5.The “Gloria Scott” “格洛里亚斯科特号”三桅帆船案
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / 福尔摩斯回忆录
《福尔摩斯回忆录》
“I have some papers here,” said my friend Sherlock Holmes, as we sat one winter’s night on either side of the fire, “which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over.
“我这儿有些文件，”我的朋友夏洛克·福尔摩斯说道，那是一个冬夜，我们俩坐在壁炉两旁，“华生，我觉得你真该抽空看看这些。”
These are the documents in the extraordinary case of the Gloria Scott, and this is the message which struck Justice of the Peace Trevor dead with horror when he read it.”
这是离奇的‘格洛里亚斯科特号’案件的相关文件，而这张纸条上的信息，曾让治安官特雷弗读后惊恐万分，当场毙命。”
He had picked from a drawer a little tarnished cylinder, and, undoing the tape, he handed me a short note scrawled upon a half-sheet of slate-grey paper.
他从抽屉里取出一个略显陈旧的小圆筒，解开绑带，递给我一张写在半张灰蓝色纸上的潦草便条。
“The supply of game for London is going steadily up,” it ran. “Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant’s life.”
上面写着：“伦敦野味供应正稳步上升。我们相信，猎场看守人赫德森现已接到指示，接受所有关于捕蝇纸和保全您雌雉鸡生命的订单。”
As I glanced up from reading this enigmatical message, I saw Holmes chuckling at the expression upon my face.
当我读完这则晦涩难懂的信息抬起头时，看见福尔摩斯正对着我脸上的表情暗自窃笑。
“You look a little bewildered,” said he.
“你看起来有点困惑啊，”他说。
“I cannot see how such a message as this could inspire horror. It seems to me to be rather grotesque than otherwise.”
“我不明白这样一条信息怎么能把人吓死。在我看来，它与其说可怕，不如说荒唐可笑。”
“Very likely. Yet the fact remains that the reader, who was a fine, robust old man, was knocked clean down by it as if it had been the butt end of a pistol.”
“很有可能。但事实是，那位读者本是个健壮的老绅士，却被这条信息像被手枪托猛击了一样彻底击垮了。”
“You arouse my curiosity,” said I. “But why did you say just now that there were very particular reasons why I should study this case?”
“你勾起了我的好奇心，”我说，“但你刚才为什么说我有特别理由应该研究这个案子呢？”
“Because it was the first in which I was ever engaged.”
“因为这是我经手的第一个案子。”
I had often endeavoured to elicit from my companion what had first turned his mind in the direction of criminal research, but had never caught him before in a communicative humour.
我曾多次试图从同伴口中套出是什么最初让他转向犯罪研究，但以前从未赶上他如此健谈的时候。
Now he sat forward in this armchair and spread out the documents upon his knees. Then he lit his pipe and sat for some time smoking and turning them over.
此刻，他在扶手椅上身子前倾，把文件摊在膝上，然后点燃烟斗，坐在那里一边抽烟一边翻阅着它们。
“You never heard me talk of Victor Trevor?” he asked. “He was the only friend I made during the two years I was at college.
“你从没听我提起过维克多·特雷弗吧？”他问，“他是我在大学两年期间结交的唯一朋友。”
I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson, always rather fond of moping in my rooms and working out my own little methods of thought, so that I never mixed much with the men of my year.
华生，我向来不爱社交，总是喜欢独自闷在房间里琢磨自己那套思维方法，所以很少和同级同学来往。
Bar fencing and boxing I had few athletic tastes, and then my line of study was quite distinct from that of the other fellows, so that we had no points of contact at all.
除了击剑和拳击，我对体育运动没什么兴趣，而且我的研究方向与其他人截然不同，所以我们完全没有共同话题。
Trevor was the only man I knew, and that only through the accident of his bull terrier freezing on to my ankle one morning as I went down to chapel.
特雷弗是我唯一认识的人，而那也只是因为一天早上我去礼拜堂时，他的牛头梗意外地死死咬住了我的脚踝。
“It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship, but it was effective.
“这种建立友谊的方式虽然平淡无奇，却很有效。
I was laid by the heels for ten days, but Trevor used to come in to inquire after me.
我被困在床上整整十天，但特雷弗常来看望我。
At first it was only a minute’s chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the term we were close friends.
起初只是聊上一分钟，很快他的探访时间变长了，学期结束前我们已经成了密友。
He was a hearty, full-blooded fellow, full of spirits and energy, the very opposite to me in most respects, but we had some subjects in common, and it was a bond of union when I found that he was as friendless as I.
他是个精力充沛、热情洋溢的小伙子，在大多数方面都与我截然相反，但我们有一些共同的兴趣；而且当我发现他也和我一样没有朋友时，这便成了联结我们的纽带。
Finally, he invited me down to his father’s place at Donnithorpe, in Norfolk, and I accepted his hospitality for a month of the long vacation.
最后，他邀请我去诺福克郡唐尼索普他父亲的庄园做客，我便接受了这份好意，在那里度过了长假的一个月。
“Old Trevor was evidently a man of some wealth and consideration, a J.P. and a landed proprietor.
“老特雷弗显然是个颇有财富和地位的人，既是治安官又是地主。
Donnithorpe is a little hamlet just to the north of Langmere, in the country of the Broads.
唐尼索普是朗米尔北面的一个小村庄，位于布罗德地区。
The house was an old-fashioned, wide-spread, oak-beamed brick building, with a fine lime-lined avenue leading up to it.
那是一座老式的、宽敞的橡木梁砖房，一条漂亮的菩提树大道直通门前。
There was excellent wild-duck shooting in the fens, remarkably good fishing, a small but select library, taken over, as I understood, from a former occupant, and a tolerable cook, so that he would be a fastidious man who could not put in a pleasant month there.
沼泽地里打野鸭是一绝，钓鱼也极佳，还有一个虽小却精选的藏书室（据我所知是从前任房客手中继承的），加上还算不错的厨师，因此除非是极其挑剔的人，否则不可能在那里度过不愉快的一个月。
“Trevor senior was a widower, and my friend his only son.
“老特雷弗是个鳏夫，我的朋友是他唯一的儿子。
“There had been a daughter, I heard, but she had died of diphtheria while on a visit to Birmingham.
我听说他还有个女儿，但在去伯明翰探亲时死于白喉。
The father interested me extremely. He was a man of little culture, but with a considerable amount of rude strength, both physically and mentally.
这位父亲让我极感兴趣。他没受过多少教育，但无论身体还是精神上都有一股粗犷的力量。
He knew hardly any books, but he had travelled far, had seen much of the world. And had remembered all that he had learned.
他几乎没读过什么书，但游历甚广，见多识广，并且记住了所学的一切。
In person he was a thick-set, burly man with a shock of grizzled hair, a brown, weather-beaten face, and blue eyes which were keen to the verge of fierceness.
他身材敦实魁梧，一头蓬乱的花白头发，面容黝黑且饱经风霜，一双蓝眼睛锐利得近乎凶猛。
Yet he had a reputation for kindness and charity on the country-side, and was noted for the leniency of his sentences from the bench.
然而他在乡间以仁慈慷慨著称，在法庭上判刑也以宽大闻名。
“One evening, shortly after my arrival, we were sitting over a glass of port after dinner, when young Trevor began to talk about those habits of observation and inference which I had already formed into a system, although I had not yet appreciated the part which they were to play in my life.
“一天晚上，在我到达后不久，我们饭后坐着喝波特酒，小特雷弗开始谈论我已经系统化的观察与推理习惯，尽管那时我还没意识到它们将在我的生命中扮演何种角色。
The old man evidently thought that his son was exaggerating in his description of one or two trivial feats which I had performed.
老人显然认为他儿子对我那一两件微不足道的小把戏的描述有些夸大其词。
“‘Come, now, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, laughing good-humoredly. ‘I’m an excellent subject, if you can deduce anything from me.’
“‘来吧，福尔摩斯先生，’他和善地笑着说，‘我是个绝佳的试验对象，看看你能从我身上推断出什么。’
“‘I fear there is not very much,’ I answered; ‘I might suggest that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack within the last twelve months.’
“‘恐怕不多，’我答道，‘不过我可以推测，在过去十二个月里，您一直担心遭受人身攻击。’
“The laugh faded from his lips, and he stared at me in great surprise.
笑容从他唇边消失了，他惊讶地盯着我。
“‘Well, that’s true enough,’ said he. ‘You know, Victor,’ turning to his son, ‘when we broke up that poaching gang, they swore to knife us, and Sir Edward Holly has actually been attacked. I’ve always been on my guard since then, though I have no idea how you know it.’
