Page 147 - 血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)

小、茂密的灌木丛隔成一块一块的。在地平线尽头，有一串绵延不绝

的山头，起伏的峰顶上积雪斑驳。在这片土地上，没有一点儿生命的
迹象，也没有任何和生命有关的东西。铁青色的天空中，飞鸟绝迹，

沉闷、灰暗的大地上不见任何动静——总之，一片死寂。倾耳静听，
这片广阔、荒芜的大地上毫无声息，只有那彻底的、令人灰心绝望的

死寂。

It has been said there is nothing appertaining to life
upon the broad plain. That is hardly true. Looking down from

the Sierra Blanco, one sees a pathway traced out across the
desert, which winds away and is lost in the extreme
distance. It is rutted with wheels and trodden down by the
feet of many adventurers. Here and there there are

scattered white objects which glisten in the sun, and stand
out against the dull deposit of alkali. Approach, and examine
them! They are bones: some large and coarse, others
smaller and more delicate. The former have belonged to

oxen, and the latter to men. For fifteen hundred miles one
may trace this ghastly caravan route by these scattered
remains of those who had fallen by the wayside.

人们说，在这片广袤的原野上，没有一点儿和生命有关的东西存

在。这也不全对。从谢拉布兰卡山脉往下看，可以看到一条小路穿过
沙漠，弯弯曲曲地向外延伸，消失在极远处。这条小路是由于无数车

轮的倾轧和无数冒险者的踩踏形成的。四处散布着白森森的东西，在

阳光下熠熠闪烁，在这片单调的碱地上显得非常刺眼。走上前去仔细
一看！都是白骨：有些又大又粗，有些小一点儿，也更精致。前者是

牛骨，而后者是人骨。在这一千五百英里的恐怖商旅之路上,人们是沿
着前人倒毙路旁所留下的累累白骨前进的。

Looking down on this very scene, there stood upon the

fourth of May, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, a solitary
traveller. His appearance was such that he might have been
the very genius or demon of the region. An observer would

have found it difficult to say whether he was nearer to forty
or to sixty. His face was lean and haggard, and the brown