12. The Final Problem 最后一案
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / 福尔摩斯回忆录
《福尔摩斯回忆录》
It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished.
我怀着沉重的心情提起笔，写下这最后的文字，以此记录我的朋友夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生那非凡的天赋。
In an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion, I have endeavoured to give some account of my strange experiences in his company from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the “Study in Scarlet,” up to the time of his interference in the matter of the “Naval Treaty”—an interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication.
我曾以零散且深感不充分的方式，试图记述与他相伴时的奇异经历，从“血字的研究”时期我们初次相识的机缘，一直写到他介入“海军协定”一案——他的介入无疑避免了一场严重的国际纠纷。
It was my intention to have stopped there, and to have said nothing of that event which has created a void in my life which the lapse of two years has done little to fill.
我本打算就此搁笔，对那件在我生命中留下空虚、且两年时光也未能填补的事件只字不提。
My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother, and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the public exactly as they occurred.
然而，詹姆斯·莫里亚蒂上校近期来信为其兄辩护，迫使我不得不将事实真相原原本本地公之于众。
I alone know the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied that the time has come when no good purpose is to be served by its suppression.
唯有我知晓此事的绝对真相，我也确信，如今再隐瞒此事已毫无益处。
As far as I know, there have been only three accounts in the public press: that in the Journal de Genève on May 6th, 1891, the Reuter’s despatch in the English papers on May 7th, and finally the recent letter to which I have alluded.
据我所知，公众媒体上仅有三次相关报道：1891年5月6日《日内瓦日报》的报道、5月7日英国报纸上的路透社电讯，以及我刚才提到的那封近期信件。
Of these the first and second were extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.
前两次报道极为简略，而最后一次，正如我即将揭示的那样，完全是对事实的歪曲。
It lies with me to tell for the first time what really took place between Professor Moriarty and Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
现在由我来首次讲述莫里亚蒂教授与夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生之间究竟发生了什么。
It may be remembered that after my marriage, and my subsequent start in private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed between Holmes and myself became to some extent modified.
或许还有人记得，在我结婚并随后开始私人执业后，我与福尔摩斯之间曾经极其亲密的关系在一定程度上有所改变。
He still came to me from time to time when he desired a companion in his investigation, but these occasions grew more and more seldom, until I find that in the year 1890 there were only three cases of which I retain any record.
他在调查案件需要同伴时仍会偶尔找我，但这样的机会越来越少，直到我发现1890年这一年里，我仅保留了三起案件的记录。
During the winter of that year and the early spring of 1891, I saw in the papers that he had been engaged by the French government upon a matter of supreme importance, and I received two notes from Holmes, dated from Narbonne and from Nimes, from which I gathered that his stay in France was likely to be a long one.
在那年冬天和1891年初春，我从报纸上得知他受法国政府委托处理一件极其重要的事务，并收到了福尔摩斯分别从纳博讷和尼姆寄来的两封短信，由此推断他可能会在法国逗留很长时间。
It was with some surprise, therefore, that I saw him walk into my consulting-room upon the evening of the 24th of April.
因此，当他在4月24日晚上走进我的诊室时，我感到有些惊讶。
It struck me that he was looking even paler and thinner than usual.
我觉得他看起来比平时更加苍白消瘦。
“Yes, I have been using myself up rather too freely,” he remarked, in answer to my look rather than to my words; “I have been a little pressed of late. Have you any objection to my closing your shutters?”
“是的，我最近确实太过劳累了，”他说道，与其说是回答我的话，不如说是回应我的眼神；“我近来压力有点大。你介意我把百叶窗关上吗？”
The only light in the room came from the lamp upon the table at which I had been reading.
房间里唯一的光源来自我读书时桌上的那盏灯。
Holmes edged his way round the wall and flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely.
福尔摩斯贴着墙边挪过去，猛地合上百叶窗，并将其牢牢插好。
“You are afraid of something?” I asked.
“你在害怕什么？”我问。
“Well, I am.”
“嗯，我是。”
“Of what?”
“怕什么？”
“Of air-guns.”
“怕气枪。”
“My dear Holmes, what do you mean?”
“亲爱的福尔摩斯，你这是什么意思？”
“I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by no means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognise danger when it is close upon you. Might I trouble you for a match?” He drew in the smoke of his cigarette as if the soothing influence was grateful to him.
“我想你足够了解我，华生，知道我绝不是个神经质的人。但同时，当危险逼近时拒绝承认，那不是勇敢而是愚蠢。能麻烦给我根火柴吗？”他深吸了一口烟，仿佛这安抚的气息让他感到欣慰。
“I must apologise for calling so late,” said he, “and I must further beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back garden wall.”
“这么晚来打扰你我必须道歉，”他说，“我还得请你破例一次，允许我待会儿翻过后花园的墙离开你家。”
“But what does it all mean?” I asked.
“但这到底是怎么回事？”我问。
He held out his hand, and I saw in the light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were burst and bleeding.
他伸出手，我在灯光下看到他的两个指关节破裂流血了。
“It is not an airy nothing, you see,” said he, smiling. “On the contrary, it is solid enough for a man to break his hand over. Is Mrs. Watson in?”
“你看，这并非凭空想象，”他笑着说，“相反，它真实得足以让人为此折断手骨。华生太太在家吗？”
“She is away upon a visit.”
“她出门访友去了。”
“Indeed! You are alone?”
“是吗！你一个人？”
“Quite.”
“完全是。”
“Then it makes it the easier for me to propose that you should come away with me for a week to the Continent.”
“那我就更容易提议你跟我一起去欧洲大陆待一周了。”
“Where?”
“去哪儿？”
“Oh, anywhere. It’s all the same to me.”
“哦，哪儿都行。对我来说都一样。”
There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmes’s nature to take an aimless holiday, and something about his pale, worn face told me that his nerves were at their highest tension.
这一切都很反常。漫无目的的度假绝非福尔摩斯的作风，他那苍白疲惫的面容告诉我，他的神经已紧绷到了极点。
He saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his finger-tips together and his elbows upon his knees, he explained the situation.
他看出了我眼中的疑惑，于是指尖相对，双肘撑膝，向我解释了局势。
“You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty?” said he.
“你可能从未听说过莫里亚蒂教授吧？”他说。
“Never.”
“从未听过。”
“Aye, there’s the genius and the wonder of the thing!” he cried. “The man pervades London, and no one has heard of him. That’s what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more placid line in life. Between ourselves, the recent cases in which I have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and to the French republic, have left me in such a position that I could continue to live in the quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches. But I could not rest, Watson, I could not sit quiet in my chair, if I thought that such a man as Professor Moriarty were walking the streets of London unchallenged.”
