血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)

Chapter 3 In Quest of a Solution



第三章 寻求解答



It was half-past five before Holmes returned. He was
bright, eager, and in excellent spirits, a mood which in his

case alter-nated with fits of the blackest depression.

一直到五点半，福尔摩斯才回来。他神采奕奕，非常亢奋，他的
心情总在极度萎靡不振与如此的亢奋之间转换。


"There is no great mystery in this matter," he said,
taking the cup of tea which I had poured out for him; "the
facts appear to admit of only one explanation."

“这件事情其实没有什么神秘之处，”他说，拿起一杯我给他倒的

茶，“这些事情似乎只有一个解释。

"What! you have solved it already?"


“什么！你已经解决了吗？”

"Well, that would be too much to say. I have discovered
a suggestive fact, that is all. It is, however, very suggestive.

The details are still to be added. I have just found, on
consulting the back files of the Times, that Major Sholto, of
Upper Norwood, late of the Thirty-fourth Bombay Infantry,
died upon the twenty-eighth of April, 1882."


“噢，还不能这么说。不过，我已经发现了一个非常有价值的线
索，仅此而已。但这个线索非常有启发性。还有一些细节有待补充。
我在查阅《泰晤士报》过期的期刊时刚刚发现，住在上诺伍德的肖尔

托少校，前属驻孟买陆军第三十四团，死于一八八二年四月二十八

日。”

"I may be very obtuse, Holmes, but I fail to see what this
suggests."


“也许是我愚钝吧，福尔摩斯，但我看不出这有什么启发可言。”

"No? You surprise me. Look at it in this way, then.
Captain Morstan disappears. The only person in London

whom he could have visited is Major Sholto. Major Sholto
denies having heard that he was in London. Four years later
Sholto dies. Within a week of his death Captain Morstan's
daughter receives a valuable present, which is repeated
from year to year and now culminates in a letter which

describes her as a wronged woman. What wrong can it refer
to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the
presents begin immediately after Sholto's death unless it is

that Sholto's heir knows something of the mystery and
desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative
theory which will meet the facts?"

“没有吗？这真让我惊讶。那么，让我们这么来看吧。摩斯坦上尉

失踪了。在伦敦，他可能去拜访的只有肖尔托少校。可是肖尔托少校
否认知道他来伦敦的消息。四年后，肖尔托死了。他死后不到一周，

摩斯坦上尉的女儿就收到了一件贵重的礼物，之后每年都收到一次，
现在又收到了一封信，竟说她是一个受了委屈的人。除了失去父亲以

外，她还有什么委屈呢？还有，为什么在肖尔托死后，立刻开始有礼
物寄出？除非是因为，肖尔托的继承人中，有人知晓其中的秘密，想

要进行补偿。你还有其他说法能契合这些事实吗？”

"But what a strange compensation! And how strangely

made! Why, too, should he write a letter now, rather than
six years ago? Again, the letter speaks of giving her justice.
What justice can she have? It is too much to suppose that
her father is still alive. There is no other injustice in her case

that you know of."

“多么奇怪的补偿！而且方式也很怪异！还有，为什么现在才寄出
这封信，而不是六年前呢？而且，这封信提到了要还给她公平公正。

她能拥有什么公正呢？猜想她父亲还活着就太不现实了。而你也不知
道她还受过其他什么不公。”

"There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties,"
said Sherlock Holmes pensively; "but our expedition of to-

night will solve them all. Ah, here is a four-wheeler, and Miss
Morstan is inside. Are you all ready? Then we had better go
down, for it is a little past the hour."

“这里面确实有一些难题，”舍洛克·福尔摩斯沉思道，“但我们今

天晚上这一趟，将会解决所有的问题。啊，一辆四轮马车来了，摩斯
坦小姐就在里面。你准备好了吗？那么我们最好马上出发，已经晚了

一点儿了。”

I picked up my hat and my heaviest stick, but I observed
that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it

into his pocket. It was clear that he thought that our night's
work might be a serious one.

我戴上帽子，拿起我最粗重的手杖，但我注意到，福尔摩斯从抽

屉里拿出了他的手枪，放进口袋里。显然，他认为今晚的工作会有危
险。


Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak, and her
sensitive face was composed but pale. She must have been
more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the

strange enterprise upon which we were embarking, yet her
self-control was perfect, and she readily answered the few
additional questions which Sherlock Holmes put to her.

摩斯坦小姐穿着一件深色衣服，缠着围巾，她娇嫩的脸庞镇定却

苍白。对于我们正要着手的这次奇怪事件，如果她没有感到一点儿不
安的话，那她就实在是超乎常人了，但她的自制力非常强，欣然回答

了舍洛克·福尔摩斯提出的几个新问题。

"Major Sholto was a very particular friend of Papa's," she
said. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. He and

Papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman
Islands, so they were thrown a great deal together. By the
way, a curious paper was found in Papa's desk which no one

could understand. I don't suppose that it is of the slightest

importance, but I thought you might care to see it, so I
brought it with me. It is here."

“肖尔托少校是爸爸的一位特别要好的朋友，”她说道，“他在来

信里也经常提及少校。他和爸爸同是安达曼群岛的驻军指挥官，所以

他们总是在一起。还有，在我爸爸的书桌里，有一张没人能看懂的奇
怪纸条。我想它未必与这个案子有关，但也许你愿意看一看，所以我

把它带来了。就是它。”

Holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it
out upon his knee. He then very methodically examined it

all over with his double lens.

福尔摩斯小心翼翼地展开纸，铺平了，放在膝盖上。然后，他用
放大镜有条有理地整个检查了一遍。


"It is paper of native Indian manufacture," he remarked.
"It has at some time been pinned to a board. The diagram
upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with
numerous halls, corridors, and passages. At one point is a

small cross done in red ink, and above it is '3.37 from left,'
in faded pencil-writing. In the left-hand corner is a curious
hieroglyphic like four crosses in a line with their arms

touching. Beside it is written, in very rough and coarse
characters, 'The sign of the four—Jonathan Small, Mahomet
Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar.' No, I confess that I do
not see how this bears upon the matter. Yet it is evidently a
document of importance. It has been kept carefully in a

pocketbook, for the one side is as clean as the other."

“这纸是印度本土制造的，”他说，“曾经被钉在板子上。这上面
的图形似乎是一幢大建筑的部分平面图，里面有很多大房间、走廊和

甬道。中间有一处用红色墨水划出十字，在这上面有模糊的铅笔字迹

——‘从左边3.37’。左边一个角上有一个很神秘的怪字，像四个连在
一起的十字形。在那旁边，用非常粗糙的字母写着‘四签名——乔纳森

·斯莫尔、穆罕默德·辛格、阿卜杜拉·克汗、多斯特·阿克巴’。确实，

我承认我看不出这和案件有什么关联。但这无疑是一份非常重要的文

件。它曾被珍藏在夹子里，因为两面都很干净。”

"It was in his pocketbook that we found it."

“这是我们从他的皮夹子里找到的。”


"Preserve it carefully, then, Miss Morstan, for it may
prove to be of use to us. I begin to suspect that this matter
may turn out to be much deeper and more subtle than I at
first supposed. I must reconsider my ideas."


“好好地收起来，摩斯坦小姐，它最后或许会对我们有用处的。我
开始怀疑，案情会比我起初假设的更深奥，也更玄妙。我需要重新考

虑一下我的想法。”

He leaned back in the cab, and I could see by his drawn
brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently. Miss

Morstan and I chatted in an undertone about our present
expedition and its possible outcome, but our companion
maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our
journey.


他向后靠在车座靠背上，从他那紧皱的眉头和呆滞的目光，我可
以看出他正在深思。摩斯坦小姐和我轻声聊着天，聊着我们现在的行

动和可能的结果，但我们的伙伴却始终保持着令人捉摸不透的沉默，
直到旅程的终点。


It was a September evening and not yet seven o'clock,
but the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog
lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds drooped
sadly over the muddy streets. Down the Strand the lamps

were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a
feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement. The
yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the
steamy, vaporous air and threw a murky, shifting radiance

across the crowded thorough fare. There was, to my mind,
something eerie and ghostlike in the endless procession of

faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light—sad
faces and glad, haggard and merry. Like all humankind, they

flitted from the gloom into the light and so back into the
gloom once more. I am not subject to impressions, but the
dull, heavy evening, with the strange business upon which
we were engaged, combined to make me nervous and
depressed. I could see from Miss Morstan's manner that she

was suffering from the same feeling. Holmes alone could
rise superior to petty influences. He held his open notebook
upon his knee, and from time to time he jotted down figures

and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern.

这是一个九月的晚上，还不到七点钟，天气沉闷，浓雾笼罩着繁
华的都市。泥泞的街道上飘浮着阴沉的黑云。伦敦斯特兰大道上的路

灯仿佛只是几个模糊的光点，发出莹莹的环形微光，照在泥泞的人行
道上。炫目的黄光从商店橱窗里照射出来，穿越迷蒙的雾气，微弱而

摇摆不定地照着喧嚣的人群。我心里想，在络绎不绝的行人脸上，总
有一些诡异、怪诞的东西，它们在这些纤细的光束照耀下一闪而过

——这些面孔有的悲伤，有的快活，有的憔悴，有的欣喜。如同人类
的一生，它们从黑暗走到光明，又再次返回黑暗。我并不是易于产生

什么感触的人，但这个沉闷的夜晚和我们所经历的怪事交织在一起，

使我变得压抑而紧张。从摩斯坦小姐的神情、动作中，我可以看出，
她也有着类似的感觉。只有福尔摩斯不受这些外界事物的影响。借着

怀中电筒的光，他把笔记本摊开在膝盖上，时不时写下一些数字和记
录。


At the Lyceum Theatre the crowds were already thick at
the side-entrances. In front a continuous stream of hansoms
and four-wheelers were rattling up, discharging their
cargoes of shirt-fronted men and be shawled, bediamonded

women. We had hardly reached the third pillar, which was
our rendezvous, before a small, dark, brisk man in the dress
of a coachman accosted us.

