8.The Crooked Man 驼背人
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / 福尔摩斯回忆录
《福尔摩斯回忆录》
One summer night, a few months after my marriage, I was seated by my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel, for my day’s work had been an exhausting one.
在我婚后几个月的一个夏夜，我正坐在自家壁炉旁抽着睡前最后一斗烟，对着一本小说打盹，因为白天的工作实在令人筋疲力尽。
My wife had already gone upstairs, and the sound of the locking of the hall door some time before told me that the servants had also retired.
我的妻子已经上楼休息了，而早些时候大厅门上锁的声音告诉我仆人们也都已歇下。
I had risen from my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the bell.
我刚站起身来磕掉烟斗里的烟灰，突然听到了门铃的响声。
I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. This could not be a visitor at so late an hour. A patient, evidently, and possibly an all-night sitting.
我看了一眼时钟，差一刻十二点。这么晚了绝不会是访客，显然是急诊病人，而且可能还要通宵守候。
With a wry face I went out into the hall and opened the door. To my astonishment it was Sherlock Holmes who stood upon my step.
我苦着脸走到大厅打开门，令我惊讶的是，站在台阶上的竟是夏洛克·福尔摩斯。
“Ah, Watson,” said he, “I hoped that I might not be too late to catch you.”
“啊，华生，”他说，“希望我来找你还不算太晚。”
“My dear fellow, pray come in.”
“亲爱的朋友，快请进。”
“You look surprised, and no wonder! Relieved, too, I fancy! Hum! You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days then! There’s no mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat. It’s easy to tell that you have been accustomed to wear a uniform, Watson. You’ll never pass as a pure-bred civilian as long as you keep that habit of carrying your handkerchief in your sleeve. Could you put me up to-night?”
“你看起来很惊讶，这也难怪！我想你也松了口气吧！哼！你还在抽单身时抽的那种阿卡迪亚混合烟草呢！你外套上那蓬松的烟灰错不了。很容易看出你曾习惯穿制服，华生。只要你保留把手帕塞在袖子里的习惯，就永远装不像个纯粹的老百姓。今晚能让我借宿一晚吗？”
“With pleasure.”
“非常乐意。”
“You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, and I see that you have no gentleman visitor at present. Your hat-stand proclaims as much.”
“你告诉过我这里有单人客房，而且我看你现在没有男客来访，你的帽架也说明了这一点。”
“I shall be delighted if you will stay.”
“如果你愿意留下，我将不胜荣幸。”
“Thank you. I’ll fill the vacant peg then. Sorry to see that you’ve had the British workman in the house. He’s a token of evil. Not the drains, I hope?”
“谢谢，那我就占用那个空挂钩了。很遗憾看到你家来了英国工人，这可是麻烦的征兆。希望不是下水道出了问题吧？”
“No, the gas.”
“不，是煤气。”
“Ah! He has left two nail-marks from his boot upon your linoleum just where the light strikes it. No, thank you, I had some supper at Waterloo, but I’ll smoke a pipe with you with pleasure.”
“啊！他在油毡上留下了两个靴钉印，就在灯光照到的地方。不用了，谢谢，我在滑铁卢车站吃过晚饭了，但我很乐意陪你抽一斗烟。”
I handed him my pouch, and he seated himself opposite to me and smoked for some time in silence. I was well aware that nothing but business of importance would have brought him to me at such an hour, so I waited patiently until he should come round to it.
我把烟袋递给他，他坐在我对面，默默地抽了一会儿烟。我很清楚，除非有重要案件，否则他不会在这个时间登门，所以我耐心地等他切入正题。
“I see that you are professionally rather busy just now,” said he, glancing very keenly across at me.
“我看你最近行医挺忙的，”他目光锐利地看着我说。
“Yes, I’ve had a busy day,” I answered. “It may seem very foolish in your eyes,” I added, “but really I don’t know how you deduced it.”
“是的，我今天很忙，”我回答。“在你看来这可能很愚蠢，”我补充道，“但我真不知道你是怎么推断出来的。”
Holmes chuckled to himself.
福尔摩斯暗自轻笑了一声。
“I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson,” said he. “When your round is a short one you walk, and when it is a long one you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough to justify the hansom.”
“我有幸了解你的习惯，亲爱的华生，”他说，“出诊路程短时你步行，路远时就坐双轮马车。既然我看到你的靴子虽然穿过却一点也不脏，我就毫不怀疑你现在忙得足以让你频繁使用马车了。”
“Excellent!” I cried.
“太精彩了！”我叫道。
“Elementary,” said he. “It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader. Now, at present I am in the position of these same readers, for I hold in this hand several threads of one of the strangest cases which ever perplexed a man’s brain, and yet I lack the one or two which are needful to complete my theory. But I’ll have them, Watson, I’ll have them!” His eyes kindled and a slight flush sprang into his thin cheeks. For an instant only. When I glanced again his face had resumed that red-Indian composure which had made so many regard him as a machine rather than a man.
“这很简单，”他说，“推理者之所以能让旁人觉得效果惊人，是因为对方忽略了作为推理基础的那个小细节。同理，亲爱的朋友，你写的那些小故事所产生的效果也是完全虚饰的，因为你把问题中的某些关键因素保留在自己手中，从未透露给读者。现在，我也处于那些读者的位置，因为我手里掌握着这个曾让人绞尽脑汁的最离奇案件的几条线索，却缺少完善理论所需的一两个关键点。但我一定会找到的，华生，我一定会找到！”他的眼睛亮了起来，瘦削的脸颊泛起一丝红晕，但也仅是一瞬间。当我再看他时，他的脸又恢复了那种印第安人般的沉静，这让许多人觉得他更像一台机器而非人类。
“The problem presents features of interest,” said he. “I may even say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked into the matter, and have come, as I think, within sight of my solution. If you could accompany me in that last step you might be of considerable service to me.”
“这个案子有些有趣的特征，”他说，“甚至可以说是异常有趣。我已经调查过此事，而且我认为离真相只有一步之遥了。如果你能在最后这一步陪我同行，或许能帮上大忙。”
“I should be delighted.”
“我非常乐意。”
“Could you go as far as Aldershot to-morrow?”
“明天你能跟我去一趟奥尔德肖特吗？”
“I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice.”
“我相信杰克逊医生会替我接诊的。”
“Very good. I want to start by the 11.10 from Waterloo.”
“很好，我想乘11点10分从滑铁卢车站出发的火车。”
“That would give me time.”
“那我时间来得及。”
“Then, if you are not too sleepy, I will give you a sketch of what has happened, and of what remains to be done.”
“那么，如果你不太困的话，我就给你讲讲事情的经过以及接下来要做的事。”
“I was sleepy before you came. I am quite wakeful now.”
“你来之前我还犯困，现在已经完全清醒了。”
“I will compress the story as far as may be done without omitting anything vital to the case. It is conceivable that you may even have read some account of the matter. It is the supposed murder of Colonel Barclay, of the Royal Mallows, at Aldershot, which I am investigating.”
“我会尽量精简故事，但不省略任何对案件至关重要的细节。你可能已经读过相关报道了，我正在调查的是驻奥尔德肖特的皇家马洛斯团巴克莱上校疑似被谋杀一案。”
“I have heard nothing of it.”
