五个桔核 24解剖案情(6)

Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee.

福尔摩斯一页一页地翻阅着放在他膝盖上的书。

"Here it is," said he presently: "Ku Klux Klan.

"瞧这儿，"随后他念道："克尤·克拉克斯·克兰。

A name derived¹ from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced by cocking a rifle.

是一个名字。它来源于想象中那种酷似扳起枪的击铁的声音。

This terrible secret society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after the Civil War,

这个可怕的秘密团体是南方各州的前联邦士兵在南北战争以后组成的，

and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of the country,

并迅即在全国各地成立了分会。

notably² in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

其中在田纳西、路易斯安那、卡罗来纳、佐治亚和佛罗里达各州尤为引人注目。

Its power was used for political purposes,

它的势力被用于实现其政治目的，

principally for the terrorizing of the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country of those who were opposed to its views.

主要是对黑人选民使用恐怖手段，谋杀或驱逐反对他们观点的人们出国。

Its outrages³ were usually preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized shape

他们将施加暴行时通常是，先寄给受到敌视的人某种形状奇怪但尚可辨的东西，

a sprig of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others.

例如，一小根带叶的橡树叶、几粒西瓜籽，或几个桔核，作为警告。

On receiving this the victim might either openly abjure⁴ his former ways, or might fly from the country.

受到敌视的人接到警告以后，可以公开宣布放弃原有观点，或逃奔国外。

If he braved the matter out, death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and unforeseen manner.

如果置之不理，则必将遭受杀害，而且往往出于某种奇怪的和意料不到的方式。

So perfect was the organization of the society, and so systematic⁵ its methods,

那个团体的组织是如此严密，所使用的方法又是如此有系统，

that there is hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with impunity⁶,

竟致在有案可稽的案件中，几乎从未见有哪个与之抗衡的人能够幸免于祸，

or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the perpetrators.

也从未能追查到暴行的作案人。

For some years the organization flourished in spite of the efforts of the United States government and of the better classes of the community in the South.

尽管美国政府和南方上层社会的努力阻止，这个团体在几年时间里还是到处蔓延滋长。

Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed⁷,

最后，到了一八六九年，这个三K党运动竟突然垮台，

although there have been sporadic⁸ outbreaks of the same sort since that date."

虽然此后还不时发生这类暴行。"

1 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 outrages   

引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• People are seeking retribution for the latest terrorist outrages. 人们在设法对恐怖分子最近的暴行进行严惩。
• He [She] is not allowed to commit any outrages. 不能任其胡作非为。

4 abjure   

v.发誓放弃

参考例句：

• The conqueror tried to make the natives abjure their religion.征服者试著让当地人宣誓放弃他们的宗教。
• Some of the Roman Emperors tried to make Christians abjure their religion.有些罗马皇帝试著使基督教徒宣誓放弃他们的宗教。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。