AT the district town of N. in the cinnamon-coloured government house in which the Zemstvo, the sessional meetings of the justices of the peace, the Rural Board, the Liquor Board, the Military Board, and many others sit by turns, the Circuit Court was in session on one of the dull days of autumn. —-
在N区的地区城镇中，肉眼探测不到任何活动的秋天的沉闷日子里，Zemstvo、治安法官定期会议、乡村委员会、酒类管理委员会、军事委员会等机构轮流在肉桂色的政府大楼开会。 —-

Of the above-mentioned cinnamon-coloured house a local official had wittily observed:
对于上述肉桂色的政府大楼，一位当地官员聪明地说：“这里有司法，有警察，有军队——纯粹是个高贵女子寄宿学校。”

“Here is Justitia, here is Policia, here is Militia—a regular boarding school of high-born young ladies.”
但是，俗话说“人多手杂”，可能正因如此，这座建筑给新来的非正式参观者带来压抑的集中营般的感觉，不管是从外观还是内部，这座建筑都显得陈旧破败、缺乏任何舒适。

But, as the saying is, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” and probably that is why the house strikes, oppresses, and overwhelms a fresh unofficial visitor with its dismal barrack-like appearance, its decrepit condition, and the complete absence of any kind of comfort, external or internal. —-
即使在最明媚的春天，这座建筑看起来也笼罩在浓密的阴影之中，而在晴朗月夜中，树木和小房屋在一个阴影中合而为一，仿佛沉浸在宁静的睡眠中，只有它荒谬地站在那儿，不合时宜地高耸在谦逊的景观上方，破坏了整体和谐，它响应着过去难以释怀的罪孽的负担，保持着不眠不休的警惕。 —-

Even on the brightest spring days it seems wrapped in a dense shade, and on clear moonlight nights, when the trees and the little dwelling-houses merged in one blur of shadow seem plunged in quiet slumber, it alone absurdly and inappropriately towers, an oppressive mass of stone, above the modest landscape, spoils the general harmony, and keeps sleepless vigil as though it could not escape from burdensome memories of past unforgiven sins. —-
里面就像个谷仓，极不吸引人。 —-

Inside it is like a barn and extremely unattractive. —-
令人奇怪的是，这些优雅的律师、委员会成员和贵族元帅，在自己家里对炉子上一点烟味或地板上一点污渍都会大发脾气，而在这里却接受了嘈杂的通风轮、令人作呕的熏香蜡烛味和肮脏、一直汗流浃背的墙壁。 —-

It is strange to see how readily these elegant lawyers, members of committees, and marshals of nobility, who in their own homes will make a scene over the slightest fume from the stove, or stain on the floor, resign themselves here to whirring ventilation wheels, the disgusting smell of fumigating candles, and the filthy, forever perspiring walls.
巡回法院的开庭时间在九点至十点之间开始。

The sitting of the circuit court began between nine and ten. —-
当天的议程开始得非常迅速。 —-

The programme of the day was promptly entered upon, with noticeable haste. —-
值得注意的是，议程进行得非常仓促。 —-

The cases came on one after another and ended quickly, like a church service without a choir, so that no mind could form a complete picture of all this parti-coloured mass of faces, movements, words, misfortunes, true sayings and lies, all racing by like a river in flood. —-
一个案件接着一个案件，迅速结束，就像一场没有合唱的教堂礼拜，以至于没有人能够形成对这个五颜六色的人群、活动、言辞、不幸、真实的话和谎言的完整印象，它们像洪水一样奔腾而过。 —-

. . . By two o’clock a great deal had been done: —-
到两点钟，已经做了很多事情： —-

two prisoners had been sentenced to service in convict battalions, one of the privileged class had been sentenced to deprivation of rights and imprisonment, one had been acquitted, one case had been adjourned.
两名囚犯被判服役于劳改营，一名特权阶层的人被判剥夺权利并入狱，一人被宣告无罪，一件案子被推迟。

At precisely two o’clock the presiding judge announced that the case “of the peasant Nikolay Harlamov, charged with the murder of his wife,” would next be heard. —-
正点两点，审判长宣布下一个案子是“农民尼古拉·哈拉莫夫被控杀妻案”。 —-