莱西厄姆剧院两侧入口处的观众已经拥挤不堪。双轮和四轮马车

源源不断地抵达剧院，放下穿着礼服、露着衬衣的男士和披着围巾、
珠光宝气的女士。我们刚刚抵达约会地点——第三根柱子时，就看到

一个身材矮小、面貌黝黑、精神饱满、马车夫装扮的精干男子向我们
打招呼。


"Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he
asked.

“你们是跟摩斯坦小姐一起来的吗？”他问道。


"I am Miss Morstan, and these two gentlemen are my
friends," said she.

“我就是摩斯坦小姐，这两位是我的朋友，”她回答。

He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and

questioning eyes upon us.

那人用敏锐的质询的眼光审视着我们。

"You will excuse me, miss," he said with a certain

dogged manner, "but I was to ask you to give me your word
that neither of your companions is a police-officer."

“小姐，请您原谅，”他强硬地说，“但我需要您保证，您的伙伴

都不是警察。”

"I give you my word on that," she answered.

“我保证，”她回答。


He gave a shrill whistle, on which a street Arab led
across a four-wheeler and opened the door. The man who
had addressed us mounted to the box, while we took our
places inside. We had hardly done so before the driver

whipped up his horse, and we plunged away at a furious
pace through the foggy streets.

他吹了一声尖锐的口哨，一个街头流浪者应声赶着一辆四轮马车

来到我们面前，打开了车门。跟我们搭话的男人跳上了车夫的座位，

我们也依次坐上了马车。还没等我们坐定，车夫就扬鞭赶马，我们迅

速地在浓雾笼罩的街道上穿行。

The situation was a curious one. We were driving to an
unknown place, on an unknown errand. Yet our invitation

was either a complete hoax—which was an inconceivable
hypothesis—or else we had good reason to think that
important issues might hang upon our journey. Miss
Morstan's demeanour was as resolute and collected as ever.
I endeavoured to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of

my adventures in Afghanistan; but, to tell the truth, I was
myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to our
destination that my stories were slightly involved. To this

day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to
how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night, and
how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. At first I had
some idea as to the direction in which we were driving, but
soon, what with our pace, the fog, and my own limited

knowledge of London, I lost my bearings and knew nothing
save that we seemed to be going a very long way. Sherlock
Holmes was never at fault, however, and he muttered the

names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by
tortuous by-streets.

情况非常奇特。我们正在驶向一个未知的地点，去完成一项未知

的任务。而我们受到的招待要么就是一个恶作剧——这是一个不可想
象的假设——若并非如此，我们有理由相信，从这一段旅程中，我们

将获知一些重要的事情。摩斯坦小姐如同平常一样镇定而坚决。我努
力想用我在阿富汗的冒险故事来取悦她，但说实话，我自己也正对我

们的处境感到激动，对目的地感到好奇，因此故事也讲得有点儿混
乱。直到今天，她还声称我给她讲过这样一个生动的故事——我如何

在深夜里，用一只小老虎打死了钻到帐篷里来的一支双筒枪。起初我
还清楚我们所走的方向，可是不久之后，由于速度快、有大雾，加上

我自己对伦敦知之甚少，我完全丧失了方向感，只知道走了很远的

路。而福尔摩斯并没有迷路，当马车嘎啦嘎啦地穿过一个个广场和弯

弯曲曲的巷子时，他都能低声地念出名字来。

"Rochester Row," said he. "Now Vincent Square. Now we
come out on the Vauxhall Bridge Road. We are making for

the Surrey side apparently. Yes, I thought so. Now we are on
the bridge. You can catch glimpses of the river."

“罗彻斯特路，”他说，“现在是文森特广场。现在我们来到了沃

克斯霍尔桥路。现在我们显然正驶向萨里区。是的，我想是这样。现
在我们在桥上了。你可以看到桥底下的河流。”


We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the
Thames, with the lamps shining upon the broad, silent
water; but our cab dashed on and was soon involved in a
labyrinth of streets upon the other side.


我们果然瞥见了泰晤士河的一小段，路灯的光芒照耀在那静默宽
广的水面上，可我们的马车依然在疾行，很快就到河对岸迷宫般的街
道上去了。


"Wordsworth Road," said my companion. "Priory Road.
Lark Hall Lane. Stockwell Place. Robert Street. Cold Harbour
Lane. Our quest does not appear to take us to very

fashionable regions."

“沃兹沃思路，”我的伙伴说，“修道院路，拉克霍尔街，斯托克
韦尔街，罗伯特街，冷港街，我们不像是在朝着什么高档社区去。”


We had indeed reached a questionable and forbidding
neighbourhood. Long lines of dull brick houses were only
relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public-

houses at the corner. Then came rows of two-storied villas,
each with a fronting of miniature garden, and then again
interminable lines of new, staring brick buildings—the
monster tentacles which the giant city was throwing out into

the country. At last the cab drew up at the third house in a
new terrace. None of the other houses were inhabited, and

that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbours,
save for a single glimmer in the kitchen-window. On our

knocking, however, the door was instantly thrown open by a
Hindoo servant, clad in a yellow turban, white loose-fitting
clothes, and a yellow sash. There was something strangely
incongruous in this Oriental figure framed in the
commonplace doorway of a third-rate suburban dwelling-

house.

我们确实到了一个可疑而又恐怖的地方。两旁一直都是连续不断
的暗灰色砖房，只有街角一些粗俗、炫目的酒肆让人稍觉安心。随后

出现的是一排排双层别墅，每一幢前面都有一个微型花园，随后又是

一列列连绵不绝的醒目新砖房——这里是这个大城市在郊区扩建的新
区。最后，车子停在了一条新街的第三个门口。这些房子都没有人居

住，我们停车的房子也跟周围的一样黑暗，只有从厨房投射出来的一
丝光芒。但我们敲门后，立刻就有一个印度仆人开了门，他头戴黄色

包头，身穿肥大的白色衣服，还系着黄色带子。在这个普通三等郊区
住宅的门前出现了一个东方人，多少显得有些不协调。


"The sahib awaits you," said he, and even as he spoke,
there came a high, piping voice from some inner room.

“我的主人正在等候你们。”他还没有说完，就有人在屋内高声喊

了一声。

"Show them in to me, khitmutgar," it said. "Show them
straight in to me."


“仆人，请他们到我这里来吧，”那个声音喊道，“请他们直接到
我这里来。”



Chapter 4 The Story of the Bald-

Headed Man



第四章 秃头人的故事



We followed the Indian down a sordid and common
passage, ill-lit and worse furnished, until he came to a door

upon the right, which he threw open. A blaze of yellow light
streamed out upon us, and in the centre of the glare there
stood a small man with a very high head, a bristle of red
hair all round the fringe of it, and a bald, shining scalp which

shot out from among it like a mountain-peak from fir-trees.
He writhed his hands together as he stood, and his features
were in a perpetual jerk—now smiling, now scowling, but
never for an instant in repose. Nature had given him a

pendulous lip, and a too visible line of yellow and irregular
teeth, which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly
passing his hand over the lower part of his face. In spite of
his obtrusive baldness he gave the impression of youth. In

point of fact, he had just turned his thirtieth year.

我们随着印度人走了进去，经过一条灯光昏暗、陈设简陋且脏兮
兮的普通甬道，来到右手边的一扇门前，他把门推开。一道黄色的光

照射到我们身上，而在光源的中央，站着一个尖头顶的矮小男人，他
光亮的秃顶周围生了一圈红发，像是枫树林里冒出的一座秃山顶。他

站在那里，搓着双手，神情不定，时而微笑，时而愁眉苦脸，没有一

刻安宁。上天给了他一副下垂的嘴唇，从中露出了泛黄而又不甚整齐
的牙齿，他不时地用手遮住脸的下半部，试图遮丑，却没起多大作
用。尽管他已经秃头，但看起来依然很年轻。事实上，他刚刚三十

岁。

"Your servant, Miss Morstan," he kept repeating in a

thin, high voice. "Your servant, gentlemen. Pray step into my
little sanctum. A small place, miss, but furnished to my own

liking. An oasis of art in the howling desert of South
London."

“摩斯坦小姐，我愿为您效劳，”他不断用尖细的声音重复

道，“也愿意为你们效劳，先生们。请到我的小书房里来吧。这是一个

小地方，小姐，但却是按照我的喜好装饰的。这是伦敦南郊的艺术荒
漠中一片小小的绿洲。


We were all astonished by the appearance of the
apartment into which he invited us. In that sorry house it
looked as out of place as a diamond of the first water in a
setting of brass. The richest and glossiest of curtains and
tapestries draped the walls, looped back here and there to

expose some richly mounted painting or Oriental vase. The
carpet was of amber and black, so soft and so thick that the
foot sank pleasantly into it, as into a bed of moss. Two great

tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of
Eastern luxury, as did a huge hookah which stood upon a
mat in the corner. A lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was
hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of
the room. As it burned it filled the air with a subtle and

aromatic odour.

他邀请我们进入的那个房间的景象让我们都惊讶不已。在这幢寒
碜的房子里，这间房显得非常格格不入，如同一颗非凡的钻石镶嵌在

一个铜托子上。墙上挂着极为华丽考究的窗帘和挂毯，到处都拉起来

了，中间露出装裱华丽的绘画和东方花瓶。又厚又软的琥珀色夹黑色
地毯，踏在上面舒适得很，就好像走在绿草地上一样。两张大虎皮横

铺在上面，屋角的席子上还摆着一只印度大水烟壶，这更彰显出东方
式的华丽。屋顶当中有一根隐约的金线，悬挂着一盏银色的鸽子形挂

灯。灯火燃烧的时候，空气中弥漫着一股清幽的芬芳。

"Mr. Thaddeus Sholto," said the little man, still jerking
and smiling. "That is my name. You are Miss Morstan, of

course. And these gentlemen—"

“撒迪厄斯·肖尔托，”这个矮小的人仍然神情不安地笑着说，“这

是我的名字。你一定是摩斯坦小姐了。而这两位先生——”

"This is Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and this Dr. Watson."

