第八章: 贝克街杂牌军 The Baker Street Irregulars
“He acted according to his lights,” said Holmes, lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. “If you consider how much creosote is carted about London in one day, it is no great wonder that our trail should have been crossed. It is much used now, especially for the seasoning of wood. Poor Toby is not to blame.”
“托比是根据他自己的理解来行动的，”福尔摩斯说，然后把托比从桶上面抱了下来，牵着它走出了木场。“如果考虑一下伦敦每天木馏油的运输量的话，我们就不会对走错路感到惊讶了。现在木馏油的使用率很高，尤其是在木料的防腐上。不应该指责可怜的托比。”
“Yes. And, fortunately, we have no distance to go. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight’s Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. We took the wrong one. It only remains to follow the other.”
“是的。而且，幸运的是，我们不需要走多远了。很明显，让这狗困惑的是，在骑士街的街角处，气味分成了两股，各通往两个相反的方向。我们选择了错误的那一个。现在只需要走另外一条路就对了。”
“What now?” I asked. “Toby has lost his character for infallibility.”
“现在怎么办呢？”我问，“连托比都已经丧失了他百发百中的能力了。”
There was no difficulty about this. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault, he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction.
这没什么困难的。我们牵着托比，回到发生错误的地点，托比转了一大圈，最后朝着一个新的方向疾驰而去。
“We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the creosote barrel came from,” I observed.
“我们要当心，不要再让它把我们带到运出木馏油的地方去。”我说。
“I had thought of that. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement, whereas the barrel passed down the roadway. No, we are on the true scent now.”
“我想到这一点了。不过，你应该注意到了，它一直走在人行道上，而木桶是在马路上走的。所以，这一次，我们应该找到了真正的气味。”
“We must get on the main scent again, I suppose.”
“我想我们应该顺着原路回到气味被弄混了的地方去。”
It tended down towards the riverside, running through Belmont Place and Prince’s Street. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water’s edge, where there was a small wooden wharf. Toby led us to the very edge of this and there stood whining, looking out on the dark current beyond.
它朝着河边方向跑下去，穿过了贝尔蒙特路和王子街。在布罗德街的尽头，它跑到了河边，那里有一个木砌的小码头。托比带着我们来到紧靠河水的地方，然后就站在那里，鼻子里发出哼哼唧唧的声音。
“This looks bad,” said he. “These fellows are sharper than I expected. They seem to have covered their tracks. There has, I fear, been preconcerted management here.”
“这看起来很不好，”他说，“他们比我想象得要精明。他们似乎把行踪隐藏了起来。我恐怕，他们事先就在这里作过安排了。”
“We are out of luck,” said Holmes. “They have taken to a boat here.”
“我们的运气到头了，”福尔摩斯说，“他们在这里乘上了一艘船。”
Several small punts and skiffs were lying about in the water and on the edge of the wharf. We took Toby round to each in turn, but though he sniffed earnestly he made no sign.
水中以及码头边上有几只小平底船和小艇。我们把托比依次带到每只船边上，虽然它很认真地一一闻过，可却没有作出任何反应。
Close to the rude landing-stage was a small brick house, with a wooden placard slung out through the second window. “Mordecai Smith” was printed across it in large letters, and, underneath, “Boats to hire by the hour or day.” A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept — a statement which was confirmed by a great pile of coke upon the jetty. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round, and his face assumed an ominous expression.
靠近登船的地方有一所小砖房，在第二个窗口上挂着一个木牌子。上面有几个大字，写道：“莫迪凯·史密斯”。下面还有一行小字：“船只出租，可按时或日计价。”在门上另外有一块牌子，显示这里还有小汽船——码头上堆着的大堆焦炭可以证实这一点。福尔摩斯缓缓地环顾四周，脸上很不高兴。
“You come back and be washed, Jack,” she shouted. “Come back, you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that he’ll let us hear of it.”
“快回来洗澡，杰克！”她喊，“回来！你这个小鬼，你爸爸回来要是看到你这个样子，绝对不饶你！”
“I’d like two shillin’ better,” the prodigy answered after some thought.