“啊，这正是此人的天才与可怕之处！”他喊道，“此人遍布伦敦，却无人知晓其名。这使他在犯罪史上登峰造极。华生，我严肃地告诉你，如果我能击败那个人，如果我能让社会摆脱他的祸害，我就会觉得自己的职业生涯达到了顶峰，并且准备好转向更平静的生活。私下里说，我最近协助斯堪的纳维亚王室和法兰西共和国的案件，已让我处于这样一种境地：我可以继续过我最向往的宁静生活，专心致志于化学研究。但是华生，如果想到像莫里亚蒂教授这样的人在伦敦街头横行无忌，我就无法安息，无法安坐椅中。”
“What has he done, then?”
“那他到底做了什么？”
“His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers. Dark rumours gathered round him in the university town, and eventually he was compelled to resign his chair and to come down to London, where he set up as an Army coach. So much is known to the world, but what I am telling you now is what I have myself discovered.”
“他的经历非同寻常。他出身高贵，受过极好的教育，天生具有惊人的数学才能。二十一岁时，他写了一篇关于二项式定理的论文，在欧洲风靡一时。凭借此文，他在我们一所较小的大学赢得了数学教授的职位，从各方面看，他面前都有着最辉煌的前程。但这人有着最恶魔般的遗传倾向。犯罪的血脉在他体内流淌，这不仅没有被修正，反而因其非凡的智力而被放大，变得无限危险。阴暗的流言在大学城里四起，最终他被迫辞去教职来到伦敦，成为一名陆军教练。世人所知的仅此而已，但我现在告诉你的是我自己发现的真相。”
“As you are aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher criminal world of London so well as I do. For years past I have continually been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep organizing power which forever stands in the way of the law, and throws its shield over the wrong-doer. Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts—forgery cases, robberies, murders—I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted. For years I have endeavoured to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until it led me, after a thousand cunning windings, to ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity.”
“如你所知，华生，没有人比我更了解伦敦的高层犯罪世界。多年来，我一直意识到罪犯背后有一股势力，一种深层的组织力量，它永远阻碍着法律的执行，为作恶者提供庇护。在各种各样的案件中——伪造案、抢劫案、谋杀案——我都感受到了这股力量的存在，并在许多未请我亲自参与的未破案件中推断了它的运作。多年来，我一直试图揭开遮蔽它的面纱，终于有一天，我抓住了线索并顺藤摸瓜，经过千百次曲折的追踪，最终找到了那位曾以数学闻名的前教授莫里亚蒂。”
“He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed—the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught—never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.”
“他是犯罪界的拿破仑，华生。这座大城市里一半的罪恶活动和几乎所有未被侦破的罪行都是他组织的。他是个天才、哲学家、抽象思想家。他拥有一流的头脑。他像蜘蛛盘踞网中央一样静坐不动，但那蛛网有千条辐射线，他对每一条线的颤动都了如指掌。他自己很少动手，只负责策划。但他的代理人众多且组织严密。一旦有罪案要实施，比如窃取文件、洗劫房屋或除掉某人——消息就会传给教授，事情随即被组织并执行。代理人可能会被抓，这种情况下会有钱用于保释或辩护。但利用代理人的核心权力从未被抓——甚至从未被怀疑过。这就是我推断出的组织，华生，也是我倾注全部精力去揭露和摧毁的对象。”
“But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court of law. You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill. But at last he made a trip—only a little, little trip—but it was more than he could afford when I was so close upon him. I had my chance, and, starting from that point, I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to close. In three days—that is to say, on Monday next—matters will be ripe, and the Professor, with all the principal members of his gang, will be in the hands of the police. Then will come the greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them; but if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they may slip out of our hands even at the last moment.”
“但教授周围布满了精心设计的防护措施，无论我怎么做，似乎都无法获得能在法庭上定罪的确凿证据。你知道我的能力，亲爱的华生，但在三个月结束时，我不得不承认自己终于遇到了一个智力相当的对手。我对他的罪行的恐惧淹没在了对他技艺的钦佩之中。但他最终还是犯了个错——只是个小小的失误——但在我紧逼之下，这是他承受不起的。我抓住了机会，从那一点开始，我已在他周围织好了网，现在只等收网了。三天后——也就是下周一——时机就成熟了，教授及其团伙的所有主要成员都将落入警方手中。届时将迎来本世纪最伟大的刑事审判，四十多桩谜案将被破解，他们所有人都将被送上绞刑架；但如果我们行动稍有过早，你要明白，他们甚至在最后一刻都可能从我们手中溜走。”
“Now, if I could have done this without the knowledge of Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But he was too wily for that. He saw every step which I took to draw my toils round him. Again and again he strove to break away, but I as often headed him off. I tell you, my friend, that if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history of detection. Never have I risen to such a height, and never have I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep, and yet I just undercut him. This morning the last steps were taken, and three days only were wanted to complete the business. I was sitting in my room thinking the matter over, when the door opened and Professor Moriarty stood before me.”
“如果我能瞒着莫里亚蒂教授完成这一切，那就万事大吉了。但他太狡猾了。我看清了我为了包围他所迈出的每一步。他一次次试图突围，我也一次次将其拦截。朋友，我告诉你，如果能把这场无声的较量详细记录下来，它将成为侦探史上最精彩的攻防战。我从未达到过如此高度，也从未被对手逼得如此紧迫。他切入很深，但我刚好胜过他一筹。今天早上采取了最后几步行动，只需三天就能大功告成。我正坐在房间里思考这件事，门开了，莫里亚蒂教授站在了我面前。”
“My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but I must confess to a start when I saw the very man who had been so much in my thoughts standing there on my threshhold. His appearance was quite familiar to me. He is extremely tall and thin, his forehead domes out in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply sunken in his head. He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining something of the professor in his features. His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great curiosity in his puckered eyes.”
“我的神经相当坚强，华生，但我必须承认，当我看到这个在我脑海中盘旋已久的人站在门槛上时，还是吃了一惊。我对他的外貌很熟悉。他极高极瘦，前额呈白色圆顶状隆起，双眼深陷。他刮得很干净，面色苍白，一副苦行僧的模样，面容中仍保留着几分教授的神态。由于长期伏案研究，他的肩膀有些佝偻，脸向前突出，并且总是以一种奇怪的爬行动物般的方式缓慢地左右摇摆。他用皱起的眼睛充满好奇地盯着我。”
“‘You have less frontal development than I should have expected,’ said he, at last. ‘It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one’s dressing-gown.’”