“这是舍洛克·福尔摩斯先生，这位是沃森医生。”


"A doctor, eh?" cried he, much excited. "Have you your
stethoscope? Might I ask you—would you have the
kindness? I have grave doubts as to my mitral valve, if you
would be so very good. The aortic I may rely upon, but I

should value your opinion upon the mitral."

“一位医生啊？”他兴奋地高声说，“你带了听诊器来吗？我想问
问您——您能帮个忙吗？我强烈怀疑我的心脏二尖瓣有毛病，如果你

能行行好的话。我对大动脉还可以放心，可是对于我的二尖瓣，我要

好好听听您的意见。”

I listened to his heart, as requested, but was unable to
find anything amiss, save, indeed, that he was in an ecstasy

of fear, for he shivered from head to foot.

按照他的要求，我听了听他的心脏，但除了发现他因为恐惧而全
身颤抖外，我没有发现任何问题。


"It appears to be normal," I said. "You have no cause for
uneasiness."

“看起来是正常的，”我说，“你完全没有必要紧张。”


"You will excuse my anxiety, Miss Morstan," he remarked
airily. "I am a great sufferer, and I have long had suspicions
as to that valve. I am delighted to hear that they are
unwarranted. Had your father, Miss Morstan, refrained from
throwing a strain upon his heart, he might have been alive

now."

“请原谅我的焦虑，摩斯坦小姐，”他轻快地说，“我是一个大病
号，一直怀疑心脏瓣膜有问题。我很高兴听到我没事儿。摩斯坦小

姐，如果您父亲能克制住自己，减少对心脏的伤害，也许他现在还活

着呢。”

I could have struck the man across the face, so hot was I
at this callous and offhand reference to so delicate a matter.

Miss Morstan sat down, and her face grew white to the lips.

我恨不能冲着他的脸打一拳过去，心里十分愤怒。这么敏感的话
题，他怎么可以如此直截了当，口不择言呢。摩斯坦小姐坐了下来，

脸色惨白。

"I knew in my heart that he was dead," said she.

“我心里清楚，他早已经死了，”她说。


"I can give you every information," said he; "and, what
is more, I can do you justice; and I will, too, whatever
Brother Bartholomew may say. I am so glad to have your

friends here not only as an escort to you but also as
witnesses to what I am about to do and say. The three of us
can show a bold front to Brother Bartholomew. But let us
have no outsiders—no police or officials. We can settle

everything satisfactorily among ourselves without any
interference. Nothing would annoy Brother Bartholomew
more than any publicity."

“我会尽量告诉你我所知道的一切，”他说，“并且，我还可以主

持公道，无论我哥哥巴塞洛缪说什么，我都会主持公道。今天您和两
位朋友同来，我很高兴，他们不仅仅是陪伴您，也能为我的所言所行

做个见证。咱们三人可以共同对付我哥哥巴塞洛缪。不过，不要让外

人参与——不要警察，也不要官员。排除外人的干扰，我们可以顺利
而满意地解决所有问题。如果把事情公开，我哥哥巴塞洛缪是绝不会

同意的。”

He sat down upon a low settee and blinked at us
inquiringly with his weak, watery blue eyes.

他坐在矮矮的靠椅上，探询地朝我们眨巴了一下眼睛，那双蓝眼

睛泪汪汪的，但却没有生气。

"For my part," said Holmes, "whatever you may choose
to say will go no further."

“就我来说，”福尔摩斯说，“无论你告诉我什么，我都不会说出

去。”

I nodded to show my agreement.


我点头表示同意。

"That is well! That is well!" said he. "May I offer you a
glass of Chianti, Miss Morstan? Or of Tokay? I keep no other

wines. Shall I open a flask? No? Well, then, I trust that you
have no objection to tobacco-smoke, to the balsamic odour
of the Eastern tobacco. I am a little nervous, and I find my
hookah an invaluable sedative."


“那就行了！那就好了！”他说，“摩斯坦小姐，我可不可以敬您
一杯意大利勤地酒，或是匈牙利托考伊酒？我这里没有存别的酒了。

我开一瓶好吗？不喝吗？好吧，我想你们不会反对我吸这种有柔和香
味的东方烟吧。我有些紧张，我发现我的水烟是最好的镇静剂。”


He applied a taper to the great bowl, and the smoke
bubbled merrily through the rose-water. We sat all three in a
semicircle, with our heads advanced and our chins upon our
hands, while the strange, jerky little fellow, with his high,

shining head, puffed uneasily in the centre.

他点燃大水烟壶，烟从烟壶里的玫瑰水中徐徐地冒了出来。我们
三人环坐成一个半圆，伸着头，两手支着下巴，而中间则坐着这个奇

怪而激动的矮小男子，头顶光亮突出，局促不安地吸着烟。

"When I first determined to make this communication to

you," said he, "I might have given you my address; but I
feared that you might disregard my request and bring
unpleasant people with you. I took the liberty, therefore, of

making an appointment in such a way that my man Williams
might be able to see you first. I have complete confidence in

his discretion, and he had orders, if he were dissatisfied, to
proceed no further in the matter. You will excuse these
precautions, but I am a man of somewhat retiring, and I
might even say refined, tastes, and there is nothing more
unaesthetic than a policeman. I have a natural shrinking

from all forms of rough materialism. I seldom come in
contact with the rough crowd. I live, as you see, with some
little atmosphere of elegance around me. I may call myself a

patron of the arts. It is my weakness. The landscape is a
genuine Corot, and though a connoisseur might perhaps
throw a doubt upon that Salvator Rosa, there cannot be the
least question about the Bouguereau. I am partial to the
modern French school."


“当我最初决定要联系你的时候，”他说，“我也许应该给你我的
地址，但我害怕你会无视我的要求，带来不合适的人。所以我才这样

安排，叫我的仆人先和你们见面。我完全信任他的谨慎细心，我嘱咐
过他，如果情形不对，就不要把事情进行下去。请原谅我的警惕，因

为我是一个不愿与人来往的人，甚至可以说很孤傲，我认为，没有比
警察更不文雅的人了。我天生就不喜欢任何粗俗、世故的人，也极少

跟那些粗人接触。我的生活，如同你们所看到的，是十分雅致而高贵

的。我可以自命为艺术鉴赏家。这是我的嗜好。那幅风景画确实是柯
罗的真迹，有的鉴赏家也许会怀疑那幅塞尔瓦托·罗萨的作品的真伪，

可是那幅布格罗的画毫无疑问是真品。我特别钟爱现代法国派。”

"You will excuse me, Mr. Sholto," said Miss Morstan, "but
I am here at your request to learn something which you
desire to tell me. It is very late, and I should desire the

interview to be as short as possible."

“请原谅，肖尔托先生，”摩斯坦小姐说道，“我应邀前来，是因
为你有话要跟我讲。现在时间不早了，我希望这次会面能尽量简短。”

"At the best it must take some time," he answered; "for
we shall certainly have to go to Norwood and see Brother

Bartholomew. We shall all go and try if we can get the better
of Brother Bartholomew. He is very angry with me for taking
the course which has seemed right to me. I had quite high
words with him last night. You cannot imagine what a
terrible fellow he is when he is angry."


“至少还需要一段时间，”他回答，“因为咱们还得到诺伍德去找
我哥哥巴塞洛缪。咱们都要去，看看能否争得过我哥哥巴塞洛缪。他

非常生我的气，因为我做了一些我认为正确的事情。我们昨晚还大吵
了一架。你无法想象他在生气的时候有多么可怕。”


"If we are to go to Norwood, it would perhaps be as well
to start at once," I ventured to remark.

“如果咱们还要去诺伍德，那么是不是该马上动身呢？”我大胆地

说道。

He laughed until his ears were quite red.


他却大笑起来，笑到耳根都红了。

"That would hardly do," he cried. "I don't know what he
would say if I brought you in that sudden way. No, I must
prepare you by showing you how we all stand to each other.

In the first place, I must tell you that there are several
points in the story of which I am myself ignorant. I can only
lay the facts before you as far as I know them myself.

“那几乎是不可能的，”他大声说，“如果我突然带你们去的话，

不知道他会说些什么呢。不行，我必须先跟你们说清楚我们彼此的处
境，好让你们作好准备。首先，我必须告诉你，在这个故事里，有些

问题我也不甚清楚。在搞清楚它们之前，我只能把我知道的那些事实

摆出来。

"My father was, as you may have guessed, Major John
Sholto, once of the Indian Army. He retired some eleven
years ago and came to live at Pondicherry Lodge in Upper

Norwood. He had prospered in India and brought back with
him a considerable sum of money, a large collection of

valuable curiosities, and a staff of native servants. With
these advantages he bought himself a house, and lived in
great luxury. My twin-brother Bartholomew and I were the
only children."


“我的父亲，也许你们能猜得到，就是过去在印度驻军里的约翰·
肖尔托少校。大约在十一年前，他退休后，就住在了上诺伍德的本地

治里别墅。他在印度发了一些财，带来一大笔钱和一批贵重的古玩，
还有几个印度仆人。有了这些好条件，他就给自己买了一栋房子，住

得很奢华。我和巴塞洛缪是孪生兄弟，我父亲只有我们这两个孩子。”

"I very well remember the sensation which was caused
by the disappearance of Captain Morstan. We read the

details in the papers, and knowing that he had been a friend
of our father's we discussed the case freely in his presence.
He used to join in our speculations as to what could have
happened. Never for an instant did we suspect that he had

the whole secret hidden in his own breast, that of all men he
alone knew the fate of Arthur Morstan."