“‘嗯，这倒是真的，’他说，‘你知道吗，维克多，’他转向儿子，‘当我们捣毁那个偷猎团伙时，他们发誓要用刀捅我们，爱德华·霍利爵士确实遭到了袭击。从那以后我一直保持警惕，但我不知道你是怎么知道的。’
“‘You have a very handsome stick,’ I answered. ‘By the inscription I observed that you had not had it more than a year. But you have taken some pains to bore the head of it and pour melted lead into the hole so as to make it a formidable weapon. I argued that you would not take such precautions unless you had some danger to fear.’
“‘您的手杖很漂亮，’我回答，‘从刻字上看，这根手杖您用了不到一年。但您费心在杖头钻孔并灌入熔铅，把它变成了一件可怕的武器。我据此推断，若非感到危险，您不会采取这种预防措施。’
“‘Anything else? ’ he asked, smiling.
“‘还有吗？’他笑着问。
“‘You have boxed a good deal in your youth. ’
“‘您年轻时经常打拳击。’
“‘Right again. How did you know it? Is my nose knocked a little out of the straight? ’
“‘又对了。你怎么知道的？是我的鼻子被打歪了一点吗？’
“‘No,’ said I. ‘It is your ears. They have the peculiar flattening and thickening which marks the boxing man.’
“‘不，’我说，‘是您的耳朵。它们有拳击手特有的扁平增厚痕迹。’
“‘Anything else? ’
“‘还有吗？’
“‘You have done a good deal of digging by your callosities. ’
“‘从手上的老茧看，您干过不少挖掘工作。’
“‘Made all my money at the gold fields. ’
“‘我的钱都是在金矿赚的。’
“‘You have been in New Zealand. ’
“‘您去过新西兰。’
“‘Right again. ’
“‘又对了。’
“‘You have visited Japan. ’
“‘您到过日本。’
“‘Quite true. ’
“‘完全正确。’
“‘And you have been most intimately associated with some one whose initials were J. A. , and whom you afterwards were eager to entirely forget. ’
“‘而且您曾与一位姓名缩写为J.A.的人关系极为密切，后来却急于将其彻底遗忘。’
“Mr. Trevor stood slowly up, fixed his large blue eyes upon me with a strange wild stare, and then pitched forward, with his face among the nutshells which strewed the cloth, in a dead faint.
特雷弗先生缓缓站起身，用那双蓝色的大眼睛狂野而怪异地盯着我，随即一头栽倒在铺满坚果壳的桌布上，昏死了过去。
“You can imagine, Watson, how shocked both his son and I were. His attack did not last long, however, for when we undid his collar, and sprinkled the water from one of the finger-glasses over his face, he gave a gasp or two and sat up.
“你可以想象，华生，我和他儿子当时有多震惊。不过他的发作并没有持续太久，因为我们解开他的衣领，用手指杯里的水洒在他脸上后，他喘了一两口气就坐了起来。
“‘Ah, boys,’ said he, forcing a smile, ‘I hope I haven’t frightened you. Strong as I look, there is a weak place in my heart, and it does not take much to knock me over.
“‘唉，孩子们，’他强颜欢笑道，‘希望没吓到你们。别看我外表强壮，心脏却有毛病，一点小事就能把我击倒。’
I don’t know how you manage this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands. That’s your line of life, sir, and you may take the word of a man who has seen something of the world.’
我不知道你是怎么做到的，福尔摩斯先生，但在我看来，无论是现实还是小说中的侦探，在你面前都只是孩子。先生，这就是你的人生道路，请相信我这个见过世面的人的话。’
“And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my ability with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me, Watson, the very first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby.
“如果你相信我的话，华生，正是这番推荐，加上他对我能力的过高评价，第一次让我觉得，迄今为止纯粹是爱好的事情或许可以成为一种职业。
At the moment, however, I was too much concerned at the sudden illness of my host to think of anything else.
然而在当时，我太担心主人的突发疾病，无暇顾及其他。
“‘I hope that I have said nothing to pain you? ’ said I.
“‘希望我说的话没有让您痛苦？’我说。
“‘Well, you certainly touched upon rather a tender point. Might I ask how you know, and how much you know? ’ He spoke now in a half-jesting fashion, but a look of terror still lurked at the back of his eyes.
“‘好吧，你确实触及了一个相当敏感的话题。能否请问你是如何知道的，又知道多少？’他现在说话带着半开玩笑的口吻，但眼神深处仍藏着恐惧。
“‘It is simplicity itself,’ said I. ‘When you bared your arm to draw that fish into the boat I saw that J. A. had been tattooed in the bend of the elbow.
“‘这本身很简单，’我说，‘当您卷起袖子把鱼拉进船里时，我看到J.A.这两个字母纹在您肘弯处。’
The letters were still legible, but it was perfectly clear from their blurred appearance, and from the staining of the skin round them, that efforts had been made to obliterate them.
字母虽仍可辨认，但从模糊的外观及周围皮肤的污渍来看，显然曾试图将其抹去。
It was obvious, then, that those initials had once been very familiar to you, and that you had afterwards wished to forget them.’
因此很明显，这些缩写曾经对您非常熟悉，而后来您希望忘掉它们。’
“What an eye you have!” he cried, with a sigh of relief. ‘It is just as you say. But we won’t talk of it. Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old lovers are the worst. Come into the billiard-room and have a quiet cigar.’
“你的眼力真好！”他松了口气喊道，‘正如你所说。但我们不谈这个了。在所有鬼魂中，旧情人的鬼魂最可怕。来台球室安静地抽根雪茄吧。’
“From that day, amid all his cordiality, there was always a touch of suspicion in Mr. Trevor’s manner towards me. Even his son remarked it.
“从那天起，尽管特雷弗先生依然热情待客，但他对我的态度总带着一丝疑虑。连他儿子也注意到了这一点。
‘You’ve given the governor such a turn,’ said he, ‘that he’ll never be sure again of what you know and what you don’t know.’
‘你把老爷子吓得不轻，’他说，‘他再也搞不清你到底知道些什么、不知道些什么了。’
He did not mean to show it, I am sure, but it was so strongly in his mind that it peeped out at every action.
我相信他并非有意流露，但这念头在他脑海中太过强烈，以至于在每个举动中都隐约显现出来。
At last I became so convinced that I was causing him uneasiness that I drew my visit to a close.
最后，我确信自己的存在让他不安，便结束了这次拜访。
On the very day, however, before I left, an incident occurred which proved in the sequel to be of importance.
然而就在我离开的那天，发生了一件事，事后证明此事至关重要。
“We were sitting out upon the lawn on garden chairs, the three of us, basking in the sun and admiring the view across the Broads, when a maid came out to say that there was a man at the door who wanted to see Mr. Trevor.
“我们三人坐在草坪上的花园椅里晒太阳，欣赏着布罗德地区的景色，这时一名女仆出来说门口有个男人要见特雷弗先生。
“‘What is his name? ’ asked my host.
“‘他叫什么名字？’主人问道。
“‘He would not give any. ’
“‘他不肯说。’
“‘What does he want, then? ’
“‘那他想要干什么？’
“‘He says that you know him, and that he only wants a moment’s conversation. ’
“‘他说您认识他，只想跟您谈一会儿。’
“‘Show him round here. ’ An instant afterwards there appeared a little wizened fellow with a cringing manner and a shambling style of walking.
“‘把他带到这儿来。’片刻之后，出现了一个干瘦的小个子，举止卑躬屈膝，走路拖拖拉拉。
He wore an open jacket, with a splotch of tar on the sleeve, a red-and-black check shirt, dungaree trousers, and heavy boots badly worn.
他穿着一件敞开的外套，袖子上沾着一块焦油，红黑格子衬衫，工装裤，还有一双磨损严重的笨重靴子。
His face was thin and brown and crafty, with a perpetual smile upon it, which showed an irregular line of yellow teeth, and his crinkled hands were half closed in a way that is distinctive of sailors.
他面容消瘦、肤色黝黑且狡猾，脸上挂着永恒的笑容，露出一排参差不齐的黄牙，皱巴巴的双手半握着，这是水手特有的姿态。
As he came slouching across the lawn I heard Mr. Trevor make a sort of hiccoughing noise in his throat, and jumping out of his chair, he ran into the house.
当他拖着脚步穿过草坪走来时，我听见特雷弗先生喉咙里发出一种类似打嗝的声音，随即从椅子上跳起来跑进了屋里。
He was back in a moment, and I smelt a strong reek of brandy as he passed me.
他很快就回来了，经过我身边时，我闻到一股浓烈的白兰地酒味。
“‘Well, my man,’ said he, ‘what can I do for you?’
