福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第43期:沙漠中的旅客(1)

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PART 2 THE COUNTRY OF THE SAINTS

第二部 圣徒的故園

Chapter 1

第一章

ON THE GREAT ALKALI PLAIN

大鹼地

IN THE central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilization.

在北美大陸的中部，有一大片干旱荒涼的沙漠；多少年來，它一直是文化發(fā)展的障礙。

From the Sierra Nevada to Nebraska, and from the Yellowstone River in the north to the Colorado upon the south, is a region of desolation and silence.

從內(nèi)華達(dá)山脈到尼布拉斯卡，從北部的黃石河到南部的科羅拉多，完全是一塊荒涼沉寂的區(qū)域。

Nor is Nature always in one mood throughout this grim district.

但是在這凄涼可怕的地區(qū)里，大自然的景色也不盡同。

It comprises snow-capped and lofty mountains, and dark and gloomy valleys.

這里有大雪封蓋的高山峻嶺，有陰沉昏暗的深谷，

There are swift-flowing rivers which dash through jagged canons; and there are enormous plains, which in winter are white with snow, and in summer are gray with the saline alkali dust.

也有湍急的河流，在山石嵯峨的峽谷之間奔流；也有無邊的荒原，冬天積雪遍地，夏日則呈現(xiàn)出一塊灰色的鹼地。

They all preserve, however, the common characteristics of barrenness, inhospitality, and misery.

雖然如此，一般的特點(diǎn)還是荒蕪不毛、寸草不生、無限凄涼。

There are no inhabitants of this land of despair.

在這片無望的土地上，人煙絕跡。

A band of Pawnees or of Blackfeet may occasionally traverse it in order to reach other hunting- grounds, but the hardiest of the braves are glad to lose sight of those awesome plains, and to find themselves once more upon their prairies.

只有波尼人和黑足人偶爾結(jié)隊(duì)走過這里，前往其他獵區(qū)；即使是最勇敢最堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的人，也巴不得早日走完這片可怕的荒原，重新投身到大草原中去。

The coyote skulks among the scrub, the buzzard flaps heavily through the air, and the clumsy grizzly bear lumbers through the dark ravines, and picks up such sustenance as it can amongst the rocks.

只有山狗躲躲藏藏地在矮叢林中穿行，巨雕緩慢地在空中翱翔，還有那蠢笨的灰熊，出沒在陰沉的峽谷里，尋找食物。

These are the sole dwellers in the wilderness.

它們是荒原里絕無僅有的居客。

In the whole world there can be no more dreary view than that from the northern slope of the Sierra Blanco.

世界上再也沒有什么地方會(huì)比布蘭卡山脈北麓的景象更為凄涼的了。

As far as the eye can reach stretches the great flat plain-land, all dusted over with patches of alkali, and intersected by clumps of the dwarfish chaparral bushes.

極目四望，荒原上只見被矮小的槲樹林隔斷的一片片鹽鹼地。

On the extreme verge of the horizon lie a long chain of mountain peaks, with their rugged summits flecked with snow.

地平線的盡頭，山巒起伏，積雪皚皚，閃爍著點(diǎn)點(diǎn)銀光

In this great stretch of country there is no sign of life, nor of anything appertaining to life.

在這片土地上既沒有生命，也沒有和生命有關(guān)的東西。

There is no bird in the steel-blue heaven, no movement upon the dull, gray earth–above all, there is absolute silence.

鐵青色的天空中飛鳥絕跡，灰暗的大地上不見動(dòng)靜。

Listen as one may, there is no shadow of a sound in all that mighty wilderness; nothing but silence–complete and heart-subduing silence.

總之，一片死寂。傾耳靜聽，在這片廣闊荒蕪的大地上，毫無聲息，只是一片徹底的、令人灰心絕望的死寂。

It has been said there is nothing appertaining to life upon the broad plain. That is hardly true.

有人說，在這廣袤的原野上沒有一點(diǎn)和生命有關(guān)的東西存在，這種說法也不真實(shí)。

Looking down from the Sierra Blanco, one sees a pathway traced out across the desert, which winds away and is lost in the extreme distance.

從布蘭卡山脈往下觀看，可以看見一條小路，曲曲彎彎地穿過沙漠，消逝在遙遠(yuǎn)的地平線上。

It is rutted with wheels and trodden down by the feet of many adventurers.

這條小路是經(jīng)過多少車輛輾軋，經(jīng)過無數(shù)冒險(xiǎn)家的踐踏而形成的。

Here and there there are scattered white objects which glisten in the sun, and stand out against the dull deposit of alkali.

這兒一堆，那兒一堆，到處散布著白森森的東西在日光下閃閃發(fā)光，在這片單調(diào)的鹼地上顯得非常刺眼。

Approach, and examine them!

走近仔細(xì)一看，

They are bones: some large and coarse, others smaller and more delicate. The former have belonged to oxen, and the latter to men.

原來是一堆堆白骨：又大又粗的是牛骨；較小較細(xì)的是人骨。

For fifteen hundred miles one may trace this ghastly caravan route by these scattered remains of those who had fallen by the wayside.

在這一千五百英里可怕的商旅道路上，人們是沿著前人倒斃路旁的累累遺骨前進(jìn)的。