THE NINE MILE WALK

本文推理历史上最著名的短篇小说之一，为解谜开创了全新的乐趣。
威尔特博士也名成于世！
dsky译

THE NINE - MILE WALK 步行九英里

Harry Kemelman

I HAD MADE an ass of myself in a speech I had given at the Good Government Association dinner, and Nicky Welt had cornered me at breakfast at the Blue Moon, where we both ate occasionally, for the pleasure of rubbing it in. I had made the mistake of departing from my prepared speech to criticize a statement my predecessor in the office of district attorney had made to the press. I had drawn a number of inferences from his statement and had thus left myself open to a rebuttal which he had promptly made and which had the effect of making me appear intellectually dishonest. I was new to this political game, having but a few months before left the Law School faculty to become the Reform Party candidate for district attorney. I said as much in extenuation, but Nicholas Welt, who could never drop his pedagogical manner (he was Snowdon Professor of English Language and Literature), replied in much the same tone that he would dismiss a request from a sophomore for an extension on a term paper, “That’s no excuse.”
在优秀政府协会（Good Government Association）的晚餐上，我用一席发言把自己变成了一个傻蛋，而且第二天在蓝月（Blue Moon）吃早饭的时候，尼克•威尔特再次将我逼入绝境。蓝月是我们都会偶尔用餐的地方，因为在那里可以享受到滔滔不绝的聊天享受而不用担心时光流逝中店主愈发焦躁的心情。回头来说说我那篇糟糕的发言，那是我是事先准备好，用来抨击我的前任在检察官（district attorney）办公室对新闻界的一个声明。遗憾的是，这将我自己暴露在他机敏迅速的反驳之下，而且立马突显了我的知性上的欺瞒，或者说，诡辩。在政治舞台上，我是个新手，离开法学系仅仅几个月就成为了革新党的检察官候选人，这使我说话时常陷入绝境、歇斯底里，不过，尼克•威尔特——一个从不改变自己的教学方式的家伙（他是英国语言和文学教授），他以同样歇斯底里的语气对我的境况打了个比方进行回应——他将根本不考虑一个大学二年级学生对学期报告的额外延长请求，“那是毫无理由的。”
Although he is only two or three years older than I, in his late forties, he always treats me like a schoolmaster hectoring a stupid pupil. And I, perhaps because he looks so much older with his white hair and lined, gnome like face, suffer it. “They were perfectly logical inferences,” I pleaded.
虽然他只比我年长两到三岁，然而在他40岁以后，我们之间的关系就几乎完全如同一位善于威吓的校长与一个愚笨的小学生了。不过大概是由于他的花白头发和布满皱纹的脸蛋，他显得比实际老很多，所以我也就忍了吧。
“我那些都是完美的逻辑推论，”我为自己辩解。
“My dear boy,” he purred, “although human intercourse is well - nigh impossible without inference, most inferences are usually wrong. The percentage of error is particularly high in the legal profession, where the intention is not to discover what the speaker wishes to convey, but rather what he wishes to conceal.”
“亲爱的孩子，”他咕哝着，“虽然人类智慧几乎是不可能离开推论的，但绝大部分的推论是完全错误的，尤以法律职业为甚，因为我们的意图不是发掘说话者试图表达的东西，而是他们试图隐瞒的。”
I picked up my check and eased out from behind the table. “I suppose you are referring to cross - examination of witnesses in court. Well, there’s always an opposing counsel who will object if the inference is illogical.”
我拿起账单，然后小心翼翼的从桌后度出。“我猜你是在说法庭上证人的交互询问（cross- examination）吧？可是我也要提醒你一旦推论不合逻辑，肯定会有对方的辩护律师站出来反对的。”
“Who said anything about logic?” he retorted. “An inference can be logical and still not be true.”
“你别以偏概全，”他反驳道。“一个推论可以是合乎逻辑的但仍是错的。”
He followed me down the aisle to the cashier’s booth. I paid my check and waited impatiently while he searched in an old - fashioned change purse, fishing out coins one by one and placing them on the counter beside his check, only to discover that the total was insufficient. He slid them back into his purse and with a tiny sigh extracted a bill from another compartment of the purse and handed it to the cashier. “Give me any sentence of ten or twelve words,” he said, “and I’ll build you a logical chain of inferences that you never dreamed of when you framed the sentence.”
