The Sign of Four 2017-6-28

Posted 2020-09-25

1. I am a Worcestershire man. …which sent me over to India. …the Indian Army rebelled against the British. 

   • Worcestershire是英格兰中西部的一个郡。Small说他的亲戚们都是好人，只有他自己是a black sheep（害群之马）。小伙子这辈子真是有点倒霉，因为和姑娘乱来，只能参军去印度，在恒河游泳又被鳄鱼咬断了腿，腿刚戴上假肢又遭遇印度叛军暴乱。这一次暴乱在历史上还挺有名的，维基百科上也能查到，就叫Indian Rebellion of 1857，持续时间是从1857年5月到1859年7月。

2. But we were not really safe there, either; we held just the ground that our guns commanded.

   • 尽管逃到了Agra，但他们并没有真正安全，他们所在的地方需要用枪支来守护，他们也需要轮流站岗保护城堡里的妇女和小孩。

3. Two Sikh soldiers were placed under my command, and I was told if anything went wrong to fire my rifle.

   • Sikh是锡克人，指信仰锡克教的信徒，大部分锡克人居于印度与巴基斯坦。因为按安排守城堡时需要一个白人加两三个当地人，所以Small被分去西南边的一个小门时，也给他配备了两个当地的锡克人。

4. As the guard was a good two hundred yards away, however, and as the space between was cut up into a maze of passages and corridors, I had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack.

   • 由and连接的两个as引导的句子表原因，意思是由于守卫有整整200码远，以及在这之间还有像迷宫一样的通道和走廊，Small觉得如果真的有袭击，也没人能及时赶过来。a good two hundred yards里的good意思是entire，类似的表达还有The hill will take a good hour and a half to climb.（爬这座山需要花整整一个半小时。）

5. Either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the Christians,or your body this night shall be thrown into the ditch. There is no middle way. Which is it to be, death or life? 

   • 凌晨两点的巡逻刚过，Small就被那两个锡克人挟持了，其中一个叫Abdullah Khan的给了他两个选择，要么向神明发誓全心全意和他们合作，要么就把他杀了扔进沟渠里。either...or...的结构表示二者选其一，要么……要么……。

6. If you will be one of us this night, we will swear to you upon the naked knife, and by the threefold oath which no Sikh was ever known to break, that you shall have your fair share of the loot. A quarter of the treasure shall be yours.

   • 要我说这两个锡克人还真是耿直，还跟Small废这么多话，甚至借着刀发了三倍的重誓，只要他愿意和他们一起干，就分他四分之一的财宝。据说这种三倍的重誓，还没有哪个锡克人敢违背。threefold就是三倍，这也是一种常见的构词。

7. ‘I will swear it,’I answered,‘provided that the fort is not endangered.’ 

   • Small还是有点良心的，在生命受到威胁的情况下，还要保证城堡的安全。provided that有“如果、只要”的意思，相当于if或者as long as。

8. ‘Then my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure which shall be equally divided among the four of us.’

   “ ‘There are only three of us,’ said I.

   “ ‘No, Dost Akbar must have his share. 

   • 至此，四签名的人物齐了。

9. I know that an oath is binding upon a Feringhee, and that we may trust you. Had you been a lying Hindu, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your blood would have been upon the knife, and your body in the water. But the Sikh knows the Englishman, and the Englishman knows the Sikh.

   • 这句话我们可以看出这两个锡克人是比较愿意相信英国人，而不太信任印度人的。Feringhee这个词是印度和其它有些亚洲国家对外国人，尤其是白种人的称呼；be binding upon是“对……有约束力”，意思是他们相信对欧洲人来说誓言是有约束力的，是言而有信的。Had you been a lying Hindu还原成常见句型，就是If you had been a lying Hindu（如果你是个满口谎话的印度人的话），那他们早就把Small杀掉了。

- 今日短语 -

black sheep 害群之马，（集体中的）败类

strike a match 划火柴

snatch（sth.）up 夺取……

ring of truth 听起来像是真的

heart and soul 全心全意

middle way 中间办法，折中办法

provided that 只要

be binding upon sb. 某人必须遵守

- 今日思考题 -

1. It was a fight of millions against hundreds, and the cruelest part was that these men we fought against were our own troops whom we had taught and trained, fighting with weapons that we had given them.

大家来说说这是一场什么样的战争吧

答：这是几百万人对几百人的战争。最残酷的是：我们的敌人都是当初经我们训练过的精锐战士，他们使用的武器都是我们给的。（果然够残酷……）

2. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old part, where nobody goes, and which is abandoned to the scorpions and the centipedes.

这个old part是什么样的？

答：但是这新的部分的大小远比不上古老的那一部分，没有人到（古老部分）那里去，那里留给了蝎子蜈蚣。