“‘你的前额发育不如我预期的那样发达，’他终于开口了。‘在晨衣口袋里摆弄上了膛的武器是个危险的习惯。’”
“The fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognised the extreme personal danger in which I lay. The only conceivable escape for him lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had slipped the revolver from the drawer into my pocket, and was covering him through the cloth. At his remark I drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table. He still smiled and blinked, but there was something about his eyes which made me feel very glad that I had it there.”
“事实上，他一进门我就立刻意识到了自己面临的极度人身危险。他唯一能想到的逃脱办法就是让我闭嘴。刹那间，我已将左轮手枪从抽屉滑入口袋，隔着布料瞄准了他。听到他的话，我掏出武器，扳起击锤放在桌上。他依然微笑着眨眼，但他眼神中的某种东西让我非常庆幸手里有这把枪。”
“‘You evidently don’t know me,’ said he.”
“‘你显然不认识我，’他说。”
“‘On the contrary,’ I answered, ‘I think it is fairly evident that I do. Pray take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you have anything to say.’”
“‘恰恰相反，’我回答，‘我认为很明显我是认识你的。请坐。如果你有什么话要说，我可以给你五分钟。’”
“‘All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,’ said he.”
“‘我要说的话你都已经想到了，’他说。”
“‘Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,’ I replied.”
“‘那么我的回答可能你也已经想到了，’我答道。”
“‘You stand fast?’”
“‘你坚持立场？’”
“‘Absolutely.’”
“‘绝不退让。’”
“He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol from the table. But he merely drew out a memorandum-book in which he had scribbled some dates.”
“他把手伸进口袋，我举起了桌上的手枪。但他只是掏出了一个记事本，上面潦草地写着一些日期。”
“‘You crossed my path on the 4th of January,’ said he. ‘On the 23rd you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one.’”
“‘一月四日你挡了我的道，’他说。‘二十三日你给我造成了不便；二月中旬你严重妨碍了我；三月底我的计划被你彻底阻挠；而现在，四月底，由于你不断的迫害，我发现自己陷入了这种境地，确实面临着失去自由的危险。局势已变得无法容忍。’”
“‘Have you any suggestion to make?’ I asked.”
“‘你有什么建议吗？’我问。”
“‘You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, swaying his face about. ‘You really must, you know.’”
“‘你必须罢手，福尔摩斯先生，’他说着脸左右摇晃。‘你真的必须罢手，你知道的。’”
“‘After Monday,’ said I.”
“‘过了周一再说，’我说。”
“‘Tut, tut,’ said he. ‘I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that it really would.’”
“‘啧，啧，’他说。‘我相信以你的智慧一定能看出这件事只能有一个结局。你必须退出。你把事情搞成这样，我们只剩下一条路可走了。看你如何应对此事对我而言是一种智力上的享受，我真诚地说，如果被迫采取极端措施，我会感到悲痛。先生，你在笑，但我向你保证，我真的会感到悲痛。’”
“‘Danger is part of my trade,’ I remarked.”
“‘危险是我职业的一部分，’我说。”
“‘That is not danger,’ said he. ‘It is inevitable destruction. You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot.’”
“‘那不是危险，’他说。‘那是不可避免的毁灭。你挡的不仅仅是一个人的路，而是一个庞大组织的路，即便你再聪明，也无法完全认识到这个组织的规模。你必须让开，福尔摩斯先生，否则就会被踩在脚下。’”
“‘I am afraid,’ said I, rising, ‘that in the pleasure of this conversation I am neglecting business of importance which awaits me elsewhere.’”
“‘恐怕，’我站起身说，‘在这次愉快的谈话中，我忽略了别处等待我去处理的重要事务。’”
“He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head sadly.”
“他也站了起来，默默地看着我，悲伤地摇了摇头。”
“‘Well, well,’ said he, at last. ‘It seems a pity, but I have done what I could. I know every move of your game. You can do nothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you and me, Mr. Holmes. You hope to place me in the dock. I tell you that I will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me. I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you.’”
“‘好吧，好吧，’他终于说道。‘真可惜，但我已尽力了。我知道你棋局的每一步。周一之前你什么都做不了。这是你我之间的决斗，福尔摩斯先生。你想把我送上被告席。我告诉你，我永远不会站在被告席上。你想打败我。我告诉你，你永远打不败我。如果你够聪明能给我带来毁灭，请放心，我也会同样回报你。’”
“‘You have paid me several compliments, Mr. Moriarty,’ said I. ‘Let me pay you one in return when I say that if I were assured of the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter.’”
“‘你给了我不少赞美，莫里亚蒂先生，’我说。‘让我也回敬你一句：如果能确保前一种结果，为了公众利益，我会欣然接受后一种结局。’”
“‘I can promise you the one, but not the other,’ he snarled, and so turned his rounded back upon me, and went peering and blinking out of the room.”
“‘我可以向你保证前者，但不能保证后者，’他咆哮道，然后转过佝偻的背影，眯着眼眨巴着走出了房间。”
“That was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I confess that it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft, precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will say: ‘Why not take police precautions against him?’ The reason is that I am well convinced that it is from his agents the blow will fall. I have the best proofs that it would be so.”
“这就是我与莫里亚蒂教授那次奇特的会面。我承认这给我留下了不愉快的印象。他柔和而精确的谈吐给人一种真诚感，这是单纯的恶霸无法产生的。当然，你会问：‘为什么不采取警方预防措施对付他呢？’原因是我深信打击将来自他的代理人。我有充分的证据证明这一点。”
“You have already been assaulted?”
“你已经遭到袭击了吗？”
“My dear Watson, Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the grass grow under his feet. I went out about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street. As I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing a two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me like a flash. I sprang for the foot-path and saved myself by the fraction of a second. The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and was gone in an instant. I kept to the pavement after that, Watson, but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet. I called the police and had the place examined. There were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing. I took a cab after that and reached my brother’s rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have come round to you, and on my way I was attacked by a rough with a bludgeon. I knocked him down, and the police have him in custody; but I can tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible connection will ever be traced between the gentleman upon whose front teeth I have barked my knuckles and the retiring mathematician coach, who is, I daresay, working out problems upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson, that my first act on entering your rooms was to close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to ask your permission to leave the house by some less conspicuous exit than the front door.”