他跟着我来到收银台。我付了自己的账单，焦躁的等着他。他正摸索着一个过时的装零钱的钱包，一枚一枚的掏出硬币摆在柜台上，结果发现不够。于是又轻叹一声拢回钱包，从夹层取出一张钞票递给收银员。
“给我一个10到12个单词组成的句子，”他忽然说，“然后我将建立一系列推论的逻辑链——而这是你构造句子的时候根本不曾想到的。”
Other customers were coming in, and since the space in front of the cashier’s booth was small, I decided to wait outside until Nicky completed his transaction with the cashier. I remember being mildly amused at the idea that he probably thought I was still at his elbow and was going right ahead with his discourse.
这时，其他的顾客过来了，考虑到柜台边的空间不够宽敞我又跑到外面灯等他，直到他好半天才跟结完帐。我努力使自己记得要对这个提议保持适度好奇心，此刻他大概认为我仍然在他身边并且跟随着他的谈话吧。
When he joined me on the sidewalk I said, “A nine - mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain.”
当他和我一起走上人行道的时候，我向他发难，“步行九英里非易事，尤其在雨中。”（A nine - mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain.）
“No, I shouldn’t think it would be,” he agreed absently. Then he stopped in his stride and looked at me sharply. “What the devil are you talking about?”
“不，我也不认为是件易事，”他心不在焉的附和。紧接着他忽地停住大步，用锋利的眼神望着我。“你刚才在说什么鬼东西？”
“It’s a sentence and it has eleven words,” I insisted. And I repeated the sentence, ticking off the words on my fingers. “What about it?”
“这就是你要求的一个句子——刚好11个单词，”我强调着，然后又掰着指头重复了一遍这句话。“你认为如何？”
“You said that given a sentence of ten or twelve words -”
“你是说这就是我要求的那个10到12个单词的句子？”
“Oh, yes.” He looked at me suspiciously. “Where did you get it?”
“唔，是的。”
他狐疑的望着我。“你哪里想到的？”
“It just popped into my head. Come on, now, build your inferences.”
“就是这样，莫名其妙的被我的大脑逮住了呗。现在轮到你了，我想见识见识你的推论呢。”
“You’re serious about this?” he asked, his little blue eyes glittering with amusement. “You really want me to?”
“你还当真了？”他一对蓝眼睛闪着顽皮的光芒。“你真的要我给你展示一下？”
It was just like him to issue a challenge and then to appear amused when I accepted it. And it made me angry. “Put up or shut up,” I said.
我非常生气，就好像他提出一个一本正经的挑战而当我接受了之后他又立马变的有些玩世不恭起来。
“要么行动要么闭嘴，”我说。
“All right,” he said mildly. “No need to be huffy. I’ll play. Hm - m, let me see, how did the sentence go? ‘A nine - mile walk is no joke, especially in the rain.’ Not much to go on there.”
“好的，”他温和的说。“别发怒，我会陪你玩。唔，让我想想，那句子是怎样的来着？‘步行九英里非易事，尤其在雨中’。似乎挺符合要求的。”
“It’s more than ten words,” I rejoined.
“比十个单词多。“我插嘴。
“Very well.” His voice became crisp as he mentally squared off to the problem. “First inference: The speaker is aggrieved.”
“很好。”他说话的声音变脆了，这是他心里面摆出解决问题姿势时的表现。“第一个推论：说话者愤愤不平。”
“I’ll grant that,” I said, “although it hardly seems to be an inference. It’s really implicit in the statement.”
“这个我同意，”我说，“尽管这看起来根本不算个推论。事实上这只不过是句子本身的暗示。”
He nodded impatiently. “Next inference: The rain was unforeseen, otherwise he would have said, ‘A nine - mile walk in the rain is no joke,’ instead of using the ‘especially’ phrase as an afterthought.”
