第十二章: 乔纳森·斯莫尔的奇异故事 The Strange Story of Jonathan Small
“There goes the reward!” said he gloomily. “Where there is no money there is no pay. This night’s work would have been worth a tenner each to Sam Brown and me if the treasure had been there.”
“这样一来，奖金也没了！”他郁闷地说道，“没有钱，也就没有报酬了。如果有宝物的话，今晚我和同伴萨姆·布朗每人可以得到十镑奖金呢。”
A very patient man was that inspector in the cab, for it was a weary time before I rejoined him. His face clouded over when I showed him the empty box.
那个警官很有耐心地在车上等着我，我回到车上时，已经很晚了。我给他看了空箱子，他大失所望。
“Mr. Thaddeus Sholto is a rich man,” I said; “he will see that you are rewarded, treasure or no.”
“塞迪厄斯·肖尔托先生是一个有钱人，”我说，“不管有没有宝物，他都会给你们酬劳的。”
His forecast proved to be correct, for the detective looked blank enough when I got to Baker Street and showed him the empty box. They had only just arrived, Holmes, the prisoner, and he, for they had changed their plans so far as to report themselves at a station upon the way. My companion lounged in his armchair with his usual listless expression, while Small sat stolidly opposite to him with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one. As I exhibited the empty box he leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud.
这个警官预料得果然不错，当我回到贝克街，把空箱子给那位侦探看时，他面色很不好看。他们三人——福尔摩斯、琼斯和囚犯——刚刚来到贝克街，因为他们变更了原来的计划，在中途先到警察局去作了报告。福尔摩斯仍像往常一样，懒洋洋地坐在他的椅子上，斯莫尔冷冷地坐在他对面，把那条木腿搭在好腿上面。当我把空箱子给大家看的时候，他倚着椅子，放声大笑起来。
The inspector shook his head despondently, however. “It’s a bad job,” he repeated; “and so Mr. Athelney Jones will think.”
然而，警官沮丧地摇摇头。“干得很糟，”他重复道，“阿塞尔纳·琼斯先生也会这么认为的。”
“This is your doing, Small,” said Athelney Jones angrily.
“斯莫尔，这是你干的好事！”阿塞尔纳·琼斯发怒道。
“You are deceiving us, Small,” said Athelney Jones sternly; “if you had wished to throw the treasure into the Thames, it would have been easier for you to have thrown box and all.”
“斯莫尔，你在骗我们！”阿塞尔纳·琼斯厉声说道，“你如果要把宝物扔到泰晤士河里，连箱子一同扔下去不是更省事吗？”
“Yes, I have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon it,” he cried exultantly. “It is my treasure, and if I can’t have the loot I’ll take damed good care that no one else does. I tell you that no living man has any right to it, unless it is three men who are in the Andaman convict-barracks and myself. I know now that I cannot have the use of it, and I know that they cannot. I have acted all through for them as much as for myself. It’s been the sign of four with us always. Well, I know that they would have had me do just what I have done, and throw the treasure into the Thames rather than let it go to kith or kin of Sholto or Morstan. It was not to make them rich that we did for Achmet. You’ll find the treasure where the key is and where little Tonga is. When I saw that your launch must catch us, I put the loot away in a safe place. There are no rupees for you this journey.”
“不错，我已经把宝物放到你们永远拿不到的地方去了，”斯莫尔狂笑着喊道，“宝物是属于我的，如果我得不到，我就得想办法，叫谁也得不到。我告诉你，除了在安达曼岛囚犯营的三个人和我自己以外，别人没有资格得到这些宝物。我知道，现在我用不到，他们也用不到。我就代表他们三个人和我自己，把宝物处理了。四签名永远与我们同在。我知道他们三个人必然同意我这样办，宁可把宝物沉到泰晤士河河底，也不要让它落入肖尔托或摩斯坦的亲戚朋友手中。我们干掉阿基默德，并不是为了让他们去发财。你会发现，宝物和钥匙，还有汤加葬在一起了。当我看到你们的船明显能够追上我们时，我就把宝物藏到稳妥的地方去了。你们这趟是一个卢比也弄不到了。”
“Justice!” snarled the ex-convict. “A pretty justice! Whose loot is this, if it is not ours? Where is the justice that I should give it up to those who have never earned it? Look how I have earned it! Twenty long years in that fever-ridden swamp, all day at work under the mangrove-tree, all night chained up in the filthy convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes, racked with ague, bullied by every cursed black-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. That was how I earned the Agra treasure, and you talk to me of justice because I cannot bear to feel that I have paid this price only that another may enjoy it! I would rather swing a score of times, or have one of Tonga’s darts in my hide, than live in a convict’s cell and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine.”
“正义？！”罪犯咆哮道，“多么美好的正义啊！宝物不是我们的，还能是谁的呢？宝物不是他们赚来的，我却要给他们，难道这算公正吗？你们看看我是怎样把宝物赚到手的。整整二十年，在那热病肆虐的湿地里住着，白天整日在红树下面做苦工，夜晚整晚被锁在肮脏的囚棚里，被蚊子咬着，被疟疾折磨着，被喜欢拿白种人泄愤的该死的黑人狱卒凌辱。这是我赚到阿格拉宝物的代价，而你却要来同我讲什么正义，就因为我不能忍受自己千辛万苦得来的宝物让别人去坐享吗！我宁愿被绞死几十次，或吃汤加一根毒刺，也不甘心一边在牢狱里活着，一边想着另一个人住着豪宅，拿着应当是我的钱去快乐逍遥！”
“This is a very serious matter, Small,” said the detective. “If you had helped justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you would have had a better chance at your trial.”
“斯莫尔，这是一件很严重的事情。”警探琼斯说，“你如果能协助正义，而不是这样横加干扰，那么，在判刑的时候，你就会得到从轻发落的机会。”
“Easier for me to throw and easier for you to recover,” he answered with a shrewd, side-long look. “The man that was clever enough to hunt me down is clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river. Now that they are scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job. It went to my heart to do it though. I was half mad when you came up with us. However, there’s no good grieving over it. I’ve had ups in my life, and I’ve had downs, but I’ve learned not to cry over spilled milk.”
“我扔着省事，你们捞着也省事。”斯莫尔狡猾地斜眼看了看他，答道，“你们有本领追捕到我，就有本领在河底捞一只铁箱子。现在它们散落在长达五英里的河道里，捞起来就不太容易了。我也是横了心，才这么干的。当我看到你们追上来的时候，我几乎都要发疯了。但惋惜是没有什么用处的。我这一辈子的命运有盛有衰，但我懂得不去事后追悔。”
Small had dropped his mask of stoicism, and all this came out in a wild whirl of words, while his eyes blazed, and the handcuffs clanked together with the impassioned movement of his hands. I could understand, as I saw the fury and the passion of the man, that it was no groundless or unnatural terror which had possessed Major Sholto when he first learned that the injured convict was upon his track.
这时，斯莫尔已经不像以前那般沉默了，他滔滔不绝地诉说着这些话，两眼发亮，手铐随着双手激动的挥舞而叮当作响。看到他这样愤怒和冲动，我可以理解为什么肖尔托少校一听说这个受屈的囚犯在追踪他，就吓得惊恐不安，他的恐惧是有理由的，也是很自然的。
“Well, sir, you have been very fair-spoken to me, though I can see that I have you to thank that I have these bracelets upon my wrists. Still, I bear no grudge for that. It is all fair and above-board. If you want to hear my story, I have no wish to hold it back. What I say to you is God’s truth, every word of it. Thank you, you can put the glass beside me here, and I’ll put my lips to it if I am dry.”
“啊，先生，还是您说的话公平合理，虽然我明白我手腕上这副镯子也是拜您所赐。可是，我并不怨恨。这都是光明磊落、公公正正的。您如果愿意听我的故事，我绝不隐瞒。我向您说的句句都是实话。谢谢您，请把杯子搁在我身旁，口渴的时候，我会自己喝的。”
“I am a Worcestershire man myself, born near Pershore. I dare say you would find a heap of Smalls living there now if you were to look. I have often thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was never much of a credit to the family, and I doubt if they would be so very glad to see me. They were all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, well known and respected over the countryside, while I was always a bit of a rover. At last, however, when I was about eighteen, I gave them no more trouble, for I got into a mess over a girl and could only get out of it again by taking the Queen’s shilling and joining the Third Buffs, which was just starting for India.”
“我是伍斯特郡人，出生在珀肖尔城附近。我想，您要是去那儿一看，还能发现一堆斯莫尔家族的人住在那里。我有时很想回去看看，可事实上，我在家族中名声向来不好，我想，他们未必高兴见到我。他们全是稳重的教徒，都是在乡里受人尊敬的小农民，而我却一直是一个流浪汉。可后来，在十八岁的时候，我最终不再给他们添麻烦了，因为我谈恋爱时惹出一些纠纷，为求脱身，我只能去吃国粮，加入步兵三团，他们当时正要调往印度。”
“You forget that we know nothing of all this,” said Holmes quietly. “We have not heard your story, and we cannot tell how far justice may originally have been on your side.”
“你忘了，我们对这些事完全不了解，”福尔摩斯平静地说道，“我们还没有听到你的故事，也就没法说究竟有多少正义在你那边。”
“I wasn’t destined to do much soldiering, however. 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. 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. 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. What with the shock and the loss of blood, I fainted, and should have been drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank. I was five months in hospital over it, and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump, I found myself invalided out of the Army and unfitted for any active occupation.”
“可是，我注定当不了多久的兵。在我刚学会正步走，学会使用步枪的时候，我就傻里傻气地到恒河里去游泳，幸运的是，我们连的中士约翰·霍尔德当时也在河里，他是连队的游泳能手。我在中流横渡的时候，一条鳄鱼就像外科医生一样，干脆地把我的右腿从膝盖处都咬了下来。由于惊吓和失血，我晕了过去，如果不是霍尔德抓着我向岸边游去的话，我早就淹死了。我在医院里养了五个月，最后才装上木腿，跛着出了院，我因残废被取消了军籍，也做不了任何动作激烈的工作。”
“I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time, for I was a useless cripple, though not yet in my twentieth year. However, my misfortune, soon proved to be a blessing in disguise. A man named Abel White, who had come out there as an indigo-planter, wanted an overseer to look after his coolies and keep them up to their work. He happened to be a friend of our colonel’s, who had taken an interest in me since the accident. To make a long story short, the colonel recommended me strongly for the post, and, as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my leg was no great obstacle, for I had enough thigh left to keep a good grip on the saddle. 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. The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting. Mr. Abel White was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me, for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home.”