“我更想要两个先令。”那天真的孩子想了想又说。
“Away, is he?” said Holmes in a disappointed voice. “I am sorry for that, for I wanted to speak to Mr. Smith.”
“他出去了？”福尔摩斯失望地说，“真遗憾，我本来想跟史密斯先生聊聊的。”
“Nothing you would like better?”
“你没什么更想要的吗？”
“Lor’ bless you, sir, he is that, and forward. He gets a’most too much for me to manage, ‘specially when my man is away days at a time.”
“上帝赐福于您，先生，他就是这么淘气。我简直管不了他，尤其是在我男人一连离开好几天的时候。”
“He’s been away since yesterday mornin’, sir, and, truth to tell, I am beginnin’ to feel frightened about him. But if it was about a boat, sir, maybe I could serve as well.”
“他昨天早上就出去了，先生，而且说实话，我已经有些为他担心了。不过，先生，如果您是想租船的话，我就可以租给您。”
“I’d like a shillin’,” said he.
“我想要一先令。”他说。
“Here you are, then! Catch! — A fine child, Mrs. Smith!”
“那么，给你吧！拿着！——他是一个好孩子，史密斯太太。”
The youth pondered for a moment.
那个小孩想了想。
He was approaching the door of the house, when it opened, and a little curly-headed lad of six came running out, followed by a stoutish, red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand.
他走到了门前，这时，门恰好打开了，跑出一个约莫六岁的卷发小男孩，后面跟着一个胖胖的红脸女人，手里拿着一大块海绵。
“Dear little chap!” said Holmes strategically. “What a rosy-cheeked young rascal! Now, Jack, is there anything you would like?”
“小朋友！”福尔摩斯趁机说，“好一个面色红润的小淘气鬼啊！杰克，你有没有什么想要的东西？”
“Why, bless you, sir, it is in the steam launch that he has gone. That’s what puzzles me; for I know there ain’t more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. If he’s been away in the barge I’d ha’ thought nothin’; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend, and then if there was much doin’ there he might ha’ stayed over. But what good is a steam launch without coals?”
“哎呀，不巧，先生，他就是坐汽船走的。这就是我感到疑惑的地方，因为我知道，那里面的煤是不够用来往返伍利奇的。如果他坐的是大平底船的话，我就不会东想西想了，因为有好多次，他还到过更远的格雷夫森德去办差呢，如果在那里有不少事要做的话，他还会在那儿过夜。但是，没有煤烧的汽船能干什么呢？”
“I wanted to hire his steam launch.”
“我想租一条汽船。”
“He might, sir, but it weren’t his way. Many a time I’ve heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. Besides, I don’t like that wooden legged man, wi’ his ugly face and outlandish talk. What did he want always knockin’ about here for?”
“也许吧，先生，但这不是他一贯的做法。有很多次我都听他嚷嚷，那些人喊的煤价太贵了。而且，我也不喜欢那个装着木腿的人，还有他那张丑脸和那副外国腔。他老跑到这里来干什么？”
“A wooden legged man?” said Holmes with bland surprise.
“一个装着木腿的人？”福尔摩斯惊讶地说。
“Yes, sir, a brown, monkey-faced chap that’s called more ‘n once for my old man. It was him that roused him up yesternight, and, what’s more, my man knew he was comin’, for he had steam up in the launch. I tell you straight, sir, I don’t feel easy in my mind about it.”
“是的，先生，一个棕褐色皮肤、尖嘴猴腮的小子来这里找我老伴，不止一次了。就是他昨晚把我老伴叫了起来，而且我老伴也知道他要来，因为他已经提前把汽船烧热了。实话告诉您，先生，我实在是不放心啊。”
“He might have bought some at a wharf down the river.”
“他也许是在沿岸码头上买了一些煤。”
“And was this wooden-legged man alone?”
“那么，这个装木腿的人是自己一个人吗？”
“His voice, sir. I knew his voice, which is kind o’ thick and foggy. He tapped at the winder — about three it would be. ‘Show a leg, matey,’ says he: ‘time to turn out guard.’ My old man woke up Jim — that’s my eldest — and away they went without so much as a word to me. I could hear the wooden leg clackin’ on the stones.”