他不耐烦地点头。“下一个推论：这场雨无法预料，否则你会说。‘在雨中的九英里步行不是易事（A nine - mile walk in the rain is no joke），’而不是使用“尤其”这个短语表达一种事后产生的想法。”
“I’ll allow that,” I said, “although it’s pretty obvious.”
“好的，同意，”我说，“尽管这是无比的明显。”
“First inferences should be obvious,” said Nicky tartly.
“第一个推论才是明显的，”尼克讽刺地说。
I let it go at that. He seemed to be floundering and I didn’t want to rub it in. “Next inference: The speaker is not an athlete or an outdoorsman.”
我不以为意，他看起来有些踌躇，我也不想继续纠缠于此。
“下一个推论：说这句话的人不是运动员或者常在野外活动的人。”
“You’ll have to explain that one,” I said.
“这你得解释一下，”我说。
“It’s the ‘especially’ phrase again,” he said. “The speaker does not say that a nine - mile walk in the rain is no joke, but merely the walk - just the distance, mind you - is no joke. Now, nine miles is not such a terribly long distance. You walk more than half that in eighteen holes of golf - and golf is an old man’s game,” he added slyly. I play golf.
“还是“尤其”短语的问题，”他说。“说话者没有说雨中步行九英里非易事，而只是说步行——提醒你的只是距离——非易事。事实上，九英里并非令人恐惧的长距离。走过18洞的高尔夫球场就已经是它的一半了，而高尔夫是属于老人的运动，”他狡黠的补充道：“我也玩高尔夫。”
“Well, that would be all right under ordinary circumstances,” I said, “but there are other possibilities. The speaker might be a soldier in the jungle, in which case nine miles would be a pretty good hike, rain or no rain.”
“听起来不错，这在一般情况下没问题，”我说，“但是还有其他可能性。例如说话者可能是一个丛林战士，那样的话，九英里真的是好一场远足哦，而且不管又没有雨。”
“Yes,” and Nicky was sarcastic, “and the speaker might be one - legged. For that matter, the speaker might be a graduate student writing a Ph. D on humor and starting by listing all the things that are not funny. See here, I’ll have to make a couple of assumptions before I continue.”
“是的，”尼克不无讽刺地说，“说话者大概还是一条腿的吧！要那样想的话，说话者可能是个正在写病历卡的研究生——从罗列一些无趣的东西开头。考虑到此，在我继续推论下去之前，我不得不做一些假设。”
“How do you mean?” I asked suspiciously.
“你这是什么意思？”我怀疑的问。
“Remember, I’m taking this sentence in vacuo, as it were. I don’t know who said it or what the occasion was. Normally a sentence belongs in the framework of a situation.”
“记住，我现在将此句子之余真空之中，因为根本没有语境不是吗？我不知道是谁说的，也不知道背景如何。而通常情况下，一个句子总需要具体情境的支撑。
“I see. What assumptions do you want to make?”
“懂了。你想做些什么假设？”
“For one thing, I want to assume that the intention was not frivolous, that the speaker is referring to a walk that was actually taken, and that the purpose of the walk was not to win a bet or something of that sort.”
“首先，我要假设说话的意图不是轻佻的，即说话者谈论的是一场已经经历过的步行，而且步行的目的并非为了赢得某场赌局或者类似的东西。”
“That seems reasonable enough,” I said.
“这很合理，”我说。
“And I also want to assume that the locale of the walk is here.”
“我还要假设步行发生地就在这儿。”
“You mean here in Fairfield?”
“你指咱们现在处于的费尔菲尔德？”（译注：费尔菲尔德，Fairfield，美国地名）
“Not necessarily. I mean in this general section of the country.”
“并不很恰当，我仅指我们国家的一般性地段。”
“Fair enough.”
“很公平。”
“Then, if you grant those assumptions, you’ll have to accept my last inference that the speaker is no athlete or outdoorsman.”
“接下来，如果你承认以上假设，你将不得不接受我刚才那个推论：说话者不是运动员或者野外活动者。”
“Well all right. Go on.”
“好的，那么继续吧。”
“Then my next inference is that the walk was taken very late at night or very early in the morning - say, between midnight and five or six in the morning.”