“我对此一无所知。”
“It has not excited much attention yet, except locally. The facts are only two days old. Briefly they are these:
“除了当地外，这件事尚未引起广泛关注。事情发生才两天，简况如下：
“The Royal Mallows is, as you know, one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British army. It did wonders both in the Crimea and the Mutiny, and has since that time distinguished itself upon every possible occasion. It was commanded up to Monday night by James Barclay, a gallant veteran, who started as a full private, was raised to commissioned rank for his bravery at the time of the Mutiny, and so lived to command the regiment in which he had once carried a musket.
“如你所知，皇家马洛斯团是英军中最著名的爱尔兰军团之一。它在克里米亚战争和印度兵变中都创造了奇迹，此后也在各种场合屡建奇功。直到周一晚上，该团一直由詹姆斯·巴克莱指挥，这位英勇的老兵最初只是个列兵，因在兵变期间表现勇敢而被提拔为军官，最终得以统帅这支他曾扛枪服役的部队。
“Colonel Barclay had married at the time when he was a sergeant, and his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy Devoy, was the daughter of a former colour-sergeant in the same corps. There was, therefore, as can be imagined, some little social friction when the young couple (for they were still young) found themselves in their new surroundings. They appear, however, to have quickly adapted themselves, and Mrs. Barclay has always, I understand, been as popular with the ladies of the regiment as her husband was with his brother officers. I may add that she was a woman of great beauty, and that even now, when she has been married for upwards of thirty years, she is still of a striking and queenly appearance.
“巴克莱上校在当士官时就结了婚，他的妻子婚前名叫南希·德沃伊小姐，是同团一位前掌旗士官的女儿。因此可以想象，这对年轻夫妇（当时他们还年轻）初入新环境时难免有些社交上的摩擦。不过他们似乎很快就适应了，据我所知，巴克莱夫人在团里的女士中一直很受欢迎，就像她丈夫在军官同僚中一样。值得一提的是，她是一位绝世美人，即便结婚三十多年了，依然容貌出众，气质高贵。
“Colonel Barclay’s family life appears to have been a uniformly happy one. Major Murphy, to whom I owe most of my facts, assures me that he has never heard of any misunderstanding between the pair. On the whole, he thinks that Barclay’s devotion to his wife was greater than his wife’s to Barclay. He was acutely uneasy if he were absent from her for a day. She, on the other hand, though devoted and faithful, was less obtrusively affectionate. But they were regarded in the regiment as the very model of a middle-aged couple. There was absolutely nothing in their mutual relations to prepare people for the tragedy which was to follow.
“巴克莱上校的家庭生活看起来一直美满和睦。墨菲少校向我提供了大部分情况，他确信从未听说过两人之间有任何不和。总的来说，他认为巴克莱对妻子的爱比妻子对他的更深。只要离开妻子一天，他就会极度不安。而她虽然忠诚专一，却不那么外露深情。但在团里，他们被视为中年夫妇的典范。他们的关系中没有任何迹象预示着随后发生的悲剧。
“Colonel Barclay himself seems to have had some singular traits in his character. He was a dashing, jovial old soldier in his usual mood, but there were occasions on which he seemed to show himself capable of considerable violence and vindictiveness. This side of his nature, however, appears never to have been turned towards his wife. Another fact, which had struck Major Murphy and three out of five of the other officers with whom I conversed, was the singular sort of depression which came upon him at times. As the major expressed it, the smile had often been struck from his mouth, as if by some invisible hand, when he has been joining the gayeties and chaff of the mess-table. For days on end, when the mood was on him, he has been sunk in the deepest gloom. This and a certain tinge of superstition were the only unusual traits in his character which his brother officers had observed. The latter peculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left alone, especially after dark. This puerile feature in a nature which was conspicuously manly had often given rise to comment and conjecture.
“巴克莱上校本人的性格似乎有些奇特之处。平时他是个潇洒快乐的老军人，但有时却表现出极端的暴戾和报复心。不过，这一面似乎从未针对过他的妻子。另一个引起墨菲少校及与我交谈过的五位军官中三位注意的是，他时常陷入一种奇特的抑郁状态。正如少校所言，当他在餐桌上与大家谈笑风生时，笑容常像被一只无形的手抹去一般骤然消失。一旦这种情绪袭来，他会连续数天深陷极度阴郁之中。除了这点忧郁和某种迷信色彩外，他的同僚们没发现他性格中有其他异常之处。后一种怪癖表现为不喜欢独处，尤其是天黑以后。这种在他刚强性格中显得幼稚的特征，常引发人们的议论和猜测。
“The first battalion of the Royal Mallows (which is the old 117th) has been stationed at Aldershot for some years. The married officers live out of barracks, and the Colonel has during all this time occupied a villa called Lachine, about half a mile from the north camp. The house stands in its own grounds, but the west side of it is not more than thirty yards from the high-road. A coachman and two maids form the staff of servants. These with their master and mistress were the sole occupants of Lachine, for the Barclays had no children, nor was it usual for them to have resident visitors.
“皇家马洛斯团第一营（即原第117步兵团）已在奥尔德肖特驻扎多年。已婚军官住在营房外，而上校这些年一直住在离北营地约半英里的一座名为‘拉辛’的别墅里。房子自带庭院，但西侧距大路不到三十码。家里有一名车夫和两名女仆。这些仆人连同男女主人是拉辛别墅唯一的住户，因为巴克莱夫妇没有孩子，也不常有客人留宿。
“Now for the events at Lachine between nine and ten on the evening of last Monday.”
“现在说说上周一晚九点到十点间在拉辛别墅发生的事。”
“Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and had interested herself very much in the establishment of the Guild of St. George, which was formed in connection with the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with cast-off clothing. A meeting of the Guild had been held that evening at eight, and Mrs. Barclay had hurried over her dinner in order to be present at it. When leaving the house she was heard by the coachman to make some commonplace remark to her husband, and to assure him that she would be back before very long. She then called for Miss Morrison, a young lady who lives in the next villa, and the two went off together to their meeting. It lasted forty minutes, and at a quarter-past nine Mrs. Barclay returned home, having left Miss Morrison at her door as she passed.
“巴克莱夫人似乎是天主教徒，热心参与创立了圣乔治公会，该公会隶属于瓦特街礼拜堂，旨在向穷人分发旧衣物。当晚八点公会开会，巴克莱夫人匆匆吃完晚饭便赶去参加。出门时，车夫听到她对丈夫说了几句家常话，并保证很快就会回来。随后她叫上住在隔壁别墅的莫里森小姐，两人一同前往会场。会议持续了四十分钟，九点一刻巴克莱夫人回到家，途中顺路将莫里森小姐送到了她家门口。
“There is a room which is used as a morning-room at Lachine. This faces the road and opens by a large glass folding-door on to the lawn. The lawn is thirty yards across, and is only divided from the highway by a low wall with an iron rail above it. It was into this room that Mrs. Barclay went upon her return. The blinds were not down, for the room was seldom used in the evening, but Mrs. Barclay herself lit the lamp and then rang the bell, asking Jane Stewart, the housemaid, to bring her a cup of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits. The Colonel had been sitting in the dining-room, but hearing that his wife had returned he joined her in the morning-room. The coachman saw him cross the hall and enter it. He was never seen again alive.