“亲爱的华生，莫里亚蒂教授可不是个拖延行事的人。中午时分我出门去牛津街办点事。当我走过从本廷克街通往韦尔贝克街交叉口的拐角时，一辆双马货车疯狂地呼啸而过，像闪电般向我冲来。我跳向人行道，差几分之一秒就丧命了。货车绕过马里波恩巷，瞬间消失无踪。之后我一直走在人行道上，华生，但当我沿着维尔街走下去时，一块砖头从一栋房子的屋顶掉下来，在我脚边摔得粉碎。我叫来了警察检查现场。屋顶上堆着准备修缮用的石板瓦和砖块，他们想让我相信是风吹倒了其中一块。我当然心知肚明，却无法证明什么。之后我坐了辆马车到达我哥哥在帕尔马尔街的住所，在那里度过了白天。现在我绕到你这里来，路上又被一个拿着大头棒的暴徒袭击。我把他打倒了，警察已经拘留了他；但我可以绝对肯定地告诉你，那个被我打伤门牙的家伙与那位深居简出的数学教练之间绝不可能查出任何联系，我敢说后者此刻正在十英里外的黑板上演算题目呢。所以你不会奇怪，华生，为什么我一进你的房间就先关上窗户，又为何不得不请求你允许我从比正门更隐蔽的地方离开。”
I had often admired my friend’s courage, but never more than now, as he sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must have combined to make up a day of horror.
我常常钦佩朋友的勇气，但此刻尤甚，因为他静静地坐着，历数这一系列必定构成了恐怖一天的事件。
“You will spend the night here?” I said.
“你要在这里过夜吗？”我说。
“No, my friend, you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my plans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone so far now that they can move without my help as far as the arrest goes, though my presence is necessary for a conviction. It is obvious, therefore, that I cannot do better than get away for the few days which remain before the police are at liberty to act. It would be a great pleasure to me, therefore, if you could come on to the Continent with me.”
“不，我的朋友，你会发现我是个危险的客人。我已经安排好了计划，一切都会顺利的。事情进展到现在，逮捕行动即使没有我的帮助也能进行，尽管定罪还需要我在场。因此显而易见，在警方能够采取行动之前的这几天里，我最好还是避开一下。所以，如果你能陪我去欧洲大陆，我将不胜荣幸。”
“The practice is quiet,” said I, “and I have an accommodating neighbour. I should be glad to come.”
“诊所最近没什么病人，”我说，“而且我有个通情达理的邻居。我很乐意同去。”
“And to start to-morrow morning?”
“明天一早就出发？”
“If necessary.”
“如果有必要的话。”
“Oh yes, it is most necessary. Then these are your instructions, and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter, for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals in Europe. Now listen! You will dispatch whatever luggage you intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria tonight. In the morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second which may present itself. Into this hansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand end of the Lowther Arcade, handing the address to the cabman upon a slip of paper, with a request that he will not throw it away. Have your fare ready, and the instant that your cab stops, dash through the Arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a quarter-past nine. You will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped at the collar with red. Into this you will step, and you will reach Victoria in time for the Continental express.”
“哦是的，非常有必要。那么这是给你的指示，我恳求你，亲爱的华生，务必一字不差地遵守，因为你现在是在与我联手对抗欧洲最狡猾的恶棍和最强大的犯罪集团。听着！今晚你将打算携带的行李交给可靠的信使送往维多利亚车站，不要写地址。早上你叫一辆双轮马车，嘱咐车夫既不要坐第一辆也不要坐第二辆出现的车。跳上这辆马车后，驶往斯特兰德尽头的劳瑟拱廊，把地址写在纸条上交给车夫，并要求他不要扔掉。准备好车费，马车一停，你就冲过拱廊，掌握好时间以便在九点一刻到达另一头。你会发现路边停着一辆小型四轮轿车，驾车人身披厚重的黑色斗篷，领口镶有红边。坐上这辆车，你就能及时赶到维多利亚车站搭乘欧陆快车。”
“Where shall I meet you?”
“我们在哪里碰头？”
“At the station. The second first-class carriage from the front will be reserved for us.”
“在车站。从前数第二节一等车厢已为我们预留。”
“The carriage is our rendezvous, then?”
“那么车厢就是我们的集合点？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
It was in vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening. It was evident to me that he thought he might bring trouble to the roof he was under, and that that was the motive which impelled him to go. With a few hurried words as to our plans for the tomorrow he rose and came out with me into the garden, clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street, and immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him drive away.
我徒劳地挽留福尔摩斯共度夜晚。我很清楚他认为自己可能会给所在的屋檐下带来麻烦，这正是促使他离开的动机。他匆忙交代了几句明天的计划后便起身随我来到花园，翻过通往莫蒂默街的围墙，随即吹哨叫了一辆双轮马车，我听见他乘车远去的声音。
In the morning I obeyed Holmes’s injunctions to the letter. A hansom was procured with such precaution as would prevent its being one which was placed ready for us, and I drove immediately after breakfast to the Lowther Arcade, through which I hurried at the top of my speed. A brougham was waiting with a very massive driver wrapped in a dark cloak, who, the instant that I had stepped in, whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria Station. On my alighting there he turned the carriage, and dashed away again without so much as a look in my direction.
第二天早上，我一丝不苟地遵照福尔摩斯的指示行事。我以极其谨慎的方式雇了一辆双轮马车，以防它是专门为我们准备的陷阱，早饭后立即驱车前往劳瑟拱廊，并以最快速度穿过那里。一辆四轮轿车正等在那里，驾车人魁梧健壮，裹在深色斗篷里，我刚一上车，他便扬鞭策马，咔哒咔哒地奔向维多利亚车站。我一下车，他就调转车头，连看都没看我一眼便疾驰而去。
So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting for me, and I had no difficulty in finding the carriage which Holmes had indicated, the less so as it was the only one in the train which was marked “Engaged.” My only source of anxiety now was the non-appearance of Holmes. The station clock marked only seven minutes from the time when we were due to start. In vain I searched among the groups of travellers and leave-takers for the lithe figure of my friend. There was no sign of him. I spent a few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest, who was endeavouring to make a porter understand, in his broken English, that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris. Then, having taken another look round, I returned to my carriage, where I found that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion. It was useless for me to explain to him that his presence was an intrusion, for my Italian was even more limited than his English, so I shrugged my shoulders resignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. A chill of fear had come over me, as I thought that his absence might mean that some blow had fallen during the night. Already the doors had all been shut and the whistle blown, when—
到目前为止一切顺利。我的行李已在等候，我也毫不费力地找到了福尔摩斯指定的车厢，因为它是整列火车中唯一标有“已预订”的车厢。现在我唯一的焦虑来源就是福尔摩斯迟迟未现身。车站时钟显示距离发车仅剩七分钟。我在旅客和送行的人群中徒劳地搜寻朋友矫健的身影，却毫无踪迹。我花了几分钟帮助一位年迈的意大利神父，他正用蹩脚的英语努力让搬运工明白他的行李需要直挂巴黎。然后我又环顾四周，回到车厢时发现尽管有车票，搬运工还是把这位衰弱的意大利朋友塞给我做了旅伴。向他解释他的在场是一种侵扰是无用的，因为我的意大利语比他的英语还有限，于是我无奈地耸耸肩，继续焦急地向外张望寻找朋友。一阵恐惧袭上心头，我想他的缺席可能意味着昨夜发生了不测。车门已全部关闭，汽笛也已吹响，就在这时——
“My dear Watson,” said a voice, “you have not even condescended to say good-morning.”