“我的下一个推论是这场步行发生在深夜或者凌晨——或者说介于午夜12点与早晨5、6点之间。”
“How do you figure that one?” I asked.
“这你怎么得出来的？”我好奇的问。
“Consider the distance - nine miles. We’re in a fairly well populated section. Take any road and you’ll find a community of some sort in less than nine miles. Hadley is five miles away, Hadley Falls is seven and a half, Goreton is eleven, but East Goreton is only eight, and you strike East Goreton before you come to Goreton. There is local train service along the Goreton road and bus service along the others. All the highways are pretty well traveled. Would anyone have to walk nine miles in a rain unless it were late at night when no buses or trains were running and when the few automobiles that were out would hesitate to pick up a stranger on the highway?”
“考虑到这段距离——九英里。我们处于一个相当好的移民区。随便选一条路你都会发现在短于九英里的距离内，有某些种类的社区。哈德雷在五英里之外，戈尔顿十一英里，东戈尔顿只有八英里，事实上你到达戈尔顿之前就到了东戈尔顿了。沿着戈尔顿路，有普通车和公交车。所有的高速公路东处于良好运作状态。一个人什么情况下才可能在雨中步行九英里？只能是深夜或凌晨——没有公交车和普通车，私家车也不会在马路上随便携带陌生人。”
“He might not have wanted to be seen,” I suggested.
“可能他不想让别人看见自己呢？”我提议。
Nicky smiled pityingly. “You think he would be less noticeable trudging along the highway than he would be riding in a public conveyance where everyone is usually absorbed in his newspaper?”
尼克同情的一笑。“你认为他一个人跋涉在高速公路上还是选择某种公共交通工具前进惹人注意？”
“Well, I won’t press the point,” I said brusquely.
“好吧，我不纠缠这一点了，”我粗暴地说。
“Then try this one: He was walking toward a town rather than away from one.”
“那么再看看这个：他正在前往而不是离开某个市镇的途中。”
I nodded. “It is more likely, I suppose. If he were in a town, he could probably arrange for some sort of transportation. Is that the basis for your inference?”
我点头。“这个更有可能，我承认。如果他在镇上，他很可能安排好了某些交通工具。这是你推论的根据吗？”
“Partly that,” said Nicky, “but there is also an inference to be drawn from the distance. Remember, it’s a nine - mile walk and nine is one of the exact numbers.”
“一部分，”他说，“但从距离这一点还有一个推论。记住，这是一场九英里的步行——一个准确的数字。”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“恐怕我不是很明白你的意思。”
That exasperated schoolteacher look appeared on Nicky’s face again. “Suppose you say, ‘I took a ten - mile walk’ or ‘a hundred - mile drive’; I would assume that you actually walked anywhere from eight to a dozen miles, or that you rode between ninety and a hundred and ten miles. In other words, ten and hundred are round numbers. You might have walked exactly ten miles, or just as likely you might have walked approximately ten miles. But when you speak of walking nine miles, I have a right to assume that you have named an exact figure. Now, we are far more likely to know the distance of the city from a given point than we are to know the distance of a given point from the city. That is, ask anyone in the city how far out Farmer Brown lives, and if he knows him, he will say, ‘Three or four miles.’ But ask Farmer Brown how far he lives from the city and he will tell you, ‘Three and six - tenths miles - measured it on my speedometer many a time.’”
教师的愠怒再次涌上尼克的脸。“假如你说，‘我经历了一场十英里的步行或者一百英里的旅程’，我会认为你实际上经过了8至12英里或90至110英里。换句话说，10和100都是约数。也许你真的刚好走了10英里，或者仅仅是10公里左右。但如果你说你走了九英里，我就有权力认为你的确刚好走了这个数。而从已知点到某城市的距离和从某城市到已知点的距离相比，前者准确的可能性大得太多了。打个比方吧，随便问这市里的一个人，布朗农夫住在多远的郊外，如果他知道布朗这个人，他会说，‘三到四英里吧。’但是你问布朗农夫你住的地方距市中心多远他会告诉你：，‘3.6英里——这是他无数次用自己的速度计得出的测量结果。’”
“It’s weak, Nicky,” I said. “But in conjunction with your own suggestion that he could have arranged transportation if he had been in a city -”
“这条件太弱了，尼克，”我抱怨.“但如果考虑到你前面的暗示，即如果这人之前在市里，那么他会想法弄个交通工具，那倒没有问题。”
“正是如此。”
“Yes, that would do it,” I said. “I’ll pass it. Any more?”