“拉辛别墅有一间用作晨起室的房间，面朝大路，通过一扇大型玻璃折叠门通向草坪。草坪宽三十码，仅由一道带铁栏杆的矮墙与大路隔开。巴克莱夫人回家后便走进了这间屋子。窗帘没有拉下，因为这间房晚上很少用，但她亲自点了灯并按铃让女仆简·斯图尔特给她送杯茶来，这完全违背了她平时的习惯。上校本在餐厅坐着，听说妻子回来了便去晨起室陪她。车夫看见他穿过大厅走进房间，此后再也没人见过活着的他。
“The tea which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten minutes; but the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised to hear the voices of her master and mistress in furious altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer, and even turned the handle, but only to find that the door was locked upon the inside. Naturally enough she ran down to tell the cook, and the two women with the coachman came up into the hall and listened to the dispute which was still raging. They all agreed that only two voices were to be heard, those of Barclay and of his wife. Barclay’s remarks were subdued and abrupt, so that none of them were audible to the listeners. The lady’s, on the other hand, were most bitter, and when she raised her voice could be plainly heard. ‘You coward!’ she repeated over and over again. ‘What can be done now? What can be done now? Give me back my life. I will never so much as breathe the same air with you again! You coward! You coward!’ Those were scraps of her conversation, ending in a sudden dreadful cry in the man’s voice, with a crash, and a piercing scream from the woman. Convinced that some tragedy had occurred, the coachman rushed to the door and strove to force it, while scream after scream issued from within. He was unable, however, to make his way in, and the maids were too distracted with fear to be of any assistance to him. A sudden thought struck him, however, and he ran through the hall door and round to the lawn upon which the long French windows open. One side of the window was open, which I understand was quite usual in the summer-time, and he passed without difficulty into the room. His mistress had ceased to scream and was stretched insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted over the side of an armchair, and his head upon the ground near the corner of the fender, was lying the unfortunate soldier stone dead in a pool of his own blood.
“点的茶十分钟后端了上来，但女仆走近房门时，惊讶地听到男女主人正在激烈争吵。她敲门无人应答，转动门把手才发现门已从里面反锁。她自然跑下楼告诉了厨娘，两个女人和车夫一起上楼到大厅倾听仍在持续的争执。他们都确认只听到两个人的声音，即巴克莱和他妻子的。巴克莱的话语低沉急促，听者一个字也听不清；而夫人的言辞则极为尖刻，提高嗓门时听得清清楚楚。‘你这个懦夫！’她反复喊道，‘现在该怎么办？现在该怎么办？把我的生活还给我！我再也不愿和你呼吸同一片空气了！懦夫！懦夫！’这就是她断断续续的话语，紧接着男人发出一声可怕的惨叫，伴随着重物倒地声和女人刺耳的尖叫。确信发生了惨剧，车夫冲向房门试图破门而入，屋内却传来阵阵尖叫。然而他无法进入，女仆们也吓得惊慌失措帮不上忙。他突然灵机一动，跑出大厅绕到法式长窗朝向的草坪上。窗户一侧开着——据说夏天常这样——他毫无困难地进了屋。女主人已停止尖叫，昏倒在沙发上；而不幸的上校双脚搭在扶手椅边，头枕在壁炉挡旁的地上，躺在自己的血泊中，早已气绝身亡。
“Naturally, the coachman’s first thought, on finding that he could do nothing for his master, was to open the door. But here an unexpected and singular difficulty presented itself. The key was not in the inner side of the door, nor could he find it anywhere in the room. He went out again, therefore, through the window, and having obtained the help of a policeman and of a medical man, he returned. The lady, against whom naturally the strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still in a state of insensibility. The Colonel’s body was then placed upon the sofa, and a careful examination made of the scene of the tragedy.
“车夫发现无力回天后，首先想到的自然是打开房门。但此时出现了一个意外而奇特的难题：钥匙不在门锁内侧，房间里也找不到。于是他再次从窗户出去，找来警察和医生后返回。嫌疑最大的女主人仍处于昏迷状态，被抬回了卧室。上校的尸体被安置在沙发上，现场经过了仔细勘查。
“The injury from which the unfortunate veteran was suffering was found to be a jagged cut some two inches long at the back part of his head, which had evidently been caused by a violent blow from a blunt weapon. Nor was it difficult to guess what that weapon may have been. Upon the floor, close to the body, was lying a singular club of hard carved wood with a bone handle. The Colonel possessed a varied collection of weapons brought from the different countries in which he had fought, and it is conjectured by the police that his club was among his trophies. The servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities in the house it is possible that it may have been overlooked. Nothing else of importance was discovered in the room by the police, save the inexplicable fact that neither upon Mrs. Barclay’s person nor upon that of the victim nor in any part of the room was the missing key to be found. The door had eventually to be opened by a locksmith from Aldershot.
“这位不幸老兵的致命伤是后脑勺上一道约两英寸长的锯齿状伤口，显然是遭钝器猛击所致。凶器也不难猜测：尸体旁的地板上躺着一根奇特的硬木雕花棍棒，带有骨质手柄。上校收藏了他在各征战地带回的各式武器，警方推测这根棍棒是他的战利品之一。仆人们否认以前见过它，但屋里奇珍异宝众多，也有可能被忽略了。警方在房内未发现其他重要线索，唯独那把失踪的钥匙令人费解——无论是在巴克莱夫人身上、死者身上还是房间任何角落都找不到。最终只得请奥尔德肖特的锁匠来开门。
“That was the state of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday morning I, at the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot to supplement the efforts of the police. I think that you will acknowledge that the problem was already one of interest, but my observations soon made me realize that it was in truth much more extraordinary than would at first sight appear.
“华生，周二上午应墨菲少校之邀前往奥尔德肖特协助警方时，情况就是如此。我想你会承认这案子本身已够有趣，但我的观察很快让我意识到，实际情况远比表面看起来更加离奇。
“Before examining the room I cross-questioned the servants, but only succeeded in eliciting the facts which I have already stated. One other detail of interest was remembered by Jane Stewart, the housemaid. You will remember that on hearing the sound of the quarrel she descended and returned with the other servants. On that first occasion, when she was alone, she says that the voices of her master and mistress were sunk so low that she could hear hardly anything, and judged by their tones rather than their words that they had fallen out. On my pressing her, however, she remembered that she heard the word ‘David’ uttered twice by the lady. The point is of the utmost importance as guiding us towards the reason of the sudden quarrel. The Colonel’s name, you remember, was James.
