領(lǐng)略原汁原味漢英對照經(jīng)典名作
白化士兵
? ? ? The ideas of my friend Watson, though limited, are exceedingly pertinacious. For a long time he has worried me to write an experience of my own. Perhaps I have rather invited this persecution, since I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his own accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures. “Try it yourself, Holmes!” he has retorted, and I am compelled to admit that, having taken my pen in my hand, I do begin to realize that the matter must be presented in such a way as may interest the reader. The following case can hardly fail to do so, as it is among the strangest happenings in my collection, though it chanced that Watson had no note of it in his collection. Speaking of my old friend and biographer, I would take this opportunity to remark that if I burden myself with a companion in my various little inquiries it is not done out of sentiment or caprice, but it is that Watson has some remarkable characteristics of his own to which in his modesty he has given small attention amid his exaggerated estimates of my own performances. A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate.
? ? ? I find from my notebook that it was in January , 1903, just after the conclusion of the Boer War, that I had my visit from Mr. James M. Dodd, a big, fresh, sunburned, upstanding Briton. The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action which I can recall in our association. I was alone.
? ? ? It is my habit to sit with my back to the window and to place my visitors in the opposite chair, where the light falls full upon them. Mr. James M. Dodd seemed somewhat at a loss how to begin the interview. I did not attempt to help him, for his silence gave me more time for observation. I have found it wise to impress clients with a sense of power, and so I gave him some of my conclusions.
? ? ? “From South Africa, sir, I perceive.”
? ? ? “Yes, sir,” he answered, with some surprise.
? ? ? “Imperial Yeomanry , I fancy.”
? ? ? “Exactly.”
? ? ? “Middlesex Corps, no doubt.”
? ? ? “That is so. Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard.”
? ? ? I smiled at his bewildered expression.
? ? ? “When a gentleman of virile appearance enters my room with such tan upon his face as an English sun could never give, and with his handkerchief in his sleeve instead of in his pocket, it is not difficult to place him. You wear a short beard, which shows that you were not a regular. You have the cut of a ridingman. As to Middlesex, your card has already shown me that you are a stockbroker from Throgmorton Street. What other regiment would you join?”
? ? ? “You see everything.”
? ? ? “I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see. However, Mr. Dodd, it was not to discuss the science of observation that you called upon me this morning. What has been happening at Tuxbury Old Park?”
? ? ? “Mr. Holmes—!”
? ? ? “My dear sir, there is no mystery. Your letter came with that heading, and as you fixed this appointment in very pressing terms it was clear that something sudden and important had occurred.”
? ? ? “Yes, indeed. But the letter was written in the afternoon, and a good deal has happened since then. If Colonel Emsworth had not kicked me out—”
? ? ? “Kicked you out!”
? ? ? “Well, that was what it amounted to. He is a hard nail, is Colonel Emsworth. The greatest martinet in the Army in his day, and it was a day of rough language, too. I couldn’t have stuck the colonel if it had not been for Godfrey’s sake.”
? ? ? I lit my pipe and leaned back in my chair.
? ? ? “Perhaps you will explain what you are talking about.”
? ? ? My client grinned mischievously.
? ? ? “I had got into the way of supposing that you knew everything without being told,” said he. “But I will give you the facts, and I hope to God that you will be able to tell me what they mean. I’ve been awake all night puzzling my brain, and the more I think the more incredible does it become.
? ? ? “When I joined up in January , 1901—just two years ago— young Godfrey Emsworth had joined the same squadron. He was Colonel Emsworth’s only son—Emsworth, the Crimean V.C.—and he had the fighting blood in him, so it is no wonder he volunteered. There was not a finer lad in the regiment. We formed a friendship—the sort of friendship which can only be made when one lives the same life and shares the same joys and sorrows. He was my mate—and that means a good deal in the Army. We took the rough and the smooth together for a year of hard fighting. Then he was hit with a bullet from an elephant gun in the action near Diamond Hill outside Pretoria. I got one letter from the hospital at Cape Town and one from South Hampton. Since then not a word— not one word, Mr.Holmes, for six months and more, and he my closest pal.
? ? ? “Well, when the war was over, and we all got back, I wrote to his father and asked where Godfrey was. No answer. I waited a bit and then I wrote again. This time I had a reply , short and gruff. Godfrey had gone on a voyage round the world, and it was not likely that he would be back for a year. That was all.
