福爾摩斯探案集·四簽名 第95期:瓊諾贊·斯茂的奇異故事(5)

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I wasn't destined to do much soldiering, however.

可是，我的軍隊生活先天注定不能久常。

I had just got past the goose-step and learned to handle my musket, when I was fool enough to go swimming in the Ganges.

在我剛學(xué)會鵝步操，學(xué)會使用步槍的時候，我愚蠢的到恒河里去游泳。

Luckily for me, my company sergeant, John Holder, was in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the service.

幸運(yùn)的是，連隊的游泳能手、班長約翰·侯德當(dāng)時也在河里。

A crocodile took me just as I was halfway across and nipped off my right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee.

一條鱷魚就在中流象外科手術(shù)一樣干脆地把我整個小腿都咬了下來。

What with the shock and the loss of blood, I fainted,

由于驚嚇和失血，我暈了過去，

and should have been drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank.

如果沒有侯德抓著我向岸邊游去的話我就會被淹死了。

I was five months in hospital over it,

我在醫(yī)院里養(yǎng)了五個月

and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump,

最后才裝上木腿跛著出了院。

I found myself invalided out of the Army and unfitted for any active occupation.

我因殘廢被取消了軍籍，因此就更難找到就業(yè)的機(jī)會了。

I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time,

你們可以想象，我的運(yùn)氣有多么壞。

for I was a useless cripple, though not yet in my twentieth year.

那時我還不到二十歲，已成了無用的瘸子，

However, my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise.

可是窘困了不久時來運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，

A man named Abel White, who had come out there as an indigo-planter,

恰巧有一個新來印度經(jīng)營靛青園子的、名叫阿勃懷特的園主

wanted an overseer to look after his coolies and keep them up to their work.

正在找一個人監(jiān)督靛青園的苦力們的工作。

He happened to be a friend of our colonel's, who had taken an interest in me since the accident.

這個園主碰巧是我原來所屬部隊團(tuán)長的朋友。團(tuán)長因為我的殘廢時常照顧我，

To make a long story short, the colonel recommended me strongly for the post,

簡短來說，團(tuán)長竭力推薦我。

and, as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my leg was no great obstacle,

因為這個工作主要是騎在馬上，我的兩膝還能夾得住馬腹，

for I had enough thigh left to keep a good grip on the saddle.

雖然殘廢，騎馬還不成問題。

What I had to do was to ride over the plantation, to keep an eye on the men as they worked, and to report the idlers.

我的工作是在莊園內(nèi)巡行，監(jiān)督工人和把工人的勤惰情況隨時報告園主。

The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting.

報酬很不錯，住處也舒適，因此我很有做這靛青事業(yè)以終此生的志愿。

Mr. Abel White was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me,

園主阿勃懷特先生為人和藹可親，常常到我的小屋里來吸支煙聊聊天，

for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home.

因為在那里的白種人不象在這里的一樣，彼此都很關(guān)切。