“就这样吧，”我说。“你继续吗？”
“I’ve just begun to hit my stride,” he boasted. “My next inference is that he was going to a definite destination and that he had to be there at a particular time. It was not a case of going off to get help because his car broke down or his wife was going to have a baby or somebody was trying to break into his house.”
“我才刚刚拉开好戏的帷幕呢，”他得意地说。“我的下一个推论是说话者将前往一个确定的地点并且必须在某特定时间抵达。不过不属于以下这类情况：因为车子半途熄火、老婆临产或者有人试图强行闯入私宅而寻求帮助。”
“Oh, come now,” I said, “the car breaking down is really the most likely situation. He could have known the exact distance from having checked the mileage just as he was leaving town.”
“啊哈，问题来了，”我抓住时机，“你说的第一种可能：轿车熄火，是非常可能的情况啊。他可以通过察看车上的里程计来确定精确的数据——从他离开城镇开始。”
Nicky shook his head. “Rather than walk nine miles in the rain, he would have curled up on the backseat and gone to sleep, or at least stayed by his car and tried to flag another motorist. Remember, it’s nine miles. What would be the least it would take him to hike it?”
尼克摇头。“与其在雨中走上九英里，他还不如缩在汽车后座上睡一觉呢，或者至少呆在自己的车边上等待其他路过的车子。记住，这是九英里啊。如果要走的话要花多长时间？”
“Four hours,” I offered.
“四小时吧，”我说。
He nodded. “Certainly no less, considering the rain. We’ve agreed that it happened very late at night or very early in the morning. Suppose he had his breakdown at one o’clock in the morning. It would be five o’clock before he would arrive. That’s daybreak. You begin to see a lot of cars on the road. The buses start just a little later. In fact, the first buses hit Fairfield around five - thirty. Besides, if he were going for help, he would not have to go all the way to town - only as far as the nearest telephone. No, he had a definite appointment, and it was in a town, and it was for some time before five - thirty.”
他点头。“而且不会比这少，别忘了天正在下雨。我们已经得出步行的时间是在深夜或凌晨。假设他在凌晨一点熄火，他到达目的地至少要到早上五点了——拂晓来临。你将会在马路上渐渐看到越来越多的车辆。公交车稍晚一些。事实上，五点半左右第一班巴士就到费尔费尔德了。此外，就算他要寻求帮助，也不用走完全部剩下的路程——完全可以就近找个电话亭就ok了。因此，他此前就已经有了明确的约定，而且在某个市镇里并且早于凌晨五点半。”
“Then why couldn’t he have got there earlier and waited?” I asked. “He could have taken the last bus, arrived around one o’clock, and waited until his appointment. He walks nine miles in the rain instead, and you said he was no athlete.”
“那他可以早点到达指定地点然后在那里等着啊，”我提出异议。“他可以乘末班巴士并于深夜一点左右到达，接下来就是等待。不过事实上他可是在雨中走了九英里，而你说他并非运动员。”
We had arrived at the Municipal Building, where my office is. Normally any arguments begun at the Blue Moon ended at the entrance to the Municipal Building. But I was interested in Nicky’s demonstration, and I suggested that he come up for a few minutes.
不知不觉我们到了市政厅，我办公室就在这。基本上每一次的始于蓝月的辩论将在此终结，但这次我对尼克的谈话产生了兴趣，于是建议他跟我一起上楼，再聊几分钟。
When we were seated I said, “How about it, Nicky, why couldn’t he have arrived early and waited?”
坐下来之后我重复了一遍刚才的问题：“按照你的假设为什么那人不可能是提前到达然后等待约会时刻的到来呢？”
“He could have,” Nicky retorted. “But since he did not, we must assume that he was either detained until after the last bus left, or that he had to wait where he was for a signal of some sort, perhaps a telephone call.”