“因为他的口音，先生。我记得他的口音，十分粗重、模糊。他敲了几下窗户——那时大概是三点钟。‘伙计，快起来吧，’他说，‘咱们该走了！’我老伴还叫醒了吉姆——我的大儿子，他们一起走了，一句话都没跟我说。我能听到那木腿踏在石头路上的声音。”
“I am sorry, Mrs. Smith, for I wanted a steam launch, and I have heard good reports of the — Let me see, what is her name?”
“我很抱歉，史密斯太太，我想租一只汽船，因为我早就听人称赞过这艘——让我想想，它叫什么来着？”
“Couldn’t say, I am sure, sir. I didn’t hear no one else.”
“说不准，先生。我没听到别人的声音。”
“But, my dear Mrs. Smith,” said Holmes, shrugging his shoulders, “you are frightening yourself about nothing. How could you possibly tell that it was the wooden-legged man who came in the night? I don’t quite understand how you can be so sure.”
“可是，史密斯太太，”福尔摩斯说，耸了耸肩膀，“你一点儿也不用担心。你怎么能确定昨晚来的就是那个装着木腿的人呢？我不太能理解，你为什么这么肯定。”
“Ah! She’s not that old green launch with a yellow line, very broad in the beam?”
“啊！不是那种绿色的、船帮上画着宽黄线的旧船吧？”
“The Aurora, sir.”
“‘曙光’号，先生。”
“No, indeed. She’s as trim a little thing as any on the river. She’s been fresh painted, black with two red streaks.”
“不，不是。是那种河面上常见的小船。刚刚粉刷过，黑色的船身上画着两条红线。”
“The main thing with people of that sort,” said Holmes as we sat in the sheets of the wherry, “is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. If you do they will instantly shut up like an oyster. If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely to get what you want.”
“跟这种人打交道，最重要的就是，”当我们坐上船后，福尔摩斯说道，“就是绝对不能让他们知道，他们所说的信息对你来说有丝毫的重要性。如果你让他们知道了，他们马上就不说了。如果你装作不情愿地听着，反倒能得到你想要的。”
“No, sir. Black with a white band.”
“不是的，先生。是有一圈白色的黑烟囱。”
“Thanks. I hope that you will hear soon from Mr. Smith. I am going down the river, and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy. A black funnel, you say?”
“谢谢。我希望你能尽快得到史密斯先生的消息。我打算坐船沿河下去，如果我看到‘曙光’号的话，我会转告他你很担心他。你刚才说，船的烟囱是黑色的，是吗？”
“Ah, of course. It was the sides which were black. Good-morning, Mrs. Smith. There is a boatman here with a wherry, Watson. We shall take it and cross the river.”
“啊，对了。黑色的是船身。再见了，史密斯太太。沃森，那里有一个船夫有一只渡船。我们就坐那个到河对面去吧。”
“I would engage a launch and go down the river on the track of the Aurora.”
“我会雇一只汽船，到下游去找找‘曙光’号。”
“Our course now seems pretty clear,” said I.
“现在看起来，我们要采取的步骤已经非常清楚了。”我说。
“What would you do, then?”
“你下面打算怎么做呢？”
“My dear fellow, it would be a colossal task. She may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich. Below the bridge there is a perfect labyrinth of landing-places for miles. It would take you days and days to exhaust them if you set about it alone.”
“我亲爱的伙计，这个方法太麻烦了。它可能在这里和格林尼治之间的任何码头停靠。桥下几十里内都是泊船的地方，简直就是一个迷宫。如果你要独自寻找的话，会花费很长时间的。”
“Employ the police, then.”
“那么，求助警察吗？”
“What are we to do, then?” I asked as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary.
“那么，我们现在该怎么做呢？”我们在米尔班克监狱门前下船时，我这样问道。
“No. I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment. He is not a bad fellow, and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally. But I have a fancy for working it out myself, now that we have gone so far.”
“不。不到最后，我是不会去找阿塞尔纳·琼斯的。他不是一个坏人，我也不想影响他的职业。不过，既然我们已经进行得这么深入了，我更想独立地去解决这件案子。”
“Could we advertise, then, asking for information from wharfingers?”
