福爾摩斯探案集·四簽名 第23期:禿頭人的故事(6)

'I was still pondering over the matter, when, looking up, I saw my servant, Lal Chowdar, in the doorway.

'當我還在考慮這件事的時候，抬起頭來，忽然看見仆人拉爾·喬達站在門口。

He stole in and bolted the door behind him. "Do not fear, sahib," he said;

他偷偷地走了進來，回手閂了門，說道："主人，不要害怕。

"no one need know that you have killed him. Let us hide him away, and who is the wiser?"

沒有人會知道你害死了他。咱們把他藏起來，還有誰能知道呢？"

"I did not kill him," said I.

我道："我并沒有害死他。"

Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. "I heard it all, sahib," said he;

拉爾·喬達搖頭笑道："主人，我都聽見了，

"I heard you quarrel, and I heard the blow. But my lips are sealed.

我聽見你們爭吵，我聽見他倒了下去，可是我一定嚴守秘密。

All are asleep in the house. Let us put him away together."

家里的人全都睡著了。咱們把他掩埋起來吧。"

That was enough to decide me.

這樣就使我決定了。

If my own servant could not believe my innocence,

我自己的仆人還不能相信我，

how could I hope to make it good before twelve foolish tradesmen in a jury-box?

我還能希望十二個坐在陪審席上的愚蠢的商人會宣告我無罪嗎？

Lal Chowdar and I disposed of the body that night,

拉爾·喬達和我當天晚上就把尸身掩埋了，

and within a few days the London papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of Captain Morstan.

沒有幾天，倫敦報紙就都登了摩斯坦上尉失蹤的疑案。

You will see from what I say that I can hardly be blamed in the matter.

從我所說的過程中你們可以知道，摩斯坦的死亡很難說是我的過失。

My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body

我的錯誤是除了隱藏尸身外還隱藏了寶物，

but also the treasure and that I have clung to Morstan's share as well as to my own.

我得到了我應得的寶物，還霸占了摩斯坦的一份，

I wish you, therefore, to make restitution.

所以我希望你們把寶物歸還給他的女兒。

Put your ears down to my mouth. The treasure is hidden in...'

你們把耳朵湊到我的嘴邊來。寶物就藏在...'

"At this instant a horrible change came over his expression; his eyes stared wildly,

"話還沒有說完，他就面色突變，他的兩眼向外注視，

his jaw dropped, and he yelled in a voice which I can never forget,

他的下頦下墜，用一種令我永不能忘的聲音喊道：

'Keep him out! For Christ's sake keep him out!'

'把他趕出去！千萬把...千萬把他趕出去！'

We both stared round at the window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed.

我們一起回頭看他所盯住的窗戶。

A face was looking in at us out of the darkness.

黑暗里有一個面孔正向我們凝視。

We could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the glass.

我們可以看見他那在玻璃上被壓得變白的鼻子。

It was a bearded, hairy face, with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence.

一個多毛的臉，兩只兇狠的眼睛，還有兇惡的表情。

My brother and I rushed towards the window, but the man was gone.

我們兄弟二人趕緊沖到窗前，可是那個人已經(jīng)不見了。

When we returned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat.

再回來看我們的父親，只見他頭已下垂，脈搏已停。

"We searched the garden that night

"當晚我們搜查了花園，

but found no sign of the intruder save that just under the window a single footmark was visible in the flower-bed.

除了窗下花床上的一個鮮明的腳印以外，這個不速之客并未留有其他痕跡。

But for that one trace, we might have thought that our imaginations had conjured up that wild, fierce face.

但是只根據(jù)這一點跡象，我們或者還會猜疑那個兇狠的臉是出于我們的幻想。

We soon, however, had another and a more striking proof that there were secret agencies at work all round us.

不久，我們就另外得到了更確切的證明，原來在我們附近有一幫人對我們正在進行秘密活動。

The window of my father's room was found open in the morning, his cupboards and boxes had been rifled,

我們在第二天早晨發(fā)現(xiàn)了父親臥室的窗戶大開，他的櫥柜和箱子全都經(jīng)過了搜查，

and upon his chest was fixed a torn piece of paper with the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled across it.

在他的箱子上釘著一張破紙，上面潦草地寫著：'四個簽名' 。

What the phrase meant or who our secret visitor may have been, we never knew.

這句話怎樣解釋和秘密來過的人是誰，我們到現(xiàn)在也不知道。

As far as we can judge, none of my father's property had been actually stolen, though everything had been turned out.

我們所能斷定的只是：雖然所有的東西全都被翻動過了，可是我父親的財物并沒有被竊。

My brother and I naturally associated this peculiar incident with the fear which haunted my father during his life,

我們兄弟二人自然會聯(lián)想到，這回事情和他平日的恐懼是有關聯(lián)的，

but it is still a complete mystery to us."

但仍然還是一個完全不能了解的疑案。"