福爾摩斯探案集·歪唇男人 第20期:圣克萊爾的故事(9)

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"No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough.

"不，先生，可是這件事也許能自圓其說。

Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed.

假定布恩這個(gè)人把內(nèi)維爾·圣克萊爾推出窗外--可是沒有人親眼看見此事。

What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments.

那時(shí)他會(huì)再干什么呢？當(dāng)然他馬上就會(huì)想到要消滅那些泄露真情的衣服了。

He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink.

這時(shí)他會(huì)抓起衣服來，拋出窗外去，而在他往外拋的當(dāng)兒，他會(huì)想到：那件上衣要隨水起浮，沉不下去。

He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up,

他的時(shí)間已經(jīng)很少了，因?yàn)樗崖牭侥俏惶珵橐獡屔蠘嵌跇窍鲁臭[，

and perhaps he has already heard from his lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street.

也許他已從他的印度同伙那里聽說有一批巡捕正順著大街朝這個(gè)方向急忙跑來。

There is not an instant to be lost.

這時(shí)已刻不容緩。

He rushes to some secret hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary,

他一下子沖到密藏他從乞討中積累起來的銀錢的地方。

and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking.

看到那些硬幣，他能抓起多少，盡量往衣袋里塞，這樣為的是確保上衣能夠深沉水底。

He throws it out, and would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard the rush of steps below,

他把這件上衣拋了出去以后，還想用同樣的方法處理別的衣服，如果不是已聽到樓下匆促的腳步聲的話。

and only just had time to close the window when the police appeared."

可是這時(shí)巡捕已經(jīng)上樓來了，他僅僅來得及把窗戶關(guān)上。"

"It certainly sounds feasible."

"聽起來確實(shí)可能是這樣。"

"Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a better.

"喏，咱們就權(quán)且當(dāng)它是個(gè)有用的假定吧，因?yàn)檫€沒有比這更好的假定。

Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the station,

我已經(jīng)說過，休·布恩被捕了并被關(guān)到警察局里去，

but it could not be shown that there had ever before been anything against him.

可就是拿不出什么東西來證實(shí)他以往有什么罪嫌。

He had for years been known as a professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very quiet and innocent one.

多年以來他是盡人皆知的專門以乞討為生的人。他的生活似乎是十分安靜和無害于人的。

There the matter stands at present, and the questions which have to be solved

現(xiàn)在事情就這樣擺在面前，應(yīng)該解決的問題--

what Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there,

比如說：內(nèi)維爾·圣克萊爾在煙館里干什么？他在那里發(fā)生了什么事？

where is he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance -- are all as far from a solution as ever.

他現(xiàn)在在哪里？休·布恩和他的失蹤有什么關(guān)系--像過去一樣還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒得到解決。

I confess that I cannot recall any case within my experience which looked at the first glance so simple

我承認(rèn)：在我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)中，我想不起有哪一個(gè)案件，乍一看似乎很簡(jiǎn)單，

and yet which presented such difficulties."

可是卻出現(xiàn)了這么許多困難。"