格列佛游记——阿里巴巴与四十大盗-3

When the forty thieves returned to the cave, they were astonished to find that the dead body and several money bags had disappeared. "We have certainly been discovered," said the chief. "We have killed one; we must now find the other who knows our secret." He told one of his men to dress himself as a traveler and enter the town.

　　The thief greeted the cobbler and said, "Old man, can you repair shoes at your age?"

　　"Though I am old," said the cobbler, "I have very good eyes, and you will believe me when I tell you that I sewed a dead body together in a dark place."

　　The thief was glad to hear that. He gave the cobbler a gold coin and had the man show him Cassim's house. On the door the thief put a mark with a piece of chalk.

　　When Morgiana saw the white mark on the door, she was afraid something bad would happen. So she put the same mark on five or six houses.

　　The thief told the chief of his discovery. The chief told him to lead them to the house. But when they came to it, they saw five or six houses were chalked in the same manner. They could not tell which house Cassim's was, and had to return to the cave.

　　The chief sent another thief to the town as a spy. He also had the cobbler lead him to the house and marked the house in red chalk. But Morgiana was too clever for the thieves. They found, as before, that five or six houses were marked. When they returned to the cave, the first and the second spies were put to death.

　　Now the chief decided to go himself. As he was wiser than the other thieves, he did not mark the house. He looked at it closely enough to remember it.

　　He returned and told his men to buy nineteen  mules and thirty-eight leather jars, one full of oil and the others empty. He put one man into each jar with his weapon, and led the nineteen mules into the town with his thirty-seven men and one jar of oil on their backs. They reached the town before it got dark.

　　四十大盗回到山洞时，他们发现尸体及几袋钱都不见了而大为震惊。首领说：『我们一定是被人发现了。我们已经杀死一个，现在我们必须把另一个知道我们秘密的人找出来。』他叫其中一名手下乔装成一名旅客进城去。

　　这名强盗遇到鞋匠时说：『老伯，以您的年纪还能补鞋吗？』

　　补鞋匠说：『虽然我年纪大了，但眼力还是很好，当我告诉你我曾在黑暗中缝合尸体的事时，你就会相信了。』

　　这名强盗听到这话时很高兴。他给了补鞋匠一枚金币，叫他指出凯辛的住处。强盗就在门上用粉笔做了一个记号。

　　玛琪安娜看到门上的白色记号时，她担心也许有什幺不祥的事会发生。于是就在五、六家房子的门上也划上同样的记号。

　　这名强盗把他的发现向首领报告。首领于是叫他带他们到那栋房子去。但是他们到时，却看到有五、六幢房子上都有同样的粉笔记号。他们无法辨认哪一幢是凯辛的住处，只好又回到山洞中。

　　首领另派一名强盗到镇上做间谍。他也叫补鞋匠带他到凯辛家，并在上面用红色粉笔做记号。但玛琪安娜和那些强盗比起来实在是太聪明了。他们发现和上次一样，有五、六栋房子都被做了记号。当他们回到山洞时，前两位间谍都被处死。

　　这一次首领决定亲自出马。因为他比其它强盗都要来得聪明，所以他并没有在房子上做记号。他很仔细看了房子以后就把它记住了。

　　他回去告诉他的手下买十九匹骡子，和卅八个皮瓮，其中一个装满油，其它则是空的。他叫每一名手下带着武器躲在皮瓮中，便带着背上载了卅七名手下和一瓮油的十九匹骡子上路了。天未黑前他们就到了镇上。