“他可以，”尼克反驳。“但既然他没有这么做我们就得假设他要么耽误到末班巴士离去，要么就是在等某个信号，比如一个电话。”
“Then, according to you, he had an appointment sometime between midnight and five - thirty -”
“那么你的意思是他在午夜至凌晨五点半之间有个约会？”
“We can draw it much finer than that. Remember, it takes him four hours to walk the distance. The last bus stops at twelve - thirty A.M. If he doesn’t take that, but starts at the same time, he won’t arrive at his destination until four - thirty. On the other hand, if he takes the first bus in the morning, he will arrive around five - thirty. That would mean that his appointment was for sometime between four - thirty and five - thirty.”
“我们还可更进一步。记住，走完这段路要花上四小时。末班巴士零点三十发车。如果他没赶上这趟车就说明他不可能在四点半之前抵达目的地。另一方面，假设他乘坐的是早上的首班巴士，他将与五点半左右抵达。即是说他的约会介于四点半到五点半之间。”
“You mean that if his appointment were earlier than four - thirty, he would have taken the last night bus, and if it were later than five - thirty, he would have taken the first morning bus?”
“你的意思是如果约会早于四点半，他将乘坐末班巴士，而如果晚于五点半，他将乘坐首班巴士？”
“Precisely. And another thing: If he were waiting for a signal or a phone call, it must have come not much later than one o’clock.”
“非常正确。还有一点：如果他在等着一个信号或者电话，不会晚于一点太多。”
“Yes, I see that,” I said. “If his appointment is around five o’clock and it takes him four hours to walk the distance, he’d have to start around one.”
“是的，这个好理解，”我说。“假设约会在五点开始，而路上花了四小时左右，那么一点钟刚好是他出发的时候。”
He nodded, silent and thoughtful. For some queer reason I could not explain, I did not feel like interrupting his thoughts. On the wall was a large map of the county and I walked over to it and began to study it. “You’re right, Nicky,” I remarked over my shoulder, “there’s no place as far as nine miles away from Fairfield that doesn’t hit another town first. Fairfield is right in the middle of a bunch of smaller towns.”
尼克再次点了点头，随后陷入沉思。也不知是什么原因，我不想打断他的思考。墙上有一张国家地图，我走过去研究起来。
“你是对的，尼克，”我越过肩膀指着地图，“费尔费尔德方圆九英里以内不可能没有市镇。费尔费尔德处于一堆城镇的中央。”
He joined me at the map. “It doesn’t have to be Fairfield, you know,” he said quietly. “It was probably one of the outlying towns he had to reach. Try Hadley.”
他走过来和我一起研究地图。“不一定非得是费尔费尔德，”他平静地说，“你知道，也有可能任何一个他不得不去的偏远小镇。不信试试哈德雷（译注：Hadley，美国地名）。”
“Why Hadley? What would anyone want in Hadley at five o’clock in the morning?”
“为什么是哈德雷？早上五点一个人跑到那里去干什么？”
“The Washington Flyer stops there to take on water about that time,” he said quietly.
“华盛顿飞行者号列车（The Washington Flyer）大约在那个时候停留在彼处加水，”他平静地说。
“That’s right, too,” I said. “I’ve heard that train many a night when I couldn’t sleep. I’d hear it pulling in and then a minute or two later I’d hear the clock on the Methodist church banging out five.” I went back to my desk for a timetable. “The Flyer leaves Washington at twelve forty - seven A.M and gets into Boston at eight A.M.”
“这也对，”我说。“我睡不着觉的许多个夜里都听见那辆火车的声音。我听见它进站的声音一两分钟后，教堂的钟敲响五下。”我回到书桌前翻看时刻表。“飞行者晚上十二点四十七分离开华盛顿，早上八点抵达波士顿。”
Nicky was still at the map measuring distances with a pencil. “Exactly nine miles from Hadley is the Old Sumter Inn,” he announced.
