福爾摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第44期:沙漠中的旅客(2)

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Looking down on this very scene, there stood upon the fourth of May, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, a solitary traveller.

一八四七年五月四日，一個(gè)孤單的旅客從山上俯望著這幅凄慘的情景。

His appearance was such that he might have been the very genius or demon of the region.

從他的外表看來，簡直就是這個(gè)絕境里的鬼怪精靈。

An observer would have found it difficult to say whether he was nearer to forty or to sixty.

即便是具有觀察力的人，也難猜出他究竟是四十歲還是年近六十。

His face was lean and haggard, and the brown parchment- like skin was drawn tightly over the projecting bones;

他的臉憔悴瘦削，干羊皮似的棕色皮膚緊緊地包著一把突出的骨頭。

his long, brown hair and beard were all flecked and dashed with white;

長長的棕色須發(fā)已然斑白，

his eyes were sunken in his head, and burned with an unnatural lustre; while the hand which grasped his rifle was hardly more fleshy than that of a skeleton.

深陷的雙眼，射出呆滯的目光。握著來復(fù)槍的那只手，上面的肌肉比骨架也多不了許多。

As he stood, he leaned upon his weapon for support, and yet his tall figure and the massive framework of his bones suggested a wiry and vigorous constitution.

他站著的時(shí)候，要用槍支撐著身體。可是，他那高高的身材、魁偉的體格，可以看出他當(dāng)初是一個(gè)十分健壯的人。

His gaunt face, however, and his clothes, which hung so baggily over his shrivelled limbs, proclaimed what it was that gave him that senile and decrepit appearance.

但是，他那削瘦的面龐和罩在骨瘦如柴的四肢上的大口袋似的衣服，使他看起來老朽不堪。

The man was dying–dying from hunger and from thirst. He had toiled painfully down the ravine, and on to this little elevation, in the vain hope of seeing some signs of water.

這個(gè)人由于饑渴交加，已臨死境了。他曾經(jīng)忍受了痛苦，沿著山谷跋涉前進(jìn)，現(xiàn)在又掙扎著來到這豈不大的高地，他抱著渺茫的希望，但愿能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)點(diǎn)滴的水源。

Now the great salt plain stretched before his eyes, and the distant belt of savage mountains, without a sign anywhere of plant or tree, which might indicate the presence of moisture.

現(xiàn)在，在他面前展開的只是無邊無際的鹼地和那遠(yuǎn)在天邊的連綿不斷的荒山，看不到一棵樹木的蹤影，因?yàn)橛袠淠旧L的地方就可能會(huì)有水氣。

In all that broad landscape there was no gleam of hope.

在這片廣闊的土地上，一點(diǎn)希望也沒有。

North, and east, and west he looked with wild, questioning eyes, and then he realized that his wanderings had come to an end, and that there, on that barren crag, he was about to die.

他張大瘋狂而困惑的眼睛向北方、西方和東方了望了以后，他明白了，漂泊的日子已經(jīng)到了盡頭，自己就要葬身這片荒涼的巖崖之上了。

"Why not here, as well as in a feather bed, twenty years hence?" he muttered, as he seated himself in the shelter of a boulder.

"死在這里，和二十年后死在鵝絨錦被的床上又有什么區(qū)別呢？"他喃喃地說著，一面就在一塊突出的大石的陰影里坐了下來。

Before sitting down, he had deposited upon the ground his useless rifle, and also a large bundle tied up in a gray shawl, which he had carried slung over his right shoulder.

他在坐下之前，先把他那無用的來復(fù)槍放在地上，然后又把背在右肩上的用一大塊灰色披肩裹著的大包袱放了下來。

It appeared to be somewhat too heavy for his strength, for in lowering it, it came down on the ground with some little violence.

看來他已經(jīng)精疲力竭，拿不動(dòng)了。當(dāng)他放下包袱的時(shí)候，著地很重。

Instantly there broke from the gray parcel a little moaning cry, and from it there protruded a small, scared face, with very bright brown eyes, and two little speckled dimpled fists.

因此從這灰色的包袱里發(fā)出了哭聲，鉆出來受驚的、長著明亮的棕色眼睛的臉，并且還伸出了兩個(gè)胖胖的長著淺渦和雀斑的小拳頭。

"You've hurt me!" said a childish voice, reproachfully.

"你把我摔痛啦。"這個(gè)孩子用埋怨的口氣稚平地說。

"Have I, though?" the man answered penitently; "I didn't go for to do it."

"是嗎？"這個(gè)男人很抱歉地回答說，"我不是故意的。"

As he spoke he unwrapped the gray shawl and extricated a pretty little girl of about five years of age, whose dainty shoes and smart pink frock with its little linen apron, all bespoke a mother's care.

說著他就打開了灰色包袱，從里邊抱出了一個(gè)美麗的小女孩。這個(gè)小女孩大約五歲左右，穿著一雙精致的小鞋，漂亮的粉紅色上衣，麻布圍嘴。從這些打扮可以看出，媽媽對她是愛護(hù)得無微不至的。

The child was pale and wan, but her healthy arms and legs showed that she had suffered less than her companion.

這個(gè)孩子臉色雖也有些蒼白，但是她那結(jié)實(shí)的胳膊和小腿都說明她所經(jīng)受的苦難并沒有她的同伴多。