“亲爱的华生，”一个声音说道，“你竟然连早安都不屑跟我说一声。”
I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic had turned his face towards me. For an instant the wrinkles were smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the lower lip ceased to protrude and the mouth to mumble, the dull eyes regained their fire, the drooping figure expanded. The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come.
我难以置信地转过身来。那位年迈的教士已将脸转向我。一瞬间皱纹消失了，鼻子离开了下巴，下唇不再突出，嘴巴不再喃喃自语，暗淡的眼睛重燃光芒，佝偻的身躯挺直了。下一刻整个人又垮塌回去，福尔摩斯来得快去得也快。
“Good heavens!” I cried. “How you startled me!”
“天哪！”我叫道，“你吓死我了！”
“Every precaution is still necessary,” he whispered. “I have reason to think that they are hot upon our trail. Ah, there is Moriarty himself.”
“仍需保持一切警惕，”他低语道，“我有理由认为他们正紧追不舍。啊，莫里亚蒂本人就在那儿。”
The train had already begun to move as Holmes spoke. Glancing back, I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through the crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired to have the train stopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
福尔摩斯说话时火车已经启动。回头望去，只见一个高个子男人正拼命挤过人群，挥着手似乎想让火车停下。然而为时已晚，我们的列车正在加速，转眼间已驶离了车站。
“With all our precautions, you see that we have cut it rather fine,” said Holmes, laughing. He rose, and throwing off the black cassock and hat which had formed his disguise, he packed them away in a hand-bag.
“尽管我们如此小心，你看还是差点没赶上，”福尔摩斯笑着说。他站起身，脱下伪装用的黑色长袍和帽子，塞进手提包里。
“Have you seen the morning paper, Watson?”
“你看今早的报纸了吗，华生？”
“No.”
“没有。”
“You haven’t seen about Baker Street, then?”
“那你没看到关于贝克街的消息？”
“Baker Street?”
“贝克街？”
“They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done.”
“他们昨晚放火烧了我们的房间。没造成太大损失。”
“Good heavens, Holmes! This is intolerable.”
“天哪，福尔摩斯！这简直无法容忍。”
“They must have lost my track completely after their bludgeon-man was arrested. Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had returned to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming?”
“自从拿大头棒的人被捕后，他们一定完全失去了我的踪迹。否则他们不会以为我回到了房间。不过他们显然采取了监视你的预防措施，这才把莫里亚蒂引到了维多利亚车站。你来的一路上没出什么差错吧？”
“I did exactly what you advised.”
“我完全照你的建议做了。”
“Did you find your brougham?”
“找到那辆四轮轿车了吗？”
“Yes, it was waiting.”
“找到了，它在等着。”
“Did you recognise your coachman?”
“认出车夫了吗？”
“No.”
“没有。”
“It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about in such a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence. But we must plan what we are to do about Moriarty now.”
“那是我哥哥迈克罗夫特。在这种情况下出行而不让雇佣人员知情是有好处的。但我们现在必须规划如何应对莫里亚蒂。”
“As this is an express, and as the boat runs in connection with it, I should think we have shaken him off very effectively.”
“既然这是趟快车，又有联运轮船衔接，我想我们已经很有效地甩掉他了。”
“My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said that this man may be taken as being quite on the same intellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine that if I were the pursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle. Why, then, should you think so meanly of him?”
“亲爱的华生，当我说此人的智力水平与我相当时，你显然没领会我的意思。你不会认为如果我是追击者，会被如此微小的障碍难住吧。那你为何把他想得如此平庸？”
“What will he do?”
“他会怎么做？”
“What I should do?”
“我会怎么做？”
“What would you do, then?”
“那你会怎么做？”
“Engage a special.”
“包一趟专列。”
“But it must be late.”
“但那肯定来不及了。”
“By no means. This train stops at Canterbury; and there is always at least a quarter of an hour’s delay at the boat. He will catch us there.”
“绝不会。这趟车会在坎特伯雷停靠；而且轮渡那边总是至少有十五分钟的延误。他会在那里追上我们。”
“One would think that we were the criminals. Let us have him arrested on his arrival.”
“说得好像我们才是罪犯似的。等他一到我们就让人逮捕他吧。”
“It would be to ruin the work of three months. We should get the big fish, but the smaller would dart right and left out of the net. On Monday we should have them all. No, an arrest is inadmissible.”
“那会毁了三个月的心血。我们能抓到大鱼，但小鱼会从网中四处逃窜。等到周一我们就能将他们一网打尽。不行，不能逮捕。”
“What then?”
“那怎么办？”
“We shall get out at Canterbury.”
“我们在坎特伯雷下车。”
“And then?”
“然后呢？”
“Well, then we must make a cross-country journey to Newhaven, and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do what I should do. He will get on to Paris, mark down our luggage, and wait for two days at the depot. In the meantime we shall treat ourselves to a couple of carpet-bags, encourage the manufactures of the countries through which we travel, and make our way at our leisure into Switzerland, via Luxembourg and Basle.”
“好吧，那我们得横穿乡间前往纽黑文，再渡海到迪耶普。莫里亚蒂又会做我会做的事。他会赶到巴黎，盯住我们的行李，在车站等上两天。与此同时，我们可以给自己买两个旅行袋，支持沿途国家的制造业，然后从容地经由卢森堡和巴塞尔进入瑞士。”
At Canterbury, therefore, we alighted, only to find that we should have to wait an hour before we could get a train to Newhaven.
于是我们在坎特伯雷下了车，却发现要等一个小时才有去纽黑文的火车。
I was still looking rather ruefully after the rapidly disappearing luggage-van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line.
正当我懊恼地望着载有我衣物的行李车迅速远去时，福尔摩斯拉了拉我的袖子，指向铁轨远方。
“Already, you see,” said he.