“我还很清楚地记得，摩斯坦上尉的失踪在社会上所引起的轰动。

我们从报纸上读到了事情的细节，因为知道他是父亲的朋友，所以，
我们很随意地当着他的面讨论过这件事。他也曾经跟我们一起揣测到

底会是发生了什么。我们从来也没有料想到，这整个秘密就藏在他一
个人的心里——只有他一个人知道阿瑟·摩斯坦的真实命运。”


"We did know, however, that some mystery, some
positive danger, overhung our father. He was very fearful of
going out alone, and he always employed two prize-fighters
to act as porters at Pondicherry Lodge. Williams, who drove

you tonight, was one of them. He was once light-weight
champion of England. Our father would never tell us what it
was he feared, but he had a most marked aversion to men
with wooden legs. On one occasion he actually fired his

revolver at a wooden-legged man, who proved to be a

harmless tradesman canvassing for orders. We had to pay a
large sum to hush the matter up. My brother and I used to

think this a mere whim of my father's, but events have since
led us to change our opinion."

“可是我们确实知道，有一些秘密——有一些恐怖的事——悬在我

父亲心里。他非常害怕一个人独自出门，长期雇着两个职业拳击手为
本地治里别墅看门。今天为你们赶车的那个威廉斯就是其中一个。他

曾经是英国的轻量级拳击冠军。我们的父亲从来没有告诉过我们他在
怕什么，不过，他对装有木腿的人非常戒备。曾经有一次，他打伤了

一个装木腿的人，后来证实这个人只是一个来谈生意的寻常商人。我
们不得不赔一大笔钱来摆平此事。我和哥哥曾经认为，这只是父亲的

一时冲动，但事情的发展让我们改变了看法。”

"Early in 1882 my father received a letter from India
which was a great shock to him. He nearly fainted at the

breakfast-table when he opened it, and from that day he
sickened to his death. What was in the letter we could never
discover, but I could see as he held it that it was short and
written in a scrawling hand. He had suffered for years from

an enlarged spleen, but he now became rapidly worse, and
towards the end of April we were informed that he was
beyond all hope, and that he wished to make a last
communication to us."


“一八八二年初，他收到了一封从印度寄来的信，那让他十分震
惊。他一打开信，几乎就在早餐桌前晕倒了，从那天起，他就病了，

直到病死。那封信的内容我们不得而知，但父亲拿着信的时候，我看
出信很短，字迹也很潦草。他多年患着脾脏肿大的病，这一下，病情

很快就恶化了，到了四月底，我们被告知他已没有希望了，他要对我
们做最后的交代。”


"When we entered his room he was propped up with
pillows and breathing heavily. He besought us to lock the
door and to come upon either side of the bed. Then
grasping our hands he made a remarkable statement to us

in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain.
I shall try and give it to you in his own very words."

“当我们走进房间的时候，他倚靠在枕头上，呼吸困难。他叫我们

把门锁上，到床的两旁来。他紧握我们的手，由于痛苦和激动，他用

断断续续的声音，告诉了我们一件惊人的事情。我会尝试着把他的原
话转述给你们。”


"'I have only one thing,' he said, 'which weighs upon my
mind at this supreme moment. It is my treatment of poor
Morstan's orphan. The cursed greed which has been my
besetting sin through life has withheld from her the
treasure, half at least of which should have been hers. And

yet I have made no use of it myself, so blind and foolish a
thing is avarice. The mere feeling of possession has been so
dear to me that I could not bear to share it with another. See

that chaplet tipped with pearls beside the quinine-bottle.
Even that I could not bear to part with, although I had got it
out with the design of sending it to her. You, my sons, will
give her a fair share of the Agra treasure. But send her
nothing—not even the chaplet—until I am gone. After all,

men have been as bad as this and have recovered.'"

“‘我只有一件事，’他说，‘在这最后时刻还压在心头上。那就是我
对待摩斯坦的遗孤一事。我那邪恶的贪念是我一生的罪孽，我的贪念

使得她没能得到至少有一半本该属于她的财产。而最终那些财富对于

我也没有了任何价值，我的贪欲是多么盲目而愚蠢啊！只要那些财宝
在我身边，我就非常满足了，我无法忍受任何人来分享它们。你们来

看，在盛金鸡纳霜的药瓶旁边有一个珍珠项圈。尽管我把它拿出来是
为了寄给她，但我仍旧不能忍受与这财宝分离。你们，我的儿子，应

该公平地把阿格拉的宝物分给她。但在我死之前，不要寄任何东西
——哪怕是那个项圈。毕竟，即使是病重如我的人，也还有痊愈的可

能。’”

"'I will tell you how Morstan died,' he continued. He had
suffered for years from a weak heart, but he concealed it

from everyone. I alone knew it. When in India, he and I,
through a remarkable chain of circumstances, came into

possession of a considerable treasure. I brought it over to
England, and on the night of Morstan's arrival he came
straight over here to claim his share. He walked over from
the station and was admitted by my faithful old Lal
Chowdar, who is now dead. Morstan and I had a difference

of opinion as to the division of the treasure, and we came to
heated words. Morstan had sprung out of his chair in a
paroxysm of anger, when he suddenly pressed his hand to

his side, his face turned a dusky hue, and he fell backward,
cutting his head against the corner of the treasure chest.
When I stooped over him I found, to my horror, that he was
dead.'"


“‘我会告诉你们，摩斯坦是怎么死的，’他继续道，‘他多年以来心
脏一直不好，但却没告诉任何人。只有我一个人知道。在印度的时

候，他和我经历了一系列非同寻常的事情，并因此拿到了数量庞大的
宝物。我把它们带到了英国，于是，摩斯坦在到达的当天晚上就来到

我这儿，索要属于他的那一部分。他从车站步行到门口，是如今已故
的老仆人拉尔·乔达开的门。摩斯坦和我在财产分割的问题上有不同的

意见，最终激烈地吵了起来。摩斯坦在盛怒之下从椅子上跳了起来，
随后忽然把手放在胸侧，脸上露出痛楚的表情，向后一跌，头撞上了

宝箱的一角。当我弯下腰去看他的时候，我惊恐地发现，他已经死
了。’”


"'For a long time I sat half distracted, wondering what I
should do. My first impulse was, of course, to call for
assistance; but I could not but recognize that there was
every chance that I would be accused of his murder. His

death at the moment of a quarrel, and the gash in his head,
would be black against me. Again, an official inquiry could
not be made without bringing out some facts about the

treasure, which I was particularly anxious to keep secret. He
had told me that no soul upon earth knew where he had

gone. There seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever
should know.'"

“‘很长一段时间，我都失魂落魄地坐在那儿，不知道该怎么办

好。我的第一反应当然是去寻求援助，但我发现，我很可能会被认定

为谋杀。他是在我们争论时断气的，他头上的伤口对我更是不利。而
且，在法庭上一定会问及我关于财宝的事情，这是我一定要保密的。

他告诉过我，没有人知道他来这里。没有必要让任何人知道。’”

"'I was still pondering over the matter, when, looking up,
I saw my servant, Lal Chowdar, in the doorway. He stole in

and bolted the door behind him. "Do not fear, sahib," he
said; "no one need know that you have killed him. Let us
hide him away, and who is the wiser?" "I did not kill him,"
said I. Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. "I heard it all,

sahib," said he; "I heard you quarrel, and I heard the blow.
But my lips are sealed. All are asleep in the house. Let us
put him away together." That was enough to decide me. If
my own servant could not believe my innocence, how could

I hope to make it good before twelve foolish tradesmen in a
jury-box? Lal Chowdar and I disposed of the body that night,
and within a few days the London papers were full of the
mysterious disappearance of Captain Morstan. You will see

from what I say that I can hardly be blamed in the matter.
My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body
but also the treasure and that I have clung to Morstan's
share as well as to my own. I wish you, therefore, to make

restitution. Put your ears down to my mouth. The treasure is
hidden in——'"

“‘我仍在思考这件事的时候，一抬头，却看到我的仆人拉尔·乔达

站在门口。他蹑手蹑脚地走进来，并把门关上。“别害怕，主人，”他
说，“没有人会知道你杀了他。让我们把他藏起来，还有谁能知道

呢？”“我没有杀他，”我说。拉尔·乔达摇了摇头，笑了。“我全部都听
到了，主人，”他说，“我听到了你们的争吵，也听到了撞击的声音。

但我绝不会说出去的。房子里的其他人都睡了。让我们一起把他搬走

吧。”他的话使我下了决心。即便是我的仆人，都不相信我的无辜，我

又怎么能让坐在陪审席里的十二个愚蠢商人相信我呢。拉尔·乔达和我
当晚把尸体掩埋了，几天之后，伦敦的报纸就满是摩斯坦上尉神秘失

踪的消息。从我说的这些，你们可以看出，这件事不能怪我。我的过
失在于，我们掩埋了尸体，并隐藏了宝物，我除了占有自己的份额，

还霸占了摩斯坦的份额。因此，我希望你们能帮我作出偿还。把你们
的耳朵凑过来。那些财宝藏在——’”


"At this instant a horrible change came over his
expression; his eyes stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he
yelled in a voice which I can never forget, 'Keep him out For
Christ's sake keep him out!' We both stared round at the

window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed. A face
was looking in at us out of the darkness. We could see the
whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the

glass. It was a bearded, hairy face, with wild cruel eyes and
an expression of concentrated malevolence. My brother and
I rushed towards the window, but the man was gone. When
we returned to my father his head had dropped and his
pulse had ceased to beat."