尼克仍然在研究地图，他用一支铅笔比划着上面的距离。“哈德雷到Old Sumter旅馆刚好是九英里，”他说。
“Old Sumter Inn,” I echoed. “But that upsets the whole theory. You can arrange for transportation there as easily as you can in a town.”
“Old Sumter旅馆，”我随声附和道。“但是这就颠覆了你的整个理论。你在那里和在城里一样可以提前弄到一个交通工具。”
He shook his head. “The cars are kept in an enclosure and you have to get an attendant to check you through the gate. The attendant would remember anyone taking out his car at a strange hour. It’s a pretty conservative place. He could have waited in his room until he got a call from Washington about someone on the Flyer - maybe the number of the car and the berth. Then he could just slip out of the hotel and walk to Hadley.”
他摇头道：“轿车都在围栏里面，而你得找个服务员带你进门。服务员对那样一个奇怪时刻取车的客人当然印象深刻，而哈德雷是一个民风相当保守的地方。那服务员帮你取车之前大概要在房间里一直呆到有华盛顿打过来的关于飞行者号上某人的电话——可能是车厢和卧铺号之类的。这样的话我还不如直接跳过旅馆直接走向哈德雷呢。”
I stared at him, hypnotized.
我盯着他，有些迷糊。
“It wouldn’t be difficult to slip aboard while the train was taking on water, and then if he knew the car number and the berth -”
“趁火车加水的时候溜上去并非难事，而如果他又知道车厢和卧铺号……”
“Nicky,” I said portentously, “as the reform district attorney who campaigned on an economy program, I am going to waste the taxpayers’ money and call Boston long distance. It’s ridiculous; it’s insane - but I’m going to do it!”
“尼克，”我意味颇深的说，“作为一个制定经济纲要的改革检察官，我正在浪费纳税人的钞票并给波士顿长途电话局挂电话。真他妈的荒唐，太疯狂了——但我还是要这么干！”
His little blue eyes glittered and he moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. “Go ahead,” he said hoarsely.
他小小的蓝色眼睛又开始闪光，一边用舌缘湿润着嘴唇。“继续，”他哑着嗓子说。
I replaced the telephone in its cradle. “Nicky,” I said, “this is probably the most remarkable coincidence in the history of criminal investigation: A man was found murdered in his berth on last night’s twelve forty - seven from Washington! He’d been dead about three hours, which would make it exactly right for Hadley.”
我把电话放回原处。“尼克，”我说，“这可能是犯罪调查史上最伟大的巧合：一个男人被发现因谋杀而死在他的卧铺上，就在昨晚零点四十七分来自华盛顿的列车上！他死了大约三小时，刚好到哈德雷。”
“I thought it was something like that,” said Nicky. “But you’re wrong about its being a coincidence. It can’t be. Where did you get that sentence?”
“我想差不多就是这么回事，”尼克说。“但你说这是个巧合就不对了。那不可能。我再问你，你这个句子是哪来的？”
“It was just a sentence. It simply popped into my head.”
“就是个句子啊。突然跃入我脑海的。”
“It couldn’t have! It’s not the sort of sentence that pops into one’s head. If you had taught composition as long as I have, you’d know that when you ask someone for a sentence of ten words or so, you get an ordinary statement such as ‘I like milk’ - with the other words made up by a modifying clause like, ‘because it is good for my health.’ The sentence you offered related to a particular situation.”
“不可能！这不是那种可以跃入脑海的句子。如果你像我这么长时间的教授写作就知道，当你要求某人说一个大约十个单词的句子时，你一般会得到一个比如‘我喜欢喝牛奶’——再加上些修辞语（‘那对我身体有好处’）之类的。但你给的这个句子绝对是特殊情况。”
“But I tell you I talked to no one this morning. And I was alone with you at the Blue Moon.”
“但我告诉你，今天早上我除了跟你在蓝月没有和别人说过话。”
“You weren’t with me all the time I paid my check,” he said sharply. “Did you meet anyone while you were waiting on the sidewalk for me to come out of the Blue Moon?”