“‘喂，伙计，’他说，‘找我有什么事？’
“The sailor stood looking at him with puckered eyes, and with the same loose-lipped smile upon his face.
水手眯着眼睛看着他，脸上依旧挂着那种松弛的微笑。
“‘You don’t know me? ’ he asked.
“‘您不认识我了？’他问。
“‘Why, dear me, it is surely Hudson,’ said Mr. Trevor in a tone of surprise.
“‘哎呀，天哪，肯定是赫德森吧，’特雷弗先生惊讶地说。
“‘Hudson it is, sir,’ said the seaman. ‘Why, it’s thirty year and more since I saw you last. Here you are in your house, and me still picking my salt meat out of the harness cask.’
“‘正是赫德森，老爷，’水手说，‘哎呀，距离上次见您已有三十多年了。您住在豪宅里，而我还在从马具桶里捞咸肉吃呢。’
“‘Tut, you will find that I have not forgotten old times,’ cried Mr. Trevor, and, walking towards the sailor, he said something in a low voice.
“‘啧，你会发现我没忘记旧时光，’特雷弗先生大声说，然后走向水手，低声说了些什么。
‘Go into the kitchen,’ he continued out loud, ‘and you will get food and drink. I have no doubt that I shall find you a situation.’
‘去厨房吧，’他接着大声说，‘你会得到吃喝的。我相信能给你找个差事。’
“‘Thank you, sir,’ said the seaman, touching his forelock. ‘I’m just off a two-yearer in an eight-knot tramp, short-handed at that, and I wants a rest. I thought I’d get it either with Mr. Beddoes or with you.’
“‘谢谢您，老爷，’水手摸了摸额发说道，‘我刚结束在一艘八节航速的货船上两年的航行，而且人手不足，我想休息一下。我想要么去找贝多斯先生，要么来找您。’
“‘Ah! ’ cried Trevor. ‘You know where Mr. Beddoes is?’
“‘啊！’特雷弗喊道，‘你知道贝多斯先生在哪里？’
“‘Bless you, sir, I know where all my old friends are,’ said the fellow with a sinister smile, and he slouched off after the maid to the kitchen.
“‘上帝保佑您，老爷，我知道所有老朋友的下落，’那人阴险地笑着说，然后拖着步子跟着女仆去了厨房。
Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was going back to the diggings, and then, leaving us on the lawn, he went indoors.
特雷弗先生向我们嘟囔了几句，说这人是他回矿区时的船友，然后把我们留在草坪上，自己进了屋。
An hour later, when we entered the house, we found him stretched dead drunk upon the dining-room sofa.
一小时后，当我们进屋时，发现他烂醉如泥地躺在餐厅沙发上。
The whole incident left a most ugly impression upon my mind, and I was not sorry next day to leave Donnithorpe behind me, for I felt that my presence must be a source of embarrassment to my friend.
整个事件给我留下了极坏的印象，第二天离开唐尼索普时我并不遗憾，因为我觉得我的存在肯定会让朋友感到尴尬。
“All this occurred during the first month of the long vacation. I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks working out a few experiments in organic chemistry.
“这一切都发生在长假的第一个月。我回到伦敦的住所，花了七周时间做了一些有机化学实验。
One day, however, when the autumn was far advanced and the vacation drawing to a close, I received a telegram from my friend imploring me to return to Donnithorpe, and saying that he was in great need of my advice and assistance.
然而有一天，深秋时节，假期即将结束时，我收到朋友的电报，恳求我返回唐尼索普，说他急需我的建议和帮助。
Of course I dropped everything and set out for the North once more.
我当然放下一切，再次启程前往北方。
“He met me with the dog-cart at the station, and I saw at a glance that the last two months had been very trying ones for him. He had grown thin and careworn, and had lost the loud, cheery manner for which he had been remarkable.
“他驾着双轮马车在车站接我，我一眼就看出过去两个月对他来说非常难熬。他变得消瘦憔悴，失去了往日那种高声谈笑、快活爽朗的神态。
“‘The governor is dying,’ were the first words he said.
“‘老爷子快不行了，’这是他说的第一句话。
“‘Impossible! ’ I cried. ‘What is the matter?’
“‘不可能！’我喊道，‘怎么回事？’
“‘Apoplexy. Nervous shock, He’s been on the verge all day. I doubt if we shall find him alive. ’
“‘中风了。神经受到冲击，他一整天都处于弥留之际。恐怕我们赶到时他已经去世了。’
“I was, as you may think, Watson, horrified at this unexpected news.
“你可以想象，华生，听到这个意外的消息我有多么震惊。
“‘What has caused it? ’ I asked.
“‘是什么原因造成的？’我问。
“‘Ah, that is the point. Jump in and we can talk it over while we drive. You remember that fellow who came upon the evening before you left us? ’
“‘唉，问题就在这里。上车吧，我们可以边赶路边谈。你还记得你离开前一晚来的那个人吗？’
“‘Perfectly. ’
“‘记得很清楚。’
“‘Do you know who it was that we let into the house that day? ’
“‘你知道那天我们放进屋里的是谁吗？’
“‘I have no idea. ’
“‘我毫无头绪。’
“‘It was the devil, Holmes,’ he cried.
“‘那是魔鬼，福尔摩斯，’他喊道。
“I stared at him in astonishment.
我惊讶地盯着他。
“‘Yes, it was the devil himself. We have not had a peaceful hour since—not one. The governor has never held up his head from that evening, and now the life has been crushed out of him and his heart broken, all through this accursed Hudson. ’
“‘是的，就是魔鬼本人。从那以后我们没有一刻安宁——一刻也没有。老爷子从那天晚上起就再也没抬起头来，如今他被折磨得生机断绝、心碎而死，全是因为这个该死的赫德森。’
“‘What power had he, then? ’
“‘那他究竟有什么把柄？’
“‘Ah, that is what I would give so much to know. The kindly, charitable, good old governor—how could he have fallen into the clutches of such a ruffian!
“‘唉，要是能知道这个，我愿意付出一切代价。善良、慈善的好老爷子——怎么会落入这样一个恶棍的魔掌！’
But I am so glad that you have come, Holmes. I trust very much to your judgment and discretion, and I know that you will advise me for the best. ’
不过我很高兴你来了，福尔摩斯。我非常信赖你的判断力和谨慎，我知道你会给我最好的建议。’
“We were dashing along the smooth white country road, with the long stretch of the Broads in front of us glimmering in the red light of the setting sun. From a grove upon our left I could already see the high chimney and the flag-staff which marked the squire’s dwelling.
“我们沿着平坦白色的乡间小路疾驰，前方绵延的布罗德湿地在夕阳的红光中闪烁。从左边的小树林里，我已经能看到标志着乡绅宅邸的高烟囱和旗杆。
“‘My father made the fellow gardener,’ said my companion, ‘and then, as that did not satisfy him, he was promoted to be butler.
“‘我父亲让这家伙当了园丁，’同伴说，‘后来因为他不满足，又被提拔为管家。’
The house seemed to be at his mercy, and he wandered about and did what he chose in it. The maids complained of his drunken habits and his vile language.
房子似乎任由他摆布，他在里面随意游荡、为所欲为。女仆们抱怨他酗酒成性、言语下流。
The dad raised their wages all round to recompense them for the annoyance. The fellow would take the boat and my father’s best gun and treat himself to little shooting trips.
父亲给所有人涨了工资以补偿她们受到的骚扰。这家伙还会擅自划船、拿走父亲最好的枪去打猎消遣。
And all this with such a sneering, leering, insolent face that I would have knocked him down twenty times over if he had been a man of my own age.
而且他总是摆出一副讥讽、猥琐、傲慢的面孔，如果他是同龄人，我早就把他打翻二十次了。
I tell you, Holmes, I have had to keep a tight hold upon myself all this time; and now I am asking myself whether, if I had let myself go a little more, I might not have been a wiser man.
告诉你，福尔摩斯，这段时间我一直极力克制自己；现在我在想，如果我当初稍微放纵一下脾气，会不会反而更明智些。
“‘Well, matters went from bad to worse with us, and this animal Hudson became more and more intrusive, until at last, on making some insolent reply to my father in my presence one day, I took him by the shoulders and turned him out of the room.
“‘唉，我们的情况越来越糟，这个畜生赫德森也越来越放肆，直到有一天，他当着我的面对我父亲出言不逊，我终于抓住他的肩膀把他赶出了房间。
He slunk away with a livid face and two venomous eyes which uttered more threats than his tongue could do.
他脸色铁青地溜走了，那双恶毒的眼睛比嘴巴发出的威胁还要多。
I don’t know what passed between the poor dad and him after that, but the dad came to me next day and asked me whether I would mind apologising to Hudson.