“那么，我们能不能登报寻找‘曙光’号呢？”
“Worse and worse! Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels, and they would be off out of the country. As it is, they are likely enough to leave, but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. Jones’s energy will be of use to us there, for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press, and the runaways will think that everyone is off on the wrong scent.”
“万万使不得！这样的话，我们要找的人就知道我们在找他们了，他们一定就会离开英国的。当然，他们很可能打算离开，但如果觉得情况安全的话，他们就不会那么着急了。琼斯的活跃在此对我们有一些帮助，因为他的看法每天都能见于报端，这样，那些逃跑者就会误以为我们弄错了方向。”
“Take this hansom, drive home, have some breakfast, and get an hour’s sleep. It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to-night again. Stop at a telegraph office, cabby! We will keep Toby, for he may be of use to us yet.”
“现在咱们坐这部车子回去，吃一些早餐，睡一个钟头。说不定晚上还得赶路呢。车夫，在电报局那里停一下！我们得留着托比，它对我们可能还有用。”
“You remember the Baker Street division of the detective police force whom I employed in the Jefferson Hope case?”
“你还记得在杰斐逊·霍普一案里，我们雇用的贝克街侦探小队吗？”
“Whom do you think that is to?” he asked as we resumed our journey.
上车后他问：“你知道我给谁发电报了吗？”
“Well,” said I, laughing.
“是他们啊。”我笑着说。
We pulled up at the Great Peter Street Post-Office, and Holmes dispatched his wire.
我们在大彼得街邮电局停下，福尔摩斯发了一封电报。
“I am sure I don’t know.”
“我不知道。”
“This is just the case where they might be invaluable. If they fail I have other resources, but I shall try them first. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant, Wiggins, and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast.”
“现在就是他们最有价值的时候。如果他们不行的话，我还有别的办法，但我先让他们试试看。那封电报是发给我那脏兮兮的小队长威金斯的，我们吃完早餐之前，他们就能赶到了。”
It was between eight and nine o’clock now, and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night. I was limp and weary, befogged in mind and fatigued in body. I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on, nor could I look at the matter as a mere abstract intellectual problem. As far as the death of Bartholomew Sholto went, I had heard little good of him and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers. The treasure, however, was a different matter. That, or part of it, belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan. While there was a chance of recovering it I was ready to devote my life to the one object. True, if I found it, it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that. If Holmes could work to find the criminals, I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure.
现在八点多了，辛苦了一夜，我感到十分疲惫。我四肢酸痛，精疲力竭。我没有激励着我伙伴的那种专业精神，也不能把这件事仅仅看成一个抽象的理论问题。对于巴塞洛缪·肖尔托的死，由于听了太多关于他不好的话，我对凶手没什么强烈的反感。但是，那宝藏就是另外一回事了。那宝藏，或者说其中的一部分，按理说是属于摩斯坦小姐的。在有可能找回这些宝物的时候，我会尽我所有的能力去找回它们。的确，如果我找到了，那摩斯坦小姐就永远跟我无缘了。但如果会被这种想法左右的话，这就只是一份渺小而自私的感情了。如果福尔摩斯能努力去寻找凶手，我就有强过他十倍的动力去寻找那个宝藏。
I took the paper from him and read the short notice, which was headed “Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood.”
我从他手里接过报纸，读了读短评，其标题是——“上诺伍德奇案”。
“Here it is,” said he, laughing and pointing to an open newspaper. “The energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up between them. But you have had enough of the case. Better have your ham and eggs first.”
“给你，”他说，一边笑，一边指着一份摊开的报纸，“那位精力充沛的琼斯和一位庸俗的记者把这个案子一手包办了。但这个案子已经把你弄得够烦的了。你还是先吃火腿和鸡蛋吧。”
About twelve o’clock last night [said the Standard ] Mr. Bartholomew Sholto, of Pondicherry Lodge, Upper Norwood, was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. As far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. Sholto’s person, but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off. The discovery was first made by Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who had called at the house with Mr. Thaddeus Sholto, brother of the deceased. By a singular piece of good fortune, Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the Norwood police station and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm. His trained and experienced faculties were at once directed towards the detection of the criminals, with the gratifying result that the brother, Thaddeus Sholto, has already been arrested, together with the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernstone, an Indian butler named Lal Rao, and a porter, or gatekeeper, named McMurdo.
