福爾摩斯探案集·四簽名 第95期:瓊諾贊·斯茂的奇異故事(5)

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

可是，我的軍隊(duì)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.

在我剛學(xué)會(huì)鵝步操，學(xué)會(huì)使用步槍的時(shí)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.

幸運(yùn)的是，連隊(duì)的游泳能手、班長(zhǎng)約翰·侯德當(dāng)時(shí)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.

一條鱷魚就在中流象外科手術(shù)一樣干脆地把我整個(gè)小腿都咬了下來(lái)。

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

由于驚嚇和失血，我暈了過去，

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

如果沒有侯德抓著我向岸邊游去的話我就會(huì)被淹死了。

I was five months in hospital over it,

我在醫(yī)院里養(yǎng)了五個(gè)月

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

最后才裝上木腿跛著出了院。

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

我因殘廢被取消了軍籍，因此就更難找到就業(yè)的機(jī)會(huì)了。

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

你們可以想象，我的運(yùn)氣有多么壞。

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

那時(shí)我還不到二十歲，已成了無(wú)用的瘸子，

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

可是窘困了不久時(shí)來(lái)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，

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

恰巧有一個(gè)新來(lái)印度經(jīng)營(yíng)靛青園子的、名叫阿勃懷特的園主

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

正在找一個(gè)人監(jiān)督靛青園的苦力們的工作。

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

這個(gè)園主碰巧是我原來(lái)所屬部隊(duì)團(tuán)長(zhǎng)的朋友。團(tuán)長(zhǎng)因?yàn)槲业臍垙U時(shí)常照顧我，

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

簡(jiǎn)短來(lái)說，團(tuán)長(zhǎng)竭力推薦我。

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

因?yàn)檫@個(gè)工作主要是騎在馬上，我的兩膝還能夾得住馬腹，

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

雖然殘廢，騎馬還不成問題。

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.

我的工作是在莊園內(nèi)巡行，監(jiān)督工人和把工人的勤惰情況隨時(shí)報(bào)告園主。

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

報(bào)酬很不錯(cuò)，住處也舒適，因此我很有做這靛青事業(yè)以終此生的志愿。

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

園主阿勃懷特先生為人和藹可親，常常到我的小屋里來(lái)吸支煙聊聊天，

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

因?yàn)樵谀抢锏陌追N人不象在這里的一樣，彼此都很關(guān)切。