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Inspector MacDonald had been staring at the newcomer with the greatest amazement.
警探麦克唐纳非常惊奇地注视着这个新来的人。
"Well, this fairly beats me!" he cried at last.
"啊，这可真把我难住了！"麦克唐纳终于大声说道。
"If you are Mr. John Douglas of Birlstone Manor, then whose death have we been investigating for these two days, and where in the world have you sprung from now?
"假如你是伯尔斯通庄园的约翰·道格拉斯先生，那么，这两天来我们调查的死者是谁呢，还有，现在你又是从哪儿突然冒出来的呢？
You seemed to me to come out of the floor like a jack-in-abox."
我看你象玩偶匣中的玩偶一样是从地板里钻出来的。"
"Ah, Mr. Mac," said Holmes, shaking a reproving forefinger, "you would not read that excellent local compilation which described the concealment of King Charles.
"唉，麦克先生，"福尔摩斯不赞成地摇晃一下食指，"你没有读过那本出色的地方志吗？上面明明写着国王查理一世避难的故事。
People did not hide in those days without excellent hiding places, and the hiding place that has once been used may be again.
在那年头要是没有保险的藏身之处是无法藏身的，用过的藏身之地当然还可以再用。
I had persuaded myself that we should find Mr. Douglas under this roof."
所以我深信会在这所别墅里找到道格拉斯先生的。"
"And how long have you been playing this trick upon us, Mr. Holmes?" said the inspector angrily.
"福尔摩斯先生，你怎么捉弄我们这么长时间？"麦克唐纳生气地说道。
"How long have you allowed us to waste ourselves upon a search that you knew to be an absurd one?"
"你让我们白白浪费了多少时间去搜索那些你本早已知道是荒谬的事情。"
"Not one instant, my dear Mr. Mac. Only last night did I form my views of the case.
"不是一下子就清楚的，我亲爱的麦克先生。对这案件的全盘见解，我也是昨夜才形成的。
As they could not be put to the proof until this evening, I invited you and your colleague to take a holiday for the day. Pray what more could I do?
因为只有到今天晚上才能证实，所以我劝你和你的同事白天去休息。请问，此外我还能怎样做呢？
When I found the suit of clothes in the moat, it at once became apparent to me that the body we had found could not have been the body of Mr. John Douglas at all, but must be that of the bicyclist from Tunbridge Wells.
当我从护城河里发现衣物包袱时，我立即清楚了，我们所看到的那个死尸根本就不是约翰·道格拉斯先生，而是从滕布里奇韦尔斯市来的那个骑自行车的人。
No other conclusion was possible. Therefore I had todetermine where Mr. John Douglas himself could be,
不可能再有其他的结论了。所以我只有去确定约翰·道格拉斯先生本人可能在什么地方，
and the balance of probability was that with the connivance of his wife and his friend he was concealed in a house which had such conveniences for a fugitive, and awaiting quieter times when he could make his final escape."
而最可能的是，在他的妻子和朋友的帮助下，他隐藏在别墅内对一个逃亡者最适宜的地方，等待能够逃跑的最稳妥的时机。"
"Well, you figured it out about right," said Douglas approvingly.
"好，你推断得很对，"道格拉斯先生赞许地说道。
"I thought I'd dodge your British law; for I was not sure how I stood under it, and also I saw my chance to throw these hounds once for all off my track.
"我本来想，我已经从你们英国的法律下逃脱了，因为我不相信我怎么能忍受美国法律的裁决，而且我有了一劳永逸地摆脱追踪我的那些猎狗们的机会。
Mind you, from first to last I have done nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing that I would not do again;
不过，自始至终，我没有做过亏心事，而且我做过的事也没有什么不能再做的。
but you'll judge that for yourselves when I tell you my story. Never mind warning me, Inspector: I'm ready to stand pat upon the truth.
但是，我把我的故事讲给你们听，你们自己去裁决好了。警探先生，你不用费心警告我，我决不会在真理面前退缩的。
I'm not going to begin at the beginning. That's all there," he indicated my bundle of papers, "and a mighty queer yarn you'll find it.
我不打算从头开始。一切都在这上面写着，"道格拉斯指着我手中的纸卷说道，"你们可以看到无数怪诞无稽的奇事。
It all comes down to this: That there are some men that have good cause to hate me and would give their last dollar to know that they had got me.
这都归结为一点：有些人出于多种原因和我结怨，并且就是倾家荡产也要整死我。
So long as I am alive and they are alive, there is no safety in this world for me.
只要我活着，他们也活着，世界上就没有我的安全容身之地。
They hunted me from Chicago to California, then they chased me out of America; but when I married and settled down in this quiet spot I thought my last years were going to be peaceable.
他们从芝加哥到加利福尼亚到处追逐我，终于把我赶出了美国。在我结婚并在这样一个宁静的地方安家以后，我想我可以安安稳稳地度过晚年了。
I never explained to my wife how things were. Why should I pull her into it?
我并没有向我的妻子讲过这些事。我何必要把她拖进去呢？
She would never have a quiet moment again; but would always be imagining trouble.
如果她要知道了，那么，她就不会再有安静的时刻了，而且一定会经常惊恐不安。
I fancy she knew something, for I may have dropped a word here or a word there; but until yesterday, after you gentlemen had seen her, she never knew the rights of the matter.
我想她已经知道一些情况了，因为我有时无意中总要露出一两句来，不过，直到昨天，在你们这些先生们看到她以后，她还不知道事情的真相。
She told you all she knew, and so did Barker here; for on the night when this thing happened there was mighty little time for explanations.
她把她所知道的一切情况都告诉了你们，巴克也是这样，因为发生这件案子的那天晚上，时间太仓促，来不及向他们细讲。
She knows everything now, and I would have been a wiser man if I had told her sooner.
现在她才知道这些事，我要是早告诉她我就聪明多了。
But it was a hard question, dear," he took her hand for an instant in his own, "and I acted for the best."
不过这是一个难题啊，亲爱的，"道格拉斯握了握妻子的手，"现在我做得很好吧。"