“你们可以想象，当时我运气多么坏，还不到二十岁，就已成了无用的瘸子。可是，不久我却因祸得福。一个叫埃布尔·怀特的人到那里经营靛青园子，他需要一个人监督靛青园的苦力们，敦促他们工作。这个园主碰巧是我们团长的一个朋友，自从我遭祸以后，团长就一直很关照我。长话短说，团长竭力推荐我干这个差事，因为这个工作主要是骑在马上，我的腿不会有什么障碍，因为我还有两条大腿，能稳坐在马鞍上。我的工作是在庄园内巡行，监督工人工作，并把偷懒的工人报告给园主。报酬很不错，住处也舒适，因此，我很愿意一辈子做这靛青事业。园主埃布尔·怀特先生为人和蔼可亲，常常到我的小屋里来吸支烟，因为在那里的白种人彼此都很亲近，不像在这里的一样。”
“Well, I was never in luck’s way long. Suddenly, without a note of warning, the great mutiny broke upon us. One month India lay as still and peaceful, to all appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next there were two hundred thousand black devils let loose, and the country was a perfect hell. Of course you know all about it, gentlemen — a deal more than I do, very like, since reading is not in my line. I only know what I saw with my own eyes. Our plantation was at a place called Muttra, near the border of the Northwest Provinces. Night after night the whole sky was alight with the burning bungalows, and day after day we had small companies of Europeans passing through our estate with their wives and children, on their way to Agra, where were the nearest troops. Mr. Abel White was an obstinate man. He had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated, and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had sprung up. There he sat on his veranda, drinking whisky-pegs and smoking cheroots, while the country was in a blaze about him. Of course we stuck by him, I and Dawson, who, with his wife, used to do the book-work and the managing. Well, one fine day the crash came. I had been away on a distant plantation and was riding slowly home in the evening, when my eye fell upon something all huddled together at the bottom of a steep nullah. I rode down to see what it was, and the cold struck through my heart when I found it was Dawson’s wife, all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs. A little further up the road Dawson himself was lying on his face, quite dead, with an empty revolver in his hand, and four sepoys lying across each other in front of him. I reined up my horse, wondering which way I should turn; but at that moment I saw thick smoke curling up from Abel White’s bungalow and the flames beginning to burst through the roof. I knew then that I could do my employer no good, but would only throw my own life away if I meddled in the matter. From where I stood I could see hundreds of the black fiends, with their red coats still on their backs, dancing and howling round the burning house. Some of them pointed at me, and a couple of bullets sang past my head: so I broke away across the paddy-fields, and found myself late at night safe within the walls at Agra.”
“唉，真是好景不长。突然间，毫无预兆地，大叛乱就爆发了。前一个月，印度看起来就像萨利区或肯特郡一样平静祥和，到下一个月，二十多万黑鬼子就失去了约束，整个国家变成了地狱一般。当然，你们几位绅士都知道这些事——很可能比我知道得更多呢，因为阅读不是我的专长。我只知道我亲眼看到的事情。我们的种植园的所在地叫做马图拉，靠近西北几省的边界。每天晚上，房子燃烧的火焰照得满天通红；每天白天，都有小队的欧洲士兵带着他们的家小，经过我们的庄园，开往阿格拉，那里是最近的驻有军队的地方。园主埃布尔·怀特先生是一位固执的人。他以为这些叛变的消息不免有些夸大，他想，叛乱来得快，去得也快。他依然坐在阳台上，喝着威士忌，吸着雪茄烟，可是，周围早已烽烟四起了。当然，我和管账的道森还有道森的妻子都坚定地跟随着他。唉，有一天，变故来了。那天，我去了远处的一个庄园，傍晚时，我缓缓地骑着马回来。那时，我的目光被陡峭的峡谷谷底的一堆蜷伏着的东西吸引住了。我骑马走下去一看，不禁毛骨悚然，正是道森的妻子，被人割成了一条一条的，又被豺狼和野狗吃去了一半。道森就趴在不远的地方，已经死了，手握着放空了的手枪，在他前面还躺着彼此压在一起的四个印度兵的尸首。我控着马缰，正不知往什么地方去才好，却忽然看见埃布尔·怀特的房子浓烟滚滚，火苗开始冲出屋顶。我知道，我已经帮不上主人什么忙了，掺和进去只会把自己的性命搭上。从我站的地方可以看见，上百个穿红衣的黑鬼子正在对着燃烧的房子手舞足蹈，狂吼乱叫。其中有几个人向我指了一指，跟着就有两颗流弹从我头上掠过去。我扭转马头，向稻田里狂奔而去，深夜才逃到了阿格拉城内，获得了平安。”
“Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the south. From every point on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage.”
“四面八方传来的都是最最糟糕的消息，这不足为奇，因为只要你看一看地图就知道，我们正处在叛乱的中心。勒克瑙就在东方，相距一百多英里；坎普尔城在南方，距离也差不多一样远。四面八方，无处不是痛苦、残杀和暴行。”
“As it proved, however, there was no great safety there, either. The whole country was up like a swarm of bees. Wherever the English could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded. Everywhere else they were helpless fugitives. It was a fight of the millions against the hundreds; and the cruellest part of it was that these men that we fought against, foot, horse, and gunners, were our own picked troops, whom we had taught and trained, handling our own weapons and blowing our own bugle-calls. At Agra there were the Third Bengal Fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse, and a battery of artillery. A volunteer corps of clerks and merchants had been formed, and this I joined, wooden leg and all. We went out to meet the rebels at Shahgunge early in July, and we beat them back for a time, but our powder gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city.”
“可是，事实上，阿格拉也不是一个很安全的地方。整个印度已乱得像一窝马蜂了。在英国人能小群聚集的地方，他们也仅能保住枪炮射程以内的一小块地方。其他各处的英国人都成了流浪的逃难者。这是几百万人对几百人的战争。最使人伤心的是，我们的敌人不论是步兵、骑兵还是炮兵，都是当初经我们训练过的精锐战士，他们使用的是我们的武器，军号的调子也和我们吹得一样。在阿格拉驻有孟加拉第三火枪团，其中有一些锡克教徒、两队骑兵和一连炮兵。另外还新成立了一支义勇队，是由商人和政府工作人员组成的，我虽然装着木腿，但还是参加了。七月初，我们到沙根吉去迎击叛军，也一度将他们打退，后来因为弹药缺乏，不得已退回城内。”
“The city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fierce devil worshippers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among the narrow, winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his position in the old fort of Agra. I don’t know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a very queer place — the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners, too. First of all it is enormous in size. I should think that the enclosure must be acres and acres. There is a modern part, which took all our garrison, women, children, stores, and everything else, with plenty of room over. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter, where nobody goes, and which is given over to the scorpions and the centipedes. It is all full of great deserted halls, and winding passages, and long corridors twisting in and out, so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it. For this reason it was seldom that anyone went into it, though now and again a party with torches might go exploring.”
“阿格拉是一个很大的城，聚居着各种各样稀奇古怪而又可怕的魔鬼信徒。在曲曲折折的狭窄街道里，我们损失了一些人。因此，我们的长官迁移至河对岸，在阿格拉古堡里驻扎起来。不知你们几位当中，有没有人听说过或读到过这个古堡？这个古堡是一个很奇怪的地方——我虽然到过不少稀奇古怪的地方，可是，这是我生平所见的最奇怪的地方。首先，它庞大得很。我估量着占了好几英亩。古堡一部分是现代式的，容纳了我们的全部军队、妇孺、辎重和其他所有东西，还绰绰有余。可这个较新的部分还远比不上古老的那一部分大，没有人到那里去，蝎子、蜈蚣盘踞在那里。旧堡里边全是空无人迹的大厅、曲曲折折的甬道和蜿蜒迂回的长廊，走进去的人很容易迷路。因此，很少有人到旧堡里去，可是偶尔也有拿着火把的人们结伙进去探险。”
“The river washes along the front of the old fort, and so protects it, but on the sides and behind there are many doors, and these had to be guarded, of course, in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually held by our troops. We were short-handed, with hardly men enough to man the angles of the building and to serve the guns. It was impossible for us, therefore, to station a strong guard at every one of the innumerable gates. What we did was to organize a central guardhouse in the middle of the fort, and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man and two or three natives. I was selected to take charge during certain hours of the night of a small isolated door upon the south-west side of the building. Two Sikh troopers were placed under my command, and I was instructed if anything went wrong to fire my musket, when I might rely upon help coming at once from the central guard. As the guard was a good two hundred paces away, however, and as the space between was cut up into a labyrinth of passages and corridors, I had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack.”
“河在旧堡前面流过，护卫着城堡，但堡的两侧和后面有许多出入的门，这些地方自然须有人把守，无论是旧堡还是我们军队驻扎的新堡，都必须有人把守。我们的人数太少，没有足够的人手来把守城堡的每个角落，并照看所有枪炮。因此，在无数的堡门处都派重兵守卫是绝不可能的。我们的办法是，在堡垒中央设置了一个中心守卫室，每一个堡门由一个白种人率领两三个印度兵把守。我被派在每天夜里一段固定时间内守卫堡垒西南面的一个孤立的小门。有两个锡克教徒士兵派给我指挥，我所接受的指示是，有情况时便放枪，立刻就会有人从中心守卫室赶来接应。可是，守卫室在两百步开外，并且中间还有许多迷宫似的长廊和甬道相隔，我万分怀疑，在真的受到攻击时，救兵是否能及时赶到帮忙。”
“The third night of my watch was dark and dirty, with a small driving rain. It was dreary work standing in the gateway hour after hour in such weather. I tried again and again to make my Sikhs talk, but without much success. At two in the morning the rounds passed and broke for a moment the weariness of the night. Finding that my companions would not be led into conversation, I took out my pipe and laid down my musket to strike the match. In an instant the two Sikhs were upon me. One of them snatched my firelock up and levelled it at my head, while the other held a great knife to my throat and swore between his teeth that he would plunge it into me if I moved a step.”
“值岗的第三夜，天空阴霾，小雨纷飞。在这种天气里连续站几小时，确实很无趣。我又试着和那两个锡克徒攀谈，他们还是不爱理我。后半夜两点，稍微打破整夜沉寂的巡查过去了。既然我的同伴不愿和我交谈，我就掏出烟斗来，把枪放下，划了一根火柴。猛然间，两个锡克徒向我冲了过来。一个人抢过枪来，把枪口对着我的脑袋，另一个人抽出一把大刀，搁在我脖子上，而且压低声音说，只要我动一步，就把刀子刺进我的喉咙。”
“Well, I was pretty proud at having this small command given me, since I was a raw recruit, and a game-legged one at that. For two nights I kept the watch with my Punjabees. They were tall, fierce-looking chaps, Mahomet Singh and Abdullah Khan by name, both old fighting men, who had borne arms against us at Chilian Wallah. They could talk English pretty well, but I could get little out of them. They preferred to stand together, and jabber all night in their queer Sikh lingo. For myself, I used to stand outside the gateway, looking down on the broad, winding river and on the twinkling lights of the great city. The beating of drums, the rattle of tomtoms, and the yells and howls of the rebels, drunk with opium and with bang, were enough to remind us all night of our dangerous neighbours across the stream. Every two hours the officer of the night used to come round to all the posts to make sure that all was well.”