这份《旗帜报》写道：昨晚十二点左右，上诺伍德区本地治里别墅的主人巴塞洛缪·肖尔托先生在自己的房间内死亡，显然是被暗杀的。根据我们所知道的情况，现场没有明显打斗的痕迹，可死者从他父亲那里继承的一批贵重印度宝物已经失窃。死者的弟弟塞迪厄斯·肖尔托先生与一同前去拜访的舍洛克·福尔摩斯先生以及沃森医生首先发现了命案。幸运的是，这时候，名侦探阿塞尔纳·琼斯先生正在诺伍德警察分局，因此可以在命案发现半个小时内赶到现场，主持大局。他训练有素，经验丰富，到场后立刻运用自身才能，寻找凶手，可喜的结果是，死者其弟塞迪厄斯·肖尔托已被逮捕，同时被逮捕的还有女管家伯恩斯通太太、印度仆人拉尔·拉奥和守门人麦克默多。
A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Holmes pouring out the coffee.
在贝克街的家里，我洗了一个澡，换了一身衣服，精神再次大振。但当我下楼来的时候，看见桌上已经摆好了早餐，福尔摩斯正倒着咖啡。
“Isn’t it gorgeous!” said Holmes, grinning over his coffee cup. “What do you think of it?”
“这不是太棒了嘛！”福尔摩斯喝着咖啡说，“你怎么看呢？”
It is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house, for Mr. Jones’s well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window but must have made their way across the roof of the building, and so through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. This fact, which has been very clearly made out, proves conclusively that it was no mere haphazard burglary. The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and masterful mind. We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized, and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate.
很明显，这名或这些凶手对这所房子十分熟悉。因为，凭借其闻名遐迩的专业知识和缜密的观察能力，琼斯先生最终证明，凶手不是从窗或门潜入室内，而是经由房顶。凶手是通过一扇暗门进入了一个房间，而这个房间能通向尸体被发现的房间。由这个明显的事实可以推出结论：这并非普通的盗窃案。执法者们的迅速反应说明，在这样的情况下，有一位老练的警官在场是很有利的。同时我们认为，此次事件进一步说明，让全市警探分散驻守的政策，能使他们更紧密、更有效率地接触到他们有责任侦查的案件。
“I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime.”
“我认为我们都差点儿被逮捕了。”
At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay.
这时候忽然铃声大响，然后，我听到我们的房东赫德森太太和人高声争吵了起来。
“So do I. I wouldn’t answer for our safety now if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy.”
“我也是这么想的。如果他不巧心血来潮的话，我不敢保证我们现在会是安全的。”
“By heavens, Holmes,” I said, half rising, “I believe that they are really after us.”
“天啊，福尔摩斯，”我说，半站了起来，“真的来抓我们啦。”
As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street Arabs. There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces. One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable little scarecrow.
说话之间，楼梯上就有了赤足前行和高声谈话的声音，接着走进来十几个穿着破衣烂衫的小流浪汉。可是，他们之间还是很有纪律的，虽然吵吵嚷嚷地进来了，但却自动站成一排，面对着我们，满脸期待。他们中有一个个子较高、年纪也较大的孩子站了出来，颇带一些优越感，这种优越感放在这么一个衣衫褴褛的小家伙身上，显得十分滑稽。
“No, it’s not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force — the Baker Street irregulars.”
“不，还没有那么坏。我想是我们的非官方部队——贝克街杂牌军来了。”
“Got your message, sir,” said he, “and brought ’em on sharp. Three bob and a tanner for tickets.”
“先生，接到您的命令后，”他说，“我马上就把他们带来了。车费三先令六便士。”
“Yes, guv’nor,” said Wiggins.
“是的，司令！”威金斯说。
“The old scale of pay, and a guinea to the boy who finds the boat. Here’s a day in advance. Now off you go!”
