來(lái)一點(diǎn)兒動(dòng)靜。但是什么事也沒發(fā)生，我們繼續(xù)在黑暗中等待。然后又有一個(gè)聲音響起來(lái)，一個(gè)非常輕的聲音……福爾摩斯立即跳起來(lái)，使勁抽打拉鈴繩。
Can you see it, Watson?' he shouted. But I saw nothing. There was a quiet whistle. We both looked up at the air-vent, and suddenly we heard a terrible cry in the next room. Then the house was silent again.
“你能看見嗎，華生？”他喊道。但是我什么也沒看見。這時(shí)響起一個(gè)輕輕的口哨聲。我們都抬頭看向通風(fēng)口，突然聽到隔壁房間傳來(lái)一聲慘叫。然后房子又歸于寂靜了。
What does it mean?' I asked. My voice was shaking.
“這意味著什么？”我問(wèn)。我的聲音在顫抖。
It's finished,' answered Holmes. 'Let's go and see.'
“結(jié)束了，”福爾摩斯回答，“我們?nèi)タ纯础?rdquo;
We went into Dr Roylott's room. The metal box was open. Roylott was sitting on a chair, and his eyes were fixed on the air-vent. Round his head was a strange, yellow speckled band. He was dead.
我們走進(jìn)羅伊洛特醫(yī)生的房間。金屬箱子敞開著。羅伊洛特正坐在一把椅子上，眼睛盯著通風(fēng)口。他的頭上纏著一根奇怪的、有黃色斑點(diǎn)的帶子。他死了。
The band! The speckled band!' said Holmes very quietly. The band moved and began to turn its head. 'Be careful, Watson! It's a snake, an Indian snake — and its poison can kill very quickly,' Holmes cried. 'Roylott died immediately. We must put the snake back in its box.' Very, very carefully, Holmes took the snake and threw it into the metal box.
“帶子！有斑點(diǎn)的帶子！”福爾摩斯輕聲說(shuō)道。帶子動(dòng)了，開始轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)它的頭。“小心，華生！這是一條蛇，一條印度的蛇——它的毒可以讓人傾刻斃命，”福爾摩斯喊道，“羅伊洛特被攻擊后立刻就死了。我們必須把蛇放回箱子里。”福爾摩斯非常小心地拿起蛇，把它扔回金屬箱子里。
But how did you know about the snake, Holmes?' I asked.
“但你是怎么知道有這條蛇的呢，福爾摩斯？”我問(wèn)。
At first, Watson, I thought that it was the gipsies. But then I understood. I thought that perhaps something came through the air-vent, down the bell-rope and on to the bed. Then there was the milk — and of course, snakes drink milk. It was easy for the Doctor to get Indian animals. And because he was a doctor, he knew that this snake's poison is difficult to find in a dead body. So every night he put the snake through the air-vent, and it went down the bell-rope onto the bed. Of course, nobody must see the snake, so every night he whistled to call it back. The sound of metal falling was the door of the metal box, which was the snake's home. Perhaps the snake came through the air-vent many times before it killed Julia. But in the end it killed her. And Helen, too, nearly died because of this snake.
“一開始，華生，我以為是吉普賽人干的。但是后來(lái)我明白了。我想可能是什么東西從通風(fēng)口進(jìn)來(lái)，順著拉鈴繩一直到床上。然后我們看到了牛奶——當(dāng)然蛇喝牛奶。這位醫(yī)生很容易弄到印度的動(dòng)物。而且因?yàn)樗轻t(yī)生，他知道這種蛇毒很難在死尸上被發(fā)現(xiàn)。所以每天晚上他把蛇放到通風(fēng)口那里，讓它順著拉鈴繩爬到床上。當(dāng)然不能有人看到這條蛇，所以每天晚上他吹口哨把它叫回去。金屬落下的聲音是金屬箱子的蓋被關(guān)上時(shí)發(fā)出的，蛇一直被關(guān)在那里。在殺死朱莉婭之前，它可能已經(jīng)從通風(fēng)口下來(lái)過(guò)很多次了。但是最后它終于殺死了她。海倫也差點(diǎn)兒死于這條蛇之口。
But tonight, when I hit the snake on the rope, it was angry and went back through the air-vent. And so it killed the Doctor. I'm not sorry about that.'
“但是今晚，我抽打繩子上的蛇，把它激怒了，它又從排氣孔回去，殺死了醫(yī)生。我并不為此感到抱歉。”
Soon after this Helen Stoner married her young man and tried to forget the terrible deaths of her sister and stepfather. But she never really forgot the speckled band.
之后，海倫·斯托納很快和向她求婚的年輕人結(jié)了婚，她盡力想忘掉姐姐和繼父的慘死，但是她永遠(yuǎn)也沒有真正忘記那條有斑點(diǎn)的帶子。