我不知道此后可怜的父亲和他之间发生了什么，但第二天父亲来找我，问我是否介意向赫德森道歉。
I refused, as you can imagine, and asked my father how he could allow such a wretch to take such liberties with himself and his household.
你可以想象，我拒绝了，并质问父亲怎能允许这样一个无赖对自己和家人如此放肆。
“‘“Ah, my boy,” said he, “it is all very well to talk, but you don’t know how I am placed. But you shall know, Victor. I’ll see that you shall know, come what may. You wouldn’t believe harm of your poor old father, would you, lad?”
“‘“唉，孩子，”他说，“说起来容易，可你不知道我的处境。但你会知道的，维克多。无论如何我都会让你知道。你不会把你可怜的老父亲往坏处想吧，孩子？”
He was very much moved, and shut himself up in the study all day, where I could see through the window that he was writing busily.
他情绪非常激动，把自己关在书房里一整天，透过窗户我能看到他一直在忙着写东西。
“‘That evening there came what seemed to me to be a grand release, for Hudson told us that he was going to leave us. He walked into the dining-room as we sat after dinner, and announced his intention in the thick voice of a half-drunken man.
“‘那天晚上，对我来说仿佛是一种巨大的解脱，因为赫德森告诉我们他要离开了。晚饭后我们坐着时，他走进餐厅，用半醉的沙哑嗓音宣布了他的打算。
“‘“I’ve had enough of Norfolk,” said he. “I’ll run down to Mr. Beddoes in Hampshire. He’ll be as glad to see me as you were, I daresay.”
“‘“我在诺福克待够了，”他说，“我要去汉普郡找贝多斯先生。敢说他会和你一样高兴见到我。”
“‘“You’re not going away in an unkind spirit, Hudson, I hope,” said my father, with a tameness which made my blood boil.
“‘“希望你不是带着怨气走的，赫德森，”父亲温顺地说，这让我怒火中烧。
“‘“I’ve not had my ’pology,” said he sulkily, glancing in my direction.
“‘“我还没得到道歉呢，”他愠怒地说着，瞥了我一眼。
“‘“Victor, you will acknowledge that you have used this worthy fellow rather roughly,” said the dad, turning to me.
“‘“维克多，你得承认你对这位好伙计太粗暴了，”父亲转向我说。
“‘“On the contrary, I think that we have both shown extraordinary patience towards him,” I answered.
“‘“恰恰相反，我认为我们对他已经表现出了极大的耐心，”我回答。
“‘“Oh, you do, do you?” he snarls. “Very good, mate. We’ll see about that!” He slouched out of the room, and half an hour afterwards left the house, leaving my father in a state of pitiable nervousness.
“‘“哦，是吗，是吗？”他咆哮道，“很好，伙计。咱们走着瞧！”他拖着步子走出房间，半小时后离开了房子，留下父亲处于可怜的紧张状态中。
Night after night I heard him pacing his room, and it was just as he was recovering his confidence that the blow did at last fall.
夜复一夜，我听见他在房里踱步，而就在他刚恢复信心时，打击终于降临了。
“‘And how? ’ I asked eagerly.
“‘是怎么发生的？’我急切地问。
“‘In a most extraordinary fashion. A letter arrived for my father yesterday evening, bearing the Fordingbridge postmark. My father read it, clapped both his hands to his head, and began running round the room in little circles like a man who has been driven out of his senses.
“‘以一种极其离奇的方式。昨晚一封盖着福丁布里奇邮戳的信寄到了父亲手中。父亲读完后双手抱头，像个疯子似的在屋里转着小圈跑。
When I at last drew him down on to the sofa, his mouth and eyelids were all puckered on one side, and I saw that he had a stroke. Dr. Fordham came over at once. We put him to bed; but the paralysis has spread, he has shown no sign of returning consciousness, and I think that we shall hardly find him alive. ’
当我终于把他拉到沙发上时，他的嘴和眼睑都歪向了一边，我看出他中风了。福德姆医生立刻赶来。我们把他抬上床，但瘫痪症状已扩散，他没有恢复意识的迹象，我想我们很难见到他活着了。’
“‘You horrify me, Trevor! ’ I cried. ‘What then could have been in this letter to cause so dreadful a result?’
“‘你吓到我了，特雷弗！’我喊道，‘那封信里到底写了什么，竟会导致如此可怕的后果？’
“‘Nothing. There lies the inexplicable part of it. The message was absurd and trivial. Ah, my God, it is as I feared! ’
“‘什么都没有。这正是无法解释的地方。信的内容荒谬琐碎。啊，天哪，果然如我所料！’
“As he spoke we came round the curve of the avenue, and saw in the fading light that every blind in the house had been drawn down. As we dashed up to the door, my friend’s face convulsed with grief, a gentleman in black emerged from it.
“说话间我们拐过了林荫道的弯道，在暮色中看到屋子里所有的百叶窗都已拉下。当我们冲到门前时，朋友的脸因悲痛而扭曲，一位黑衣绅士从屋里走了出来。
“‘When did it happen, doctor? ’ asked Trevor.
“‘什么时候去世的，医生？’特雷弗问。
“‘Almost immediately after you left. ’
“‘就在你走后不久。’
“‘Did he recover consciousness? ’
“‘他恢复过意识吗？’
“‘For an instant before the end. ’
“‘临终前清醒了片刻。’
“‘Any message for me? ’
“‘给我留了什么话吗？’
“‘Only that the papers were in the back drawer of the Japanese cabinet. ’
“‘只说文件在日本柜子的后抽屉里。’
“My friend ascended with the doctor to the chamber of death, while I remained in the study, turning the whole matter over and over in my head, and feeling as sombre as ever I had done in my life.
朋友随医生上楼去了停灵的房间，我则留在书房里，反复思索整件事，感到前所未有的阴郁。
What was the past of this Trevor, pugilist, traveler, and gold-digger, and how had he placed himself in the power of this acid-faced seaman?
这个曾是拳击手、旅行者和淘金者的特雷弗究竟有着怎样的过去？他又怎会受制于这个尖酸刻薄的水手？
Why, too, should he faint at an allusion to the half-effaced initials upon his arm, and die of fright when he had a letter from Fordingbridge?
为什么提到手臂上那些半褪色的缩写字母他会晕倒？为什么收到福丁布里奇的来信他会惊吓致死？
Then I remembered that Fordingbridge was in Hampshire, and that this Mr. Beddoes, whom the seaman had gone to visit and presumably to blackmail, had also been mentioned as living in Hampshire.
接着我想起福丁布里奇就在汉普郡，而那个水手前去拜访（想必也是去敲诈）的贝多斯先生也被提及住在汉普郡。
The letter, then, might either come from Hudson, the seaman, saying that he had betrayed the guilty secret which appeared to exist, or it might come from Beddoes, warning an old confederate that such a betrayal was imminent.
那么，这封信要么来自水手赫德森，声称他已经泄露了那个显然存在的罪恶秘密；要么来自贝多斯，警告这位旧同伙背叛迫在眉睫。
So far it seemed clear enough. But then how could this letter be trivial and grotesque, as described by the son? He must have misread it.
到目前为止似乎很清楚了。但既然如此，这封信怎么会像儿子描述的那样琐碎荒唐呢？一定是他误读了。
If so, it must have been one of those ingenious secret codes which mean one thing while they seem to mean another. I must see this letter. If there were a hidden meaning in it, I was confident that I could pluck it forth.
如果是这样，那它一定是一种巧妙的密码，表面意思与实际含义不同。我必须看看这封信。如果其中隐藏着深意，我有信心将其破解。
For an hour I sat pondering over it in the gloom, until at last a weeping maid brought in a lamp, and close at her heels came my friend Trevor, pale but composed, with these very papers which lie upon my knee held in his grasp.
我在昏暗的书房里苦思冥想了一个小时，直到最后一名哭泣的女仆拿来了灯，紧接着我的朋友特雷弗走了进来，面色苍白但神情镇定，手里紧紧攥着此刻放在我膝上的这些文件。
He sat down opposite to me, drew the lamp to the edge of the table, and handed me a short note scribbled, as you see, upon a single sheet of grey paper.
他在我对面坐下，把灯拉到桌边，递给我那张正如你所见的写在单张灰纸上的潦草便条。
‘The supply of game for London is going steadily up,’ it ran. ‘Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly paper and for preservation of your hen pheasant’s life.’
上面写着：“伦敦野味供应正稳步上升。我们相信，猎场看守人赫德森现已接到指示，接受所有关于捕蝇纸和保全您雌雉鸡生命的订单。”
“I daresay my face looked as bewildered as yours did just now when first I read this message. Then I reread it very carefully. It was evidently as I had thought, and some secret meaning must lie buried in this strange combination of words.