? ? ?“I wasn’t satisfied, Mr. Holmes. The whole thing seemed to me so damned unnatural. He was a good lad, and he would not drop a pal like that. It was not like him. Then, again, I happened to know that he was heir to a lot of money, and also that his father and he did not always hit it off too well. The old man was sometimes a bully, and young Godfrey had too much spirit to stand it. No, I wasn’t satisfied, and I determined that I would get to the root of the matter. It happened, however, that my own affairs needed a lot of straightening out, after two years’ absence, and so it is only this week that I have been able to take up Godfrey’s case again. But since I have taken it up I mean to drop everything in order to see it through.”
? ? ? Mr. James M. Dodd appeared to be the sort of person whom it would be better to have as a friend than as an enemy. His blue eyes were stern and his square jaw had set hard as he spoke.

中文翻譯
? ? ? 我朋友華生雖然想法不多，僅有的想法卻都頑固得出奇。長期以來，他一直在苦苦糾纏，逼著我自己寫一篇講述以往經(jīng)歷的文字。這興許是我自討苦吃，因為我經(jīng)常都得指出他的毛病，說他寫的那些故事如何如何膚淺，還說他只知道迎合大眾的口味，不懂得嚴(yán)格地遵循事實和數(shù)據(jù)?！澳阕詡€兒試試好了，福爾摩斯！”這就是他的反駁。不容否認(rèn)的是，提起筆來之后，我自己確實有所體會，既然是寫故事，那就必須寫成讀者愛看的樣子。下面這個案子讀者肯定愛看，因為它是我那份記錄當(dāng)中最離奇的案子之一，只不過碰巧被華生漏掉了而已。既然說到了我這位老朋友兼?zhèn)饔涀髡撸也环脸脵C(jī)補充一點，偵辦各種區(qū)區(qū)小案的時候，我之所以要不辭辛苦地拖上一名同伴，并不是因為我感情用事，也不是因為我突發(fā)奇想，而是因為華生確實有他的獨到之處，只不過他性情謙退，光顧著過甚其詞地吹捧我的事跡，沒有留意到他自己的優(yōu)點。如果你的同伴能夠預(yù)見你的結(jié)論和行動方略，那樣的同伴只能說是非常危險，反過來，如果他自始至終都對事態(tài)的變化感到驚詫莫名，自始至終都對未來一片茫然，那倒可以算是一位不折不扣的理想助手。按照我記事本里的記錄，詹姆斯?M. 多德先生登門造訪的時間是一九零三年一月，也就是布爾戰(zhàn)爭剛剛打完的時候。多德先生是一位魁梧挺拔、朝氣蓬勃的英國公民，皮膚被太陽曬得黝黑。那陣子，華生老兄已經(jīng)做下了我記憶之中唯一的一件只顧自己不顧交情的勾當(dāng)，拋下我去討了一個老婆。多德先生上門的時候，屋里只有我一個人。
? ? ? 我的習(xí)慣是自己坐在背對窗子的位置，把我對面的椅子留給客人，好讓他們完全暴露在天光之下。詹姆斯?M. 多德先生似乎是不知道怎么開口，而我也沒有幫助他打破沉默，原因是我可以借此機(jī)會多觀察他一會兒。我早就已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，明智的做法是一上來就讓主顧領(lǐng)教一下我的本事，到這會兒，我便把一部分的觀察結(jié)論說了出來。
? ? ? “據(jù)我看，先生，您一定是從南非回來的?！?br> ? ? ? “是的，先生?！彼嗌儆悬c兒詫異地回答道。
? ? ? “以前是在帝國義勇騎兵部隊，應(yīng)該沒錯?！?br> ? ? ? “沒錯。”