“我是一个新入伍的士兵，又是一个残废人，当了个小头目，便很是得意。头两夜，我和我那两个来自旁遮普省的锡克徒把守堡门。他们全是个子高高、面貌凶恶的家伙，一个叫穆罕默德·辛格，一个叫阿卜杜拉·克汗，都久经沙场，并且曾在齐连瓦拉战役中和我们交过手。他们虽然英语都说得很好，可是我却很难听到他们说英语。他们两人总是喜欢站在一起，整夜用古怪的锡克语嘀里嘟噜地说个不停。我常常一个人站在堡门外，向下望着宽阔而弯曲的河流和大城里闪烁的灯火。咚咚的鼓声、印度铜锣的声音、吸足了鸦片的叛军们的狂喊乱叫声，都在整夜提醒着我们：河对面有着危险的邻人。每隔两个小时，就有值夜的军官到各岗哨巡查一次，以防意外。”
“My first thought was that these fellows were in league with the rebels, and that this was the beginning of an assault. If our door were in the hands of the sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were in Cawnpore. Maybe you gentlemen think that I am just making out a case for myself, but I give you my word that when I thought of that, though I felt the point of the knife at my throat, I opened my mouth with the intention of giving a scream, if it was my last one, which might alarm the main guard. The man who held me seemed to know my thoughts; for, even as I braced myself to it, he whispered: ‘Don’t make a noise. The fort is safe enough. There are no rebel dogs on this side of the river.’ There was the ring of truth in what he said, and I knew that if I raised my voice I was a dead man. I could read it in the fellow’s brown eyes. I waited, therefore, in silence, to see what it was that they wanted from me.”
“我第一个想法是，他们一定和叛军一伙，这也就是他们突击的开始。如果他们占据了这个堡门，整个碉堡就一定会落入敌人手中，堡里的妇孺也就会受到和在坎普尔相同的遭遇。也许你们几位会认为，我在这里在为自己脸上贴金，可是我敢发誓，当我想到这一点的时候，虽然我感觉得到刀尖就抵在我的喉咙上，我还是张开了口，想要大叫一声，即使是最后一声也罢，因为说不定就能给中心守卫室一个警告。那个按住我的人似乎已经知道了我的心思，正当我要出声的时候，他向我低声说：‘不要出声。堡垒不会有危险。河这边没有叛军。’他的话听来似乎是真话，我知道，只要一出声，我就会被杀。我从这家伙的棕色眼珠里看出了他的意思。所以我没有出声，等待着，看他们要让我怎么样。”
“‘Listen to me, sahib,’ said the taller and fiercer of the pair, the one whom they called Abdullah Khan. ‘You must either be with us now, or you must be silenced forever. The thing is too great a one for us to hesitate. Either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the Christians, or your body this night shall be thrown into the ditch, and we shall pass over to our brothers in the rebel army. There is no middle way. Which is it to be — death or life? We can only give you three minutes to decide, for the time is passing, and all must be done before the rounds come again.'”
“‘先生，听我说，’那个比较高、比较凶的叫阿卜杜拉·克汗的人对我说道，‘现在，你要么和我们合作，要么就被灭口。事情太大了，咱们谁也不能犹豫。你要么向上帝起誓诚心诚意地和我们合作到底，要么我们今晚就把你的尸体扔到沟里，然后到我们叛军弟兄那边去投降。此外绝对没有中间路线。你选哪条路——生还是死？我们只能给你三分钟作出决定，因为时间仓促，必须在下次巡逻到来之前把事情办妥。’”
“‘How can I decide?’ said I. ‘You have not told me what you want of me. But I tell you now that if it is anything against the safety of the fort I will have no truck with it, so you can drive home your knife and welcome.'”
“‘我如何作决定？’我说，‘你们还没有告诉我，你们想干什么。可是我告诉你们，如果是任何危及碉堡安全的事，我就绝不会同你们合谋，要杀要剐，悉听尊便！’”
“‘I will swear it,’ I answered, ‘provided that the fort is not endangered.'”
“‘我愿意这样起誓，’我答道，‘只要碉堡不受威胁。’”
“‘It is nothing against the fort,’ said he. ‘We only ask you to do that which your countrymen come to this land for. We ask you to be rich. If you will be one of us this night, we will swear to you upon the naked knife, and by the threefold oath which no Sikh was ever known to break, that you shall have your fair share of the loot. A quarter of the treasure shall be yours. We can say no fairer.'”
“‘这件事和碉堡绝对没关系，’他说，‘我只要你做一件事，就是你的国人到印度来所追求的事情。我们叫你发财。今晚，如果你决定跟我们合作，我们就以这把刀向你起誓，立下从来没有一个锡克教徒违反过的三重誓言，保证把得来的财物公公平平地分给你一份。四分之一的宝物归你。再没有比这更公道的做法了。’”
“‘But what is the treasure then?’ I asked. ‘I am as ready to be rich as you can be if you will but show me how it can be done.'”
“‘什么宝物？’我问道，‘我愿意和你们一样发财，可是你得告诉我怎样办。’”
“‘You will swear, then,’ said he, ‘by the bones of your father, by the honour of your mother, by the cross of your faith, to raise no hand and speak no word against us, either now or afterwards?'”
“‘那么，你起誓吗？’他说，‘用你父亲的身体、你母亲的名誉和你的宗教信仰起誓，现在或今后都决不做不利于我们的事，不说不利于我们的话。’”
“‘There are but three,’ said I.”
“‘咱们只有三个人呀。’我说。”
“‘There is a rajah in the northern provinces who has much wealth, though his lands are small. Much has come to him from his father, and more still he has set by himself, for he is of a low nature and hoards his gold rather than spend it. When the troubles broke out he would be friends both with the lion and the tiger — with the sepoy and with the Company’s raj. Soon, however, it seemed to him that the white men’s day was come, for through all the land he could hear of nothing but of their death and their overthrow. Yet, being a careful man, he made such plans that, come what might, half at least of his treasure should be left to him. That which was in gold and silver he kept by him in the vaults of his palace, but the most precious stones and the choicest pearls that he had he put in an iron box and sent it by a trusty servant, who, under the guise of a merchant, should take it to the fort at Agra, there to lie until the land is at peace. Thus, if the rebels won he would have his money, but if the Company conquered, his jewels would be saved to him. Having thus divided his hoard, he threw himself into the cause of the sepoys, since they were strong upon his borders. By his doing this, mark you, sahib, his property becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt.'”
“‘在我们印度北部，有一个王公，他的领土虽小，财产却很丰厚。他的财产一半是他父亲传下来的，一半是他自己搜刮来的，他嗜财如命而又非常吝啬。叛乱爆发后，他同狮子和老虎都交上了朋友——既与印度兵为友，又和白人头头交好。但不久以后，他似乎觉得白人的好日子到头了，因为到处都只听说他们惨遭屠杀，土崩瓦解。然而，作为一个谨慎的人，他想出了一个计策，使得无论哪一边胜利，他都能至少保全一半的财产。凡是金银钱币，他都放在他宫中的地窖里，但那些最珍贵的珠宝钻石，他都另放在一个铁箱里，差一个扮作商人的亲信带到阿格拉碉堡来，在这里藏匿着，直到国土恢复和平。这样，如果叛军得到胜利，他就能保住金银钱币，如果白人得胜，他还剩下珠宝属于他。他把财产这样划分以后，就投向了叛党，因为在他的边界上，叛军实力很强。先生，你想想，他做出如此行径，他的财产是不是应当归到始终尽忠于一方的人手里。’”
“‘Then my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure which shall be equally divided among the four of us.'”
“‘那么，我的同伴和我自己都起誓，宝物将平均分为四份，我们四人一人一份，你将获得四分之一。’”
“‘No; Dost Akbar must have his share. We can tell the tale to you while we wait them. Do you stand at the gate, Mahomet Singh, and give notice of their coming. The thing stands thus, sahib, and I tell it to you because I know that an oath is binding upon a Feringhee, and that we may trust you. Had you been a lying Hindoo, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your blood would have been upon the knife and your body in the water. But the Sikh knows the Englishman, and the Englishman knows the Sikh. Hearken, then, to what I have to say.'”
“‘不，多斯特·阿克巴必须分得一份。在等候他的时候，我可以告诉你这个故事。穆罕默德·辛格，请站在门外边，等他们来的时候，通知我们。先生，事情是这样的，我告诉你，因为我知道欧洲人是守誓约的人，所以我们可以信任你。你如果是一个惯于说谎的印度教徒，那么，无论你怎样向神明起誓，你的血都必然已经染到我的刀上了，你的尸体也早被扔到河里去了。可是，我们锡克徒信任英国人，英国人也信任我们。那么，听我来说吧。’”
“In Worcestershire the life of a man seems a great and a sacred thing; but it is very different when there is fire and blood all round you, and you have been used to meeting death at every turn. Whether Achmet the merchant lived or died was a thing as light as air to me, but at the talk about the treasure my heart turned to it, and I thought of what I might do in the old country with it, and how my folk would stare when they saw their ne’er-do-well coming back with his pockets full of gold moidores. I had, therefore, already made up my mind. Abdullah Khan, however, thinking that I hesitated, pressed the matter more closely.”
“在伍斯特郡，人命被看得很重、很神圣，可是，在这个充满硝烟和屠杀的地方，你已经习惯了随处可见的死亡，对人命的看法就不大相同了。这个商人阿基默德的生死，对我来说是无足轻重的，但一提到那批宝物，我的心就蠢蠢欲动，我想象着回老家以后会干些什么，想象着乡亲们看到我这个一无是处的人带着满口袋金币回来，会怎样瞪大眼睛看我。因此，我下定了决心，可是，阿卜杜拉·克汗还以为我在犹豫，又紧逼了一句。”
“‘This pretended merchant, who travels under the name of Achmet, is now in the city of Agra and desires to gain his way into the fort. He has with him as travelling companion my foster-brother Dost Akbar, who knows his secret. Dost Akbar has promised this night to lead him to a side-postern of the fort, and has chosen this one for his purpose. Here he will come presently, and here he will find Mahomet Singh and myself awaiting him. The place is lonely, and none shall know of his coming. The world shall know the merchant Achmet no more, but the great treasure of the rajah shall be divided among us. What say you to it, sahib?'”
“‘这个乔装商人化名阿基默德，现在阿格拉城内，想要进入堡内。他的同伴是我的结拜兄弟多斯特·阿克巴，他知道这个秘密。多斯特·阿克巴答应，他今晚带他从碉堡的一扇侧门进去，他有意选择了我们这扇门。不久他就要来了，他知道穆罕默德·辛格同我在等着他。这个地方偏僻得很，没有人会知道他们的到来。从此世界上就再没有阿基默德这个商人了，而那个王公的宝物也就归咱们几个人平分了。先生，您看好不好？’”
“‘I am with you heart and soul,’ said I.”