“按照老规矩给钱，找到船的另外多给一个金币。这是预付的一天的工钱。去吧！”
“Here you are,” said Holmes, producing some silver. “In future they can report to you, Wiggins, and you to me. I cannot have the house invaded in this way. However, it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora, owner Mordecai Smith, black with two red-streaks, funnel black with a white band. She is down the river somewhere. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith’s landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. You must divide it out among yourselves and do both banks thoroughly. Let me know the moment you have news. Is that all clear?”
“给你，”福尔摩斯说着拿出了一些银币，“以后他们可以向你报告，威金斯，然后你自己来找我。我的房子容不下这么多人。不过，你们所有人都听听我的指示也好。我想要找到一只叫做‘曙光’号的汽船，船主叫莫迪凯·史密斯，船身是黑色的，带有两条红线，烟囱上有一道白线。它应该在河流下游的某处。我要一个孩子在米尔班克监狱对岸莫迪凯·史密斯的码头上守着，船一回来，就立刻报告。你们得好好地分一下组，保证能在河的两岸都进行彻底的搜寻。一旦有消息了，要立刻告诉我。清楚了吗？”
“If the launch is above water they will find her,” said Holmes as he rose from the table and lit his pipe. “They can go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone. I expect to hear before evening that they have spotted her. In the meanwhile, we can do nothing but await results. We cannot pick up the broken trail until we find either the Aurora or Mr. Mordecai Smith.”
“如果那艘汽船还在水上的话，他们一定能找得到，”福尔摩斯说着，一边从桌子边上站起来，点燃了烟管，“他们哪儿都能去，能听到和看到形形色色的事情。我希望，在晚上之前就能听到他们找到目标的消息。同时，我们除了等，也没有什么别的事可做。在找到‘曙光’号或莫迪凯·史密斯之前，我们不能进行侦查。”
He handed them a shilling each, and away they buzzed down the stairs, and I saw them a moment later streaming down the street.
他给了他们每个人一先令，他们就欢欢喜喜地跳下了楼，我见他们不一会儿就朝马路飞奔而去了。
“Toby could eat these scraps, I dare say. Are you going to bed, Holmes?”
“托比可以吃我们剩下的，我想。你准备睡觉了吗，福尔摩斯？”
“No: I am not tired. I have a curious constitution. I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely. I am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has introduced us. If ever man had an easy task, this of ours ought to be. Wooden-legged men are not so common, but the other man must, I should think, be absolutely unique.”
“不，我一点儿也不累。我有着很特别的体质。我从不记得我有哪一次因为工作而感到疲劳过，尽管无所事事会让我筋疲力尽。我准备抽一根烟，再思考思考我们漂亮的委托人带给我们的这桩奇怪的案子。如果人类有什么差事是容易的，那咱们这件案子必定是其中之一。装木腿的人并不多见，而那另外一个人，我得说，是绝对独特的。”
“I have no wish to make a mystery of him to you, anyway. But you must have formed your own opinion. Now, do consider the data. Diminutive footmarks, toes never fettered by boots, naked feet, stone-headed wooden mace, great agility, small poisoned darts. What do you make of all this?”
“我并不是想故弄玄虚。可你也许有你自己的看法。现在，请考虑考虑我们所知道的情况。小脚印、从没被鞋子束缚过的脚趾、赤足、顶端嵌着石头的木棒、敏捷的行动和有毒的木刺。你从这些东西里能得到什么结论呢？”
“A savage!” I exclaimed. “Perhaps one of those Indians who were the associates of Jonathan Small.”
“一个野人！”我喊道，“也许是斯莫尔的印度同伙中的一个。”
“Hardly that,” said he. “When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was inclined to think so, but the remarkable character of the footmarks caused me to reconsider my views. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men, but none could have left such marks as that. The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others because the thong is commonly passed between. These little darts, too, could only be shot in one way. They are from a blow-pipe. Now, then, where are we to find our savage?”
“这不太可能，”他说，“当我第一次看到那个奇怪的武器时，我也这样想过，但那奇特的脚印让我开始考虑别的可能了。印度半岛的居民有些是矮小的，可是并没有谁能留下这样的脚印。印度土著的脚应该是狭长的。穿凉鞋的回教人的大脚趾和其他脚趾是分开的，因为鞋带通常从中穿过。还有，这些木刺只可能是用一种方式射出来的。就是从吹管里吹出来。现在，我们该去哪儿找我们的野人呢？”
“That other man again!”