“检查房间前我先盘问了仆人，但只得到了前述事实。女仆简·斯图尔特想起了另一个有趣的细节。你还记得她听到争吵声后下楼又叫来其他仆人吧。她说第一次独自去时，男女主人的声音压得很低，几乎听不见内容，只能从语气判断他们在吵架。但在我的追问下，她想起听到夫人两次提到‘大卫’这个名字。这一点对查明突发争吵的原因至关重要。别忘了，上校的名字是詹姆斯。
“There was one thing in the case which had made the deepest impression both upon the servants and the police. This was the contortion of the Colonel’s face. It had set, according to their account, into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror which a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than one person fainted at the mere sight of him, so terrible was the effect. It was quite certain that he had foreseen his fate, and that it had caused him the utmost horror. This, of course, fitted in well enough with the police theory, if the Colonel could have seen his wife making a murderous attack upon him. Nor was the fact of the wound being on the back of his head a fatal objection to this, as he might have turned to avoid the blow. No information could be got from the lady herself, who was temporarily insane from an acute attack of brain-fever.
“案中最令仆人和警察印象深刻的一点是上校面部的扭曲表情。据他们描述，那张脸凝固着人类所能表现出的最可怕的恐惧与惊骇。不止一人看到他时被吓得昏厥，可见其恐怖程度。显然他预见到了自己的命运，并感到了极度的恐惧。当然，如果上校看到妻子向他发起致命攻击，这与警方的理论倒也吻合。伤口在后脑也不算致命反驳，因为他可能是转身躲避时挨的打。而夫人因急性脑炎发作暂时精神失常，无法提供任何信息。
“From the police I learned that Miss Morrison, who you remember went out that evening with Mrs. Barclay, denied having any knowledge of what it was which had caused the ill-humour in which her companion had returned.
“我从警方得知，莫里森小姐——就是那晚陪巴克莱夫人外出的那位——否认知道同伴为何带着坏情绪回家。
“Having gathered these facts, Watson, I smoked several pipes over them, trying to separate those which were crucial from others which were merely incidental. There could be no question that the most distinctive and suggestive point in the case was the singular disappearance of the door-key. A most careful search had failed to discover it in the room. Therefore it must have been taken from it. But neither the Colonel nor the Colonel’s wife could have taken it. That was perfectly clear. Therefore a third person must have entered the room. And that third person could only have come in through the window. It seemed to me that a careful examination of the room and the lawn might possibly reveal some traces of this mysterious individual. You know my methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did not apply to the inquiry. And it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones from those which I had expected. There had been a man in the room, and he had crossed the lawn coming from the road. I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his footmarks: one in the roadway itself, at the point where he had climbed the low wall, two on the lawn, and two very faint ones upon the stained boards near the window where he had entered. He had apparently rushed across the lawn, for his toe-marks were much deeper than his heels. But it was not the man who surprised me. It was his companion.”
“收集完这些事实后，华生，我抽了几斗烟细细琢磨，试图区分哪些是关键线索，哪些只是偶然细节。毫无疑问，本案最独特且最具启发性的疑点是房门钥匙的离奇失踪。彻底搜查也未在房内找到，说明肯定被人带走了。但上校夫妇都不可能拿走钥匙，这点毋庸置疑。因此必有第三人进入过房间，且只能是从窗户进来的。我觉得仔细检查房间和草坪或许能发现这个神秘人的踪迹。你知道我的方法，华生，所有手段我都用上了。结果确实发现了痕迹，但与我预期的截然不同。确实有个男人进过房间，并从大路穿过草坪而来。我提取到了五个清晰的脚印：一个在大路上他翻越矮墙处，两个在草坪上，还有两个在窗边染色的木板上非常模糊。他显然是冲过草坪的，因为脚尖印比脚跟深得多。但让我吃惊的不是这个人，而是他的同伴。”
“His companion!”
“他的同伴！”
Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue-paper out of his pocket and carefully unfolded it upon his knee.
福尔摩斯从口袋里掏出一大张薄纸，小心翼翼地在膝上展开。
“What do you make of that?” he asked.
“你觉得这是什么？”他问。
The paper was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some small animal. It had five well-marked footpads, an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert-spoon.
纸上描着某种小动物的足迹，有五个清晰的脚垫印和长爪痕，整个印记差不多有甜点匙那么大。
“It’s a dog,” said I.
“是狗，”我说。
“Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct traces that this creature had done so.”
“你听说过狗爬窗帘吗？我发现明确的痕迹表明这东西爬过窗帘。”
“A monkey, then?”
“那是猴子？”
“But it is not the print of a monkey.”
“但这不是猴子的脚印。”
“What can it be, then?”
“那到底是什么？”
“Neither dog nor cat nor monkey nor any creature that we are familiar with. I have tried to reconstruct it from the measurements. Here are four prints where the beast has been standing motionless. You see that it is no less than fifteen inches from fore-foot to hind. Add to that the length of neck and head, and you get a creature not much less than two feet long—probably more if there is any tail. But now observe this other measurement. The animal has been moving, and we have the length of its stride. In each case it is only about three inches. You have an indication, you see, of a long body with very short legs attached to it. It has not been considerate enough to leave any of its hair behind it. But its general shape must be what I have indicated, and it can run up a curtain, and it is carnivorous.”
“既不是狗、猫、猴子，也不是我们熟悉的任何动物。我试着根据测量数据还原它的形态。这四组印记是它静止站立时留下的，你看，从前爪到后爪足有十五英寸。加上脖子和头的长度，这动物身长接近两英尺——如果有尾巴可能更长。但再看这个数据：动物移动时的步幅仅约三英寸。由此可见，它身躯修长而四肢极短。它没留下毛发，但大致形状必如我所言，能爬窗帘，而且是食肉动物。”
“How do you deduce that?”
“你怎么推断出它是食肉的？”
“Because it ran up the curtain. A canary’s cage was hanging in the window, and its aim seems to have been to get at the bird.”
“因为它爬了窗帘。窗上挂着金丝雀笼，它的目标似乎是抓鸟。”
“Then what was the beast?”
“那究竟是什么野兽？”
“Ah, if I could give it a name it might go a long way towards solving the case. On the whole, it was probably some creature of the weasel and stoat tribe—and yet it is larger than any of these that I have seen.”
“唉，若能叫出它的名字，案子就解决大半了。总体而言，它可能是鼬科动物——但比我见过的任何一种都大。”
“But what had it to do with the crime?”
“但它跟犯罪有什么关系？”
“That, also, is still obscure. But we have learned a good deal, you perceive. We know that a man stood in the road looking at the quarrel between the Barclays—the blinds were up and the room lighted. We know, also, that he ran across the lawn, entered the room, accompanied by a strange animal, and that he either struck the Colonel or, as is equally possible, that the Colonel fell down from sheer fright at the sight of him, and cut his head on the corner of the fender. Finally, we have the curious fact that the intruder carried away the key with him when he left.”
“这点仍不清楚。但我们已掌握不少信息：有个男人站在大路上目睹了巴克莱夫妇的争吵——窗帘未拉，屋里亮着灯。我们还知道他带着那只奇怪动物跑过草坪闯入房间，要么是他袭击了上校，要么同样可能的是上校见到他被吓瘫倒地撞到了壁炉挡角上。最后还有个奇特事实：入侵者离开时带走了钥匙。”
“Your discoveries seem to have left the business more obscure that it was before,” said I.
“你的发现似乎让案子比以前更扑朔迷离了，”我说。
“Quite so. They undoubtedly showed that the affair was much deeper than was at first conjectured. I thought the matter over, and I came to the conclusion that I must approach the case from another aspect. But really, Watson, I am keeping you up, and I might just as well tell you all this on our way to Aldershot to-morrow.”