“‘我全心全意和你们合作。’我说。”
“‘It is well,’ he answered, handing me back my firelock. ‘You see that we trust you, for your word, like ours, is not to be broken. We have now only to wait for my brother and the merchant.'”
“‘这好极了，’他把枪还给了我，并说，‘你看我们多信任你，我们相信，你的誓言和我们的一样，永远不会被违背。现在只需等待我兄弟和那个商人了。’
“‘Does your brother know, then, of what you will do?’ I asked.”
“‘那么，你的兄弟知道咱们的计划吗？’我问道。”
“‘The plan is his. He has devised it. We will go to the gate and share the watch with Mahomet Singh.'”
“‘他是主谋。一切全是他策划的。咱们现在到门外去，陪着穆罕默德·辛格一同站岗去吧。’
“The rain was still falling steadily, for it was just the beginning of the wet season. Brown, heavy clouds were drifting across the sky, and it was hard to see more than a stonecast. A deep moat lay in front of our door, but the water was in places nearly dried up, and it could easily be crossed. It was strange to me to be standing there with those two wild Punjabees waiting for the man who was coming to his death.”
“那时正是雨季的开始，雨仍旧不断地下着。棕色的浓云在天上飘来飘去，很难看清一箭之地以外的地方。我们的门前是一个城壕，壕里有些地方的积水差不多已经干涸了，很容易走过来。我与两个野蛮的旁遮普人站在那里，静等着那个前来送死的人。这一切都让我觉得很奇异。
“‘Consider, sahib,’ said he, ‘that if this man is taken by the commandant he will be hung or shot, and his jewels taken by the government, so that no man will be a rupee the better for them. Now, since we do the taking of him, why should we not do the rest as well? The jewels will be as well with us as in the Company’s coffers. There will be enough to make every one of us rich men and great chiefs. No one can know about the matter, for here we are cutoff from all men. What could be better for the purpose? Say again, then, sahib, whether you are with us, or if we must look upon you as an enemy.'”
“‘先生，请你再考虑考虑，’他说，‘如果这个人被指挥官捉到，必定会被处死刑，并且把宝物充公，谁也得不着一个子儿。他现在既然落到咱们手中，为什么咱们不能把他处死拿钱呢？宝物归了咱们，和入了军队的银库还不是一样？这些宝物足够使咱们每人都变成巨富和老大。咱们距离别人很远，不会有人知道此事。还有什么更合适的时机吗？先生，请你再表示一下，你是和我们合作呢，还是必须让我们把你认作敌人？’”
“The light had flickered onward, now stopping and now advancing, until I could see two dark figures upon the other side of the moat. I let them scramble down the sloping bank, splash through the mire, and climb halfway up to the gate before I challenged them.”
“那灯光一闪一闪地向前移动着，时停时进，直到我看见两个黑影到了壕的这一边。我等他们下了斜坡，涉过积水，爬上来快到门口了，才向他们盘问。”
“‘Here they are!’ I exclaimed.”
“‘他们来了！’我叫道。”
“‘Friends,’ came the answer. I uncovered my lantern and threw a flood of light upon them. The first was an enormous Sikh with a black beard which swept nearly down to his cummerband. Outside of a show I have never seen so tall a man. The other was a little fat, round fellow with a great yellow turban and a bundle in his hand, done up in a shawl. He seemed to be all in a quiver with fear, for his hands twitched as if he had the ague, and his head kept turning to left and right with two bright little twinkling eyes, like a mouse when he ventures out from his hole. It gave me the chills to think of killing him, but I thought of the treasure, and my heart set as hard as a flint within me. When he saw my white face he gave a little chirrup of joy and came running up towards me.”
“‘是朋友。’来人应声答道。我揭开灯，向他们照了照。前面的是一个块头极大的锡克徒，满脸的黑胡须长过了腰带。除了在舞台上，我从来也没有看到过这样高大的人。另外的那个人是一个矮小的、胖得滚圆的家伙，缠着大黄包头，手里拿着一个围巾裹着的包。他似乎害怕得全身发抖，手抽动得好像发疟疾一样，脑袋左顾右盼，两只小眼睛闪闪发亮，活像一只钻出洞外的老鼠。我想到要杀死这个人，突然有些不忍，可是一想到宝物，我的心立刻变成了铁石。他看见我是白种人，不禁欢喜地尖叫了一声，向我跑来。”
“‘You will challenge him, sahib, as usual,’ whispered Abdullah. ‘Give him no cause for fear. Send us in with him, and we shall do the rest while you stay here on guard. Have the lantern ready to uncover, that we may be sure that it is indeed the man.'”
“‘先生，你照例向他盘问，’阿卜杜拉悄声说道，‘可是不要吓到他。派我们与他一同进去，你在外边守卫，我们来处理剩下的事情。准备好把灯揭开，好确认是那个人。’”
“Suddenly my eye caught the glint of a shaded lantern at the other side of the moat. It vanished among the mound-heaps, and then appeared again coming slowly in our direction.”
“忽然间，我看见壕的对岸有一个遮遮掩掩的灯光在闪烁。它在土堆之间消失了，不久又重新出现，并向着我们的方向慢慢走来。
“‘Who goes there?’ said I in a subdued voice.”
“‘来人是谁？’我放低声音问道。”
“I could not trust myself to speak longer with the man. The more I looked at his fat, frightened face, the harder did it seem that we should slay him in cold blood. It was best to get it over.
“我不敢再和他说下去了。我愈看他那受惊的小胖脸，愈不忍狠心地把他杀死。不如干脆早点儿把他结果了。
“‘What have you in the bundle?’ I asked.
“‘包里边是什么？’我问道。
“‘Your protection, sahib,’ he panted, ‘your protection for the unhappy merchant Achmet. I have travelled across Rajpootana, that I might seek the shelter of the fort at Agra. I have been robbed and beaten and abused because I have been the friend of the Company. It is a blessed night this when I am once more in safety — and my poor possessions.’
“‘先生，请保护我，’他喘息着说道，‘请您保护这个不幸的商人阿基默德吧。我一路途经拉吉起塔诺，来到阿格拉碉堡避难。我曾被抢劫、鞭打和侮辱，因为过去我是你们军队的朋友。真是一个喜人的夜晚，我又一次安全了——还有我的一点儿可怜的财产。’
“‘An iron box,’ he answered, ‘which contains one or two little family matters which are of no value to others but which I should be sorry to lose. Yet I am not a beggar; and I shall reward you, young sahib, and your governor also if he will give me the shelter I ask.’
“‘一个铁箱子，’他答道，‘里边有一两件祖传的东西，对别人来说不值钱，可是我舍不得丢掉。但我也不是一个穷要饭的，年轻的先生，如果您的长官能允许我住在这里的话，我一定酬谢您和您的长官。’
“‘Take him to the main guard,’ said I. The two Sikhs closed in upon him on each side, and the giant walked behind, while they marched in through the dark gateway. Never was a man so compassed round with death. I remained at the gateway with the lantern.”
“‘把他押到总部去。’我说。两个锡克徒一左一右地围住他，那个高个子跟在后面，他们一同走进了黑黑的门内。从来没有一个人像这样四面被死亡包围着。我提着灯，独自留在门外。”
“I could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding through the lonely corridors. Suddenly it ceased, and I heard voices and a scuffle, with the sound of blows. A moment later there came, to my horror, a rush of footsteps coming in my direction, with a loud breathing of a running man. I turned my lantern down the long straight passage, and there was the fat man, running like the wind, with a smear of blood across his face, and close at his heels, bounding like a tiger, the great black-bearded Sikh, with a knife flashing in his hand. I have never seen a man run so fast as that little merchant. He was gaining on the Sikh, and I could see that if he once passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet. My heart softened to him, but again the thought of his treasure turned me hard and bitter. I cast my firelock between his legs as he raced past and he rolled twice over like a shot rabbit. Ere he could stagger to his feet the Sikh was upon him and buried his knife twice in his side. The man never uttered moan nor moved muscle but lay where he had fallen. I think myself that he may have broken his neck with the fall. You see, gentlemen, that I am keeping my promise. I am telling you every word of the business just exactly as it happened, whether it is in my favour or not.”
“我能听见他们慎重的脚步声在寂静的长廊上响起。忽然，脚步声停止了，接着我听到吵闹声和扭打声，还有撞击声。过了不久，让我大吃一惊的是，一阵拼命奔跑的声音向我这边传来，伴随着狂奔的人那种沉重的呼吸声。我举灯向笔直的长甬道一照，原来是那个小胖子，他满脸流血向前狂奔，紧随其后，如猛虎般扑过来的是那个魁梧的黑须锡克徒，他手中的刀寒光闪闪。我从来没有看见过有谁跑得像这个小商人那样快。锡克徒眼看追不上他了，我知道，如果他能越过我，跑出门外，就很可能得救。我本已动了恻隐之心，可是一想到宝物，便又硬起心肠来。等他跑近，我就把枪向他的两腿之间抡了过去，他像被射中的兔子似的，被绊得翻了两个滚。还没等他爬起来，那个锡克徒就冲了上去，在他的肋旁扎了两刀。他没有挣扎一下，也没有哼出一声，就躺在地上不动了。我想，或许他在绊倒的时候，他就已经摔断脖子了。先生们，你们看，我信守承诺。我讲的事情句句属实，不管是否对我有利。”
“It was all very bad, no doubt,” said he. “I should like to know how many fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of this loot when they knew that they would have their throats cut for their pains. Besides, it was my life or his when once he was in the fort. If he had got out, the whole business would come to light, and I should have been court-martialled and shot as likely as not, for people were not very lenient at a time like that.”
“当然了，这一切都很恶劣，”他说，“可是，我倒愿意知道，究竟有多少人处在我的情况下时，会拒绝那一份宝物，明知道自己拒绝的话会被杀掉？何况，他一进堡垒，就变成了不是他死，就是我亡。假若他跑出堡外，这整个事情就会暴露，我就要受军事审判而被枪决，因为在那种时候，人们是不会手软的。”
He stopped and held out his manacled hands for the whisky and water which Holmes had brewed for him. For myself, I confess that I had now conceived the utmost horror of the man not only for this cold-blooded business in which he had been concerned but even more for the somewhat flippant and careless way in which he narrated it. Whatever punishment was in store for him, I felt that he might expect no sympathy from me. Sherlock Holmes and Jones sat with their hands upon their knees, deeply interested in the story but with the same disgust written upon their faces. He may have observed it, for there was a touch of defiance in his voice and manner as he proceeded.