“敢说当我初次读到这条信息时，脸上的困惑表情和你刚才一模一样。于是我非常仔细地重读了一遍。显然正如我所料，这些奇怪的词语组合中必定埋藏着某种隐秘的含义。
Or could it be that there was a prearranged significance to such phrases as ‘fly paper’ and ‘hen pheasant’? Such a meaning would be arbitrary and could not be deduced in any way.
或者难道‘捕蝇纸’和‘雌雉鸡’这类短语有预先约定的意义？但这种意义是任意的，无法通过任何方式推导出来。
And yet I was loath to believe that this was the case, and the presence of the word ‘Hudson’ seemed to show that the subject of the message was as I had guessed, and that it was from Beddoes rather than the sailor.
然而我不愿相信是这样，而且‘赫德森’这个词的出现似乎表明信息的主题正如我所猜测的那样，且发信人是贝多斯而非那个水手。
I tried it backwards, but the combination ‘life pheasant’s hen’ was not encouraging. Then I tried alternate words, but neither ‘The of for’ nor ‘supply game London’ promised to throw any light upon it.
我试着倒序阅读，但‘生命雉鸡的雌’这样的组合毫无启发。然后我尝试隔词阅读，但无论是‘The of for’还是‘supply game London’都无法揭示任何线索。
And then in an instant the key of the riddle was in my hands, and I saw that every third word, beginning with the first, would give a message which might well drive old Trevor to despair.
突然间，谜底的钥匙落在了我手中，我发现从第一个词开始每隔两个词取一个词，就能组成一条足以让老特雷弗绝望的信息。
“It was short and terse, the warning, as I now read it to my companion:
这条警告简短有力，我现在念给同伴听：
“‘The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life. ’
“‘游戏结束了。赫德森已全部招供。快逃命吧。’
“Victor Trevor sank his face into his shaking hands. ‘It must be that, I suppose,’ said he. ‘This is worse than death, for it means disgrace as well. But what is the meaning of these “head-keepers” and “hen pheasants”?’
维克多·特雷弗把脸埋在颤抖的双手中。“看来只能是这样了，”他说，“这比死还糟糕，因为它意味着身败名裂。但这些‘猎场看守人’和‘雌雉鸡’又是什么意思呢？”
“‘It means nothing to the message, but it might mean a good deal to us if we had no other means of discovering the sender. You see that he has begun by writing “The … game … is,” and so on. Afterwards he had, to fulfill the prearranged cipher, to fill in any two words in each space. He would naturally use the first words which came to his mind, and if there were so many which referred to sport among them, you may be tolerably sure that he is either an ardent shot or interested in breeding. Do you know anything of this Beddoes? ’
“‘这对信息本身毫无意义，但如果我们没有其他办法找到发信人，这可能对我们很有帮助。你看，他先写了‘The…game…is’等等，之后为了凑齐预设的密码，必须在每个间隔中填入任意两个词。他自然会使用脑海中浮现的第一个词，如果其中有很多与狩猎相关的词汇，你基本可以确定他要么是个热衷射击的人，要么对养殖感兴趣。你了解这个贝多斯吗？’
“‘Why, now that you mention it,’ said he, ‘I remember that my poor father used to have an invitation from him to shoot over his preserves every autumn.’
“‘哎呀，既然你提到了，’他说，‘我记得可怜的父亲每年秋天都会收到他的邀请，去他的猎场打猎。’
“‘Then it is undoubtedly from him that the note comes,’ said I. ‘It only remains for us to find out what this secret was which the sailor Hudson seems to have held over the heads of these two wealthy and respected men.’
“‘那么这张便条无疑是他写的，’我说，‘现在只需查明水手赫德森究竟掌握了什么秘密，竟能以此要挟这两位富有且受人尊敬的人。’
“‘Alas, Holmes, I fear that it is one of sin and shame! ’ cried my friend. ‘But from you I shall have no secrets. Here is the statement which was drawn up by my father when he knew that the danger from Hudson had become imminent. I found it in the Japanese cabinet, as he told the doctor. Take it and read it to me, for I have neither the strength nor the courage to do it myself.’
“‘唉，福尔摩斯，恐怕那是个充满罪恶与耻辱的秘密！’朋友哭喊道，‘但对你我不会有任何隐瞒。这是我父亲在得知赫德森的威胁迫在眉睫时写下的陈述。正如他对医生所说，我在日本柜子里找到了它。拿去念给我听吧，我自己既无力气也无勇气去读了。’
“These are the very papers, Watson, which he handed to me, and I will read them to you, as I read them in the old study that night to him. They are endorsed outside, as you see, ‘Some particulars of the voyage of the bark Gloria Scott, from her leaving Falmouth on the 8th October, 1855, to her destruction in N. lat. 15º 20’, W. long. 25º 14’ on Nov. 6th. ’ It is in the form of a letter, and runs in this way:
“华生，这就是他交给我的那些文件，现在我要念给你听，就像那天晚上在老书房里念给他听一样。正如你所见，文件外面注明：‘关于三桅帆船格洛里亚斯科特号航行的若干细节，自1855年10月8日驶离法尔茅斯起，至同年11月6日在北纬15度20分、西经25度14分处沉没止。’这是一封信的形式，内容如下：
“‘My dear, dear son,—Now that approaching disgrace begins to darken the closing years of my life, I can write with all truth and honesty that it is not the terror of the law, it is not the loss of my position in the county, nor is it my fall in the eyes of all who have known me, which cuts me to the heart; but it is the thought that you should come to blush for me—you who love me and who have seldom, I hope, had reason to do other than respect me.
“‘我最亲爱的儿子——如今迫近的耻辱开始笼罩我的晚年，我可以真诚坦白地写道：令我痛彻心扉的，并非法律的严惩，并非失去在郡中的地位，也并非在所有相识者眼中声名扫地；而是想到你竟会为我感到羞耻——你是如此爱我，而且我希望你除了尊敬我之外，极少有其他理由对我产生别的情感。
But if the blow falls which is forever hanging over me, then I should wish you to read this, that you may know straight from me how far I have been to blame. On the other hand, if all should go well (which may kind God Almighty grant!), then if by any chance this paper should be still undestroyed and should fall into your hands, I conjure you, by all you hold sacred, by the memory of your dear mother, and by the love which had been between us, to hurl it into the fire and to never give one thought to it again.
但如果那始终悬在我头顶的打击终于降临，我希望你能读到这封信，以便直接从我这里了解到我究竟罪责几何。另一方面，如果一切平安（愿仁慈的全能上帝成全！），而万一这张纸尚未销毁并落入你手中，我恳请你，以你心中一切神圣之物、以你亲爱的母亲的记忆、以我们之间的父子深情起誓，将它投入火中，永不再想此事。
“‘If then your eye goes on to read this line, I know that I shall already have been exposed and dragged from my home, or as is more likely, for you know that my heart is weak, by lying with my tongue sealed forever in death. In either case the time for suppression is past, and every word which I tell you is the naked truth, and this I swear as I hope for mercy.
“‘如果你的目光继续读到这里，我知道自己要么已被揭发并被逐出家门，要么更可能的是——你知道我心脏不好——已经长眠地下、永远缄默了。无论哪种情况，隐瞒的时代已经过去，我告诉你的每一个字都是赤裸裸的真相，我以祈求宽恕之心起誓所言非虚。
“‘My name, dear lad, is not Trevor. I was James Armitage in my younger days, and you can understand now the shock that it was to me a few weeks ago when your college friend addressed me in words which seemed to imply that he had surmised my secret.
“‘亲爱的孩子，我的真名并非特雷弗。年轻时我叫詹姆斯·阿米蒂奇，现在你就能理解几周前当你大学朋友对我说话时，我为何如此震惊了——他的话似乎暗示他已猜到了我的秘密。
As Armitage it was that I entered a London banking house, and as Armitage I was convicted of breaking my country’s laws, and was sentenced to transportation. Do not think very harshly of me, laddie. It was a debt of honour, so called, which I had to pay, and I used money which was not my own to do it, in the certainty that I could replace it before there could be any possibility of its being missed.
正是以阿米蒂奇的名字，我进入了一家伦敦银行；也正是以这个名字，我被判触犯国法并被流放。孩子，不要对我过于苛责。那是一笔所谓的荣誉债务，我必须偿还，于是我挪用了不属于自己的钱，确信能在任何人察觉之前补上亏空。
But the most dreadful ill-luck pursued me. The money which I had reckoned upon never came to hand, and a premature examination of accounts exposed my deficit. The case might have been dealt leniently with, but the laws were more harshly administered thirty years ago than now, and on my twenty-third birthday I found myself chained as a felon with thirty-seven other convicts in ’tween-decks of the barque Gloria Scott, bound for Australia.