“你看，他已经来了，”他说。
Far away, from among the Kentish woods there rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later a carriage and engine could be seen flying along the open curve which leads to the station. We had hardly time to take our place behind a pile of luggage when it passed with a rattle and a roar, beating a blast of hot air into our faces.
远处肯特郡的树林间升起一缕细烟。一分钟后，可以看到一节车厢和机车沿着通往车站的开阔弯道飞驰而来。我们刚来得及躲在一堆行李后面，它就轰隆作响地呼啸而过，一股热浪扑面而来。
“There he goes,” said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock over the points. “There are limits, you see, to our friend’s intelligence. It would have been a coup-de-maître had he deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly.”
“他过去了，”当我们看着车厢在道岔上颠簸摇晃时，福尔摩斯说道，“你看，我们这位朋友的智力也是有极限的。如果他能推断出我的推断并采取相应行动，那可真是神来之笔了。”
“And what would he have done had he overtaken us?”
“如果他追上了我们会怎样？”
“There cannot be the least doubt that he would have made a murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at which two may play. The question now is whether we should take a premature lunch here, or run our chance of starving before we reach the buffet at Newhaven.”
“毫无疑问他会对我发起致命攻击。不过这是一场双方都可以玩的游戏。现在的问题是我们该在这里提前吃顿午饭，还是冒着挨饿的风险撑到纽黑文的餐厅。”
We made our way to Brussels that night and spent two days there, moving on upon the third day as far as Strasburg. On the Monday morning Holmes had telegraphed to the London police, and in the evening we found a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate.
当晚我们抵达布鲁塞尔，在那里停留了两天，第三天继续前行到达斯特拉斯堡。周一早上福尔摩斯给伦敦警方发了电报，晚上我们在酒店收到了回电。福尔摩斯撕开信封，随即咒骂一声，将电报扔进了壁炉。
“I might have known it!” he groaned. “He has escaped!”
“我本该料到的！”他呻吟道，“他逃跑了！”
“Moriarty?”
“莫里亚蒂？”
“They have secured the whole gang with the exception of him. He has given them the slip. Of course, when I had left the country there was no one to cope with him. But I did think that I had put the game in their hands. I think that you had better return to England, Watson.”
“除了他以外，整个团伙都被抓获了。他溜掉了。当然，我离开国家后就没人能对付他了。但我原以为我已经把胜局交到他们手里了。我想你最好回英国去，华生。”
“Why?”
“为什么？”
“Because you will find me a dangerous companion now. This man’s occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns to London. If I read his character right he will devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me. He said as much in our short interview, and I fancy that he meant it. I should certainly recommend you to return to your practice.”
“因为你会发现我现在是个危险的同伴。这人已无事可做。如果回伦敦他就完了。如果我没看错他的性格，他会倾尽全力向我复仇。在我们简短的会面中他就是这么说的，我想他是认真的。我强烈建议你回去继续行医。”
It was hardly an appeal to be successful with one who was an old campaigner as well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasburg salle-à-manger arguing the question for half an hour, but the same night we had resumed our journey and were well on our way to Geneva.
对于一个既是老友又是久经沙场的战友来说，这种劝说很难奏效。我们在斯特拉斯堡的餐厅里争论了半个小时，但当晚我们还是重新踏上旅程，一路向日内瓦进发。
For a charming week we wandered up the Valley of the Rhone, and then, branching off at Leuk, we made our way over the Gemmi Pass, still deep in snow, and so, by way of Interlaken, to Meiringen. It was a lovely trip, the dainty green of the spring below, the virgin white of the winter above; but it was clear to me that never for one instant did Holmes forget the shadow which lay across him. In the homely Alpine villages or in the lonely mountain passes, I could tell by his quick glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny of every face that passed us, that he was well convinced that, walk where we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the danger which was dogging our footsteps.
我们在罗讷河谷漫步了迷人的一周，然后在洛伊克岔开，翻越积雪深厚的杰米山口，经由因特拉肯抵达迈林根。这是一次美妙的旅行，山下春意盎然绿意葱茏，山上冬日纯净白雪皑皑；但我清楚地知道，福尔摩斯一刻也没有忘记笼罩着他的阴影。在质朴的阿尔卑斯山村或孤寂的山口中，从他敏捷扫视的目光和对每一个路过面孔的敏锐审视中，我能看出他深信无论走到哪里，我们都无法摆脱紧随其后的危险。
Once, I remember, as we passed over the Gemmi, and walked along the border of the melancholy Daubensee, a large rock which had been dislodged from the ridge upon our right clattered down and roared into the lake behind us. In an instant Holmes had raced up on to the ridge, and, standing upon a lofty pinnacle, craned his neck in every direction. It was in vain that our guide assured him that a fall of stones was a common chance in the spring-time at that spot. He said nothing, but he smiled at me with the air of a man who sees the fulfillment of that which he had expected.
我记得有一次，当我们翻过杰米山口，沿着忧郁的道本湖畔行走时，右侧山脊上一块松动的巨石滚落下来，轰鸣着坠入身后的湖中。福尔摩斯瞬间冲上山脊，站在高耸的岩顶上四处张望。向导一再保证春季此处落石是常事，但这毫无作用。他一言不发，只是带着一种预料之事终得应验的神情对我微笑。
And yet for all his watchfulness he was never depressed. On the contrary, I can never recollect having seen him in such exuberant spirits. Again and again he recurred to the fact that if he could be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty he would cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion.
然而尽管时刻保持警惕，他却从未沮丧。相反，我从未见过他如此精神焕发。他一次又一次地提到，如果能确信社会摆脱了莫里亚蒂教授，他将欣然结束自己的职业生涯。
“I think that I may go so far as to say, Watson, that I have not lived wholly in vain,” he remarked. “If my record were closed to-night I could still survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the sweeter for my presence. In over a thousand cases I am not aware that I have ever used my powers upon the wrong side. Of late I have been tempted to look into the problems furnished by nature rather than those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson, upon the day that I crown my career by the capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal in Europe.”
“我想我可以说，华生，我没有完全虚度此生，”他说，“如果我的记录在今晚终结，我仍能平静地回顾。因为我的存在，伦敦的空气变得更加清新。在一千多起案件中，我不记得自己曾将能力用于邪途。近来我一直倾向于探究自然提出的问题，而非那些由人为社会状态造成的肤浅问题。华生，当你看到我通过捕获或消灭欧洲最危险、最能干的罪犯来为我的职业生涯加冕时，你的回忆录也就该画上句号了。”
I shall be brief, and yet exact, in the little which remains for me to tell. It is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell, and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon me to omit no detail.
