Page 217 - 血字的研究·四签名(外研社双语读库) (福尔摩斯探案全集)

which sent a thrill of pleasure through his heart. On the
edge of a jutting pinnacle, three or four hundred feet above

him, there stood a creature somewhat resembling a sheep
in appearance, but armed with a pair of gigantic horns. The
big-horn—for so it is called—was acting, probably, as a
guardian over a flock which were invisible to the hunter; but
fortunately it was heading in the opposite direction, and had

not perceived him. Lying on his face, he rested his rifle upon
a rock, and took a long and steady aim before drawing the
trigger. The animal sprang into the air, tottered for a

moment upon the edge of the precipice, and then came
crashing down into the valley beneath.

他翻山越岭走了两英里多路，一无所获，但从树干上的痕迹以及

其他的一些迹象来看，他可以断定，附近有许多野熊出没。最后，他
搜寻了两三个小时也毫无结果，正打算空手回去的时候，忽然抬头一

看，不禁心花怒放。在离地三四百英尺高的一块突出的悬岩边上，站
着一只野兽，样子看来很像羊，但是却有一对巨大的长角作武器。大

犄角——人们这样叫它——可能正在为霍普所看不到的同伴执行着警
戒任务，但非常巧的是，这只野兽背对着霍普，因此，它并没有发觉

他。他趴在地上，把枪架在一块岩石上，又慢又稳地瞄准以后，才扣
动了扳机。这个野兽跳了起来，在岩石边挣扎了几下，就滚落到谷底

去了。

The creature was too unwieldy to lift, so the hunter

contented himself with cutting away one haunch and part of
the flank. With this trophy over his shoulder, he hastened to
retrace his steps, for the evening was already drawing in. He
had hardly started, however, before he realized the difficulty
which faced him. In his eagerness he had wandered far past

the ravines which were known to him, and it was no easy
matter to pick out the path which he had taken. The valley
in which he found himself divided and sub-divided into

many gorges, which were so like each other that it was
impossible to distinguish one from the other. He followed