但最可怕的厄运接踵而至。我指望的那笔钱迟迟未到，一次提前的账目审查暴露了我的亏空。此案本可从轻处理，但三十年前的法律比现在严苛得多，于是在我二十三岁生日那天，我发现自己作为一名重罪犯，与其他三十七名囚犯一起被铐在三桅帆船“格洛里亚斯科特号”的夹层甲板上，驶往澳大利亚。
“‘It was the year ’55 when the Crimean war was at its height, and the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the Black Sea. The government was compelled, therefore, to use smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their prisoners. The Gloria Scott had been in the Chinese tea trade, but she was an old-fashioned, heavy-bowed, broad-beamed craft, and the new clippers had cut her out. She was a five-hundred-ton boat, and besides her thirty-eight gaol-birds, she carried twenty-six of a crew, eighteen soldiers, a captain, three mates, a doctor, a chaplain, and four warders. Nearly a hundred souls were in her, all told, when we set sail from Falmouth.
“‘那是1855年，克里米亚战争正值高潮，旧的囚犯运输船大多被征用于黑海运输。因此政府被迫使用更小、更不合适的船只运送囚犯。“格洛里亚斯科特号”曾从事中国茶叶贸易，但它是一艘老式、船头沉重、船身宽阔的船，已被新型快船淘汰。这是一艘五百吨级的船，除了三十八名囚犯外，还载有二十六名船员、十八名士兵、一名船长、三名大副、一名医生、一名牧师和四名狱卒。我们从法尔茅斯启航时，船上总共将近一百人。
“‘The partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of being of thick oak, as is usual in convict-ships, were quite thin and frail. The man next to me, upon the aft side, was one whom I had particularly noticed when we were led down the quay. He was a young man with a clear, hairless face, a long, thin nose, and rather nut-cracker jaws. He carried his head very jauntily in the air, had a swaggering style of walking, and was, above all else, remarkable for his extraordinary height. I don’t think any of our heads would have come up to his shoulder, and I am sure that he could not have measured less than six and a half feet. It was strange among so many sad and weary faces to see one which was full of energy and resolution. The sight of it was to me like a fire in a snowstorm. I was glad, then, to find that he was my neighbour, and gladder still when, in the dead of the night, I heard a whisper close to my ear, and found that he had managed to cut an opening in the board which separated us.
“‘囚犯牢房之间的隔板不像普通囚船那样由厚橡木制成，而是非常单薄脆弱。在我隔壁靠船尾的那个人，是我们被押下码头时我就特别注意到的。他是个年轻人，面容光洁无须，鼻子细长，下巴有点像胡桃夹子。他昂首挺胸，走路大摇大摆，最引人注目的是他那惊人的身高。我想我们中没有一个人的头能齐到他的肩膀，我敢肯定他至少有六英尺半高。在这么多悲伤疲惫的面孔中，看到一张充满活力与决心的脸实在奇特。那景象对我而言犹如暴风雪中的一堆篝火。因此，我很高兴发现他是我的邻居；而在深夜里，当我听到耳边传来低语，发现他竟设法在我们之间的隔板上凿开一个洞时，我更高兴了。
“‘“Hallao, chummy!” said he, “what’s your name, and what are you here for?”
“‘“嘿，伙计！”他说，“你叫什么名字？为什么进来的？”
“‘I answered him, and asked in turn who I was talking with.
“‘我回答了他，并反问我在跟谁说话。
“‘“I’m Jack Prendergast,” said he, “and by God! You’ll learn to bless my name before you’ve done with me.”
“‘“我是杰克·普伦德加斯特，”他说，“老天爷作证！在你跟我相处完之前，你会学会感激我的名字的。”
“‘I remembered hearing of his case, for it was one which had made an immense sensation throughout the country some time before my own arrest. He was a man of good family and of great ability, but of incurably vicious habits, who had by an ingenious system of fraud obtained huge sums of money from the leading London merchants.
“‘我记得听说过他的案子，因为在我被捕前一段时间，此案曾在全国引起巨大轰动。他出身名门，才华横溢，但恶习难改，通过一套精巧的诈骗手段从伦敦各大商人那里骗取了巨额资金。
“‘“Ha, ha! You remember my case!” said he proudly.
“‘“哈哈！你还记得我的案子！”他骄傲地说。
“‘“Very well, indeed.”
“‘“记得很清楚。”
“‘“Then maybe you remember something queer about it?”
“‘“那你也许还记得其中有些蹊跷之处？”
“‘“What was that, then?”
“‘“是什么呢？”
“‘“I’d had nearly a quarter of a million, hadn’t I?”
“‘“我弄到了将近二十五万英镑，不是吗？”
“‘“So it was said.”
“‘“据说是这样。”
“‘“But none was recovered, eh?”
“‘“但一分钱也没追回来，对吧？”
“‘“No.”
“‘“没有。”
“‘“Well, where d’ye suppose the balance is?” he asked.
“‘“那么，你觉得剩下的钱在哪儿？”他问。
“‘“I have no idea,” said I.
“‘“我不知道，”我说。
“‘“Right between my finger and thumb,” he cried. “By God! I’ve got more pounds to my name than you’ve hairs on your head. And if you’ve money, my son, and know how to handle it and spread it, you can do anything! Now, you don’t think it likely that a man who could do anything is going to wear his breeches out sitting in the stinking hold of a rat-gutted, beetle-ridden, mouldy old coffin of a China coaster. No, sir, such a man will look after himself and will look after his chums. You may lay to that! You hold on to him, and you may kiss the book that he’ll haul you through.”
“‘“就在我手指缝里夹着呢，”他喊道，“老天爷！我名下的英镑比你头上的头发还多。如果你有钱，孩子，又懂得如何运用和挥霍，你就能做到任何事！现在，你想想看，一个无所不能的人会甘心坐在这艘老鼠啃过、甲虫横行、发霉腐烂的中国沿海旧棺材般的臭底舱里磨破裤子吗？不会的，先生，这样的人会照顾好自己，也会照顾他的伙伴。这点你可以打包票！只要你紧跟住他，你可以对着圣经发誓，他一定会把你带出去。”
“‘That was his style of talk, and at first I thought it meant nothing; but after a while, when he had tested me and sworn me in with all possible solemnity, he let me understand that there really was a plot to gain command of the vessel. A dozen of the prisoners had hatched it before they came aboard, Prendergast was the leader, and his money was the motive power.
“‘他就是这种说话风格，起初我以为这只是空话；但过了一阵子，当他考验过我并让我以最庄严的方式宣誓后，他才让我明白确实有一个夺取船只控制权的阴谋。十几名囚犯在上船前就策划好了，普伦德加斯特是首领，他的钱则是动力源泉。
“‘“I’d a partner,” said he, “a rare good man, as true as a stock to a barrel. He’s got the dibbs, he has, and where do you think he is at this moment? Why, he’s the chaplain of this ship—the chaplain, no less! He came aboard with a black coat, and his papers right, and money enough in his box to buy the thing right up from keel to main-truck. The crew are his, body and soul. He could buy ’em at so much a gross with a cash discount, and he did it before ever they signed on. He’s got two of the warders and Mercer, the second mate, and he’d get the captain himself, if he thought him worth it.”
“‘“我有个搭档，”他说，“一个难得的好人，像枪托配枪管一样可靠。他手里有钱，真的有钱，你猜他现在在哪儿？哼，他就是这艘船的牧师——没错，就是牧师！他穿着黑袍上船，证件齐全，箱子里的钱足以把这艘船从龙骨到主桅顶全部买下来。船员们身心都属于他。他能以批发价加现金折扣把他们全买下来，而且早在他们签约之前就做到了。他还收买了两名狱卒和二副默瑟，如果他觉得值得，连船长也能收买。”
“‘“What are we to do, then?” I asked.
“‘“那我们该怎么办？”我问。
“‘“What do you think?” said he. “We’ll make the coats of some of these soldiers redder than ever the tailor did.”
“‘“你觉得呢？”他说，“我们要让这些士兵中一些人的外套比裁缝染的还要红。”
“‘“But they are armed,” said I.
“‘“但他们有武器啊，”我说。
“‘“And so shall we be, my boy. There’s a brace of pistols for every mother’s son of us, and if we can’t carry this ship, with the crew at our back, it’s time we were all sent to a young misses’ boarding-school. You speak to your mate upon the left to-night, and see if he is to be trusted.”