“确实如此。这些发现无疑表明此案远比最初推测的复杂。我反复思考后得出结论：必须换个角度切入。不过华生，害你熬夜了，这些事明天去奥尔德肖特路上再说也不迟。”
“Thank you, you have gone rather too far to stop.”
“谢谢，但你都说这么多了，不如说完吧。”
“It is quite certain that when Mrs. Barclay left the house at half-past seven she was on good terms with her husband. She was never, as I think I have said, ostentatiously affectionate, but she was heard by the coachman chatting with the Colonel in a friendly fashion. Now, it was equally certain that, immediately on her return, she had gone to the room in which she was least likely to see her husband, had flown to tea as an agitated woman will, and finally, on his coming in to her, had broken into violent recriminations. Therefore something had occurred between seven-thirty and nine o’clock which had completely altered her feelings towards him. But Miss Morrison had been with her during the whole of that hour and a half. It was absolutely certain, therefore, in spite of her denial, that she must know something of the matter.
“可以确定的是，巴克莱夫人七点半出门时与丈夫关系融洽。正如我所说，她从不刻意秀恩爱，但车夫听到她与上校友好交谈。同样确定的是，她一回家就躲进最不可能遇见丈夫的房间，像个激动的女人那样急着要茶喝，最后在丈夫进来时爆发了激烈的指责。因此，在七点半到九点之间必定发生了什么事，彻底改变了她对丈夫的感情。但那一个半小时里莫里森小姐一直陪着她。所以尽管她否认，但可以肯定她知道内情。
“My first conjecture was, that possibly there had been some passages between this young lady and the old soldier, which the former had now confessed to the wife. That would account for the angry return, and also for the girl’s denial that anything had occurred. Nor would it be entirely incompatible with most of the words overheard. But there was the reference to David, and there was the known affection of the Colonel for his wife, to weigh against it, to say nothing of the tragic intrusion of this other man, which might, of course, be entirely disconnected with what had gone before. It was not easy to pick one’s steps, but, on the whole, I was inclined to dismiss the idea that there had been anything between the Colonel and Miss Morrison, but more than ever convinced that the young lady held the clue as to what it was which had turned Mrs. Barclay to hatred of her husband. I took the obvious course, therefore, of calling upon Miss Morrison, of explaining to her that I was perfectly certain that she held the facts in her possession, and of assuring her that her friend, Mrs. Barclay, might find herself in the dock upon a capital charge unless the matter were cleared up.
“我最初的推测是，这位年轻女士可能与老军人有过节，并向妻子坦白了。这既能解释她为何愤怒归来，也能解释女孩为何否认出事，且与听到的大部分话语也不矛盾。但有‘大卫’这个称呼，又有上校对妻子众所周知的深情作为反证，更别提那个男人的悲剧性闯入——当然这可能与前事毫无关联。抉择不易，但总体上我倾向于排除上校与莫里森小姐有染的可能，反而愈发确信这位小姐掌握着巴克莱夫人转为憎恨丈夫的关键线索。于是我采取了最直接的办法：拜访莫里森小姐，向她表明我确信她知情，并警告她若不澄清事实，她的朋友巴克莱夫人可能会因重罪站上被告席。
“Miss Morrison is a little, ethereal slip of a girl, with timid eyes and blonde hair, but I found her by no means wanting in shrewdness and common sense. She sat thinking for some time after I had spoken, and then, turning to me with a brisk air of resolution, she broke into a remarkable statement which I will condense for your benefit.
“莫里森小姐是个娇小飘逸的女孩，眼神羞怯，金发碧眼，但我发现她绝不缺乏精明与常识。听完我的话后她沉思片刻，然后带着果断的神情转向我，做出了一番惊人的陈述，我为你简要概括一下。
“‘I promised my friend that I would say nothing of the matter, and a promise is a promise,’ said she; ‘but if I can really help her when so serious a charge is laid against her, and when her own mouth, poor darling, is closed by illness, then I think I am absolved from my promise. I will tell you exactly what happened upon Monday evening.
“‘我曾答应朋友对此事守口如瓶，承诺就是承诺，’她说，‘但如果在她面临如此严重指控、可怜的她又因病无法开口时我能真正帮到她，我想我可以免除誓言。我会告诉你周一晚上究竟发生了什么。
“‘We were returning from the Watt Street Mission about a quarter to nine o’clock. On our way we had to pass through Hudson Street, which is a very quiet thoroughfare. There is only one lamp in it, upon the left-hand side, and as we approached this lamp I saw a man coming towards us with his back very bent, and something like a box slung over one of his shoulders. He appeared to be deformed, for he carried his head low and walked with his knees bent. We were passing him when he raised his face to look at us in the circle of light thrown by the lamp, and as he did so he stopped and screamed out in a dreadful voice, “My God, it’s Nancy!” Mrs. Barclay turned as white as death, and would have fallen down had the dreadful-looking creature not caught hold of her. I was going to call for the police, but she, to my surprise, spoke quite civilly to the fellow.
“‘大约八点四十五分我们从瓦特街传教所返回，途经哈德逊街，那是条非常安静的街道。街上只有一盏路灯在左侧，当我们走近时，我看见一个男人迎面走来，背弯得厉害，肩上斜挎着类似箱子的东西。他似乎是个畸形人，低着头，膝盖弯曲地走路。擦肩而过时他在灯光下抬头看我们，随即停下脚步，用可怕的声音尖叫道：“天哪，是南希！”巴克莱夫人脸色煞白，若不是那个长相恐怖的家伙扶住她，她早就倒下了。我正想叫警察，没想到她却客气地对那人说话。
“‘“I thought you had been dead this thirty years, Henry,” said she, in a shaking voice.
“‘“我以为你死了三十年了，亨利，”她颤抖着说。
“‘“So I have,” said he, and it was awful to hear the tones that he said it in. He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in his eyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskers were shot with grey, and his face was all crinkled and puckered like a withered apple.
“‘“我是死了，”他说，那语调听起来真可怕。他面容黝黑可怖，眼中的光芒至今仍在我梦中闪现。头发胡须花白，满脸皱纹皱缩得像干瘪的苹果。
“‘“Just walk on a little way, dear,” said Mrs. Barclay; “I want to have a word with this man. There is nothing to be afraid of.” She tried to speak boldly, but she was still deadly pale and could hardly get her words out for the trembling of her lips.
“‘“亲爱的，你先往前走几步，”巴克莱夫人说，“我想跟这个人说句话，没什么好怕的。”她试图说得镇定，但仍面如死灰，嘴唇颤抖得几乎说不出话来。
“‘I did as she asked me, and they talked together for a few minutes. Then she came down the street with her eyes blazing, and I saw the crippled wretch standing by the lamp-post and shaking his clenched fists in the air as if he were mad with rage. She never said a word until we were at the door here, when she took me by the hand and begged me to tell no one what had happened.
