Sherlock Holmes sat silently, and watched the fire. Then he said to me, 'John Openshaw is in real danger. Why did his Uncle Elias have to leave America? Because he had enemies. When he came back to England he was afraid. That's why he lived a lonely life and locked all his doors so carefully. Now where did those letters come from? Did you see?'
夏洛克·福爾摩斯安靜地坐著,看著爐火。然后他對我說:“約翰·奧彭肖真的有危險。他叔叔為什么被迫離開美國?因為他有敵人。他回到英國以后很害怕。所以他會過著孤獨的生活,還那么仔細地把所有的門都鎖好。那么那些信是從哪兒來的呢?你看到了嗎?”
The first from Pondicherry in India, the second from Dundee in Scotland and the third from East London,' I answered.
“第一封寄自印度的本地治里,第二封寄自蘇格蘭的敦提,第三封寄自倫敦東區(qū)。”我回答。
Does that tell you anything?' asked Holmes.
“那告訴了你什么呢?”福爾摩斯問。
They're all sea ports. The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters,' I replied. I was pleased with my answer.
“它們都是海港。信是在船上寫的。”我叫答說。我對自己的回答很滿意。
Very good, Watson,' said Holmes. 'Somebody sent some pips from India, and arrived seven weeks later to kill Uncle Elias. Then he sent some pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John's father. Do you see why I'm worried now? He has sent pips to John from London! John's enemy is in London already!'
“非常好,華生,”福爾摩斯說,“有人從印度寄出桔核,七個星期之后到達并殺了伊萊亞斯叔叔。后來他又從蘇格蘭寄出桔核,三天之后到達并殺了約翰的父親?,F(xiàn)在你明白我為什么這么擔心了吧?他從倫敦給約翰寄出桔核!約翰的敵人已經(jīng)在倫敦了!”
Good God, Holmes!' I cried. 'Who is this man?'
“上帝啊,福爾摩斯!”我叫起來,“這個人是誰?”
More than one man, I think. They belong to the Ku Klux Klan. That explains the "K. K. K. ". Haven't you ever heard of it? It's a very secret group of Americans from the South. They wanted to stop equality for black people and to kill anyone who didn't agree with them. The police couldn't stop them. But in 1869 Uncle Elias, who belonged to this secret group, suddenly left America with all their papers, and so the group could not go on. Of course the group wanted to get the papers back. You remember the half-burnt paper? That was Uncle Elias's American diary. While he was working for the K. K. K. , he sent the pips to frighten those three men. Two left the country, but one didn't, so the K. K. K. "finished business with him", or killed him. The K. K. K. always worked like that.'
“我認為不止一個人。他們都是三K黨的人。這就解釋了‘K. K. K. ’。你沒有聽說過他們嗎?這是美國南方的一個秘密組織。他們想阻止黑人得到平等權(quán)利,還殺死所有與他們意見不同的人。警察也不能阻止他們。但是1869年,屬于這個秘密組織的伊萊亞斯叔叔突然帶著他們的文件離開了美國,所以這個組織不能繼續(xù)了。他們當然想把文件找回來。你還記得燒了一半的紙嗎?那是伊萊亞斯叔叔在美國的日記。他為三K黨工作的時候,給那三個人寄桔核恐嚇他們。有兩個離開了美國,但是有一個沒有,所以三K黨‘跟他做了了結(jié)’,或者說殺了他。三K黨都是這么做的。”
Well, I hope they won't kill young Openshaw,' I said.
“哦,我希望他們不會殺死年輕的奧彭肖。”我說。