“‘“我们也会有武器的，孩子。我们每个人都能分到一对儿手枪，如果有船员做后盾我们还夺不下这艘船，那我们就该被送进女子寄宿学校了。今晚你去跟你左边的同伴谈谈，看他是否可信。”
“‘I did so, and found my other neighbour to be a young fellow in much the same position as myself, whose crime had been forgery. His name was Evans, but he afterwards changed it, like myself, and he is now a rich and prosperous man in the south of England. He was ready enough to join the conspiracy, as the only means of saving ourselves, and before we had crossed the Bay there were only two of the prisoners who were not in the secret. One of these was of weak mind, and we did not dare to trust him, and the other was suffering from jaundice, and could not be of any use to us.
“‘我照做了，发现另一边邻居也是个和我处境相似的年轻人，罪名是伪造文书。他名叫埃文斯，后来像我一样改了名，如今已是英格兰南部一位富有的成功人士。他欣然加入阴谋，视其为自救的唯一途径；在我们穿越海湾之前，只有两名囚犯不知情。其中一个智力低下，我们不敢信任他；另一个患有黄疸病，对我们毫无用处。
““From the beginning there was really nothing to prevent us from taking possession of the ship. The crew were a set of ruffians, specially picked for the job. The sham chaplain came into our cells to exhort us, carrying a black bag, supposed to be full of tracts, and so often did he come that by the third day we had each stowed away at the foot of our beds a file, a brace of pistols, a pound of powder, and twenty slugs. Two of the warders were agents of Prendergast, and the second mate was his right-hand man. The captain, the two mates, two warders, Lieutenant Martin, his eighteen soldiers, and the doctor were all that we had against us. Yet, safe as it was, we determined to neglect no precaution, and to make our attack suddenly by night. It came, however, more quickly than we expected, and in this way.
“‘从一开始，其实就没什么能阻止我们夺船。船员是一群专门挑选出来的恶棍。假牧师提着 supposedly 装满传单的黑包来牢房训诫我们，他来得如此频繁，以至于第三天我们每人在床脚都藏了一把锉刀、一对儿手枪、一磅火药和二十发子弹。两名狱卒是普伦德加斯特的眼线，二副是他的得力助手。与我们对抗的只有船长、两名大副、另外两名狱卒、马丁中尉及其十八名士兵，以及医生。尽管如此稳妥，我们还是决定不放松警惕，并在夜间突然发动袭击。然而行动比我们预想的来得更快，起因是这样的：
“‘One evening, about the third week after our start, the doctor had come down to see one of the prisoners who was ill, and putting his hand down on the bottom of his bunk he felt the outline of the pistols. If he had been silent he might have blown the whole thing, but he was a nervous little chap, so he gave a cry of surprise and turned so pale that the man knew what was up in an instant and seized him. He was gagged before he could give the alarm, and tied down upon the bed. He had unlocked the door that led to the deck, and we were through it in a rush. The two sentries were shot down, and so was a corporal who came running to see what was the matter. There were two more soldiers at the door of the state-room, and their muskets seemed not to be loaded, for they never fired upon us, and they were shot while trying to fix their bayonets. Then we rushed on into the captain’s cabin, but as we pushed open the door there was an explosion from within, and there he lay with his brains smeared over the chart of the Atlantic which was pinned upon the table, while the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his elbow. The two mates had both been seized by the crew, and the whole business seemed to be settled.
“‘一天傍晚，大约在我们出发后的第三周，医生下来探望一名生病的囚犯，把手伸到铺位底下摸到了手枪的轮廓。如果他保持沉默，可能会揭穿整个计划，但他是个神经质的小个子，惊叫一声，脸色煞白，那人立刻明白了怎么回事，一把抓住了他。还没来得及报警，他就被堵住嘴绑在了床上。他打开了通往甲板的门，我们蜂拥而出。两名哨兵被击毙，一名跑来查看情况的班长也被打死。高级船员舱门口还有两名士兵，他们的滑膛枪似乎没装弹药，因为他们根本没向我们开枪，而是在试图安装刺刀时被射杀了。接着我们冲进船长室，但就在推开门的瞬间，里面传来一声爆炸，只见船长躺在那里，脑浆溅满了钉在桌上的大西洋海图，而牧师站在一旁，手里握着一支冒烟的手枪。两名大副都已被船员制服，整件事似乎已成定局。
“‘The state-room was next the cabin, and we flocked in there and flopped down on the settees, all speaking together, for we were just mad with the feeling that we were free once more. There were lockers all round, and Wilson, the sham chaplain, knocked one of them in, and pulled out a dozen of brown sherry. We cracked off the necks of the bottles, poured the stuff out into tumblers, and were just tossing them off, when in an instant without warning there came the roar of muskets in our ears, and the saloon was so full of smoke that we could not see across the table. When it cleared again the place was a shambles. Wilson and eight others were wriggling on the top of each other on the floor, and the blood and the brown sherry on that table turn me sick now when I think of it. We were so cowed by the sight that I think we should have given the job up if it had not been for Prendergast. He bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door with all that were left alive at his heels. Out we ran, and there on the poop were the lieutenant and ten of his men. The swing skylights above the saloon table had been a bit open, and they had fired on us through the slit. We got on them before they could load, and they stood to it like men; but we had the upper hand of them, and in five minutes it was all over. My God! Was there ever a slaughter-house like that ship! Prendergast was like a raging devil, and he picked the soldiers up as if they had been children and threw them overboard alive or dead. There was one sergeant that was horribly wounded and yet kept on swimming for a surprising time, until some one in mercy blew out his brains. When the fighting was over there was no one left of our enemies except just the warders, the mates, and the doctor.
“‘高级船员舱紧挨着船长室，我们涌进去瘫坐在长椅上，七嘴八舌地嚷着，因为重获自由的喜悦让我们简直发了狂。四周都是储物柜，假牧师威尔逊砸开其中一个，掏出一打棕色雪利酒。我们敲掉瓶颈，把酒倒进玻璃杯，正准备一饮而尽时，毫无预警地，耳边响起了滑膛枪的轰鸣，沙龙里烟雾弥漫，连桌子对面都看不清。烟雾散去后，现场一片狼藉。威尔逊和其他八个人在地板上叠在一起挣扎蠕动，一想到桌上混杂的血迹和棕色雪利酒，我现在还觉得恶心。这景象把我们吓呆了，要不是普伦德加斯特，我想我们早就放弃了。他像公牛般咆哮着冲向门口，所有幸存者紧随其后。我们冲出去，只见中尉和他的十名手下正在艉楼上。沙龙桌子上方的活动天窗开了一条缝，他们就是从那里向我们射击的。趁他们还没来得及重新装弹，我们就扑了上去，他们像男子汉一样顽强抵抗，但我们占了上风，五分钟后一切都结束了。天哪！世上哪有像那艘船一样的屠宰场！普伦德加斯特像个狂暴的恶魔，抓起士兵就像抓小孩一样，不管死活都扔下海去。有个中士受了重伤，却惊人地游了很久，直到有人出于怜悯打爆了他的脑袋。战斗结束后，敌人中只剩下狱卒、大副和医生了。
“‘It was over them that the great quarrel arose. There were many of us who were glad enough to win back our freedom, and yet who had no wish to have murder on our souls. It was one thing to knock the soldiers over with their muskets in their hands, and it was another to stand by while men were being killed in cold blood. Eight of us, five convicts and three sailors, said that we would not see it done. But there was no moving Prendergast and those who were with him. Our only chance of safety lay in making a clean job of it, said he, and he would not leave a tongue with power to wag in a witness-box. It nearly came to our sharing the fate of the prisoners, but at last he said that if we wished we might take a boat and go. We jumped at the offer, for we were already sick of these bloodthirsty doings, and we saw that there would be worse before it was done. We were given a suit of sailors’ togs each, a barrel of water, two casks, one of junk and one of biscuits, and a compass. Prendergast threw us over a chart, told us that we were shipwrecked mariners whose ship had foundered in lat. 15º N. and long 25º W., and then cut the painter and let us go.