? ? ? “米德爾塞克斯義勇騎兵團(tuán)，毫無疑問?！?br> ? ? ? “確實是這樣。福爾摩斯先生，您簡直跟巫師一樣靈?！?br> ? ? ? ?看到他迷惑不解的表情，我不由得笑了起來。
? ? ? ?“一位英武的先生走進(jìn)我的房間，臉上帶著英國太陽曬不出的那種黝黑顏色，手帕又塞在袖子里，沒有揣進(jìn)口袋，看到這些情況，這位先生來自何方并不是一個很難推測的問題。短短的胡須說明您并不屬于正規(guī)部隊，您的儀態(tài)則 表明了騎兵的身份。至于米德爾塞克斯嘛，您的名片寫得明明白白，您在索格莫頓街做股票生意，既然如此，您當(dāng)初加入的還能是哪個團(tuán)呢？”
? ? ? “什么都讓您看見啦?！?br> ? ? ? “我看見的東西并不比您多，只不過我對自己進(jìn)行過一番訓(xùn)練，能夠確確實實地留意到自己看見的東西。好啦，多德先生，今早您來找我，肯定不是為了探討觀察的藝術(shù)。說吧，塔克斯伯里老莊園出了什么事呢？”
? ? ? “福爾摩斯先生——！”
? ? ? “親愛的先生，這里面可沒有什么玄虛啊。您那封信的抬頭上就有這個地名，還有啊，您這么火急火燎地約我見面，顯然是遇上了嚴(yán)重的突發(fā)事件?！?br> ? ? ? “是的，確實是這樣?？晌业男攀亲蛱煜挛鐚懙模瑢懲曛笥职l(fā)生了很多事情。如果埃姆斯沃思上校沒把我攆出來的話——”
? ? ? “把您攆出來！”
? ? ? “呃，事情確實發(fā)展到了這種地步。他硬得跟釘子似的，埃姆斯沃思上校就是這么個人。當(dāng)年他就是陸軍當(dāng)中最厲害的老古板，他那個年代又不講什么客氣。要不是為了戈弗雷，我才不會去招惹他呢?！?br> ? ? ? 我點起煙斗，往椅子背上一靠。
? ? ? “麻煩您解釋一下，您到底在說什么?！?br> ? ? ? 我的主顧咧開嘴，頑皮地笑了笑。
? ? ? “我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣成自然，以為您什么都知道，用不著我來說了?！?br> ? ? ? 他說道。“好了，我這就把事情的經(jīng)過告訴您，但愿您能告訴我，這到底是怎么回事。昨晚我沒有睡覺，翻來覆去地想了一宿，越想越覺得莫名其妙。
? ? ? “一九○一年一月，也就是整整兩年之前，我加入了年青的戈弗雷?埃姆斯沃思所在的那個中隊。他是埃姆斯沃思上校的獨子，上校在克里米亞戰(zhàn)爭當(dāng)中贏得過維多利亞十字勛章。他身上流著戰(zhàn)士的血液，參加義勇軍也是理所當(dāng)然的事情。我們那個團(tuán)里再沒有比他更出色的小伙子啦。我倆慢慢地有了交情，這樣的交情只有同舟共濟(jì)、同甘共苦的朋友才能有。他是我的伙伴，在軍隊當(dāng)中，‘伙伴’可是個了不得的字眼。我倆打了一年的惡仗，是好是歹都在一起。后來呢，我們在比勒陀利亞外面的鉆石山附近執(zhí)行任務(wù)，敵人用獵象槍打中了他。他從開普敦的醫(yī)院寫了封信給我，又從南安普敦寫了一封，再后來就一個字也沒有了——一個字都沒有，福爾摩斯先生，到現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)大半年了，虧他還是我最好的伙伴呢。
? ? ? “戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束之后，我們都回了國。于是我寫信給戈弗雷的父親，跟他打聽戈弗雷的下落，可他沒有答復(fù)我。我等了一段時間，然后又寫信去問。這一次倒是有了答復(fù)，只可惜又簡短又生硬。他只是說戈弗雷坐船環(huán)游世界去了，一年之內(nèi)都不會回來，別的就沒有了。
? ? ? “我可不能就此罷休，福爾摩斯先生，在我看來，整件事情都古怪得要命。戈弗雷是個好小伙兒，絕不會就這么扔下一個老朋友。他不會這么干的。再者說，我碰巧知道他是一大筆遺產(chǎn)的繼承人，還知道他和他父親并不總是那么合拍。老爺子有時候喜歡欺負(fù)人，年青的戈弗雷又是個暴脾氣，不樂意逆來順受。不成，我絕不能就此罷休，于是就決定把這件事情追查到底。不巧的是，我剛剛在國外待了兩年，自個兒也有一大堆事情需要清理，所以呢，一直到這個星期，我才有工夫回頭調(diào)查戈弗雷的事情。不過，既然我已經(jīng)開始調(diào)查，那就一定會放下所有的事情，查清楚才能算數(shù)?！?br> ? ? ? 看樣子，遇上了詹姆斯?M. 多德先生這樣的人，你最好是跟他交朋友，不要與他為敵。說話的時候，他那雙藍(lán)色的眼睛一瞬不瞬，方正的下巴也繃得緊緊的。

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