“我结帐的时候你并非我和我一直在一起，”他犀利地说。“你在路边等我出来的时候没有遇见任何人么？”
I shook my head. “I was outside for less than a minute before you joined me. You see, a couple of men came in while you were digging out your change and one of them bumped me, as I thought I’d wait -”
我猛摇头。“你出来之前我在外面等了不到一分钟。之间
“Did you ever see them before?”
“你以前认识他们吗？”
“Who?”
“谁啊？”
“The two men who came in,” he said, the note of exasperation creeping into his voice again.
“就是那两个进来的男人，”他再次语带恼怒。
“Why, no - they weren’t anyone I knew.”
“干吗问这个？我以前根本没见过那两个人。”
“Were they talking?”
“他们在聊天吗？”
“I guess so. Yes, they were. Quite absorbed in their conversation, as a matter of fact - otherwise they would have noticed me and I would not have been bumped.”
“我猜是的。唔，是的，他们聊着——专注于彼此的话，结果没注意到柜台前的我，否则我也不会被迫到外面等你了。”
“Not many strangers come into the Blue Moon,” he remarked.
“来蓝月的并没有多少陌生人，”他补充。
“Do you think it was they?” I asked eagerly. “I think I’d know them again if I saw them.”
“难道你认为两个人是……？”我急切地问。“我想我再见到他们肯定能认出来。”
Nicky’s eyes narrowed. “It’s possible. There had to be two - one to trail the victim in Washington and ascertain his berth number, the other to wait here and do the job. The Washington man would be likely to come down here afterward. If there were theft as well as murder, it would be to divide the spoils. If it were just murder, he would probably have to come down to pay off his confederate.”
尼克眯起眼睛。“可能吧。最少要两个人——一个跟踪车上的受害人，记住他的卧铺号码，另一个守在这里伺机而动。然后来自华盛顿的男人可能在此下车。如果偷窃与谋杀同在，那就是分摊罪行。如果仅是谋杀，只有一个人有罪。”
I reached for the telephone. “We’ve been gone less than half an hour,” Nicky went on. “They were just coming in, and service is slow at the Blue Moon. The one who walked all the way to Hadley must certainly be hungry and the other probably drove all night from Washington.”
我伸手拿过电话。
“我们在蓝月不到半小时，”尼克继续道。“他们两个来到蓝月，可那的上菜太慢。其中一个走到哈德雷的人肯定饥肠辘辘而另一个从华盛顿来的在火车上过夜，也不会好受。”
“Call me immediately if you make an arrest,” I said into the phone and hung up.
“立刻给我打电话如果你们逮捕罪犯，”说完我挂上电话。
Neither of us spoke a word while we waited. We paced the floor, avoiding each other almost as though we had done something we were ashamed of.
等待的过程中我们一言未发，我们在地板上走来走去，不敢正视对方就好像都做了什么见不得人的事情一样。
The telephone rang at last. I picked it up and listened. Then I said, “Okay,” and turned to Nicky. “One of them tried to escape through the kitchen, but Winn had someone stationed at the back and they got him.”
终于，电话响了。我拿起听筒凝神谛听。然后我说，“好的，”接着对尼克说：“其中一个正试图从厨房逃脱，不过有人守在屋后逮住了他。”
“That would seem to prove it,” said Nicky With a frosty little smile.
“看起来这证明了我的推论，”说着尼克露出了冷冷的浅笑。
I nodded agreement.
我点头同意。
He glanced at his watch. “Gracious,” he exclaimed, “I wanted to make an early start on my work this morning, and here I’ve already wasted all this time talking with you!”
他看了看表。“上帝，”他惊呼，“今早我还打算早点开始工作呢，现在全都浪费在跟你扯淡了！”
I let him get to the door. “Oh, Nicky,” I called, “what was it you set out to prove?”
我带他来到门口。“哦，尼克，”我说，“最后你证明了什么？”
“That a chain of inferences could be logical and still not be true,” he said.
你看，这样一个推论链虽然完全合乎逻辑但仍然是假的，”他说。
“Oh.”
“哦。”
“What are you laughing at?” he asked snappishly, and then he laughed, too.
“你笑什么？”他急切地问，然后他自己也笑了。