“‘正是在如何处置这些人问题上引发了严重分歧。我们中有许多人虽然庆幸重获自由，却不愿背负谋杀的罪孽。击毙手持武器的士兵是一回事，眼睁睁看着人被冷血杀害则是另一回事。我们中有八个人——五名囚犯和三名水手——表示不忍目睹这种事。但普伦德加斯特及其追随者不为所动。他说我们安全的唯一机会就是斩草除根，绝不能留下任何一个能在证人席上开口说话的活口。我们差点就和那些俘虏同归于尽了，但最终他说如果我们愿意，可以乘救生艇离开。我们立刻接受了这个提议，因为我们早已厌倦了这些嗜血的行径，而且预见到若不离开还会有更糟的事发生。我们每人得到了一套水手服、一桶水、两桶食物（一桶腌肉和一桶饼干）以及一个指南针。普伦德加斯特扔给我们一张海图，告诉我们对外宣称是失事船只的海员，船只在北纬15度、西经25度处沉没，然后割断缆绳放我们走了。
“‘And now I come to the most surprising part of my story, my dear son. The seamen had hauled the foreyard aback during the rising, but now as we left them they brought it square again, and as there was a light wind from the north and east the barque began to draw slowly away from us. Our boat lay, rising and falling, upon the long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I, who were the most educated of the party, were sitting in the sheets working out our position and planning what coast we should make for. It was a nice question, for the Cape de Verds were about five hundred miles to the north of us, and the African coast about seven hundred to the east. On the whole, as the wind was coming round to the north, we thought that Sierra Leone might be best, and turned our head in that direction, the barque being at that time nearly hull down on our starboard quarter. Suddenly as we looked at her we saw a dense black cloud of smoke shoot up from her, which hung like a monstrous tree upon the sky line. A few seconds later a roar like thunder burst upon our ears, and as the smoke thinned away there was no sign left of the Gloria Scott. In an instant we swept the boat’s head round again and pulled with all our strength for the place where the haze still trailing over the water marked the scene of this catastrophe.
“‘现在我要讲到故事中最令人惊奇的部分了，亲爱的儿子。暴动期间水手们曾将前帆桁向后拉，但在我们离开时他们又将其调正了，由于东北方向吹来微风，三桅帆船开始缓缓离我们远去。我们的小船在漫长平缓的波浪中起伏漂流，埃文斯和我作为这群人中受教育程度最高的，坐在船尾计算位置并规划该驶向哪片海岸。这是个棘手的问题，因为佛得角群岛在我们以北约五百英里，非洲海岸在以东约七百英里。总体而言，鉴于风向转北，我们认为塞拉利昂可能是最佳选择，于是调转船头朝那个方向划去，此时那艘三桅帆船在我们的右舷后方几乎只剩桅杆可见了。突然，当我们注视它时，只见一团浓密的黑烟从船上冲天而起，像一棵巨大的树挂在天际线上。几秒钟后，雷鸣般的巨响传入耳中，待烟雾消散，“格洛里亚斯科特号”已无影无踪。我们立刻调转船头，拼尽全力划向那片仍笼罩在水面上的薄雾标记出的灾难现场。
“‘It was a long hour before we reached it, and at first we feared that we had come too late to save any one. A splintered boat and a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on the waves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there was no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair when we heard a cry for help, and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage with a man lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard the boat he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson, who was so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account of what had happened until the following morning.
“‘过了漫长的一个小时我们才赶到那里，起初担心来得太晚救不了任何人。一艘破碎的小艇、几个板条箱和随波起伏的桅杆碎片标示了船只沉没的位置；但看不到任何生命迹象，正当我们绝望地准备离开时，听到了呼救声，并看见远处一块残骸上趴着一个人。把他拉上船后，发现他是个名叫赫德森的年轻水手，烧伤严重且精疲力竭，直到第二天早上才能讲述发生的事情。
“‘It seemed that after we had left, Prendergast and his gang had proceeded to put to death the five remaining prisoners. The two warders had been shot and thrown overboard, and so also had the third mate. Prendergast then descended into the ’tween-decks and with his own hands cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon. There only remained the first mate, who was a bold and active man. When he saw the convict approaching him with the bloody knife in his hand he kicked off his bonds, which he had somehow contrived to loosen, and rushing down the deck he plunged into the after-hold.
“‘原来在我们离开后，普伦德加斯特一伙便开始处决剩余的五名俘虏。两名狱卒被枪杀后抛入海中，三副也遭同样命运。随后普伦德加斯特下到夹层甲板，亲手割断了不幸医生的喉咙。只剩下大副了，他是个勇敢敏捷的人。当他看到囚犯手持血淋淋的刀逼近时，踢开了不知怎么弄松的绳索，冲过甲板跳进了后货舱。
“‘A dozen convicts, who descended with their pistols in search of him, found him with a match-box in his hand seated beside an open powder barrel, which was one of a hundred carried on board, and swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way molested. An instant later the explosion occurred, though Hudson thought it was caused by the misdirected bullet of one of the convicts rather than the mate’s match. Be the cause what it may, it was the end of the Gloria Scott and of the rabble who held command of her.
“‘十几个囚犯拿着手枪下去搜他，发现他手里拿着一盒火柴坐在一个敞开的火药桶旁——这是船上装载的一百桶火药之一——并发誓若受到任何侵犯就把所有人炸上天。紧接着爆炸发生了，不过赫德森认为这是某个囚犯走火所致，而非大副点燃了火柴。无论原因何在，“格洛里亚斯科特号”及其上的暴徒们都就此终结了。
“‘Such, in a few words, my dear boy, is the history of this terrible business in which I was involved. Next day we were picked up by the brig Hotspur, bound for Australia, whose captain found no difficulty in believing that we were the survivors of a passenger ship which had foundered. The transport ship Gloria Scott was set down by the Admiralty as being lost at sea, and no word has ever leaked out as to her true fate. After an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney, where Evans and I changed our names and made our way to the diggings, where, among the crowds who were gathered from all nations, we had no difficulty in losing our former identities.
“‘简而言之，亲爱的孩子，这就是我所卷入的这起可怕事件的经过。第二天，一艘驶往澳大利亚的双桅船“霍茨波号”救起了我们，船长毫不怀疑我们是某艘失事客船的幸存者。海军部将运输船“格洛里亚斯科特号”列为海上失踪，其真实命运从未泄露。经过一段顺利的航程，“霍茨波号”在悉尼将我们送上岸，埃文斯和我在那里改了名，前往金矿区，在来自各国的人群中轻易抹去了过去的身份。
“‘The rest I need not relate. We prospered, we travelled, we came back as rich colonials to England, and we bought country estates. For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives, and we hoped that our past was forever buried. Imagine, then, my feelings when in the seaman who came to us I recognised instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck. He had tracked us down somehow, and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will understand now how it was that I strove to keep the peace with him, and you will in some measure sympathise with me in the fears which fill me, now that he has gone from me to his other victim with threats upon his tongue. ’
“‘其余的事就不必赘述了。我们发了财，四处游历，作为富有的殖民者回到英国，购置了乡间产业。二十多年来我们过着平静有益的生活，以为过去已永远埋葬。因此你可以想象，当我一眼认出那个找上门的水手就是从残骸中被救起的那个人时，内心是何等感受。他不知怎么追踪到了我们，并决心靠我们的恐惧为生。现在你应该明白我为何竭力与他维持和平了，你也多少能体谅我此刻内心的恐惧——因为他已带着满口威胁离开我，去找另一个受害者了。’
“Underneath is written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly legible, ‘Beddoes writes in cipher to say H. has told all. Sweet Lord, have mercy on our souls!’
“下方用颤抖得几乎难以辨认的字迹写着：‘贝多斯用密码来信说H.已全部招供。仁慈的主啊，可怜我们的灵魂吧！’
“That was the narrative which I read that night to young Trevor, and I think, Watson, that under the circumstances it was a dramatic one. The good fellow was heartbroken at it, and went out to the Terai tea planting, where I hear that he is doing well. As to the sailor and Beddoes, neither of them was ever heard of again after that day on which the letter of warning was written. They both disappeared utterly and completely. No complaint had been lodged with the police, so that Beddoes had mistaken a threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen lurking about, and it was believed by the police that he had done away with Beddoes and had fled. For myself I believe that the truth was exactly the opposite. I think that it is most probable that Beddoes, pushed to desperation and believing himself to have been already betrayed, had revenged himself upon Hudson, and had fled from the country with as much money as he could lay his hands on. Those are the facts of the case, Doctor, and if they are of any use to your collection, I am sure that they are very heartily at your service.”
“这就是那天晚上我念给小特雷弗听的故事，华生，我想在这种情况下它颇具戏剧性。这个好人因此心碎，后来去了特拉伊种茶，听说他在那里发展得很好。至于那个水手和贝多斯，自从写下警告信的那天起，两人便杳无音信。他们都彻底消失了。警方未接到任何报案，可见贝多斯错把威胁当成了事实。有人曾看到赫德森在附近徘徊，警方认为他杀害了贝多斯后逃之夭夭。但我个人认为真相恰恰相反。我认为极有可能是贝多斯被逼入绝境，以为自己已被出卖，于是报复了赫德森，并携尽所能弄到的钱财逃往国外。以上就是案件的事实，医生，如果它们对你的资料汇编有用，我很乐意供你使用。”
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