“就在这个时候，他的表情忽然变得很可怕，他的双眼发狂地瞪着
什么，嘴巴大张着，用一种我绝难忘怀的声音喊道，‘把他赶出去！

哦，我的上帝，把他赶出去！’他的目光紧紧盯着窗户，于是，我们俩
转身，向着窗户瞧去。一张面孔正在黑暗中凝视着我们。我们可以看

到那只因压着玻璃而发白的鼻子。那是一张毛发丛生的脸，眼神狂野
凶狠，还有着十分凶狠的表情。我和哥哥冲到了窗户前，可那人却已

经走了。当我们回到父亲身边的时候，他已经垂下了头，脉搏停止了

跳动。”

"We searched the garden that night but found no sign of
the intruder save that just under the window a single
footmark was visible in the flower-bed. But for that one

trace, we might have thought that our imaginations had
conjured up that wild, fierce face. We soon, however, had

another and a more striking proof that there were secret
agencies at work all round us. The window of my father's

room was found open in the morning, his cupboards and
boxes had been rifled, and upon his chest was fixed a torn
piece of paper with the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled
across it. What the phrase meant or who our secret visitor
may have been, we never knew. As far as we can judge

none of my father's property had been actually stolen,
though everything had been turned out. My brother and I
naturally associated this peculiar incident with the fear

which haunted my father during his life, but it is still a
complete mystery to us."

“那一晚我们搜遍了花园，但却没有发现那个侵入者留下的任何痕

迹，只是在窗户下的花台上，有一个脚印清晰可见。要不是有这么一
个痕迹，我们或许还会以为，那张凶狠的脸庞只是我们的幻觉。但我

和哥哥很快就发现了另一个更有力的证据，表明在我们的周围正在进
行着什么秘密行动。我们在第二天早晨发现，父亲卧室的窗户大开，

他的橱柜和箱子全都被搜查过，在他的箱子上钉着一张破纸，上面潦
草地写着‘四签名’。而这几个字是什么意思，又或者那个神秘的访客

是谁，我们都不知道。虽然所有的东西都被翻过了，但就我们所知，
父亲的财产却没有被盗。我和哥哥非常自然地把这些怪事与困扰我父

亲的恐惧联系起来，但这对于我们来说，也完全是一个谜。”

The little man stopped to relight his hookah and puffed

thoughtfully for a few moments. We had all sat absorbed,
listening to his extraordinary narrative. At the short account
of her father's death Miss Morstan had turned deadly white,
and for a moment I feared that she was about to faint. She
rallied, however, on drinking a glass of water which I quietly

poured out for her from a Venetian carafe upon the side-
table. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair with an
abstracted expression and the lids drawn low over his

glittering eyes. As I glanced at him I could not but think how
on that very day he had complained bitterly of the

commonplaceness of life. Here at least was a problem which
would tax his sagacity to the utmost. Mr. Thaddeus Sholto

looked from one to the other of us with an obvious pride at
the effect which his story had produced and then continued
between the puffs of his overgrown pipe.

这个矮小的男人停下来，重新点着了他的水烟壶，若有所思地连

吸了几口。我们都全神贯注地听着他那离奇的描述。讲到她父亲之死
的时候，摩斯坦小姐的脸变得苍白，那一会儿，我真害怕她会晕倒。

不过，我从旁边桌子上的威尼斯式水瓶里倒了一杯水给她，她喝过之
后，就缓过来了。舍洛克·福尔摩斯躺回到椅子上，神情凝重，眼睑低

垂下来，盖住了他那发亮的眼睛。当我看着他的时候，我不禁想起，
就在今天，他还痛苦地抱怨过，生活多么沉闷、无聊呢。而在这里，

至少有一个难题将会极度考验他的智慧。塞迪厄斯·肖尔托先生对我们

这个看看，那个瞧瞧，为他讲述的故事给我们带来的震撼而骄傲，他
继续吸着水烟壶，又说了下去。


"My brother and I," said he, "were, as you may imagine,
much excited as to the treasure which my father had spoken
of. For weeks and for months we dug and delved in every
part of the garden without discovering its whereabouts. It
was maddening to think that the hiding-place was on his

very lips at the moment that he died. We could judge the
splendour of the missing riches by the chaplet which he had
taken out. Over this chaplet my brother Bartholomew and I

had some little discussion. The pearls were evidently of
great value, and he was averse to part with them, for,
between friends, my brother was himself a little inclined to
my father's fault. He thought, too, that if we parted with the
chaplet it might give rise to gossip and finally bring us into

trouble. It was all that I could do to persuade him to let me
find out Miss Morstan's address and send her a detached
pearl at fixed intervals so that at least she might never feel

destitute."

“我哥哥和我，”他继续说，“如你们所想，对于父亲所提及的财

宝感到非常兴奋。我们连续挖了几个月，几乎把我们的花园都翻遍
了，却没有发现任何财宝的踪影。一想到在他临死时，那个藏宝地就

在他嘴边上了，我们就很恼怒。我们可以从他拿出的项圈看出，那些
财宝有多么璀璨。关于这个项圈，我和哥哥巴塞洛缪也曾讨论过。那

些珍珠明显非常值钱，他反对把它们给出去，因为，在对待朋友方
面，他有跟我父亲一样的缺点。他认为，如果我们把项圈给出去的

话，必然会引来谣言，并最终给我们带来麻烦。我能做的就是说服他
让我找出摩斯坦小姐的地址，然后定时分别寄出那些分割开的珠子，

至少保证她的生活不会困难。”

"It was a kindly thought," said our companion earnestly,

"it was extremely good of you."

“这是一个非常善意的想法，”我们的伙伴真诚地说，“你真是太
善良了。”


The little man waved his hand deprecatingly. "We were
your trustees," he said; "that was the view which I took of it,
though Brother Bartholomew could not altogether see it in

that light. We had plenty of money ourselves. I desired no
more. Besides, it would have been such bad taste to have
treated a young lady in so scurvy a fashion. Le mauvais
go�t m�ne au crime.' The French have a very neat way of
putting these things. Our difference of opinion on this

subject went so far that I thought it best to set up rooms for
myself; so I left Pondicherry Lodge, taking the old
khitmutgar and Williams with me. Yesterday, however, I

learned that an event of extreme importance has occurred.
The treasure has been discovered. I instantly communicated
with Miss Morstan, and it only remains for us to drive out to
Norwood and demand our share. I explained my views last
night to Brother Bartholomew, so we shall be expected, if

not welcome, visitors."

这个矮小的人不以为然地挥挥手。“我们只是你的财产保管

人，”他说，“我是这么认为的，尽管我哥哥巴塞洛缪并不这么看。我
们自己已经有很多钱了。我不想要更多了。而且，如此卑劣地对待一

位年轻女士太有失风范了。‘鄙俗为罪恶之源。’这句法国谚语一针见
血地说明了其中的道理。由于我们在这个问题上有太大的分歧，我觉

得我最好自己另找住处，于是，我带着一位印度老仆和威廉斯离开了
本地治里别墅。然而，昨天，我听说一件很要紧的事情发生了。财宝

找到了。于是，我马上就联络了摩斯坦小姐，接下来我们要做的，就
是去诺伍德追索属于我们的财产了。我昨晚向哥哥巴塞洛缪阐述了我

的想法，所以，我们应该作好不被欢迎的准备。”

Mr. Thaddeus Sholto ceased and sat twitching on his

luxurious settee. We all remained silent, with our thoughts
upon the new development which the mysterious business
had taken. Holmes was the first to spring to his feet.

塞迪厄斯·肖尔托先生说完后，坐在矮椅子上，手指不停地抖动。

我们都保持着沉默，思索着这件怪事儿的新进展。福尔摩斯是第一个
站起来的。


"You have done well, sir, from first to last," said he. "It is
possible that we may be able to make you some small
return by throwing some light upon that which is still dark to
you. But, as Miss Morstan remarked just now, it is late, and

we had best put the matter through without delay."

“你做得很好，先生，从头到尾都是，”他说，“也许我们可以告
诉你一些你所不知道的事情，作为报答。不过，如摩斯坦小姐刚才所

说，现在已经很晚了，我们不该再耽搁了。”

Our new acquaintance very deliberately coiled up the

tube of his hookah and produced from behind a curtain a
very long befrogged topcoat with astrakhan collar and cuffs.
This he buttoned tightly up in spite of the extreme closeness

of the night and finished his attire by putting on a rabbit-
skin cap with hanging lappets which covered the ears, so

that no part of him was visible save his mobile and peaky
face.

我们新认识的朋友非常小心地盘起水烟壶的烟管，从幔帐后面拿

出一件带羊羔皮领子和袖子的盘花纽扣大衣。尽管晚上依然闷热，他

还是紧紧地扣上了大衣的扣子，带上一顶兔皮帽子。穿戴完毕后，他
全身就只有那灵活、清瘦的脸露在外面了。


"My health is somewhat fragile," he remarked as he led
the way down the passage. "I am compelled to be a
valetudinarian."

“我的健康有些不好，”他一边说着，一边带着我们走下了甬

道，“无奈只好做一个病人了。”

Our cab was awaiting us outside, and our programme

was evidently prearranged, for the driver started off at once
at a rapid pace. Thaddeus Sholto talked incessantly in a
voice which rose high above the rattle of the wheels.

我们的马车就在外面等着，我们的行程很明显是早就安排好的，

因为马车一下子就迅速出发了。塞迪厄斯不停地说着话，声音压过了
车轮的咔哒声。


"Bartholomew is a clever fellow," said he. "How do you
think he found out where the treasure was? He had come to
the conclusion that it was somewhere indoors, so he worked
out all the cubic space of the house and made

measurements everywhere so that not one inch should be
unaccounted for. Among other things, he found that the
height of the building was seventy-four feet, but on adding

together the heights of all the separate rooms and making
every allowance for the space between, which he
ascertained by borings, he could not bring the total to more
than seventy feet. There were four feet unaccounted for.
These could only be at the top of the building. He knocked a

hole, therefore, in the lath and plaster ceiling of the highest
room, and there, sure enough, he came upon another little

garret above it, which had been sealed up and was known
to no one. In the centre stood the treasure-chest resting

upon two rafters. He lowered it through the hole, and there
it lies. He computes the value of the jewels at not less than
half a million sterling."

