3 Holmes’s Story

Chapter 3 Holmes's Story Sherlock Holmes seated himself in the armchair opposite me. He was still dressed in the shabby coat of the bookseller, but the remainder of his disguise, along with the books, lay in an untidy pile at his feet. His thin frame and pale skin told me that his recent life had not been full of health, yet the old sparkle remained in his eyes. "I had no trouble getting out of the waterfall, Watson," he said, "because I never fell into it, despite the best efforts of Professor Moriarty. He knew he was finished and his only desire was to take revenge on the man who had ruined his life. He rushed at me and we struggled together on

歇洛克·福尔摩斯坐在我对面的扶手椅上。 他仍然穿着书商那件破旧的外套，但他剩下的伪装，连同那些书，乱七八糟地堆在他脚边。 他瘦弱的身躯和苍白的皮肤告诉我，他最近的生活并不健康，但他的眼睛里仍然闪烁着往日的光芒。 “我毫不费力地从瀑布里出来了，华生，”他说，“因为我从来没有掉进去，尽管莫里亚蒂教授尽了最大的努力。 他知道他完了，他唯一的愿望就是向那个毁了他生活的人复仇。 他向我冲过来，我们一起挣扎着继续前进

the brink of the waterfall. I don't mind telling you, Watson, it was looking dicey for a while. "Fortunately, I have some knowledge of baritsu, an ancient Japanese style of wrestling, and I was able to slip free of his grasp. Then Moriarty stumbled. He clawed the air with his hands, but could not regain his balance. He uttered a terrible scream, and I watched him fall, and saw his body bounce off a rock and disappear into the thundering waters."

瀑布的边缘。 我不介意告诉你，华生，有一段时间看起来很危险。 “幸运的是，我对日本古代的一种摔跤——baritsu有一定的了解，所以我得以从他的手中逃脱。 莫里亚蒂踉跄了一下。他用手抓着空气，但无法恢复平衡。 他发出一声可怕的尖叫，我看着他掉下去，看到他的身体被一块岩石弹了起来，消失在雷鸣般的水中。”

I listened in amazement to this explanation. "But what about the footprints?" I cried. "I saw two sets going up the path and none coming back." "I will explain," said Holmes. "As I watched the professor fall, I realized what an extraordinary opportunity I'd just been given. You see, Moriarty wasn't the only man who wanted me dead. At least three of his followers had also vowed to kill me. These were ruthless men, and I would have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. On the other hand, if the world was convinced I was dead, these men would relax their guard. I could work behind the scenes to bring them to justice. All this went through my head in a flash before Moriarty's body had even reached the bottom of the waterfall.

我惊异地听着这个解释。 “可是那些脚印呢？”我哭了。 “我看到两组人沿着小路走，没有一个回来。” “我来解释一下，”福尔摩斯说。 当我看着教授倒下时，我意识到我刚刚得到了一个多么难得的机会。 莫里亚蒂不是唯一想要我死的人 至少有三个他的追随者也发誓要杀了我。 这些人都很残忍，我的下半辈子都得提心吊胆了。 另一方面，如果全世界都相信我死了，这些人就会放松警惕。 我可以在幕后把他们绳之以法。 莫里亚蒂的尸体还没落到瀑布底，这一切就在我脑子里闪过了。

"But if my plan was to work, I couldn't return along the path leaving another set of footprints. My only chance was to try and scale the cliff next to the path. In your account of these events in The Final Problem, which I enjoyed very much by the way, you said the cliff was smooth and vertical. That wasn't quite true. "In fact, I detected a few small footholds and a narrow ledge about halfway up. It was not a comfortable experience climbing that cliff, Watson. The waterfall roared beneath me and I almost swore I could hear Moriarty screaming to

“但如果我的计划成功了，我就不能沿着这条路回来，留下另一组脚印。 我唯一的机会就是爬上小路旁边的悬崖。 在《最后一题》中你对这些事件的描述中，顺便说一句，我非常喜欢，你说悬崖是平滑垂直的。 这并不完全正确。“事实上，我在半山腰处发现了一些小的立足点和一个狭窄的岩架。 爬那座悬崖可不是件舒服的事，华生。 瀑布在我脚下咆哮，我几乎发誓我能听到莫里亚蒂的尖叫

me from its waters. The smallest slip could have been fatal. More than once, a tuft of grass came out in my hand or my foot slipped on the wet rock, nearly sending me tumbling. But I struggled on and at last I reached the narrow ledge covered with soft green moss. Here I lay unseen while you and the others came looking for me. "Eventually, having decided that I was dead, you departed and I was left alone. I had just started to relax when a huge rock came tumbling down from above. It flew past me, struck the path, and bounced into the chasm. I assumed at first it was a natural rock fall, but looking up I saw a man outlined against the darkening sky.

我从它的水中。哪怕是最小的滑倒也可能是致命的。 不止一次，一丛草从我手里冒出来，或者我的脚在潮湿的岩石上滑倒，差点把我摔倒。 但我奋力前行，终于到达了长满柔软青苔的狭窄岩壁。 当你和其他人来找我的时候，我躺在这里没人看见。 “最后，你认定我已经死了，就离开了，只剩下我一个人。 我刚开始放松，突然一块巨石从上面滚落下来。 它从我身边飞过，落在小路上，然后弹回峡谷。 起初我以为这是自然的岩石坠落，但抬头一看，我看到一个男人的轮廓映衬着逐渐变暗的天空。

"He hurled another stone, which struck the ledge within a foot of my head. I realized, with alarm, that Moriarty hadn't been alone. This man must have kept guard while the professor attacked me. He'd witnessed his friend's death and my escape and was now trying to succeed where Moriarty had failed.

他又扔了一块石头，砸在离我头不到一英尺的窗台上。 我惊恐地意识到，莫里亚蒂并不是一个人。 教授袭击我时，这个人一定是站岗的。 他目睹了他朋友的死亡和我的逃脱，现在他正试图完成莫里亚蒂没有完成的事情。