四签名 119琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（29）

I sat up all night with paper and ink, and by the morning I had the two charts all ready,

我坐在灯下用了一整夜的工夫画出两张藏宝地图，

signed with the sign of four–that is, of Abdullah, Akbar, Mahomet, and myself.

每张下面签上四个名字：莫郝米特·辛格，爱勃德勒·克汗，德斯特·阿克勃尔和我自己。

Well, gentlemen, I weary¹ you with my long story,

先生们，你们听我讲故事恐怕已经听疲倦了吧？

and I know that my friend Mr. Jones is impatient to get me safely stowed in chokey.

我知道，琼斯先生必定急于要把我送到拘留所去，他才能安心。

I'll make it as short as I can.

我尽可能简短地说吧。

The villain² Sholto went off to India, but he never came back again.

这个坏蛋舒尔托前往印度后一去不返。

Captain Morstan showed me his name among a list of passengers in one of the mail-boats very shortly afterwards.

过了不久，摩斯坦上尉给我看了一张从印度开返英国的邮船的旅客名单，其中果有舒尔托的名字。

His uncle had died, leaving him a fortune, and he had left the Army;

还听说他的伯父死后给他留下了一大笔遗产，因此他退伍了。

yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us.

欺骗了我们四个人还不算，居然把五个人一起都欺骗了。

Morstan went over to Agra shortly afterwards and found, as we expected, that the treasure was indeed gone.

不久，摩斯坦去到阿格拉，不出我们所料，果然宝物已经失掉。

The scoundrel had stolen it all without carrying out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret.

这个恶棍没有履行我们出卖秘密的条件，竟将宝物全部盗去。

From that I lived only for vengeance³. I thought of it by day and I nursed it by night.

从那天起，我只为了报仇活着，日夜不忘。

It became an overpowering, absorbing passion with me. I cared nothing for the law–nothing for the gallows⁴.

我满心忿恨，也不管法律或断头台了。

To escape, to track down Sholto, to have my hand upon his throat–that was my one thought.

我一心只想逃走，追寻舒尔托并处死他就是我唯一的心愿。

Even the Agra treasure had come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the slaying⁵ of Sholto.

就连阿格拉宝物在我心中和杀死舒尔托的念头比较起来也成了次要的事情了。

1 weary   

adj.疲劳的，使人疲劳的；vi.厌烦，不耐烦

参考例句：

• He has laid out all his strength and is weary.他使出了全部气力，非常疲倦。
• I am weary of his constant complaints.我对他不断发牢骚感到厌烦。

2 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

3 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

4 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

5 slaying   

杀戮。

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。
• He is suspected of having been an accomplice in the slaying,butthey can't pin it on him. 他有嫌疑曾参与该杀人案，但他们找不到证据来指控他。