書蟲二級：五個桔核 - 伊萊亞斯叔叔的故事

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1.The Story of Uncle Elias
1．伊萊亞斯叔叔的故事

In September 1887 my wife was visiting some of her family, so I was staying with my old friend Sherlock Holmes in Baker Street. It was a windy, stormy evening, and the rain was falling heavily outside. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

1887年9月，我妻子去拜訪親戚，所以我到貝克街和我的老朋友夏洛克·福爾摩斯住在一起。那是一個暴風雨之夜，外面雨下得很大。突然傳來敲門聲。

I looked at my friend in surprise. 'Who can this be?' I asked.

我吃驚地看了看我的朋友。“這會是誰呢？”我問。

If he comes on business in this weather, it's important,' said Sherlock Holmes. 'Come in!' he called.

“如果他在這種天氣出來辦事，那肯定是有很重要的事兒，”福爾摩斯說，“請進！”他大聲說。

A young man came in. He looked wet, tired and worried. 'I've come to ask for help,' he said. 'I've heard of you, Mr Holmes. People say you know everything. I don't know what to do.'

一個年輕人走了進來。他看起來渾身都濕了，疲憊不堪，而且愁容滿面。“我是來尋求幫助的，”他說，“我聽說過你，福爾摩斯先生。人們說你無所不知。我不知道該怎么辦。”

Well, sit down,' said Holmes, 'and tell me about yourself.'

“好了，坐下吧，”福爾摩斯說，“跟我說說你的情況。”

The young man sat down, and put his wet feet near the fire. 'My name is John Openshaw. My father, Joseph, had a brother, my uncle Elias, who went to live in America when he was young. He made a lot of money there. He didn't like the black Americans, so during the Civil War he fought against the men from the North, and with those from the South. But when the South lost the war, and there was equality for black people, Uncle Elias left America. So in 1890 he came back to England and went to live in a large house in the country. He was a strange, unhappy man.

年輕人坐下，把他濕濕的雙腳放到火旁。“我叫約翰·奧彭肖。我父親約瑟夫有一個弟弟，我叔叔伊萊亞斯，他年輕時就去了美國。他在那里賺了很多錢。他不喜歡美國黑人，所以內(nèi)戰(zhàn)期間他和南方人一起跟北方人打仗。但是南方打敗了，黑人獲得了平等權(quán)利，伊萊亞斯叔叔就離開了美國。1890年，他回到英國，住在鄉(xiāng)下的一所大房子里。他是一個奇怪的人，總是不開心。

He did not want any friends,' John Openshaw went on, 'and he often drank a lot. But he liked me, and when I was twelve, I moved to Uncle Elias's house. He was very kind to me. I could go anywhere in the house. But there was one small room at the top of the house which was always locked. Nobody could go into this room.

“他不想要任何朋友，”約翰·奧彭肖繼續(xù)說，“他還經(jīng)常酗酒。但是他很喜歡我，我12歲的時候搬到了伊萊亞斯叔叔家里。他對我非常好。我可以到房子的任何地方去。但是房子頂部有一個小房間總是鎖著，誰都不可以進去。

One day Uncle Elias got a letter from Pondicherry in India. "I don't know anyone in Pondicherry!" he said, but when he opened the envelope, five little orange pips fell on to his plate. I began to laugh but stopped when I saw my uncle's white face.

“一天，伊萊亞斯叔叔收到一封來自印度本地治里的信。‘我在本地治里沒有認識的人！’他說。但是當他打開信封，五個桔核掉到他的盤子上。我笑起來，但是看到叔叔蒼白的臉色就笑不出來了。

"K. K. K. !" he cried. "Oh my God, my God, they've found me!"

“‘K. K. K. ！’他叫道，‘噢，我的上帝啊，我的上帝，他們找到我了！’

"What do you mean, uncle?" I asked.

“‘你是什么意思，叔叔？’”我問。

"Death!" he cried, and ran upstairs.

“‘死亡！’他大叫，然后跑上了樓。

I looked at the envelope, which had three Ks on the back. There was no letter. Who sent it? And why was my uncle so afraid?

“我看了看信封，信封背面有三個K，里面卻沒有信。誰寄來的呢？我叔叔為什么這么害怕呢？

Uncle Elias went immediately to the secret room and took out a box which also had three Ks on it. He burnt all the papers in the box, and said to me, "John, I know that I'm going to die soon. My brother, your father, will have all my money and my house after my death, and you will have it all when he dies. I hope you can enjoy it, but if not, give it to your worst enemy. I'm afraid that my money brings death with it."

“伊萊亞斯叔叔立刻到那個秘密房間里拿出一個盒子，上面也有三個K。他燒掉了盒子里的所有文件，對我說：‘約翰，我知道我就要死了。我的哥哥，你的父親，會在我死后得到我所有的錢財和房子，他死后你將得到這所有的一切。我希望你能夠享用它，但是如果不能，就把它送給你最壞的敵人。我擔心我的錢會帶來死亡。’

I didn't understand what he meant, and nothing happened for a few weeks, so I did not feel so worried. But my uncle was very afraid. He stayed in his room most of the time, and drank more than before. He always locked all the doors carefully. Then one night he drank very heavily and ran wildly out of the house, and in the morning we found him dead in a river. The police said he killed himself, but I knew he was afraid to die, so I didn't think that was true.'

“我不懂他的意思，后來的幾個星期什么也沒發(fā)生，所以我也不那么擔心了。但是我叔叔非常害怕。他大部分時間都待在他的房間里，喝酒比以前更兇了。他總是仔細鎖好所有的門。后來，有一天晚上他喝得爛醉，瘋狂地跑出房子，到早上，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他死在河里。警察說他是自殺，但我知道他害怕死，所以我覺得那不是真的。”

Holmes stopped the young man for a minute. 'Tell me,' he said. 'When did your uncle get the letter from India, and when did he die?'

福爾摩斯打斷了年輕人。“告訴我，”他說，“你叔叔什么時候收到印度的來信的？他又是什么時候死的？”

The letter arrived on 10th March 1883, and he died seven weeks later,' answered John Openshaw.

“信是1883年3月10日到的，他是七個星期之后死的。”約翰·奧彭肖回答。

Thank you. Please go on,' said Holmes.

“謝謝。請繼續(xù)說吧。”福爾摩斯說。

After my uncle's death, my father moved into the house. Of course I asked him to look carefully at the locked room, but we didn't find anything important.'

“我叔叔死后，我父親搬到了這庫房子里。當然，我讓他仔細查看了鎖著的房間，但是我們沒找到任何重要的東西。”