“又说到那另外一个人了！”
“Andaman Islands, situated 340 miles to the north of Sumatra, in the Bay of Bengal.
“安达曼群岛，位于孟加拉湾，距苏门答腊三百四十英里。
He stretched his hand up and took down a bulky volume from the shelf.
他伸出胳膊，从书架上取出了一本厚厚的书。
Hum! hum! What’s all this? Moist climate, coral reefs, sharks, Port Blair, convict barracks, Rutland Island, cottonwoods — Ah, here we are!”
嗯！嗯！这又是什么？气候潮湿、珊瑚礁、鲨鱼、布莱尔港、囚犯营、拉特兰岛、白杨树…啊！在这里！”
“South America,” I hazarded.
“南美洲。”我猜道。
“This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. What have we here?”
“这是新出版的地理词典的第一卷。可以查到最新的权威资讯。这里写了什么呢？”
“The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth, though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa, the Digger Indians of America, and the Terra del Fuegians. The average height is rather below four feet, although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this. They are a fierce, morose, and intractable people, though capable of forming most devoted friendships when their confidence has once been gained.
“安达曼群岛的土人，可以称得上是世界上最小的人，虽然有的人类学者认为，非洲的布须曼人，或者美洲的迪格尔印第安人，又或者火地岛印第安人才是最矮小的。这里的人平均高度不到四英尺，还有许多成年人比这个高度矮很多。他们天性凶狠、粗暴，但获得他们信任的话，就能与他们建立最深刻的友谊。
Mark that, Watson. Now, then listen to this.”
注意这一点，沃森。现在，听听这个。”
“They are naturally hideous, having large, misshapen heads, small fierce eyes, and distorted features. Their feet and hands, however, are remarkably small. So intractable and fierce are they, that all the efforts of the British officials have failed to win them over in any degree. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.
“他们天生丑陋，有着畸形的大头和小而凶狠的眼睛，五官扭曲。他们的手脚小得出奇。由于他们实在太凶狠、太难对付，英国官员用尽了所有方式，也没有使他们臣服。对于遭遇海难的水手们来说，他们永远是一个祸害，往往用顶端镶着石头的木棒击碎他们的脑袋，或用毒箭射死。他们的屠杀往往以人肉盛宴告终。
Nice, amiable people, Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices, this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. I fancy that, even as it is, Jonathan Small would give a good deal not to have employed him.”
真是可爱的人啊！沃森！如果这家伙没人管制的话，事情就越发恐怖了。我猜想，就连乔纳森·斯莫尔雇用他，恐怕也是出于不得已吧。”
“But how came he to have so singular a companion?”
“可他是怎么找到这样一个同谋的呢？”
“Ah, that is more than I can tell. Since, however, we had already determined that Small had come from the Andamans, it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. No doubt we shall know all about it in time. Look here, Watson; you look regularly done. Lie down there on the sofa and see if I can put you to sleep.”
“啊，这我就不清楚了。可是，咱们既然知道斯莫尔是从安达曼群岛来的，那这个土人和他在一起，也就没什么可稀奇的了。毫无疑问，我们很快就要弄清楚所有的问题了。哦，沃森，你看起来疲惫极了。躺下吧，让我的演奏伴你入睡。”
He took up his violin from the corner, and as I stretched myself out he began to play some low, dreamy, melodious air — his own, no doubt, for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. I have a vague remembrance of his gaunt limbs, his earnest face and the rise and fall of his bow. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound until I found myself in dreamland, with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me.
他从角落里拿起了他的小提琴，开始奏起一支低沉的催眠曲——无疑是他自己编的曲子，他有一种即兴作曲的本领。我模模糊糊地记得他那瘦削的手、诚恳的脸庞，还有上下飞舞的琴弓。然后，我静静地漂浮在乐声的绵绵汪洋中，直到进入了梦乡，在那里，玛丽·摩斯坦甜美的脸蛋在向我微笑。
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