他说到这里，停住了，伸出带着铐子的手，接过了福尔摩斯给他斟的威士忌加水。就我个人而言，我承认，我感觉到了这个男人的穷凶极恶，不仅是因为他曾经做过的那些残忍的事情，更多的是因为他在述说这段故事时，一副满不在乎的样子。无论将来他受到什么刑罚，我是不会对他表示同情的。舍洛克·福尔摩斯和琼斯坐在那里，手放在膝上，入神地听着这个故事，但脸上也显出厌恶的神色。斯莫尔也许看出来了，因为在他继续说下去的时候，他的声音和动作里都带着一些挑衅的意味。
“Well, we carried him in, Abdullah, Akbar, and I. A fine weight he was, too, for all that he was so short. Mahomet Singh was left to guard the door. We took him to a place which the Sikhs had already prepared. It was some distance off, where a winding passage leads to a great empty hall, the brick walls of which were all crumbling to pieces. The earth floor had sunk in at one place, making a natural grave, so we left Achmet the merchant there, having first covered him over with loose bricks. This done, we all went back to the treasure.”
“阿卜杜拉·克汗，多斯特·阿克巴和我，我们三个人把尸体抬了进去。他身子虽然矮，可是真够重的。穆罕默德·辛格留在外面守门。我们把他抬到那几个锡克徒早已预备好的地方。那里距离堡门有一段距离，通过一条弯曲的甬道进入一间空无一物的大厅，大厅的砖墙全已破碎不堪，土地上有一个凹坑，正好作天然的墓穴，我们把商人阿基默德的尸体放了进去，用碎砖掩盖好。弄完以后，我们就都回去验看宝物了。”
“Go on with your story,” said Holmes shortly.
“接着谈你的事吧。”福尔摩斯简短地说道。
“It lay where he had dropped it when he was first attacked. The box was the same which now lies open upon your table. A key was hung by a silken cord to that carved handle upon the top. We opened it, and the light of the lantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as I have read of and thought about when I was a little lad at Pershore. It was blinding to look upon them. When we had feasted our eyes we took them all out and made a list of them. There were one hundred and forty-three diamonds of the first water, including one which has been called, I believe, ‘the Great Mogul,’ and is said to be the second largest stone in existence. Then there were ninety-seven very fine emeralds, and one hundred and seventy rubies, some of which, however, were small. There were forty carbuncles, two hundred and ten sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a great quantity of beryls, onyxes, cats’-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very names of which I did not know at the time, though I have become more familiar with them since. Besides this, there were nearly three hundred very fine pearls, twelve of which were set in a gold coronet. By the way, these last had been taken out of the chest, and were not there when I recovered it.”
“铁箱还放在阿基默德首先遇袭的地方。箱子正是现在摊开在桌上的这个。钥匙用丝线系在箱顶的刻花提柄上。我们把箱子打开，灯笼光照在箱内的珠宝上，这些珠宝就跟我幼年时在珀肖尔读书时读到的和想象过的一样。这些珠宝让人眼花缭乱。我们饱了眼福以后，就把珠宝拿出来，列了一张清单。里面有一百四十三颗上等钻石，包括一颗叫做‘大莫卧儿’的钻石，据说是世界上第二大的钻石。还有九十七块上好的翡翠，一百七十块红宝石，其中有一些比较小。还有四十块红玉，二百一十块青玉，六十一块玛瑙，许多绿玉、缟玛瑙、猫眼石、土耳其玉和我当时还不认得的其他宝石，可是后来我就渐渐认得了。除此之外，还有三百多颗精美的珍珠，其中有十二颗珍珠是镶在一个金项圈上的。顺便说一句，这个金项圈被人从箱子里拿走了，我重新得到宝箱时，它就不见了。”
“After we had counted our treasures we put them back into the chest and carried them to the gateway to show them to Mahomet Singh. Then we solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to our secret. We agreed to conceal our loot in a safe place until the country should be at peace again, and then to divide it equally among ourselves. There was no use dividing it at present, for if gems of such value were found upon us it would cause suspicion, and there was no privacy in the fort nor any place where we could keep them. We carried the box, therefore, into the same hall where we had buried the body, and there, under certain bricks in the best-preserved wall, we made a hollow and put our treasure. We made careful note of the place, and next day I drew four plans, one for each of us, and put the sign of the four of us at the bottom, for we had sworn that we should each always act for all, so that none might take advantage. That is an oath that I can put my hand to my heart and swear that I have never broken.”
“我们点过以后，把宝物放回箱里，又拿到门口给穆罕默德·辛格看了一遍。我们又重新隆重地宣誓：要团结一致，谨守秘密。我们决定把宝箱藏匿在一处安全之地，等到印度恢复和平以后，再来平均分配。当时就把宝物分了是没有用的，因为珠宝价值太高，假若在我们身上被发现，会引起别人的疑心，再说，碉堡或其他地方也没有隐蔽之处可以藏匿。因此，我们把箱子搬到埋尸的那间大厅去，挖了一个坑，把箱子放进去，从最完整的一面墙上拆下几块砖来盖上。我们小心地记清了藏宝的地方，第二天，我画了四张图，每人各执一张，下面都写好了我们四个人的签名，因为我们发过誓，每个人的一举一动都要代表四个人的利益，不得独自吞没。我可以对良心起誓，我从来没有违反过这个誓言。”
“It came about in this way. When the rajah put his jewels into the hands of Achmet he did it because he knew that he was a trusty man. They are suspicious folk in the East, however: so what does this rajah do but take a second even more trusty servant and set him to play the spy upon the first. This second man was ordered never to let Achmet out of his sight, and he followed him like his shadow. He went after him that night and saw him pass through the doorway. Of course he thought he had taken refuge in the fort and applied for admission there himself next day, but could find no trace of Achmet. This seemed to him so strange that he spoke about it to a sergeant of guides, who brought it to the ears of the commandant. A thorough search was quickly made, and the body was discovered. Thus at the very moment that we thought that all was safe we were all four seized and brought to trial on a charge of murder — three of us because we had held the gate that night, and the fourth because he was known to have been in the company of the murdered man. Not a word about the jewels came out at the trial, for the rajah had been deposed and driven out of India: so no one had any particular interest in them. The murder, however, was clearly made out, and it was certain that we must all have been concerned in it. The three Sikhs got penal servitude for life, and I was condemned to death, though my sentence was afterwards commuted to the same as the others.”
“事情是这样发生的。那个王公因为信任阿基默德，才把宝物交给了他。可是，东方人疑心太大，因此那个王公又派了一个更亲信的仆人跟在后面，暗中监视阿基默德的行动。这第二个仆人受命时刻盯住阿基默德，于是便如影随形地跟着他。那晚他在后面暗暗跟随，看着阿基默德走进了堡门。自然，他以为阿基默德在堡内寻求到庇护了，所以第二天也设法进入堡内，可是，无论怎样都找不到阿基默德。他觉得事情太离奇了，就和守卫队长说起这件事，队长又向司令官作了报告。因此，全堡内立刻作了一次细密的搜查，发现了尸体。在我们还自以为一切平安的时候，我们四个人都以谋杀的罪名被逮捕了，并被送上法庭，接受审讯——我们当中三个人被捕是因为当晚是我们守门，另一人是因为有人知道他和被害者同行。在审讯中，没有人谈到宝物，因为那个王公已被罢黜，并被逐出了印度，已经没有人与宝物有重要利害关系了。可是，谋杀案案情确凿，而我们四个人与之脱不了干系。三个锡克徒被判终身监禁，我被判死刑，可是后来得到减刑，变成和他们一样。”
“Well, there’s no use my telling you gentlemen what came of the Indian mutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and Sir Colin relieved Lucknow the back of the business was broken. Fresh troops came pouring in, and Nana Sahib made himself scarce over the frontier. A flying column under Colonel Greathed came round to Agra and cleared the Pandies away from it. Peace seemed to be settling upon the country, and we four were beginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might safely go off with our shares of the plunder. In a moment, however, our hopes were shattered by our being arrested as the murderers of Achmet.”
“好啦，之后印度的叛变结果如何，也用不着我再来告诉你们诸位先生了。威尔逊占领德里和科林爵士收复勒克瑙以后，叛乱就瓦解了。新的军队纷纷开到，纳纳·萨希布越过边境逃跑了，格雷特黑德上校带领着一个急行纵队来到了阿格拉，把叛军肃清了。全国似乎已经渐渐恢复了和平，我们四个人开始盼着不久就可以平分赃物，远走高飞了。可是，转眼之间，我们的希望就成了泡影，因为我们全都以杀害阿基默德的罪名被捕了。”
“It was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then. There we were all four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of ever getting out again, while we each held a secret which might have put each of us in a palace if we could only have made use of it. It was enough to make a man eat his heart out to have to stand the kick and the cuff of every petty jack-in-office, to have rice to eat and water to drink, when that gorgeous fortune was ready for him outside, just waiting to be picked up. It might have driven me mad; but I was always a pretty stubborn one, so I just held on and bided my time.”
“我们的处境很是奇怪。我们四个人受到拘禁，出狱机会渺茫，可是，同时我们又保守着一个秘密，只要利用这个秘密，我们每个人都能享尽荣华。最难忍受的就是：明知一大宗宝物在外面等着我们取用，可是还要为了吃一些糙米、喝一口凉水而受狱卒的拳打脚踢。我真要急得发疯了，所幸我生性倔强，所以还能耐心忍受，等候时机。”
“At last it seemed to me to have come. I was changed from Agra to Madras, and from there to Blair Island in the Andamans. There are very few white convicts at this settlement, and, as I had behaved well from the first, I soon found myself a sort of privileged person. I was given a hut in Hope Town, which is a small place on the slopes of Mount Harriet, and I was left pretty much to myself. It is a dreary, fever-stricken place, and all beyond our little clearings was infested with wild cannibal natives, who were ready enough to blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw a chance. There was digging and ditching and yam-planting, and a dozen other things to be done, so we were busy enough all day, though in the evening we had a little time to ourselves. Among other things, I learned to dispense drugs for the surgeon, and picked up a smattering of his knowledge. All the time I was on the lookout for a chance to escape; but it is hundreds of miles from any other land, and there is little or no wind in those seas: so it was a terribly difficult job to get away.”
“最后，时机好像终于到了。我由阿格拉被转押到马德拉斯，又从那里被转到安达曼群岛的布莱尔岛。岛上的白种人囚犯很少，又因为我一开始就表现得不错，所以不久，我就受到了一点儿优待。在哈丽雅特山麓的霍普镇上，我得到了一间小茅屋，过得很是自在。那岛上是可怕的热病流行区，就在我们那一小片空地之外，都是野蛮的食人土著，一有机会就向我们施放毒刺。在那里整天忙于开垦、挖沟和种番薯，还有许多其他杂差，因此整个白天都很忙碌，到夜晚才能有一些闲暇。除了干其他事以外，我还学会了为外科医师调配药物，学到了一点儿外科的知识。我时时刻刻在寻找逃走的机会，可是，那里离任何大陆都有几百英里远，而且在附近一带，海面上风很小，甚至没有风，因此，要想逃跑真是万难。”
“The surgeon, Dr. Somerton, was a fast, sporting young chap, and the other young officers would meet in his rooms of an evening and play cards. The surgery, where I used to make up my drugs, was next to his sitting-room, with a small window between us. Often, if I felt lonesome, I used to turn out the lamp in the surgery, and then, standing there, I could hear their talk and watch their play. I am fond of a hand at cards myself, and it was almost as good as having one to watch the others. There was Major Sholto, Captain Morstan, and Lieutenant Bromley Brown, who were in command of the native troops, and there was the surgeon himself, and two or three prison-officials, crafty old hands who played a nice sly safe game. A very snug little party they used to make.”