“巴塞洛缪是一个聪明人，”他说，“你们知道他是怎么找到宝藏

的吗？他得出宝藏一定在室内的结论，于是，他计算出了整所房子的
立体面积，测量了每个角落，没有漏算一英寸的地方。从这些勘测之

中，他发现房子的高度是七十四英尺，可是，他把所有各个房间的高
度都分别衡量过了，还用钻探方法确定了楼板的厚度，把这些都加

上，总共也不过七十英尺。还差了四英尺。这差的高度唯有从屋顶去
找。他在用板条和灰泥砌成的天花板上打了一个洞，果然在那里找到

了一个封闭着的、任何人也不知道的阁楼。那个宝箱就摆在天花板中

央的两条椽木上。他把宝箱从洞口取了下来，珠宝就在里面。他计算
了一下这些宝物的价值，估计不少于五十万英镑。”


At the mention of this gigantic sum we all stared at one
another open-eyed. Miss Morstan, could we secure her
rights, would change from a needy governess to the richest
heiress in England. Surely it was the place of a loyal friend
to rejoice at such news, yet I am ashamed to say that

selfishness took me by the soul and that my heart turned as
heavy as lead within me. I stammered out some few halting
words of congratulation and then sat downcast, with my

head drooped, deaf to the babble of our new acquaintance.
He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac, and I was
dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth interminable
trains of symptoms, and imploring information as to the
composition and action of innumerable quack nostrums,

some of which he bore about in a leather case in his pocket.
I trust that he may not remember any of the answers which
I gave him that night. Holmes declares that he overheard

me caution him against the great danger of taking more
than two drops of castor-oil, while I recommended

strychnine in large doses as a sedative. However that may
be, I was certainly relieved when our cab pulled up with a

jerk and the coachman sprang down to open the door.

听到这个庞大的数字，我们不禁都瞪大了眼睛。至于摩斯坦小
姐，假如我们帮她争取到权益的话，她会从一个贫穷的家庭教师变成

英国最富有的遗产继承者。她忠实的朋友都理应为她感到高兴，但很
惭愧，我却由于私心而感到心里像灌了铅一般沉甸甸的。我勉强说了

几句祝贺的话，就垂头丧气地坐在那里，最后甚至连新朋友说的话也
听不见了。他很明显是一个抑郁症患者，我隐约记得他列举出了一系

列症状，并询问了一大堆偏方的成分和功效，有一些偏方他还装在口
袋中的皮夹子里。我相信他也不一定记得我那晚给他的答复了。福尔

摩斯说，他听到我警告他服用两滴以上蓖麻油的巨大危险性，而且还

推荐他服用大剂量的番木鳖碱作为镇静剂。无论如何，当我们的马车
忽然停下，车夫下来打开车门的时候，我感觉我得到了解脱。


"This, Miss Morstan, is Pondicherry Lodge," said Mr.
Thaddeus Sholto as he handed her out.

“摩斯坦小姐，这就是本地治里别墅。”塞迪厄斯·肖尔托先生一边

扶着她下车，一边说道。



Chapter 5 The Tragedy of

Pondicherry Lodge



第五章 本地治里别墅的惨案



It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final
stage of our night's adventures. We had left the damp fog of

the great city behind us, and the night was fairly fine. A
warm wind blew from the westward, and heavy clouds
moved slowly across the sky, with half a moon peeping
occasionally through the rifts. It was clear enough to see for

some distance, but Thaddeus Sholto took down one of the
side lamps from the carriage to give us a better light upon
our way.

当我们来到今晚冒险历程的最后一站时，已经将近晚上十点了。

伦敦的浓雾已经散去，夜晚变得清净起来。一阵暖风从西边吹来，浓
重的乌云缓缓飘过天空，半圆的月亮时不时地从云缝里露出头来。远

处已经能看得很清楚了，可塞迪厄斯·肖尔托还是拿着一盏车灯，想要
为我们把路照得更明亮一点儿。


Pondicherry Lodge stood in its own grounds and was girt
round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass.
A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of

entrance. On this our guide knocked with a peculiar
postman-like rat-tat.

本地治里别墅独自矗立在一片宅地上，四周环绕着很高的石墙，

墙头插着碎玻璃片。一道钉有铁夹板的窄门是唯一的入口。我们的向
导像邮递员一样“砰砰”地敲响了门。


"Who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within.

“谁？”一个粗鲁的声音从里面传了出来。

"It is I, McMurdo. You surely know my knock by this
time." There was a grumbling sound and a clanking and

jarring of keys. The door swung heavily back, and a short,
deep-chested man stood in the opening, with the yellow

light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and
twinkling, distrustful eyes.

“是我，麦克默多。到现在你肯定熟悉我的敲门声了。”里面传出

一阵抱怨的声音，然后是钥匙的叮当响声。门猛地向后敞开，一个矮
小却健壮的男人站在门口，提着一盏黄色的灯笼，照出他突出的脸和

忽闪、多疑的双眼。

"That you, Mr. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had
no orders about them from the master."


“是你吗，塞迪厄斯先生？不过，其他人是谁？主人没有下达有关
他们的指示。”


"No, McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last
night that I should bring some friends."

“没有吗？麦克默多？这简直不可思议！我昨晚就告诉了哥哥，今

天会带一些朋友来。”

"He hain't been out o' his rooms to-day, Mr. Thaddeus,
and I have no orders. You know very well that I must stick to
regulations. I can let you in, but your friends they must just

stop where they are."

“他今天没有出过房门，塞迪厄斯先生，我没有得到任何指示。你
很清楚的，我必须遵守规定。我可以让你进来，但你的朋友就在原地

歇息吧。”

This was an unexpected obstacle. Thaddeus Sholto

looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner.

这是一个意想不到的障碍。塞迪厄斯·肖尔托茫然而无助地瞪着
他。


"This is too bad of you, McMurdo!" he said. "If I
guarantee them, that is enough for you. There is the young
lady, too. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour."

“你太不像话啦，麦克默多！”他说，“如果我为他们作担保，就

足够了吧。这儿还有一位年轻女士。她不能在这个时候在大马路上
等。”


"Very sorry, Mr. Thaddeus," said the porter inexorably.
"Folk may be friends o' yours, and yet no friend o' the
master's. He pays me well to do my duty, and my duty I'll
do. I don't know none o' your friends."


“非常抱歉，塞迪厄斯先生，”守门人无动于衷地说，“这几位可
能是您的朋友，但不是主人的朋友。他付给我那么多工钱，就是为了

让我履行职责，我必须履行职责。您的朋友，我一个也不认得。”

"Oh, yes you do, McMurdo," cried Sherlock Holmes
genially. "I don't think you can have forgotten me. Don't you
remember that amateur who fought three rounds with you

at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years
back?"

“哦，你认识的，麦克默多，”福尔摩斯和蔼地说，“我想你是不

会忘记我的。你不记得了吗，四年前，在艾莉森的场子为你举行的拳
击之夜里，那个跟你打过三个回合的业余拳击手？


"Not Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter.
"God's truth! how could I have mistook you? If instead o'
standin' there so quiet you had just stepped up and given

me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, I'd ha' known you
without a question. Ah, you're one that has wasted your
gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had
joined the fancy."


“难不成是舍洛克·福尔摩斯先生？！”这名职业拳手嚷道，“我的
天啊！我怎么会没认出您呢？与其站在那里一言不发，您还不如上前
来，给我的下巴来上您拿手的一拳，那我就能认出您来啦！啊！您浪

费了自己的天资！真是可惜了！如果您继续练的话，一定会有所成就

的。”

"You see, Watson, if all else fails me, I have still one of
the scientific professions open to me," said Holmes,

laughing. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now, I am
sure."

“你看，沃森，就算我其他什么事都干不成，但仍然还有一个正儿

八经的职业适合我，”福尔摩斯笑着对我说，“我相信我们这位朋友一
定不会让我们在外面受冻的。”


"In you come, sir, in you come—you and your friends,"
he answered. "Very sorry, Mr. Thaddeus, but orders are very
strict. Had to be certain of your friends before I let them in."

“请进来吧，先生，请进来吧——您和您的朋友，”他回答

道，“非常抱歉，塞迪厄斯先生，规定是非常严格的。我在放你的朋友
们进来之前，必须弄清楚他们的身份。”


Inside, a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to
a huge clump of a house, square and prosaic, all plunged in
shadow save where a moon beam struck one corner and
glimmered in a garret window. The vast size of the building,

with its gloom and its deathly silence, struck a chill to the
heart. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease, and the
lantern quivered and rattled in his hand.

一进去，就有一条铺着石子的小路，曲曲折折地穿过一片荒凉的

空地，直通到一栋方方正正、普普通通的大房子，房子整个隐没在阴

影中，只有一束月光照着房子的一角，在顶楼的窗户上微微闪耀。这
样一栋大房子，连同着它的阴森和沉寂，让人毛骨悚然。就连塞迪厄

斯·肖尔托也显得不安起来，手里的灯都跟着颤抖。

"I cannot understand it," he said. "There must be some
mistake. I distinctly told Bartholomew that we should be
here, and yet there is no light in his window. I do not know

what to make of it."

“我实在是不明白，”他说，“这里面一定有问题。我非常清楚地
告诉过巴塞洛缪，我们今晚会来，但他房间的窗口却没有光亮。我真

不明白，这是怎么一回事。”

"Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked

Holmes.

