四签名 122琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（32）

Well, if I were to tell you all the adventures that my little chum and I went through, you would not thank me,

如果把我和我的小伙伴航海的全部经历都告诉你们，

for I would have you here until the sun was shining.

恐怕等到明天天亮也说不完。

Here and there we drifted¹ about the world, something always turning up to keep us from London.

我们在世界上流浪到这里又流浪到那里，就是总回不来伦敦，

All the time, however, I never lost sight of my purpose.

可是我没有一时一刻忘记过报仇。

I would dream of Sholto at night. A hundred times I have killed him in my sleep.

夜晚不断梦见舒尔托，我在梦中杀了他不止一百次。

At last, however, some three or four years ago, we found ourselves in England.

最后，在三、四年前我们才回到了英国。

I had no great difficulty in finding² where Sholto lived,

回来之后，很容易就找到了舒尔托的住址。

and I set to work to discover whether he had realized on the treasure, or if he still had it.

我于是设法探问他是否偷到了那些宝物和那些宝物是否还在他的手中，

I made friends with someone who could help me

我和那个帮助我的人交上了朋友，

I name no names, for I don't want to get anyone else in a hole

我决不说出任何人的姓名来，以免牵连别人。

and I soon found that he still had the jewels.

我不久就访得了宝物还在他的手中，

Then I tried to get at him in many ways;

我想尽了方法去报仇，

but he was pretty sly³ and had always two prize-fighters, besides his sons and his khitmutgar, on guard over him.

可是他很狡猾，除了他两个儿子和一个印度仆人之外，永远有两个拳击手保护着他。

One day, however, I got word that he was dying⁴.

有一天，听说他病重将死，

I hurried at once to the garden, mad that he should slip out of my clutches⁵ like that,

我想这样地便宜了他实在不甘心。我立刻跑到他的花园里，

and, looking through the window, I saw him lying in his bed, with his sons on each side of him.

从窗外往里屋看，看见他躺在床上，两边站着他的两个儿子。

I'd have come through and taken my chance with the three of them,

那时我本想冒险冲进去抵抗他们爷三个，

only even as I looked at him his jaw⁶ dropped, and I knew that he was gone.

可是就在那个时候他的下巴已经垂下去了，我知道他已经咽气，进去也没有用了。

1 drifted   

漂( drift的过去式和过去分词 )； 吹积； 漂泊； 浮现

参考例句：

• The boat slipped its moorings and drifted out to sea. 船的系泊绳索滑落，船漂向大海。
• Cold and hungry, they drifted helplessly towards the Arctic. 他们又冷又饿，无助地漂向北极。

2 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

3 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

5 clutches   

抓住，紧紧抓住( clutch的第三人称单数 )； （因害怕或痛苦）突然抓住

参考例句：

• He fell into the clutches of the criminal gang. 他落到了犯罪集团的魔爪中。
• He clutches at every opportunity to practise English conversation. 他抓住一切机会练习英语会话。

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。