“外科医师萨默顿是一个活泼而喜欢玩乐的青年，晚上常有青年军官们到他家去玩牌。我配药的外科手术室和他的客厅只有一墙之隔，有一个小窗相通。当觉得孤单时，我常常把手术室的灯熄灭了，站在窗前听他们谈话，看他们玩牌。我自己本来也好玩牌，在一旁看看别人玩，也很过牌瘾。那一群人有带领土著军队的肖尔托少校、摩斯坦上尉和布罗姆利·布朗中尉，还有这位医师本人，此外还有两三个司狱官员，这几个狱官是玩牌的老手，赌技很精。他们几个人凑成一伙，玩起来倒也痛快。”
“Well, there was one thing which very soon struck me, and that was that the soldiers used always to lose and the civilians to win. Mind, I don’t say there was anything unfair, but so it was. These prison-chaps had done little else than play cards ever since they had been at the Andamans, and they knew each other’s game to a point, while the others just played to pass the time and threw their cards down anyhow. Night after night the soldiers got up poorer men, and the poorer they got the more keen they were to play. Major Sholto was the hardest hit. He used to pay in notes and gold at first, but soon it came to notes of hand and for big sums. He sometimes would win for a few deals just to give him heart, and then the luck would set in against him worse than ever. All day he would wander about as black as thunder, and he took to drinking a deal more than was good for him.”
“有一个情况不久就引起了我的注意：每次赌钱，总是军官们输，司狱官员们赢。我可没说这里头有什么老千，不过确实不公平。司狱官们自从来到安达曼群岛，每天无事可做，只能玩牌，日久熟练，技术也就精了，而军官们玩牌只是为了扔扔牌卡，消磨消磨时光。过了一晚又一晚，军官们输得越来越多，他们越输，就越急着要玩。其中，肖尔托少校输得最多。起初他还用钞票和金币付账，可不久就开始用支票来付，数额也大了。他有时会稍微赢几盘，给他一点儿信心，接着就输得更多。于是，他整天愁眉苦脸地四处游荡，饮酒过量，借酒浇愁。”
“One night he lost even more heavily than usual. I was sitting in my hut when he and Captain Morstan came stumbling along on the way to their quarters. They were bosom friends, those two, and never far apart. The major was raving about his losses.”
“有一晚，他输得比往常更厉害。我正在坐在茅屋外边，这时，他和摩斯坦上尉摇摇摆摆地走回营地。他们两人是极要好的朋友，每天形影不离。这位少校正在抱怨他的损失。”
“‘It’s all up, Morstan,’ he was saying as they passed my hut. ‘I shall have to send in my papers. I am a ruined man.'”
“‘摩斯坦，我完了，’经过我的茅屋时，他说道，‘我得辞职了。我可毁了。’”
“‘Nonsense, old chap!’ said the other, ‘slapping him upon the shoulder. I’ve had a nasty facer myself, but –‘ That was all I could hear, but it was enough to set me thinking.”
“‘老兄，别胡说！’上尉拍着他的肩说，‘比这更糟糕的情况我也有过呢，可是…’我只能听到这些，可这已经够让我动脑筋的了。”
‘I wish to have your advice, Major,’ said I.”
‘少校，我有事向您请教。’我说。”
“‘I wanted to ask you, sir,’ said I, ‘who is the proper person to whom hidden treasure should be handed over. I know where half a million worth lies, and, as I cannot use it myself, I thought perhaps the best thing that I could do would be to hand it over to the proper authorities, and then perhaps they would get my sentence shortened for me.'”
“‘先生，我要请教您，’我说，‘如果有一笔宝藏需要上交，那应当交给谁比较合适呢？我知道一批价值五十万英镑的宝物埋藏的地点，既然我自己用不着，我想最好还是把它交给有关当局，说不定他们会缩短我的刑期呢。’”
“‘Well, Small, what is it?’ he asked, taking his cheroot from his lips.”
“‘斯莫尔，什么事？’他拿开口里衔着的雪茄烟，问道。”
“A couple of days later Major Sholto was strolling on the beach: so I took the chance of speaking to him.
“两天以后，当肖尔托少校正在海滨散步的时候，我趁机走上前去和他说话。
“‘Half a million, Small?’ he gasped, looking hard at me to see if I was in earnest.”
“‘斯莫尔，五十万镑？’他吸了一口气，死死地盯着我，看我是否在说真话。”
“‘Quite that, sir — in jewels and pearls. It lies there ready for anyone. And the queer thing about it is that the real owner is outlawed and cannot hold property, so that it belongs to the first comer.'”
“‘先生，一点儿也不错，都是珠宝。随时可以到手。奇怪的是，宝物的原主已经被依法放逐，不能拥有这笔财产，因此，现在谁先拿到就是谁的。’”
“‘You think, then, sir, that I should give the information to the governor general?’ said I quietly.”
“‘先生，您认为我应当把这情况报告总督吗？’我平静地问道。”
“‘To government, Small,’ he stammered, ‘to government.’ But he said it in a halting fashion, and I knew in my heart that I had got him.”
“‘应当交给政府，斯莫尔，’他结巴着说道，‘应当交给政府。’他的口气很不坚定，我心里明白，他已上了我的圈套。”
“‘Well, well, you must not do anything rash, or that you might repent. Let me hear all about it, Small. Give me the facts.'”
“‘嗯，嗯，你先不要忙，否则你会后悔的。斯莫尔，让我先听听是怎么回事。你先把全部事实告诉我吧。’”
“‘This is a very important matter, Small,’ he said at last. ‘You must not say a word to anyone about it, and I shall see you again soon.'”
“‘斯莫尔，这事关系重大，’最后他说道，‘你先不要对任何人说一个字，我不久再来找你。’”
“I told him the whole story, with small changes, so that he could not identify the places. When I had finished he stood stock still and full of thought. I could see by the twitch of his lip that there was a struggle going on within him.”
“我把全部经过都告诉了他，只是略做了改动，以免泄露藏宝的地点。我说完了以后，他呆呆地站着，沉思了许久。从他嘴唇的颤动，我就看得出来，他的心里正在进行着一场思想斗争。”
Captain Morstan nodded.
摩斯坦上尉点了点头。
“Two nights later he and his friend, Captain Morstan, came to my hut in the dead of the night with a lantern.
“过了两夜，他和他的朋友摩斯坦上尉在深夜里提着灯，来到我的茅屋。
I repeated it as I had told it before.
我照以前的话又说了一遍。
I want you just to let Captain Morstan hear that story from your own lips, Small,’ said he.
‘斯莫尔，我请你让摩斯坦上尉听你亲口说说那个故事。’他说。
‘It rings true, eh?’ said he. It’s good enough to act upon?’
‘听着倒像是实话，啊？’肖尔托说，‘还值得一干吧？’
‘Look here, Small,’ said the major. ‘We have been talking it over, my friend here and I, and we have come to the conclusion that this secret of yours is hardly a government matter, after all, but is a private concern of your own, which of course you have the power of disposing of as you think best. Now the question is, What price would you ask for it? We might be inclined to take it up, and at least look into it, if we could agree as to terms.’ He tried to speak in a cool, careless way, but his eyes were shining with excitement and greed.”
‘斯莫尔，咱们这么办，’肖尔托说，‘我和我的朋友把你的事情研究以后，我们认为你这个秘密不是政府的事，而是你个人的私事，你有权作任何你认为妥当的处理。现在的问题是，你开个什么价呢？假若我们能够达成协议，我们也许同意代你办理，至少也要代你调查一下。’他说话时极力表现出冷静和不在乎的样子，可是，他的眼神里显出了兴奋和贪婪。
‘Why, as to that, gentlemen,’ I answered, trying also to be cool but feeling as excited as he did, ‘there is only one bargain which a man in my position can make. I shall want you to help me to my freedom, and to help my three companions to theirs. We shall then take you into partnership and give you a fifth share to divide between you.’
‘说到这个的话，绅士们，’我也故作冷静，可是内心也是同样激动地答道，‘在这样的处境下，我只有一个条件。我希望你们协助我和我的三个朋友恢复自由。然后我们可以同你们合作，给你们五分之一的宝物，你们二人平分。’
‘But how can we gain your freedom? You know very well that you ask an impossibility.’
‘可是我们怎么能够帮你们恢复自由呢？你要知道，你的要求是绝对办不到的事情。’
‘Hum!’ said he. ‘A fifth share! That is not very tempting.’
‘哼！’他说，‘五分之一。这个不值得一办！’
‘It would come to fifty thousand apiece,’ said I.
‘算来每人也有五万英镑呢。’我说。
‘If there were only one,’ he said.
‘只有你一个人还好办。’他说。
‘None or all,’ I answered. ‘We have sworn it. The four of us must always act together.’
‘少一个也不行，’我答道，‘我们已经立誓，四个人永远同进同退。’
‘Nothing of the sort,’ I answered. ‘I have thought it all out to the last detail. The only bar to our escape is that we can get no boat fit for the voyage, and no provisions to last us for so long a time. There are plenty of little yachts and yawls at Calcutta or Madras which would serve our turn well. Do you bring one over. We shall engage to get aboard her by night, and if you will drop us on any part of the Indian coast you will have done your part of the bargain.’
‘绝不是办不到的，’我答道，‘我已仔细考虑清楚了。唯一困难的就是，我们得不到一只适于航行的船，以及足够维持我们长时间航行的干粮。在加尔各答或马德拉斯，小快艇和小帆船多得很，都能适合我们的需要。只要你们弄一只来。我们在夜里上船，只要你们把我们送到印度沿海的任何一个地方，你们的义务就算是尽到了。’
‘It’s a dirty business,’ the other answered. ‘Yet, as you say, the money will save our commissions handsomely.’
‘真是一个肮脏的勾当啊，’摩斯坦答道，‘可是，像你所说，这笔钱可真能解决咱们的问题呢。’
‘You see, Morstan,’ said he, ‘Small is a man of his word. He does not flinch from his friends. I think we may very well trust him.’
‘摩斯坦，你看，’他说，‘斯莫尔是一个守信的人。他不背弃朋友。我想咱们可以信任他。’
‘Not so fast,’ said I, growing colder as he got hot. ‘I must have the consent of my three comrades. I tell you that it is four or none with us.’
