书虫二级：五个桔核 - 三K党
3.K. K. K.
3．三K党
Sherlock Holmes sat silently, and watched the fire. Then he said to me, 'John Openshaw is in real danger. Why did his Uncle Elias have to leave America? Because he had enemies. When he came back to England he was afraid. That's why he lived a lonely life and locked all his doors so carefully. Now where did those letters come from? Did you see?'
夏洛克·福尔摩斯安静地坐着，看着炉火。然后他对我说：“约翰·奥彭肖真的有危险。他叔叔为什么被迫离开美国？因为他有敌人。他回到英国以后很害怕。所以他会过着孤独的生活，还那么仔细地把所有的门都锁好。那么那些信是从哪儿来的呢？你看到了吗？”
The first from Pondicherry in India, the second from Dundee in Scotland and the third from East London,' I answered.
“第一封寄自印度的本地治里，第二封寄自苏格兰的敦提，第三封寄自伦敦东区。”我回答。
Does that tell you anything?' asked Holmes.
“那告诉了你什么呢？”福尔摩斯问。
They're all sea ports. The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters,' I replied. I was pleased with my answer.
“它们都是海港。信是在船上写的。”我叫答说。我对自己的回答很满意。
Very good, Watson,' said Holmes. 'Somebody sent some pips from India, and arrived seven weeks later to kill Uncle Elias. Then he sent some pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John's father. Do you see why I'm worried now? He has sent pips to John from London! John's enemy is in London already!'
“非常好，华生，”福尔摩斯说，“有人从印度寄出桔核，七个星期之后到达并杀了伊莱亚斯叔叔。后来他又从苏格兰寄出桔核，三天之后到达并杀了约翰的父亲。现在你明白我为什么这么担心了吧？他从伦敦给约翰寄出桔核！约翰的敌人已经在伦敦了！”
Good God, Holmes!' I cried. 'Who is this man?'
“上帝啊，福尔摩斯！”我叫起来，“这个人是谁？”
More than one man, I think. They belong to the Ku Klux Klan. That explains the "K. K. K. ". Haven't you ever heard of it? It's a very secret group of Americans from the South. They wanted to stop equality for black people and to kill anyone who didn't agree with them. The police couldn't stop them. But in 1869 Uncle Elias, who belonged to this secret group, suddenly left America with all their papers, and so the group could not go on. Of course the group wanted to get the papers back. You remember the half-burnt paper? That was Uncle Elias's American diary. While he was working for the K. K. K. , he sent the pips to frighten those three men. Two left the country, but one didn't, so the K. K. K. "finished business with him", or killed him. The K. K. K. always worked like that.'
“我认为不止一个人。他们都是三K党的人。这就解释了‘K. K. K. ’。你没有听说过他们吗？这是美国南方的一个秘密组织。他们想阻止黑人得到平等权利，还杀死所有与他们意见不同的人。警察也不能阻止他们。但是1869年，属于这个秘密组织的伊莱亚斯叔叔突然带着他们的文件离开了美国，所以这个组织不能继续了。他们当然想把文件找回来。你还记得烧了一半的纸吗？那是伊莱亚斯叔叔在美国的日记。他为三K党工作的时候，给那三个人寄桔核恐吓他们。有两个离开了美国，但是有一个没有，所以三K党‘跟他做了了结’，或者说杀了他。三K党都是这么做的。”
Well, I hope they won't kill young Openshaw,' I said.
“哦，我希望他们不会杀死年轻的奥彭肖。”我说。