对于剩下要讲述的内容，我将力求简洁而准确。这不是我愿意详述的话题，但我深知自己有责任不遗漏任何细节。
It was on the 3rd of May that we reached the little village of Meiringen, where we put up at the Englischer Hof, then kept by Peter Steiler the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent man, and spoke excellent English, having served for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice, on the afternoon of the 4th we set off together, with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of Rosenlaui. We had strict injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which are about half-way up the hill, without making a small detour to see them.
5月3日我们到达了迈林根小村，住在当时由老彼得·施泰勒经营的英格兰旅馆。店主是个聪明人，曾在伦敦格罗夫纳酒店当了三年服务员，英语说得极好。在他的建议下，4日下午我们一起出发，打算翻过山岭并在罗森劳伊小村过夜。然而我们得到严格告诫，无论如何都不能错过位于半山腰的莱辛巴赫瀑布，一定要绕道去看看。
It is indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray histing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamour. We stood near the edge peering down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us against the black rocks, and listening to the half-human shout which came booming up with the spray out of the abyss.
那确实是个可怕的地方。融雪汇成的激流涌入巨大的深渊，溅起的水雾如同燃烧房屋的浓烟般翻滚而上。河水倾泻而下的竖井是一道巨大的裂缝，两侧是闪闪发光的煤黑色岩石，向下收窄成一个深不可测、泡沫翻腾的沸腾深坑，水流溢出后越过锯齿状的边缘奔涌向前。碧绿的水流永不停歇地轰鸣而下，厚重闪烁的水雾幕帘永远向上蒸腾，这不断的旋转与喧嚣令人头晕目眩。我们站在边缘附近，俯瞰下方漆黑岩石上破碎水花的闪光，聆听着从深渊中随水雾传来的似人非人的吼声。
The path has been cut half-way round the fall to afford a complete view, but it ends abruptly, and the traveler has to return as he came. We had turned to do so, when we saw a Swiss lad come running along it with a letter in his hand. It bore the mark of the hotel which we had just left, and was addressed to me by the landlord. It appeared that within a very few minutes of our leaving, an English lady had arrived who was in the last stage of consumption. She had wintered at Davos Platz, and was journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne, when a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her. It was thought that she could hardly live a few hours, but it would be a great consolation to her to see an English doctor, and, if I would only return, etc. The good Steiler assured me in a postscript that he would himself look upon my compliance as a very great favour, since the lady absolutely refused to see a Swiss physician, and he could not but feel that he was incurring a great responsibility.
为了方便观赏全景，一条小路环绕瀑布修了一半，但突然中断，游客只能原路返回。正当我们转身准备回去时，看见一个瑞士少年手里拿着一封信沿路跑来。信上有我们刚离开的旅馆标记，是店主写给我的。原来我们离开后几分钟内，来了一位处于肺痨晚期的英国女士。她在达沃斯普拉茨过冬，现正前往卢塞恩与朋友会合，途中突然大出血。据说她活不过几个小时了，但如果能见到一位英国医生将是极大的安慰，只要我能回去等等。善良的施泰勒在附言中向我保证，如果我答应帮忙，他将视为莫大的恩惠，因为这位女士坚决拒绝看瑞士医生，他觉得自己承担了重大责任。
The appeal was one which could not be ignored. It was impossible to refuse the request of a fellow-countrywoman dying in a strange land. Yet I had my scruples about leaving Holmes. It was finally agreed, however, that he should retain the young Swiss messenger with him as guide and companion while I returned to Meiringen. My friend would stay some little time at the fall, he said, and would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlaui, where I was to rejoin him in the evening. As I turned away I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world.
这个请求不容忽视。拒绝一位客死异乡的女同胞的请求是不可能的。但我对离开福尔摩斯心存顾虑。不过最终达成一致：他留下年轻的瑞士信使作为向导和同伴，而我返回迈林根。朋友说他会在瀑布旁待一会儿，然后慢慢翻过山去罗森劳伊，晚上我再与他会合。当我转身离开时，看到福尔摩斯背靠岩石，双臂交叉，凝视着奔腾的水流。这是我注定在人世间最后一次见到他。
When I was near the bottom of the descent I looked back. It was impossible, from that position, to see the fall, but I could see the curving path which winds over the shoulder of the hill and leads to it. Along this a man was, I remember, walking very rapidly.
当我快下到坡底时回头望去。从那个位置看不到瀑布，但能看到蜿蜒越过山肩通向瀑布的弯曲小径。我记得有个人正沿着那条路走得飞快。
I could see his black figure clearly outlined against the green behind him. I noted him, and the energy with which he walked but he passed from my mind again as I hurried on upon my errand.
我能清晰地看到他黑色的身影映衬在身后的绿景中。我注意到了他和他行走的劲头，但随着我匆忙赶路办事，他又从我脑海中淡出了。
It may have been a little over an hour before I reached Meiringen. Old Steiler was standing at the porch of his hotel.
大约过了一个多小时我才回到迈林根。老施泰勒正站在旅馆的门廊下。
“Well,” said I, as I came hurrying up, “I trust that she is no worse?”
“怎么样，”我匆匆上前问道，“希望她的病情没有恶化？”
A look of surprise passed over his face, and at the first quiver of his eyebrows my heart turned to lead in my breast.
他脸上掠过一丝惊讶的神色，就在眉毛微微颤动的那一刻，我的心沉入了谷底。
“You did not write this?” I said, pulling the letter from my pocket. “There is no sick Englishwoman in the hotel?”
“这不是你写的？”我掏出信问道，“旅馆里没有生病的英国女人？”
“Certainly not!” he cried. “But it has the hotel mark upon it! Ha, it must have been written by that tall Englishman who came in after you had gone. He said—”
“当然没有！”他叫道，“但这上面有旅馆的标记啊！哈，一定是你们走后来的那个高个英国人写的。他说——”
But I waited for none of the landlord’s explanations. In a tingle of fear I was already running down the village street, and making for the path which I had so lately descended. It had taken me an hour to come down. For all my efforts two more had passed before I found myself at the fall of Reichenbach once more. There was Holmes’s Alpine-stock still leaning against the rock by which I had left him. But there was no sign of him, and it was in vain that I shouted. My only answer was my own voice reverberating in a rolling echo from the cliffs around me.