“他平常总是这样护卫宅子的吗？”福尔摩斯问道。

"Yes; he has followed my father's custom. He was the

favourite son you know, and I sometimes think that my
father may have told him more than he ever told me. That is
Bartholomew's window up there where the moonshine
strikes. It is quite bright, but there is no light from within, I

think."

“是的，他沿袭了我父亲的习惯。您知道，他是我父亲很偏爱的孩
子，我有时候认为，我父亲告诉他的话远比告诉我的要多。那月光照

着的，就是巴塞洛缪的窗户。窗户很明亮，但我认为，里面似乎没有

灯光。”

"None," said Holmes. "But I see the glint of a light in
that little window beside the door."

“的确没有，”福尔摩斯说，“不过，我看到门旁的那个小窗里闪

着光。”

"Ah, that is the housekeeper's room. That is where old

Mrs. Bernstone sits. She can tell us all about it. But perhaps
you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two, for if
we all go in together, and she has had no word of our
coming, she may be alarmed. But, hush! what is that?"


“啊，那是管家的房间。是伯恩斯通老太太待的地方。她会告诉我
们是怎么一回事儿的。不过，或许你们该在外面等一会儿，因为，如

果我们一起进去，而她事先又没听说我们要来的话，那她会惊恐不安
的。不过，嘘！那是谁？”


He held up the lantern, and his hand shook until the
circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. Miss
Morstan seized my wrist, and we all stood, with thumping

hearts, straining our ears. From the great black house there
sounded through the silent night the saddest and most

pitiful of sounds—the shrill, broken whimpering of a
frightened woman.

他举高了灯笼，但手抖动得让灯光打着转，到处摇摆闪烁。摩斯

坦小姐握紧了我的手腕，我们都站在那里，伴着扑通扑通的心跳，竖
起耳朵听着。从这巨大、阴森的房子里，传来一阵阵极为悲凉的惨叫

声，划破了静谧的夜空——那是惊恐的女人声嘶力竭的凄厉哀号声。

"It is Mrs. Bernstone," said Sholto. "She is the only
woman in the house. Wait here. I shall be back in a
moment."


“那是伯恩斯通太太，”肖尔托说，“她是这房子里唯一的女人。
在这里等着。我一会儿就出来。”


He hurried for the door and knocked in his peculiar way.
We could see a tall old woman admit him and sway with
pleasure at the very sight of him.


他赶忙走向房门，用他独特的方式敲了敲门。我们看到一个高个
子的老女人让他进了门，并且一见到是他，就非常高兴。

"Oh, Mr. Thaddeus, sir, I am so glad you have come! I

am so glad you have come, Mr. Thaddeus, sir!"

“哦，塞迪厄斯先生，很高兴您来了！我非常高兴您来了，塞迪厄

斯先生！”

We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was
closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone.

我们听到她反反复复地表达着喜悦之情，直到门关上，她的声音

才渐渐减弱，变得含混不清了。

Our guide had left us the lantern. Holmes swung it
slowly round and peered keenly at the house and at the

great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. Miss
Morstan and I stood together, and her hand was in mine. A

wondrous subtle thing is love, for here were we two, who
had never seen each other before that day, between whom

no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yet
now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for
each other. I have marvelled at it since, but at the time it
seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her
so, and, as she has often told me, there was in her also the

instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection. So we
stood hand in hand like two children, and there was peace in
our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.

我们的向导把灯笼留给了我们。福尔摩斯提着那盏灯，缓慢地仔

细审视着房子四周和堆在空地上的大堆垃圾。摩斯坦小姐跟我站在一

起，依然握着我的手。爱是一个多么神奇而微妙的东西啊！我们两人
在这之前从未谋面，也不曾传递过一句情话，甚至一丝情愫，然而，

就在这患难的一个小时里，我们的手不自觉地紧紧握在了一起。我事
后常惊讶于此，但在那个时候，我这么主动地握住她，却好像是最自

然不过的事情，而她后来也常常告诉我，她当时本能般地依偎着我，
寻求安慰和保护。我们手拉着手站在一起，如同两个小孩一般，这就

使得我们的心在黑暗之中能保持宁静。

"What a strange place!" she said, looking round.

“多么奇怪的地方啊！”她看着四周说。


"It looks as though all the moles in England had been let
loose in it. I have seen something of the sort on the side of a
hill near Ballarat, where the prospectors had been at work."


“好像英国所有的鼹鼠都被放到这里来了。我只在巴拉瑞特附近的
山边看到过类似的景象，那里有探矿人在钻探。”

"And from the same cause," said Holmes. "These are the

traces of the treasure seekers. You must remember that
they were six years looking for it. No wonder that the
grounds look like a gravel-pit."

“这里的挖掘也是为了同样的目的，”福尔摩斯说，“这都是为了

寻找宝物。你不要忘了，他们用了六年的时间来寻找。难怪这里就好
像砂砾坑一般。”


At that moment the door of the house burst open, and
Thaddeus Sholto came running out, with his hands thrown
forward and terror in his eyes.

在这个时候，房门忽然打开了，塞迪厄斯·肖尔托跑了出来，两手

向前伸着，眼中充满恐惧。

"There is something amiss with Bartholomew!" he cried.

"I am frightened! My nerves cannot stand it."

“巴塞洛缪一定是出事儿了！”他喊道，“我很害怕！我经受不住
这样的刺激。”


He was, indeed, half blubbering with fear, and his
twitching, feeble face peeping out from the great astrakhan
collar had the helpless, appealing expression of a terrified

child.

他真的几乎恐惧得哭了起来，抽搐着的苍白脸孔从羔皮领子里露
出来，满是无助、哀求的神情，如同一个受惊的孩子。


"Come into the house," said Holmes in his crisp, firm
way.

“进屋子里去！”福尔摩斯坚决、干脆地说。


"Yes, do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. "I really do not feel
equal to giving directions."

“请进！请进！”塞迪厄斯恳求地说道，“我真的不知道该如何是

好了。”

We all followed him into the housekeeper's room, which
stood upon the lefthand side of the passage. The old woman

was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless,

picking fingers, but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to
have a soothing effect upon her.

我们都跟着他，走进了女管家的房间，房间就在甬道的左侧。这

个老太太正惊魂未定地在房间里走来走去，一边拽着手指，但她一看

到摩斯坦小姐，就如同得到了安慰。

"God bless your sweet, calm face!" she cried with a
hysterical sob. "It does me good to see you. Oh, but I have

been sorely tired this day!"

“上帝会保佑您这张甜美而温柔的脸的！”她失控地啜泣道，“见
到您真好。哦，今天我真是受够了！”


Our companion patted her thin, work-worn hand and
murmured some few words of kindly, womanly comfort
which brought the colour back into the other's bloodless

cheeks.

我们的伙伴轻轻地拍了拍她那瘦骨嶙峋、饱经沧桑的手，喃喃低
语了几句安慰的话，老太太那毫无血色的脸就逐渐恢复了常态。


"Master has locked himself in and will not answer me,"
she explained. "All day I have waited to hear from him, for
he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that
something was amiss, so I went up and peeped through the

key hole. You must go up, Mr. Thaddeus—you must go up
and look for yourself. I have seen Mr. Bartholomew Sholto in
joy and in sorrow for ten long years, but I never saw him
with such a face on him as that."


“主人把他自己锁在了房间里，完全不理会我，”她解释道，“我
一整天都在等他召唤，因为他经常喜欢独处。可是，几个钟头以前，

我害怕会出事儿，就上楼去，从钥匙孔里往里偷偷看了看。您一定要
上去看一看，塞迪厄斯先生——你一定要亲自上去看一看。这十年

里，我见过他喜悦，也见过他悲伤，可我从没见过巴塞洛缪先生这副
样子。”

Sherlock Holmes took the lamp and led the way, for
Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. So

shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as
we went up the stairs, for his knees were trembling under
him. Twice as we ascended, Holmes whipped his lens out of
his pocket and carefully examined marks which appeared to
me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the

cocoanut-matting which served as a stair-carpet. He walked
slowly from step to step, holding the lamp low, and shooting
keen glances to right and left. Miss Morstan had remained

behind with the frightened housekeeper.

舍洛克·福尔摩斯提着灯笼在前面带路，因为塞迪厄斯已吓得牙齿
都打战了。他抖得实在太厉害了，以至于上楼梯时，我不得不扶住他

的胳膊，因为他的双膝在不住地颤抖。我们上楼梯的时候，福尔摩斯
两次从口袋里拿出放大镜，小心地查验了用作楼梯地毯的棕皮垫子上

的一些痕迹，尽管在我看来，这些痕迹不过是一些奇形怪状的污渍。
他缓慢地一级一级走上去，灯提得很低，不断向左右敏锐地扫视着。

摩斯坦小姐留在楼下，给惊恐的女管家作伴。

The third flight of stairs ended in a straight passage of

some length, with a great picture in Indian tapestry upon
the right of it and three doors upon the left. Holmes
advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way,
while we kept close at his heels, with our long black

shadows streaming backward down the corridor. The third
door was that which we were seeking. Holmes knocked
without receiving any answer, and then tried to turn the
handle and force it open. It was locked on the inside,

however, and by a broad and powerful bolt, as we could see
when we set our lamp up against it. The key being turned,
however, the hole was not entirely closed. Sherlock Holmes
bent down to it and instantly rose again with a sharp

intaking of the breath.

上了三段楼梯之后，就是一条很长的笔直的甬道，右墙上悬挂着

一幅巨幅印度挂毯画，左边有三个门。福尔摩斯依然一边慢慢地走
着，一边观察，我们紧随其后，长长的影子投射在身后的走廊上。第

三扇门就是我们要去的地方。福尔摩斯敲了敲门，没有人应答，于是
他就扭转门把手，试图强行开门。但是，门从里面反锁上了，我们把

灯贴近了门缝，可以看见里面用很粗的门锁倒闩着。但钥匙被扭转过
来了，所以锁眼没有全部封闭。舍洛克·福尔摩斯弯腰从锁眼里往里面

看了看，立刻站了起来，倒吸了一口气。

"There is something devilish in this, Watson," said he,
more moved than I had ever before seen him. "What do you

make of it?"