‘先别忙，’我说，他越着急，我就越冷静，‘我必须先征求我那三个伙伴的同意。我告诉您，四个人里有一个不同意，这件事就不能进行。’
“Well, the matter ended by a second meeting, at which Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Klan, and Dost Akbar were all present. We talked the matter over again, and at last we came to an arrangement. We were to provide both the officers with charts of the part of the Agra fort, and mark the place in the wall where the treasure was hid. Major Sholto was to go to India to test our story. If he found the box he was to leave it there, to send out a small yacht provisioned for a voyage, which was to lie off Rutland Island, and to which we were to make our way, and finally to return to his duties. Captain Morstan was then to apply for leave of absence, to meet us at Agra, and there we were to have a final division of the treasure, he taking the major’s share as well as his own. All this we sealed by the most solemn oaths that the mind could think or the lips utter. I sat up all night with paper and ink, and by the morning I had the two charts all ready, signed with the sign of four — that is, of Abdullah, Akbar, Mahomet, and myself.”
“我们最终决定就此事进行第二次会面，让穆罕默德·辛格，阿卜杜拉·克汗和多斯特·阿克巴全都到场。我们再度协商，最终把事情决定下来了。结果我们把阿格拉碉堡的部分平面图交给两位军官，每人一份，在图上把那面墙上藏宝的地方标示出来。肖尔托少校将到印度去证实我们的故事。如果他找到了那个宝箱，他先不能动，必须先派出一只小快艇，备好航行的食粮，停到拉特兰岛，我们将去到那里坐船，而肖尔托少校应返回军营。然后，摩斯坦上尉请假去阿格拉和我们相会，我们在那里对宝物作最终分配，摩斯坦上尉将取得他自己的部分，并帮少校取得他那部分。所有这些条件，我们都用脑子能想到、嘴唇能说出的最庄重的誓言作了保证。我与纸墨为伴，坐了一整夜，清晨时，我把两张藏宝地图准备好了，每张下面签上四个名字——穆罕默德·辛格，阿卜杜拉·克汗，多斯特·阿克巴和我自己。”
‘Nonsense!’ he broke in. ‘What have three black fellows to do with our agreement?’
‘岂有此理！’他插言道，‘我们的协议和三个黑家伙有什么关系？’
‘Well, Small,’ said the major, ‘we must, I suppose, try and meet you. We must first, of course, test the truth of your story. Tell me where the box is hid, and I shall get leave of absence and go back to India in the monthly relief-boat to inquire into the affair.’
‘斯莫尔，’上校说，‘我想我们只好尽力满足你的要求了。当然，我们需要先验证你的话是否真实。你可以先告诉我藏宝箱的地方，等到一月一趟的定期轮船来的时候，我请假到印度去调查一下。’
‘Black or blue,’ said I, ‘they are in with me, and we all go together.'”
‘黑的也罢，蓝的也罢，’我说，‘我和他们有约在先，我们同进同退。’”
“Well, gentlemen, I weary you with my long story, and I know that my friend Mr. Jones is impatient to get me safely stowed in chokey. I’ll make it as short as I can. The villain Sholto went off to India, but he never came back again. Captain Morstan showed me his name among a list of passengers in one of the mail-boats very shortly afterwards. His uncle had died, leaving him a fortune, and he had left the Army, yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us. Morstan went over to Agra shortly afterwards and found, as we expected, that the treasure was indeed gone. The scoundrel had stolen it all without carrying out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret. From that I lived only for vengeance. I thought of it by day and I nursed it by night. It became an overpowering, absorbing passion with me. I cared nothing for the law — nothing for the gallows. To escape, to track down Sholto, to have my hand upon his throat — that was my one thought. Even the Agra treasure had come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the slaying of Sholto.”
“先生们，我的故事让你们听累了吧，我知道，琼斯先生已经不耐烦，要把我送到拘留所去了。我尽可能简短地说吧。这个坏蛋肖尔托前往印度后，一去不返。过了不久，摩斯坦上尉给我看了一张邮船的旅客名单，上面有肖尔托的名字。他的伯父死了，给他留下了一大笔遗产，因此，他退伍了，可是，他居然卑鄙到欺骗了我们五个人。不久，摩斯坦去到阿格拉，发现不出我们所料，宝物已经不见了。这个恶棍没有履行让我们出卖秘密的任何一项条件，竟然就将宝物全部盗去。从那天起，我只为了报仇活着。我日夜想着报仇。报仇变成了我内心最强烈的渴望。我不在乎法律，也不在乎断头台。逃走，然后追寻肖尔托，并掐死他就是我唯一的心愿。比起杀死肖尔托的念头来，就连阿格拉宝物在我心中也不那么重要了。”
“Tonga — for that was his name — was a fine boatman and owned a big, roomy canoe of his own. When I found that he was devoted to me and would do anything to serve me, I saw my chance of escape. I talked it over with him. He was to bring his boat round on a certain night to an old wharf which was never guarded, and there he was to pick me up. I gave him directions to have several gourds of water and a lot of yams, cocoanuts, and sweet potatoes.”
“他的名字叫做汤加，是一个精干的船夫，并且有一只很大、很宽敞的独木船。自从我发现他忠诚于我，并且愿意为我做任何事情以后，我终于找到了逃走的机会。我把这个计划和他说了。我叫他在一天夜晚把船划到一个无人守卫的码头，去接我上船。我还叫他准备几瓶淡水，和许多番薯、椰子和甜薯。”
“Well, I have set my mind on many things in this life, and never one which I did not carry out. But it was weary years before my time came. I have told you that I had picked up something of medicine. One day when Dr. Somerton was down with a fever a little Andaman Islander was picked up by a convict-gang in the woods. He was sick to death and had gone to a lonely place to die. I took him in hand, though he was as venomous as a young snake, and after a couple of months I got him all right and able to walk. He took a kind of fancy to me then, and would hardly go back to his woods, but was always hanging about my hut. I learned a little of his lingo from him, and this made him all the fonder of me.”
“我一生曾立下过不少志愿，件件都能办到。可是，在等待时机的几年里，我却受尽了磨难。我告诉过你们，我学得了一些医药上的知识。有一天，萨默顿医生因发高烧卧病在床，有一个安达曼群岛的小岛民被一群囚犯在树林里捡到了。他已经病得要死了，那时走到了一个幽静的地方，正在等死。虽然知道他狠毒似蛇，可我还是接手了他，两个月之后，我终于把他治好，他能够走路了。他对我产生了感情，很难得回树林里去一次，终日守在我的茅屋旁边。我向他学会了一些他的土话，于是，他对我就更加敬爱了。”
“Then a queer thought came into my head and showed me where I could lay my hand on a weapon. I sat down in the darkness and unstrapped my wooden leg. With three long hops I was on him. He put his carbine to his shoulder, but I struck him full, and knocked the whole front of his skull in. You can see the split in the wood now where I hit him. We both went down together, for I could not keep my balance; but when I got up I found him still lying quiet enough. I made for the boat, and in an hour we were well out at sea. Tonga had brought all his earthly possessions with him, his arms and his gods. Among other things, he had a long bamboo spear, and some Andaman cocoanut-matting, with which I made a sort of a sail. For ten days we were beating about, trusting to luck, and on the eleventh we were picked up by a trader which was going from Singapore to Jiddah with a cargo of Malay pilgrims. They were a rum crowd, and Tonga and I soon managed to settle down among them. They had one very good quality: they let you alone and asked no questions.”
“后来，我有了一个奇怪的念头，想到了从哪里弄武器。我在黑暗里坐下，解下了木腿。我猛跳了三下，跳到他的面前。他的枪就背在肩上，但我全力向他打了下去，他的前脑骨被打得粉碎。你们看我木腿上的那条裂纹，就是打他时留下的痕迹。我失去了重心，我们两个人同时摔倒了，但我爬起来时，发现他已一动不动地躺在那里了。我上了船，一个钟头以后，就远离了海岸。汤加把他的全部财产、兵器和他的神像全都带上了。除去其他东西，他还有一支竹制的长矛和一些用安达曼椰树树叶编的席子，我用它们做了一张帆。我们在海上听天由命地漂浮了十天，到第十一天，有一只从新加坡开往吉达的满载着马来西亚朝圣香客的商轮，把我们救了上去。船上的人都很古怪，可是，汤加和我不久就跟大家混熟了。他们有一种非常好的品质：他们能让我们安静地呆着，不会问东问西。”
“He was staunch and true, was little Tonga. No man ever had a more faithful mate. At the night named he had his boat at the wharf. A sit chanced, however there was one of the convict-guard down there — a vile Pathan who had never missed a chance of insulting and injuring me. I had always vowed vengeance, and now I had my chance. It was as if fate had placed him in my way that I might pay my debt before I left the island. He stood on the bank with his back to me, and his carbine on his shoulder. I looked about for a stone to beat out his brains with, but none could I see.”
“这个小汤加真是忠诚可靠。再没有比他更忠实的同伴了。说好的那天晚上，他果然把船划到了码头下面。事儿也凑巧，正好有一个狱卒在那里——一个向来喜欢侮辱、打骂我的可恶的阿富汗人。我无时不想着报仇，现在机会可到了。好似老天故意把他送到那里，在我临走的时候，给我一个算账的机会。他站在海岸上，肩荷着枪，背向着我。我想找一块石头砸碎他的脑袋，可是一块也找不到。”
“Well, if I were to tell you all the adventures that my little chum and I went through, you would not thank me, for I would have you here until the sun was shining. Here and there we drifted about the world, something always turning up to keep us from London. All the time, however, I never lost sight of my purpose. I would dream of Sholto at night. A hundred times I have killed him in my sleep. At last, however, some three or four years ago, we found ourselves in England. I had no great difficulty in finding where Sholto lived, and I set to work to discover whether he had realized on the treasure, or if he still had it. I made friends with someone who could help me — I name no names, for I don’t want to get anyone else in a hole — and I soon found that he still had the jewels. Then I tried to get at him in many ways; but he was pretty sly and had always two prize-fighters, besides his sons and his khitmutgar, on guard over him.”
“如果把我和小伙伴航海的全部经历都告诉你们，你们不会感谢我的，因为我会跟你们说到天亮的。我们在世界上流浪到这里，又流浪到那里，可总是有事让我们回不了伦敦。可是，我一时一刻也没有忘记过报仇。我夜晚不断梦见肖尔托。我在梦中杀了他不止一百次。最后，在三四年前，我们终于来到了英国。我很容易就找到了肖尔托的住址，于是，我设法探问他是否变卖了那些宝物，还是宝物仍在他手中。我和那个帮助我的人交上了朋友——我决不说出任何人的姓名来，因为我不想牵连别人——我不久就了解到，宝物还在他的手中。接着，我想尽了方法去找他报仇，可是，他很狡猾，除了他两个儿子和一个印度仆人之外，永远都有两个职业拳击手保护着他。”
“One day, however, I got word that he was dying. I hurried at once to the garden, mad that he should slip out of my clutches like that, and, looking through the window, I saw him lying in his bed, with his sons on each side of him. I’d have come through and taken my chance with the three of them, only even as I looked at him his jaw dropped, and I knew that he was gone. I got into his room that same night, though, and I searched his papers to see if there was any record of where he had hidden our jewels. There was not a line, however, so I came away, bitter and savage as a man could be. Before I left I bethought me that if I ever met my Sikh friends again it would be a satisfaction to know that I had left some mark of our hatred; so I scrawled down the sign of the four of us, as it had been on the chart, and I pinned it on his bosom. It was too much that he should be taken to the grave without some token from the men whom he had robbed and befooled.”