“‘我照做了，他们谈了几分钟。然后她沿街走来，双眼冒火，我看见那个残疾可怜虫站在路灯下，在空中挥舞着紧握的拳头，仿佛气得发狂。直到我们走到家门口她才开口，拉着我的手恳求我不要告诉任何人刚才的事。
“‘“It’s an old acquaintance of mine who has come down in the world,” said she. When I promised her I would say nothing she kissed me, and I have never seen her since. I have told you now the whole truth, and if I withheld it from the police it is because I did not realize then the danger in which my dear friend stood. I know that it can only be to her advantage that everything should be known.’
“‘“是我的一个老相识，如今落魄了，”她说。我答应保密后她吻了我，此后我再没见过她。现在我已全盘托出，当初隐瞒警方是因为没意识到挚友处境如此危险。我知道坦白一切对她只有好处。’
“There was her statement, Watson, and to me, as you can imagine, it was like a light on a dark night. Everything which had been disconnected before began at once to assume its true place, and I had a shadowy presentiment of the whole sequence of events. My next step obviously was to find the man who had produced such a remarkable impression upon Mrs. Barclay. If he were still in Aldershot it should not be a very difficult matter. There are not such a very great number of civilians, and a deformed man was sure to have attracted attention. I spent a day in the search, and by evening—this very evening, Watson—I had run him down. The man’s name is Henry Wood, and he lives in lodgings in this same street in which the ladies met him. He has only been five days in the place. In the character of a registration-agent I had a most interesting gossip with his landlady. The man is by trade a conjurer and performer, going round the canteens after nightfall, and giving a little entertainment at each. He carries some creature about with him in that box; about which the landlady seemed to be in considerable trepidation, for she had never seen an animal like it. He uses it in some of his tricks according to her account. So much the woman was able to tell me, and also that it was a wonder the man lived, seeing how twisted he was, and that he spoke in a strange tongue sometimes, and that for the last two nights she had heard him groaning and weeping in his bedroom. He was all right, as far as money went, but in his deposit he had given her what looked like a bad florin. She showed it to me, Watson, and it was an Indian rupee.
“这就是她的证词，华生，你可以想象，这对我而言犹如暗夜明灯。先前零散的线索立刻各归其位，我对事件全貌有了隐约的预感。下一步显然是找到那个给巴克莱夫人留下深刻印象的男人。如果他还在奥尔德肖特，应该不难找。平民不多，一个畸形人肯定引人注目。我花了一天搜寻，到傍晚——就是今晚，华生——终于找到了他。此人叫亨利·伍德，就租住在两位女士遇见他的那条街上，才来五天。我冒充登记员跟他房东太太聊了一番，收获颇丰。这人靠变戏法和表演为生，天黑后在各食堂巡回演出。他箱子里装着某种生物，房东太太对此惶恐不安，因为从未见过那种动物。据她说他用它表演戏法。她还告诉我，看他扭曲成那样还能活着真是奇迹；他有时会说奇怪的语言；过去两晚她听见他在卧室里呻吟哭泣。钱方面倒没问题，只是押金里混了一枚看似假币的两先令硬币。她拿给我看，华生，那其实是一枚印度卢比。
“So now, my dear fellow, you see exactly how we stand and why it is I want you. It is perfectly plain that after the ladies parted from this man he followed them at a distance, that he saw the quarrel between husband and wife through the window, that he rushed in, and that the creature which he carried in his box got loose. That is all very certain. But he is the only person in this world who can tell us exactly what happened in that room.”
“所以现在，亲爱的朋友，你明白我们的处境和我需要你的原因了。很明显，两位女士与这人分开后，他远远尾随，透过窗户看到了夫妻争吵，于是冲了进去，箱子里的动物也跑了出来。这些都确凿无疑。但他是世上唯一能告诉我们房间里究竟发生了什么的人。”
“And you intend to ask him?”
“你打算去问他？”
“Most certainly—but in the presence of a witness.”
“当然——但要有证人在场。”
“And I am the witness?”
“我就是那个证人？”
“If you will be so good. If he can clear the matter up, well and good. If he refuses, we have no alternative but to apply for a warrant.”
“如果你愿意帮忙的话。若他能澄清事实最好；若拒绝，我们别无选择只能申请逮捕令。”
“But how do you know he’ll be there when we return?”
“但你怎么知道我们回去时他还在那儿？”
“You may be sure that I took some precautions. I have one of my Baker Street boys mounting guard over him who would stick to him like a burr, go where he might. We shall find him in Hudson Street to-morrow, Watson, and meanwhile I should be the criminal myself if I kept you out of bed any longer.”
“放心，我做了安排。我派了一个贝克街小分队的人盯着他，无论他去哪都会像牛蒡果一样粘着他。明天我们会在哈德逊街找到他，华生。要是再让你熬夜，我自己反倒成了罪人了。”
It was midday when we found ourselves at the scene of the tragedy, and, under my companion’s guidance, we made our way at once to Hudson Street. In spite of his capacity for concealing his emotions, I could easily see that Holmes was in a state of suppressed excitement, while I was myself tingling with that half-sporting, half-intellectual pleasure which I invariably experienced when I associated myself with him in his investigations.
中午时分我们抵达案发地，在同伴的指引下直奔哈德逊街。尽管福尔摩斯善于掩饰情绪，我还是轻易看出他压抑着兴奋；而我也感到那种半是冒险、半是智力游戏带来的快感，每次参与他的调查时总会体验到这种感觉。
“This is the street,” said he, as we turned into a short lined with plain two-storied brick houses. “Ah, here is Simpson to report.”
“就是这条街，”当我们转入一条两旁都是朴素两层砖房的短街时他说，“啊，辛普森来汇报了。”
“He’s in all right, Mr. Holmes,” cried a small street Arab, running up to us.
“他在里面，福尔摩斯先生，”一个小流浪儿跑过来喊道。
“Good, Simpson!” said Holmes, patting him on the head. “Come along, Watson. This is the house.” He sent in his card with a message that he had come on important business, and a moment later we were face to face with the man whom we had come to see. In spite of the warm weather he was crouching over a fire, and the little room was like an oven. The man sat all twisted and huddled in his chair in a way which gave an indescribable impression of deformity; but the face which he turned towards us, though worn and swarthy, must at some time have been remarkable for its beauty. He looked suspiciously at us now out of yellow-shot, bilious eyes, and, without speaking or rising, he waved towards two chairs.
“干得好，辛普森！”福尔摩斯拍拍他的头说，“走吧，华生，就是这栋房子。”他递进名片留言说有要事相商，片刻后我们就面对面见到了要找的人。尽管天气炎热，他却蜷缩在火炉旁，小屋热得像烤箱。这人扭曲地瘫坐在椅子上，给人一种难以形容的畸形感；但他转向我们的脸虽饱经风霜且肤色黝黑，年轻时想必十分俊美。此刻他用泛着黄斑的胆汁色眼睛狐疑地看着我们，既不说话也不起身，只是挥手示意我们坐下。
“Mr. Henry Wood, late of India, I believe,” said Holmes, affably. “I’ve come over this little matter of Colonel Barclay’s death.”
“亨利·伍德先生，刚从印度回来吧，”福尔摩斯和蔼地说，“我来是为了巴克莱上校之死这件小事。”
“What should I know about that?”
“这事跟我有什么关系？”
“That’s what I want to ascertain. You know, I suppose, that unless the matter is cleared up, Mrs. Barclay, who is an old friend of yours, will in all probability be tried for murder.”