“沃森，里面确实有点儿可怕，”他说道，我从没有见过他如此激
动。“你看这是怎么一回事儿？”


I stooped to the hole and recoiled in horror. Moonlight
was streaming into the room, and it was bright with a vague
and shifty radiance. Looking straight at me and suspended,

as it were, in the air, for all beneath was in shadow, there
hung a face—the very face of our companion Thaddeus.
There was the same high, shining head, the same circular
bristle of red hair, the same bloodless countenance. The

features were set, however, in a horrible smile, a fixed and
unnatural grin, which in that still and moonlit room was
more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. So
like was the face to that of our little friend that I looked

round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us. Then
I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his
brother and he were twins.

我弯下腰，凑近锁眼，却吓得立刻缩了回来。月光照进屋内，闪

耀着粼粼光辉。有一张脸正直视着我，而且它仿佛是悬浮在半空中

的，因为脸以下的部分都沉浸在黑暗中了——那张脸跟我们的伙伴塞
迪厄斯一模一样。一样光亮的秃顶，一样围成一圈的红短发，一样没
有血色的面孔。但是，那张脸表情呆滞，带着一丝可怕的微笑——一

种定住的、不自然的露齿笑容，在这月光照耀的宁静房间里，这样一

张脸比愁眉苦脸更让人害怕。由于这张脸跟我们的小个子朋友实在太
像，我不得不转过头来确认他是否确实与我们在一起。然后，我想起

他提起过，他们是孪生兄弟。

"This is terrible!" I said to Holmes. "What is to be done?"

“太可怕了！”我对福尔摩斯说，“该怎么办呢？”


"The door must come down," he answered, and
springing against it, he put all his weight upon the lock.

“我们必须把门打开，”他回答道，一边向门上撞了过去，把全身

的力量都压到了锁上。

It creaked and groaned but did not yield. Together we
flung ourselves upon it once more, and this time it gave way

with a sudden snap, and we found ourselves within
Bartholomew Sholto's chamber.

门发出吱嘎吱嘎的声响，但是没有开。我们再一次一起撞向门，

这一次，门被猛地一下撞开了，然后，我们发现自己已经进入了巴塞
洛缪的房间。


It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical
laboratory. A double line of glass-stoppered bottles was
drawn up upon the wall opposite the door, and the table
was littered over with Bunsen burners, test-tubes, and

retorts. In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker
baskets. One of these appeared to leak or to have been
broken, for a stream of dark-coloured liquid had trickled out
from it, and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent,

tarlike odour. A set of steps stood at one side of the room in
the midst of a litter of lath and plaster, and above them
there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man
to pass through. At the foot of the steps a long coil of rope

was thrown carelessly together.

这间屋子收拾得如同化学实验室一般。对着门的墙上摆着两层带

玻璃塞的玻璃瓶子，桌子上摆满了本生灯、试管和蒸馏器。墙的一角
里有许多用柳条篮子装着的玻璃酸瓶。其中有一个似乎是泄漏了，或

是破碎了，流出一股黑色的液体，空气里弥漫着一股特别刺鼻的柏油
气味。屋子的一边，在一堆散乱的板条和灰泥上，立着一架梯子，梯

子上方的天花板上有一个大洞，大小差不多可以容人进出。梯子下面
有一卷绳子，绳子散乱地堆放在一起。


By the table in a wooden armchair the master of the
house was seated all in a heap, with his head sunk upon his
left shoulder and that ghastly, inscrutable smile upon his
face. He was stiff and cold and had clearly been dead many

hours. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his
limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion.
By his hand upon the table there lay a peculiar instrument—

a brown, close-grained stick, with a stone head like a
hammer, rudely lashed on with coarse twine. Beside it was a
torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it.
Holmes glanced at it and then handed it to me.

在桌子旁边放着一张有扶手的木椅子，上面坐着房间的主人，他

的头斜倚在左肩上，脸上带着神秘、可怕的微笑。他的身体冰冷僵
硬，明显已经死了好些时候了。在我看来，他不仅表情诡异，四肢也

蜷缩得很古怪。他手边的桌上放着一个奇怪的器具——一个粗糙的棕

色木棍，上面用粗麻线绑着一块石头，像是一把锤子。旁边放着一张
从笔记本上撕下来的纸，上面潦草地写着几个字。福尔摩斯扫了一

眼，然后递给了我。

"You see," he said with a significant raising of the
eyebrows.


“你看。”他说，高高地扬起了眉毛。

In the light of the lantern I read with a thrill of horror,
"The sign of the four."

借着灯笼的光，我惊恐地发现，那纸上写的是“四签名”。

"In God's name, what does it all mean?" I asked.

“我的上帝啊，这到底是什么意思？”我问。


"It means murder," said he, stooping over the dead
man. "Ah! I expected it. Look here!"

“这是谋杀，”他说，一面弯下腰，去看那个死人。“啊！果然不

出所料。看这里！”

He pointed to what looked like a long dark thorn stuck in
the skin just above the ear.


他指着在尸体耳朵上方扎着的一根黑色长刺。

"It looks like a thorn," said I.

“好像是一根刺。”我说。


"It is a thorn. You may pick it out. But be careful, for it is
poisoned."

“就是一根刺。你可以把它拔出来。不过要非常小心，因为它有

毒。”

I took it up between my finger and thumb. It came away
from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left

behind. One tiny speck of blood showed where the puncture
had been.

我用拇指和食指把它拔了出来。刺很容易就从皮肤里出来了，几

乎没留下什么痕迹。只有一个小小的血点说明了伤口的所在。

"This is all an insoluble mystery to me," said I. "It grows
darker instead of clearer."


“这对我来说完全是一个无法解释的谜团，”我说，“不但没有清
楚，反而更糊涂了。”


"On the contrary," he answered, "it clears every instant.
I only require a few missing links to have an entirely
connected case."

“正相反，”他说，“每时每刻都在渐渐明朗。我只需要几个失漏

的环节，就可以把整件事串联起来了。”

We had almost forgotten our companion's presence
since we entered the chamber. He was still standing in the

doorway, the very picture of terror, wringing his hands and
moaning to himself. Suddenly, however, he broke out into a
sharp, querulous cry.

自从进了屋子，我们几乎忘记了我们那位伙伴的存在。他仍然站

在门口，仍然一副恐惧的模样，正在搓着手自言自语。忽然，他大声
地叫嚷起来。


"The treasure is gone!" he said. "They have robbed him
of the treasure! There is the hole through which we lowered
it. I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I
left him here last night, and I heard him lock the door as I

came downstairs."

“宝物没有了！”他说，“他们把他的宝物抢走了！我们就是从那
个洞口把宝物拿下来的。我帮他拿的！我是最后一个见到他的人！昨

晚，我把他一个人留在这里，我下楼的时候，听到他锁上了门。”

"What time was that?"


“那是几点钟？

"It was ten o'clock. And now he is dead, and the police
will be called in, and I shall be suspected of having had a

hand in it. Oh, yes, I am sure I shall. But you don't think so,
gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely
that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh, dear! oh,
dear! I know that I shall go mad!"


“十点钟。现在他死了，警察就会被招来，我会被怀疑与此有关。
哦，是的，一定会的。不过，你们不这么认为吧，先生们？你们一定

不会认为是我干的吧？如果是我的话，我还会把你们请来吗？哦，天
啊！哦，天啊！我知道，我一定会崩溃的！”

He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of
convulsive frenzy.

他猛甩着胳膊，跺着脚，疯狂地抽搐了起来。


"You have no reason for fear, Mr. Sholto," said Holmes
kindly, putting his hand upon his shoulder; "take my advice
and drive down to the station to report the matter to the

police. Offer to assist them in every way. We shall wait here
until your return."

“你没有理由害怕，肖尔托先生，”福尔摩斯和蔼地说，并把手放

在了他的肩上，“采纳我的建议吧，到警察局去报案。答应他们，你会
全力协助他们。我们会在这里等着你回来。


The little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashion, and
we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark.

这个矮小的男人半愣半醒地听从了福尔摩斯的建议，接着，我们

听到他在黑暗中摸索着蹒跚下了楼。



Chapter 6 Sherlock Holmes Gives a

Demonstration



第六章 福尔摩斯作出判断



"Now, Watson," said Holmes, rubbing his hands, "we
have half an hour to ourselves. Let us make good use of it.

My case is, as I have told you, almost complete; but we
must not err on the side of overconfidence. Simple as the
case seems now, there may be something deeper
underlying it."

“那么，沃森，”福尔摩斯搓着手说，“我们现在还有半个钟头。

让我们好好利用。如我所说，这个案子几乎已经清楚了，但我们不能

过于自信，以免出错。案情看起来似乎很简单，但里面还有一些玄奥
的事情。”


"Simple!" I ejaculated.

“简单？！”我喊道。

"Surely," said he with something of the air of a clinical-
professor expounding to his class. "Just sit in the corner

there, that your footprints may not complicate matters. Now
to work! In the first place, how did these folk come and how
did they go? The door has not been opened since last night.

How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it,
muttering his observations aloud the while but addressing
them to himself rather than to me. "Window is snibbed on
the inner side. Frame-work is solid. No hinges at the side.
Let us open it. No water-pipe near. Roof quite out of reach.

Yet a man has mounted by the window. It rained a little last
night. Here is the print of a foot in mould upon the sill. And
here is a circular muddy-mark, and here again upon the

floor, and here again by the table. See here, Watson! This is
really a very pretty demonstration."