博斯科姆比溪谷秘案 35水落石出(2)

The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried.

这个老人把头低垂，两手掩面。他喊道："上帝保佑我吧！

"But I would not have let the young man come to harm.

但是，我是不会让这个年轻人受害的。

I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the Assizes."

我向你保证，如果巡回审判法庭宣判他有罪，我会出来说话的。"

"I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely.

福尔摩斯严肃地说："我很高兴听你这么说。"

"I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl.

"要不是为了我亲爱的女儿着想，我早就说出来了。

It would break her heart -- it will break her heart when she hears that I am arrested."

那会使她十分痛心的，当她听到我被捕的消息时，她是会很痛心的。"

"It may not come to that," said Holmes. "What?"

福尔摩斯说："也许不至于要逮捕吧。""你说什么？"

"I am no official agent.

"我不是官方侦探。

I understand that it was your daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting¹ in her interests.

我明白，是你女儿要求我到这里来的，我现在是替她办事。

Young McCarthy must be got off, however."

无论如何必须使小麦卡锡无罪开释。"

"I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes² for years.

老特纳说："我是个濒临死亡的人了。我患糖尿病已有多年。

My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a month.

我的医生说，我是否还能活一个月都是个问题。

Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a jail."

可是，我宁可死在自己家里也不愿死在监狱里。"

Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.

福尔摩斯站起身来走到桌子旁边坐下，然后拿起笔，在他面前放着一沓纸。

"Just tell us the truth," he said. "I shall jot³ down the facts.

他说："只要告诉我事实真相，我把事实摘录下来，

You will sign it, and Watson here can witness it.

然后你在上面签字，这位华生可作见证人。

Then I could produce your confession⁴ at the last extremity⁵ to save young McCarthy.

以后我可能出示你的自白书，但只是在为了拯救小麦卡锡的万不得已的时候。

I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed."

我答应你，除非绝对必要，否则我不会用它的。"

"It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I shall live to the Assizes,

那老人说："这样也可以。我能不能活到巡回审判法庭开庭的时候还是个问题，

so it matters little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice the shock.

所以这对我没有多大关系，我只是不想引起艾丽斯的震惊就是了。

And now I will make the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but will not take me long to tell."

现在我一定向你直说，事情经过的时间很长，我讲出来倒用不了多长时间。"

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

3 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？