“这正是我要查明的。我想你知道，除非真相大白，否则你的老友巴克莱夫人很可能因谋杀罪受审。”
The man gave a violent start.
那人猛地一震。
“I don’t know who you are,” he cried, “nor how you come to know what you do know, but will you swear that this is true that you tell me?”
“我不知道你是谁，”他叫道，“也不知道你怎么知道这些，但你能发誓你说的是真的吗？”
“Why, they are only waiting for her to come to her senses to arrest her.”
“他们只是在等她恢复神智就要逮捕她了。”
“My God! Are you in the police yourself?”
“天哪！你是警察吗？”
“No.”
“不是。”
“What business is it of yours, then?”
“那关你什么事？”
“It’s every man’s business to see justice done.”
“伸张正义人人有责。”
“You can take my word that she is innocent.”
“我可以向你保证她是无辜的。”
“Then you are guilty.”
“那就是你有罪。”
“No, I am not.”
“不，我没有。”
“Who killed Colonel James Barclay, then?”
“那是谁杀了詹姆斯·巴克莱上校？”
“It was a just providence that killed him. But, mind you this, that if I had knocked his brains out, as it was in my heart to do, he would have had no more than his due from my hands. If his own guilty conscience had not struck him down it is likely enough that I might have had his blood upon my soul. You want me to tell the story. Well, I don’t know why I shouldn’t, for there’s no cause for me to be ashamed of it.
“是公正的天意杀了他。但你要明白，就算我敲碎他的脑袋——我也确实想过这么做——他也只是罪有应得。若不是他自己的良心谴责击垮了他，我很可能手上沾了他的血。你想听故事？好吧，我没理由不讲，因为我没什么可羞愧的。
“It was in this way, sir. You see me now with my back like a camel and my ribs all awry, but there was a time when Corporal Henry Wood was the smartest man in the 117th Foot. We were in India then, in cantonments, at a place we’ll call Bhurtee. Barclay, who died the other day, was sergeant in the same company as myself, and the belle of the regiment, ay, and the finest girl that ever had the breath of life between her lips, was Nancy Devoy, the daughter of the colour-sergeant. There were two men that loved her, and one that she loved, and you’ll smile when you look at this poor thing huddled before the fire, and hear me say that it was for my good looks that she loved me.
“事情是这样的，先生。你看我现在驼背如骆驼、肋骨歪斜，但曾经亨利·伍徳下士可是第117步兵团最帅气的汉子。那时我们在印度驻防，在一个叫布尔蒂的地方。前几天去世的巴克莱当时和我同连任士官，而团里的之花——唉，也是世间最美的姑娘——就是掌旗士官的女儿南希·德沃伊。有两个男人爱她，而她只爱其中一个。看着眼前这个蜷缩在火堆前的可怜虫，你可能会笑，但我说她爱上我正是因为我的英俊相貌。
“Well, though I had her heart, her father was set upon her marrying Barclay. I was a harum-scarum, reckless lad, and he had had an education, and was already marked for the sword-belt. But the girl held true to me, and it seemed that I would have had her when the Mutiny broke out, and all hell was loosed in the country.
“虽然我赢得了她的芳心，但她父亲执意让她嫁给巴克莱。我是个鲁莽轻率的毛头小子，而巴克莱受过教育，已被列为军官候选人。但姑娘对我忠贞不渝，眼看我就要娶到她时，兵变爆发了，整个国家陷入了地狱般的混乱。
“We were shut up in Bhurtee, the regiment of us with half a battery of artillery, a company of Sikhs, and a lot of civilians and women-folk. There were ten thousand rebels round us, and they were as keen as a set of terriers round a rat-cage. About the second week of it our water gave out, and it was a question whether we could communicate with General Neill’s column, which was moving up country. It was our only chance, for we could not hope to fight our way out with all the women and children, so I volunteered to go out and to warn General Neill of our danger. My offer was accepted, and I talked it over with Sergeant Barclay, who was supposed to know the ground better than any other man, and who drew up a route by which I might get through the rebel lines. At ten o’clock the same night I started off upon my journey. There were a thousand lives to save, but it was of only one that I was thinking when I dropped over the wall that night.
“我们被困在布尔蒂，全团加上半个炮兵连、一个锡克连以及大批平民妇孺。一万名叛军包围了我们，像一群梗犬围着鼠笼般虎视眈眈。第二周左右水源耗尽，能否与正向内陆推进的尼尔将军纵队取得联系成了生死攸关的问题。这是我们唯一的生机，因为带着妇孺突围毫无希望，于是我自愿出城向尼尔将军报信。请求获批后，我与据说最熟悉地形的巴克莱士官商议，他为我规划了一条穿越叛军防线的路线。当晚十点我启程了。虽有千条性命待救，但翻墙那一刻我心里想的只有一个人。
“My way ran down a dried-up watercourse, which we hoped would screen me from the enemy’s sentries; but as I crept round the corner of it I walked right into six of them, who were crouching down in the dark waiting for me. In an instant I was stunned with a blow and bound hand and foot. But the real blow was to my heart and not to my head, for as I came to and listened to as much as I could understand of their talk, I heard enough to tell me that my comrade, the very man who had arranged the way that I was to take, had betrayed me by means of a native servant into the hands of the enemy.
“我沿着一条干涸的河道前进，本以为能避开敌军哨兵；但刚绕过拐角就撞上了六个蹲在暗处等我的敌人。一瞬间我被击昏并捆住了手脚。但真正的打击不在头上而在心上：当我苏醒过来听懂了他们的谈话后，我才明白是我的战友——正是那个为我规划路线的人——通过一个本地仆人出卖了我。
“Well, there’s no need for me to dwell on that part of it. You know now what James Barclay was capable of. Bhurtee was relieved by Neill next day, but the rebels took me away with them in their retreat, and it was many a long year before ever I saw a white face again. I was tortured and tried to get away, and was captured and tortured again. You can see for yourselves the state in which I was left. Some of them that fled into Nepaul took me with them, and then afterwards I was up past Darjeeling. The hill-folk up there murdered the rebels who had me, and I became their slave for a time until I escaped; but instead of going south I had to go north, until I found myself among the Afghans. There I wandered about for many a year, and at last came back to the Punjab, where I lived mostly among the natives and picked up a living by the conjuring tricks that I had learned. What use was it for me, a wretched cripple, to go back to England or to make myself known to my old comrades? Even my wish for revenge would not make me do that. I had rather that Nancy and my old pals should think of Harry Wood as having died with a straight back, than see him living and crawling with a stick like a chimpanzee. They never doubted that I was dead, and I meant that they never should. I heard that Barclay had married Nancy, and that he was rising rapidly in the regiment, but even that did not make me speak.
