福爾摩斯探案集·五個桔核 第5期:年輕的委托人(3)

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"My name," said he, "is John Openshaw,

他說：“我名叫約翰·奧彭肖。

but my own affairs have, as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful business.

據(jù)我的理解，我自己本身同這一可怕的事件沒有多大關(guān)系。

It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the affair.

那是上一代遺留下來的問題，因此，為了使您對這事有一個大概的了解，我必須從這一事件的開端談起。

You must know that my grandfather had two sons–my uncle Elias and my father Joseph.

您要曉得，我的祖父有兩個兒子--我的伯父伊萊亞斯和我的父親約瑟夫。

My father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling.

我父親在康文特里開設(shè)一座小工廠，在發(fā)明自行車期間，他擴展了這個工廠，

He was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire,

并享有奧彭肖防破車胎的專利權(quán)，

and his business met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire upon a handsome competence.

因而生意十分興隆，這就使他后來能夠?qū)⒐S出讓，而依靠一筆巨款過著富裕的退休生活。

My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and became a planter in Florida,

我的伯父伊萊亞斯年輕時僑居美國，成了佛羅里達州的一個種植園主。

where he was reported to have done very well.

據(jù)說他經(jīng)營得很不錯。

At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel.

南北戰(zhàn)爭期間，他在杰克遜麾下作戰(zhàn)，后來隸屬胡德部下，升任上校。

When Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where he remained for three or four years.

南軍統(tǒng)帥羅伯特·李投降后，他解甲歸田，重返他的種植園，在那里又住了三、四年。

About 1869 or 1870 he came back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham.

大約在1869或1870年，他回到歐洲，在蘇塞克斯郡霍爾舍姆附近購置了一小塊地產(chǎn)。

He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes,

他在美國曾發(fā)過大財，他之所以離美返英，是因為他厭惡黑人，

and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to them.

也不喜歡共和黨給予黑人選舉權(quán)的政策。