福爾摩斯探案集·四簽名 第21期:禿頭人的故事(4)

"If we are to go to Norwood, it would perhaps be as well to start at once," I ventured to remark.

我大膽地說道："如果咱們還須去諾伍德，好不好咱們馬上就動身。"

He laughed until his ears were quite red. "That would hardly do," he cried.

他笑到耳根發(fā)紅后，說道："那樣不太合適，

"I don't know what he would say if I brought you in that sudden way.

如果突然陪你們?nèi)?，我不知道他要說些什么呢。

No, I must prepare you by showing you how we all stand to each other.

不，我必須事先作好準(zhǔn)備，把咱們彼此的處境先談一談。

In the first place, I must tell you that there are several points in the story of which I am myself ignorant.

頭一件我要告訴你們的就是，在這段故事里還有幾點(diǎn)連我自己都沒有搞清楚呢。

I can only lay the facts before you as far as I know them myself.

我只能把我所知道的事實(shí)說給你們聽。

"My father was, as you may have guessed, Major John Sholto, once of the Indian Army.

"我的父親，你們會猜想到，就是過去在印度駐軍里的約翰·舒爾托少校。

He retired some eleven years ago and came to live at Pondicherry Lodge in Upper Norwood.

他大約是在十一年前退休后，才到上諾伍德的櫻沼別墅來住的。

He had prospered in India and brought back with him a considerable sum of money,

他在印度很發(fā)了些財(cái)，帶來一大筆錢

a large collection of valuable curiosities, and a staff of native servants.

和一批貴重的古玩，還有幾個(gè)印度仆人。

With these advantages he bought himself a house, and lived in great luxury.

有了這些好條件，他就買了一所房子，過著非常優(yōu)裕的生活。

My twin-brother Bartholomew and I were the only children.

我和巴索洛謬是孿生兄弟，我父親只有我們這兩個(gè)孩子。

"I very well remember the sensation which was caused by the disappearance of Captain Morstan.

"我還很清楚地記得摩斯坦上尉的失蹤在社會上所引起的轟動，

We read the details in the papers,

詳情還是我們從報(bào)紙上讀到的呢。

and knowing that he had been a friend of our father's we discussed the case freely in his presence.

因?yàn)槲覀冎浪歉赣H的朋友，所以常常無拘無束地在他面前討論這件事。

He used to join in our speculations as to what could have happened.

他有時(shí)也和我們揣測這件事是怎么發(fā)生的，

Never for an instant did we suspect that he had the whole secret hidden in his own breast,

我們絲毫也沒有疑心到這整個(gè)的秘密卻藏在他一個(gè)人的心里

that of all men he alone knew the fate of Arthur Morstan.

只有他一個(gè)人知道阿瑟·摩斯坦的結(jié)局。

"We did know, however, that some mystery, some positive danger, overhung our father.

"可是我們確也知道有些秘密，有些恐怖的事存在我父親心里。

He was very fearful of going out alone,

他平常不敢一人獨(dú)自出門，

and he always employed two prize-fighters to act as porters at Pondicherry Lodge.

他還雇了兩個(gè)拳擊手為櫻沼別墅看門。

Williams, who drove you to-night, was one of them.

今天為你們趕車的威廉就是其中的一個(gè)，

He was once lightweight champion of England.

他過去是英國輕量級拳賽的冠軍。

Our father would never tell us what it was he feared, but he had a most marked aversion to men with wooden legs.

我父親從來不告訴我們他所怕的是什么，他對裝有木腿的人尤其加意地戒備。

On one occasion he actually fired his revolver at a wooden-legged man,

有一次他用槍打傷了一個(gè)裝木腿的人，

who proved to be a harmless tradesman canvassing for orders.

后來證明了這人是個(gè)來兜攬生意的平常商販，

We had to pay a large sum to hush the matter up.

我們賠了一大筆養(yǎng)傷費(fèi)才算了結(jié)。

My brother and I used to think this a mere whim of my father's, but events have since led us to change our opinion.

我哥哥和我先以為這不過是我父親的一時(shí)沖動罷了，后來經(jīng)過一樁一樁的事情，才使我們改變了看法。

"Early in 1882 my father received a letter from India which was a great shock to him.

"一八八二年春間，我父親接到了一封從印度來的信，這封信對他是一個(gè)很大的打擊。

He nearly fainted at the breakfast-table when he opened it, and from that day he sickened to his death.

他在早餐桌上讀完這封信后幾乎暈倒，從那天氣他就病倒了，一直到他死去。

What was in the letter we could never discover,

信的內(nèi)容是什么，我們從來也未發(fā)現(xiàn)，

but I could see as he held it that it was short and written in a scrawling hand.

可是在他拿著這封信的時(shí)候，我從旁邊看見信很短，而且字跡潦草。

He had suffered for years from an enlarged spleen, but he now became rapidly worse,

他多年患著脾臟腫大的病，這一下，病情很快就進(jìn)一步地嚴(yán)重化了。

and towards the end of April we were informed that he was beyond all hope, and that he wished to make a last communication to us.

到了四月底，醫(yī)生斷定他已沒有希望了，叫我們到他面前聽他最后的遺囑。