巴斯克维尔的猎犬 设网（2）

 

"My dear Watson, you were born to be a man of action. Your instinct is always to dosomething energetic. But supposing, for argument's sake, that we had him arrested to-night, whaton earth the better off should we be for that? We could prove nothing against him. There's thedevilish cunning of it! If he were acting through a human agent we could get some evidence, but ifwe were to drag this great dog to the light of day it would not help us in putting a rope round theneck of its master."

“我亲爱的华生， 你天生就是个急于采取行动的人， 你的本能总是促使你想痛快淋漓地干点什么。咱们可以谈谈， 假设咱们今晚把他逮捕了， 可是这样做对咱们究竟有什么好处呢？

对他不利的事， 咱们什么也证明不了。 这里边有魔鬼一样的狡猾手段， 如果他是通过一个人来进行活动， 咱们还可以找到些证据， 可是如果咱们在光天化日之下拉出这条大狗来， 对于咱们想把绳子套在它主人脖子上的计划是毫无帮助的。”

"Surely we have a case."

“咱们当然有证据啊。”

"Not a shadow of one -- only surmise and conjecture. We should be laughed out of court ifwe came with such a story and such evidence."“连个影子也没有啊——咱们的证据只不过是些推测和猜想罢了。如果咱们所有的只是这样一段故事和这样的‘证据’， 那咱们会被人家从法庭里给笑出来呢。”

"There is Sir Charles's death."

“查尔兹爵士的死不就是证据吗？ ”

"Found dead without a mark upon him. You and I know that he died of sheer fright, and weknow also what frightened him but how are we to get twelve stolid jurymen to know it? Whatsigns are there of a hound? Where are the marks of its fangs? Of course we know that a hounddoes not bite a dead body and that Sir Charles was dead before ever the brute overtook him. Butwe have to prove all this, and we are not in a position to do it."“他死得身上毫无伤痕， 虽然你和我都知道， 他完全是被吓死的， 而且咱们也知道是什么把他吓死的。 可是咱们怎能使十二个陪审员也相信这一点呢。 哪里有猎狗的踪迹， 哪里有它那狗牙的痕迹呀？ 咱们当然知道， 猎狗是不会咬死尸的， 而查尔兹爵士又是在那畜生赶上他之前死的。 关于这些东西咱们都得加以证明才行， 可是现在却办不到。”

"Well, then, to-night?"

“那么， 今晚的事难道也不能证明吗？ ”