我没等店主解释完。在一阵恐惧的战栗中，我已经跑下村街，冲向刚才下山的那条小路。下山花了我一个小时，尽管我拼尽全力，又过了两个小时才再次来到莱辛巴赫瀑布。福尔摩斯的登山杖还靠在我离开他时的那块岩石上。但他已不见踪影，我的呼喊也是徒劳。唯一的回应是我自己的声音在周围悬崖间回荡。
It was the sight of that Alpine-stock which turned me cold and sick. He had not gone to Rosenlaui, then. He had remained on that three-foot path, with sheer wall on one side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy had overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He had probably been in the pay of Moriarty, and had left the two men together. And then what had happened? Who was to tell us what had happened then?
看到那根登山杖让我浑身冰冷恶心。看来他没去罗森劳伊。他一直留在那条三英尺宽的小径上，一侧是峭壁，另一侧是深渊，直到仇人追上他。那个年轻的瑞士人也不见了。他可能是莫里亚蒂雇来的，把两人单独留在了那里。然后发生了什么？谁能告诉我们当时究竟发生了什么？
I stood for a minute or two to collect myself, for I was dazed with the horror of the thing. Then I began to think of Holmes’s own methods and to try to practise them in reading this tragedy. It was, alas, only too easy to do. During our conversation we had not gone to the end of the path, and the Alpine-stock marked the place where we had stood. The blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it. Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the farther end of the path, both leading away from me. There were none returning. A few yards from the end the soil was all ploughed up into a patch of mud, and the branches and ferns which fringed the chasm were torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face and peered over with the spray spouting up all around me. It had darkened since I left, and now I could only see here and there the glistening of moisture upon the black walls, and far away down at the end of the shaft the gleam of the broken water. I shouted; but only the same half-human cry of the fall was borne back to my ears.
我站了一两分钟让自己镇定下来，因为这恐怖的景象让我目瞪口呆。然后我开始运用福尔摩斯自己的方法，试着解读这场悲剧。唉，这实在太容易了。我们交谈时并没有走到路的尽头，登山杖标记了我们站立的位置。黑色的土壤因水雾的不断飘洒而永远湿润松软，就连鸟儿也会在上面留下足迹。两行脚印清晰地印在小径远端，都背对着我延伸而去。没有返回的脚印。离尽头几码处的泥土被践踏成一片泥泞，深渊边缘的树枝和蕨类植物也被撕裂扯烂。我趴在地上探头望去，水雾在我周围喷涌。自从我离开后天色已暗，现在我只能隐约看到黑壁上闪烁的水光，以及深处竖井底部破碎水流的微光。我大声呼喊，但传回耳中的只有瀑布那似人非人的吼声。
But it was destined that I should after all have a last word of greeting from my friend and comrade. I have said that his Alpine-stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted on to the path. From the top of this boulder the gleam of something bright caught my eye, and, raising my hand, I found that it came from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry. As I took it up a small square of paper upon which it had lain fluttered down on to the ground. Unfolding it, I found that it consisted of three pages torn from his note-book and addressed to me. It was characteristic of the man that the direction was a precise, and the writing as firm and clear, as though it had been written in his study.
但命运终究让我收到了朋友兼战友的最后致意。我说过他的登山杖靠在凸出小径的一块岩石上。在这块巨石的顶端，一道亮光吸引了我的注意，我伸手拿起，发现是他随身携带的银色烟盒。当我拿起它时，下面压着的一张方形小纸片飘落到了地上。展开一看，是从他笔记本上撕下的三页纸，写给我的。正如他的为人，称呼写得精准无误，字迹坚定清晰，就像在书房里写的一样。
“My dear Watson,” he said, “I write these few lines through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty, who awaits my convenience for the final discussion of those questions which lie between us. He has been giving me a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the English police and kept himself informed of our movements. They certainly confirm the very high opinion which I had formed of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I shall be able to free society from any further effects of his presence, though I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and especially, my dear Watson, to you. I have already explained to you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this. Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you, I was quite convinced that the letter from Meiringen was a hoax, and I allowed you to depart on that errand under the persuasion that some development of this sort would follow. Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed ‘Moriarty.’ I made every disposition of my property before leaving England, and handed it to my brother Mycroft. Pray give my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear fellow, Very sincerely yours, Sherlock Holmes.”
“亲爱的华生，”他写道，“承蒙莫里亚蒂先生的雅意，我写下这几行字，他正等着方便的时候与我最终解决我们之间的问题。他向我简述了他躲避英国警方并掌握我们行踪的方法。这些确实印证了我对他能力的高度评价。想到能让社会免受他的进一步危害，我感到欣慰，尽管代价恐怕会让朋友们痛苦，尤其是你，亲爱的华生。不过我已经向你解释过，我的职业生涯无论如何都已到了危机时刻，没有任何结局比这更令我满意了。坦白说，我确信迈林根的那封信是个骗局，之所以让你去办那件事，是因为我预感到会发生这类变故。告诉帕特森警督，定罪团伙所需的文件在M分类架上，装在蓝色信封里，标有‘莫里亚蒂’字样。离开英国前我已妥善安排了所有财产，并交给了哥哥迈克罗夫特。请代我向华生太太问好，相信我，亲爱的朋友，你最真诚的，夏洛克·福尔摩斯。”
A few words may suffice to tell the little that remains. An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other’s arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful caldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation. The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can be no doubt that he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty kept in his employ. As to the gang, it will be within the memory of the public how completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization, and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed upon them. Of their terrible chief few details came out during the proceedings, and if I have now been compelled to make a clear statement of his career it is due to those injudicious champions who have endeavoured to clear his memory by attacks upon him whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known.
剩下的内容寥寥数语即可讲完。专家的勘查几乎毫无疑问地表明，两人之间的搏斗以双双坠入深渊告终，在这种情境下这几乎是必然的结果，他们紧紧扭打在一起跌落下去。打捞遗体的尝试完全无望，在那可怕的漩涡与沸水交织的深渊深处，那个时代最危险的罪犯与最杰出的法律捍卫者将永远长眠于此。那个瑞士青年再也没有被发现，毫无疑问他是莫里亚蒂雇佣的众多代理人之一。至于那个团伙，公众应该还记得福尔摩斯积累的证据是如何彻底揭露了他们的组织，以及死者留下的证据对他们造成了多么沉重的打击。审判过程中关于那位可怕首领的细节披露甚少，如果说我现在被迫对他的生平做出清晰陈述，那都要归咎于那些不明智的辩护人，他们试图通过攻击福尔摩斯来洗刷他的名声，而在我心目中，福尔摩斯永远是我所认识的最优秀、最睿智的人。
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