“罢了，这部分不必赘述。现在你们知道詹姆斯·巴克莱是什么货色了。次日尼尔将军解了布尔蒂之围，但叛军撤退时把我带走了，此后漫长岁月里我再未见过白人的面孔。我遭受酷刑，尝试逃跑，被抓回后又遭折磨。你们亲眼看到了我被摧残成什么样子。一些逃往尼泊尔的叛军带上了我，后来我又到了大吉岭以北。那里的山民杀了看守我的叛军，我一度沦为他们的奴隶直到逃脱；但我没能南下反而被迫北上，最终流落到阿富汗人中。在那里漂泊多年后我终于回到旁遮普，主要混迹于当地人中间，靠学来的戏法谋生。像我这样一个可怜的残废，回英国或向老战友表明身份有何意义？即便是复仇的欲望也不会驱使我那样做。我宁愿南希和老友们记忆中的哈里·伍德是个挺直腰杆死去的英雄，也不愿让他们看到他像黑猩猩一样拄着拐杖爬行。他们深信我已死，我也打算让他们永远这么认为。听说巴克莱娶了南希且在军中步步高升，即便如此我也未曾现身。
“But when one gets old one has a longing for home. For years I’ve been dreaming of the bright green fields and the hedges of England. At last I determined to see them before I died. I saved enough to bring me across, and then I came here where the soldiers are, for I know their ways and how to amuse them and so earn enough to keep me.”
“但人老了就会思乡。多年来我一直梦见英格兰翠绿的田野和树篱。最终我决定死前一定要回去看看。我攒够了路费渡海归来，然后来到这驻军之地，因为我了解士兵的习性，懂得如何逗乐他们从而赚取生活费。”
“Your narrative is most interesting,” said Sherlock Holmes. “I have already heard of your meeting with Mrs. Barclay, and your mutual recognition. You then, as I understand, followed her home and saw through the window an altercation between her husband and her, in which she doubtless cast his conduct to you in his teeth. Your own feelings overcame you, and you ran across the lawn and broke in upon them.”
“你的叙述非常精彩，”夏洛克·福尔摩斯说，“我已听闻你与巴克莱夫人相遇并互相认出对方的事。据我理解，你随后跟踪她回家，透过窗户看到她与丈夫争吵，她无疑当面痛斥了他对你的所作所为。你情绪失控，跑过草坪闯了进去。”
“I did, sir, and at the sight of me he looked as I have never seen a man look before, and over he went with his head on the fender. But he was dead before he fell. I read death on his face as plainly as I can read that text over the fire. The bare sight of me was like a bullet through his guilty heart.”
“是的，先生。看到我时他那副表情我从未在任何人脸上见过，接着他就一头栽倒在壁炉挡上。但他倒地前就已经死了。我在他脸上清楚地读出了死亡，就像读得出壁炉上方那段经文一样。仅仅看到我就如同子弹射穿了他罪恶的心脏。”
“And then?”
“然后呢？”
“Then Nancy fainted, and I caught up the key of the door from her hand, intending to unlock it and get help. But as I was doing it it seemed to me better to leave it alone and get away, for the thing might look black against me, and any way my secret would be out if I were taken. In my haste I thrust the key into my pocket, and dropped my stick while I was chasing Teddy, who had run up the curtain. When I got him into his box, from which he had slipped, I was off as fast as I could run.”
“然后南希晕倒了，我从她手中抓起钥匙本想开门求救。但转念一想觉得还是离开为好，因为现场对我很不利，而且一旦被抓秘密就会曝光。慌乱中我把钥匙塞进口袋，追赶爬上窗帘的特迪时掉了手杖。把它抓回箱子后，我便拼命逃走了。”
“Who’s Teddy?” asked Holmes.
“特迪是谁？”福尔摩斯问。
The man leaned over and pulled up the front of a kind of hutch in the corner. In an instant out there slipped a beautiful reddish-brown creature, thin and lithe, with the legs of a stoat, a long, thin nose, and a pair of the finest red eyes that ever I saw in an animal’s head.
那人探身拉开角落里一个笼子的前板。刹那间滑出一只美丽的红褐色小动物，身形纤细灵活，腿似白鼬，鼻细长，还有一双我见过的动物中最漂亮的红眼睛。
“It’s a mongoose,” I cried.
“是獴！”我叫道。
“Well, some call them that, and some call them ichneumon,” said the man. “Snake-catcher is what I call them, and Teddy is amazing quick on cobras. I have one here without the fangs, and Teddy catches it every night to please the folk in the canteen.
“有人这么叫，也有人叫它埃及獴，”那人说，“我管它叫捕蛇者，特迪抓眼镜蛇快得惊人。我这有条拔了毒牙的蛇，特迪每晚表演捕蛇来取悦食堂的观众。
“Any other point, sir?”
“还有其他问题吗，先生？”
“Well, we may have to apply to you again if Mrs. Barclay should prove to be in serious trouble.”
“如果巴克莱夫人真的陷入严重麻烦，我们可能还得找你。”
“In that case, of course, I’d come forward.”
“那样的话我当然会站出来。”
“But if not, there is no object in raking up this scandal against a dead man, foully as he has acted. You have at least the satisfaction of knowing that for thirty years of his life his conscience bitterly reproached him for this wicked deed. Ah, there goes Major Murphy on the other side of the street. Good-by, Wood. I want to learn if anything has happened since yesterday.”
“但若没事，就没必要翻一个死人的旧账了，尽管他行为卑劣。至少你可以欣慰地知道，三十年来他的良心一直在为这桩恶行备受煎熬。啊，墨菲少校在街对面走过。再见，伍德，我去打听下昨天之后有没有新进展。”
We were in time to overtake the major before he reached the corner.
我们及时在拐角处追上了少校。
“Ah, Holmes,” he said: “I suppose you have heard that all this fuss has come to nothing?”
“啊，福尔摩斯，”他说，“我想你已经听说这场风波不了了之了吧？”
“What then?”
“怎么了？”
“The inquest is just over. The medical evidence showed conclusively that death was due to apoplexy. You see it was quite a simple case after all.”
“验尸刚结束。医学证据确凿显示死因是中风。你看，归根结底这只是个简单的案子。”
“Oh, remarkably superficial,” said Holmes, smiling. “Come, Watson, I don’t think we shall be wanted in Aldershot any more.”
“哦，真是肤浅得惊人，”福尔摩斯笑着说，“走吧，华生，看来奥尔德肖特不再需要我们了。”
“There’s one thing,” said I, as we walked down to the station. “If the husband’s name was James, and the other was Henry, what was this talk about David?”
“有一件事，”走向车站时我说，“既然丈夫叫詹姆斯，另一个叫亨利，那提到的‘大卫’又是怎么回事？”
“That one word, my dear Watson, should have told me the whole story had I been the ideal reasoner which you are so fond of depicting. It was evidently a term of reproach.”
“亲爱的华生，如果我真像你笔下描绘的那样是个完美的推理者，这一个词就该让我洞悉全貌了。这显然是个责备性的称呼。”
“Of reproach?”
“责备？”
“Yes; David strayed a little occasionally, you know, and on one occasion in the same direction as Sergeant James Barclay. You remember the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba? My biblical knowledge is a trifle rusty, I fear, but you will find the story in the first or second of Samuel.”
“是的；你知道大卫王偶尔也会犯错，其中一次犯的错跟詹姆斯·巴克莱士官如出一辙。还记得乌利亚和拔示巴的故事吗？恐怕我的圣经知识有点生疏了，但你可以在《撒母耳记》上卷或下卷中找到这个故事。”
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