“可有一天，我听说他快要死了。我立刻跑到他的花园里，很生气他就这样逃出了我的掌心，当我从窗户往里看时，我看见他躺在床上，两边站着他的两个儿子。那时，我本想冒险冲进去对付他们三个，可是，就在我看着他时，他的下巴已经垂下去了，我知道，他已经咽气了。那天晚上，我潜入了他的屋子，搜查了他的文件，想从中找出他藏宝的地点。可是，什么线索也没有，我在盛怒之下离开了。离开之前，我想到，倘若日后看见我的锡克徒伙伴们，能告诉他们我已留下了报仇的标记，也是一件大快人心的事情，于是，我就写下了和图上相同的四个签名，别在他的胸前。在埋葬他以前，受过他掠夺和欺骗的人不给他留点儿纪念，未免太便宜他了。”
“We earned a living at this time by my exhibiting poor Tonga at fairs and other such places as the black cannibal. He would eat raw meat and dance his war-dance: so we always had a hatful of pennies after a day’s work. I still heard all the news from Pondicherry Lodge, and for some years there was no news to hear, except that they were hunting for the treasure. At last, however, came what we had waited for so long. The treasure had been found. It was up at the top of the house in Mr. Bartholomew Sholto’s chemical laboratory. I came at once and had a look at the place, but I could not see how, with my wooden leg, I was to make my way up to it. I learned, however, about a trapdoor in the roof, and also about Mr. Sholto’s supper-hour. It seemed to me that I could manage the thing easily through Tonga. I brought him out with me with a long rope wound round his waist. He could climb like a cat, and he soon made his way through the roof, but as ill luck would have it, Bartholomew Sholto was still in the room, to his cost. Tonga thought he had done something very clever in killing him, for when I came up by the rope I found him strutting about as proud as a peacock. Very much surprised was he when I made at him with the rope’s end and cursed him for a little bloodthirsty imp. I took the treasure box and let it down, and then slid down myself, having first left the sign of the four upon the table to show that the jewels had come back at last to those who had most right to them. Tonga then pulled up the rope, closed the window, and made off the way that he had come.”
“这段时间内，我在市集或其他类似的地方，把小汤加当作吃人黑生番来公开展览，以维持生活。他能吃生肉，跳生番的战舞，所以，我们每天工作以后，总能收入满满一帽子的铜板。我仍旧在打听本地治里别墅的一切消息，几年来，除了他们还在那里寻宝以外，没有什么特别的消息。直到最后，我们等待已久的事终于发生了。宝物已经找到了。它就在巴塞洛缪·肖尔托的化学实验室的屋顶内。我立刻前去察看地势，但我想不出，凭我这条木腿，我要如何爬上去取宝。可我又听说，屋顶有一个暗门可通，又知道了肖尔托先生每天吃晚饭的时间。我想到，我可以利用汤加来轻松地搞定此事。我带上一条长绳和汤加，去了本地治里别墅，并把绳子系在汤加的腰上。他爬房的本领和猫一样，不久就从屋顶进入到室内去了，可不幸的是，巴塞洛缪·肖尔托还在屋里，因而被害。汤加杀了他，还自以为干了一件聪明事，当我拽着绳子爬进去的时候，看到他正在屋里像一只孔雀般骄傲地踱来踱去。当我拿绳子抽打他，并咒骂他是小吸血鬼的时候，他惊讶不已。我取得了宝箱后，把它运下去，然后，我自己也滑下去了，但我首先在桌上留下了四个人的签名，表示宝物终于物归原主。然后，汤加把绳子收回，关上窗户，仍由原路爬了下来。”
“A very remarkable account,” said Sherlock Holmes. “A fitting windup to an extremely interesting case. There is nothing at all new to me in the latter part of your narrative except that you brought your own rope. That I did not know. By the way, I had hoped that Tonga had lost all his darts; yet he managed to shoot one at us in the boat.”
“你的故事很有意思，”福尔摩斯说，“这个有趣的案子确实得到了适当的结局。你所说的后半段，没有什么事情是我不知道的，除了绳子是由你带来的这一点。这一点我确实不知道。顺便说一句，我原以为汤加把他的毒刺全丢了，但他在船上又向我们放出了一支。”
“I don’t know that I have anything else to tell you. I had heard a waterman speak of the speed of Smith’s launch, the Aurora, so I thought she would be a handy craft for our escape. I engaged with old Smith, and was to give him a big sum if he got us safe to our ship. He knew, no doubt, that there was some screw loose, but he was not in our secrets. All this is the truth, and if I tell it to you, gentlemen, it is not to amuse you — for you have not done me a very good turn — but it is because I believe the best defence I can make is just to hold back nothing, but let all the world know how badly I have myself been served by Major Sholto, and how innocent I am of the death of his son.”
“我想，我要说的都说完了。我听一个船夫称赞过史密斯的‘曙光’号速度很快，因此我想到，它倒是我们逃走的便利工具。我便雇了老史密斯，说好如果他能把我们安然送上大船，就给他一大笔酬金。当然，他可能看得出来，这里面有一些蹊跷，可是他并不知道我们的秘密。所有这些，句句属实，先生们，我说这些，并不是为了逗你们开心——因为你们并没有优待我。我说这些是因为，我认为毫无隐瞒就是我最好的辩护，让世人知道，肖尔托少校曾经如何害苦了我，而对于他儿子的死，我是无辜的。”
“He had lost them all, sir, except the one which was in his blow-pipe at the time.”
“先生，他的毒刺的确全丢了，除了吹管里剩的那一支。”
“Ah, of course,” said Holmes. “I had not thought of that.”
“啊，可不是嘛，”福尔摩斯说，“我没有料到这一点。”
“Well, Holmes,” said Athelney Jones, “you are a man to be honoured, and we all know that you are a connoisseur of crime; but duty is duty, and I have gone rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me. I shall feel more at ease when we have our story-teller here safe under lock and key. The cab still waits, and there are two inspectors downstairs. I am much obliged to you both for your assistance. Of course you will be wanted at the trial. Good-night to you.”
“福尔摩斯，”阿塞尔纳·琼斯说，“您是一个值得尊敬的人，我们都知道您是犯罪学的行家，可是，我有我的职责，今天为您和您的朋友已经通融很多了。现在，只有把给我们讲故事的这个人锁进监狱里，我才能放心。马车还在外面候着，楼下还有两个警官呢。对于你们二位的协助，我衷心感激。自然，到庭审的时候，还要请你们出席作证。祝你们晚安吧。”
“I think not, thank you,” my companion answered.
“我想没有什么了，谢谢你。”我的伙伴答道。
“Is there any other point which you would like to ask about?” asked the convict affably.
“还有什么要问的吗？”这个囚犯殷勤地问道。
“Well, and there is the end of our little drama,” I remarked, after we had sat some time smoking in silence. “I fear that it may be the last investigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods. Miss Morstan has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in prospective.”
“这就是咱们这出小剧的结束了，”我们抽着烟，默坐了一会儿后，我说，“恐怕这是我有机会学习你探案方法的最后一次调查了。摩斯坦小姐已经赏光，接受我为她的未婚夫了。”
“Good-night, gentlemen both,” said Jonathan Small.
“二位先生晚安。”乔纳森·斯莫尔也说道。
“You first, Small,” remarked the wary Jones as they left the room. “I’ll take particular care that you don’t club me with your wooden leg, whatever you may have done to the gentleman at the Andaman Isles.”
“斯莫尔，你在前面走，”谨慎的琼斯在出门的时候说道，“不管你在安达曼群岛是怎样处置那位先生的，我都得特别小心你用木腿打我。”
I was a little hurt.
我有些不快。
“Not at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met and might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a decided genius that way; witness the way in which she preserved that Agra plan from all the other papers of her father. But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment.”
“一点儿也没有。我认为，在我生平所见的女子中，她是最迷人的一位了，并且可能是在我们这一类工作中最有帮助的一位。她在这方面确实有一些天赋，她在她父亲所有文件中独独收藏了那张阿格拉地图这件事，就可以证明这一点。可是，爱情是一种感性的事情，感性与纯粹的冷静思考相矛盾，而我认为，后者才是至高无上的。我自己永远不会结婚，以免影响我的判断力。”
“I feared as much,” said he. “I really cannot congratulate you.”
“我就担心会这样，”他说道，“恕我不能向你道贺。”
“Yes,” he answered, “there are in me the makings of a very fine loafer, and also of a pretty spry sort of a fellow. I often think of those lines of old Goethe: ‘Schade dass die Natur nur einen Mensch aus dir schuf, Denn zum würdigen Mann war und zum Schelmen der Stoff.’
“是的，”他答道，“我天生是一个很懒散的人，但同时又是一个好动的人。我常常想到歌德的那句话：‘自然之神啊，它只创造了一个你，尽管这个你可以修成圣贤，也可以堕为恶棍。’
He gave a most dismal groan.
他苦哼了一声。
“Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice?” I asked.
“对我所选的对象，你有什么不满意的地方吗？”我问道。
“I trust,” said I, laughing, “that my judgment may survive the ordeal. But you look weary.”
“我相信，”我笑道，“我这次的判断还经得住考验。但你看起来很疲倦了。”
“Yes, the reaction is already upon me. I shall be as limp as a rag for a week.”
“是的，我已经感觉到了。我一个星期都会瘫卧在床。”
“Strange,” said I, “how terms of what in another man I should call laziness alternate with your fits of splendid energy and vigour.”
“奇怪，”我说，“你这么精力充沛的人怎么时不时也会表现出那种放在其他人身上、叫做‘懒惰’的性质呢？”
“The division seems rather unfair,” I remarked. “You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains for you?”
“分配得似乎不大公平，”我说，“全案的工作都是你一个人做的。我从中获得了妻子，琼斯得到了功绩，请问，剩下给你的还有什么呢？”
By the way, apropos of this Norwood business, you see that they had, as I surmised, a confederate in the house, who could be none other than Lal Rao, the butler: so Jones actually has the undivided honour of having caught one fish in his great haul.”
顺便说一句，在这件诺伍德案子里，你看，就跟我猜测的一样，在房子里有一个内应，这个人不会是别人，就是仆人拉尔·拉奥，所以，琼斯撒下大网，总算捞到了一条鱼，这也确实得算是琼斯个人的荣誉了。”
“For me,” said Sherlock Holmes, “there still remains the cocaine-bottle.” And he stretched his long white hand up for it.
“给我的嘛，”舍洛克·福尔摩斯说，“我还有那瓶可卡因吧。”说着，他已伸出白皙的长手去抓瓶子了。
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