The composition of the court remained the same as it had been for the preceding case, except that the place of the defending counsel was filled by a new personage, a beardless young graduate in a coat with bright buttons. —-
法庭的构成与之前的案子保持一致，只是辩护律师的位置由一个新的人来担任，一个穿着亮钮扣外套的无胡须的年轻毕业生。 —-

The president gave the order—“Bring in the prisoner!”
法庭主席下令：“把被告带进来！”

But the prisoner, who had been got ready beforehand, was already walking to his bench. —-
但被告已经事先准备好，已经走向了自己的长凳。 —-

He was a tall, thick-set peasant of about fifty-five, completely bald, with an apathetic, hairy face and a big red beard. —-
他是一个约五十五岁的高个子魁梧的农民，全身几乎没有了头发，长满毛的脸上带着疲倦的表情和一大把红色胡须。 —-

He was followed by a frail-looking little soldier with a gun.
他后面跟着一个看起来脆弱的小士兵，手里拿着一把枪。

Just as he was reaching the bench the escort had a trifling mishap. —-
就在他走向长凳的时候，护送人员发生了一件小小的意外。 —-

He stumbled and dropped the gun out of his hands, but caught it at once before it touched the ground, knocking his knee violently against the butt end as he did so. —-
他绊倒了，把枪从手里掉了出来，但是立即捡了起来，没有碰到地面，在这个过程中他的膝盖猛然撞到了枪托。 —-

A faint laugh was audible in the audience. —-
观众席上传来了一阵微弱的笑声。 —-

Either from the pain or perhaps from shame at his awkwardness the soldier flushed a dark red.
士兵要么是因为疼痛，要么是因为尴尬而脸上涨红了。

After the customary questions to the prisoner, the shuffling of the jury, the calling over and swearing in of the witnesses, the reading of the charge began. —-
在对被告进行了例行的提问、陪审团的踉跄、证人的点名和宣誓后，开始宣读指控书。 —-

The narrow-chested, pale-faced secretary, far too thin for his uniform, and with sticking plaster on his check, read it in a low, thick bass, rapidly like a sacristan, without raising or dropping his voice, as though afraid of exerting his lungs; —-
狭窄胸腔、苍白面孔的秘书，身形过于瘦削，脸颊上还贴着创可贴，用低沉、浑厚、快速的低音朗读，像一个厢房管理员一样，声音不高不低，仿佛怕用力呼吸； —-

he was seconded by the ventilation wheel whirring indefatigably behind the judge’s table, and the result was a sound that gave a drowsy, narcotic character to the stillness of the hall.
在法官桌后不知疲倦地转动的通风轮辅助了他，结果是大厅的寂静中带来了一种催眠的感觉。

The president, a short-sighted man, not old but with an extremely exhausted face, sat in his armchair without stirring and held his open hand near his brow as though screening his eyes from the sun. —-
主席，一个近视的人，虽然不老但脸色非常疲惫，静坐不动，将张开的手放在眼前，好像在遮住阳光。 —-

To the droning of the ventilation wheel and the secretary he meditated. —-
在通风轮和秘书的呢喃声中，他在沉思。 —-

When the secretary paused for an instant to take breath on beginning a new page, he suddenly started and looked round at the court with lustreless eyes, then bent down to the ear of the judge next to him and asked with a sigh:
当秘书在开始新一页时稍作停顿喘口气时，他突然惊醒，用无神的眼睛环视法庭，然后低头对着他旁边的法官耳边叹息着问道：

“Are you putting up at Demyanov’s, Matvey Petrovitch?”
“你们住在德梅亚诺夫那儿，马特韦·彼得罗维奇？”

“Yes, at Demyanov’s,” answered the other, starting too.
“是的，住在德梅亚诺夫那儿，” 答道另一个人，也惊起身来。

“Next time I shall probably put up there too. It’s really impossible to put up at Tipyakov’s! —-
“下次我可能也会去住那儿了。在蒂皮亚科夫那儿真的无法住下去！ —-

There’s noise and uproar all night! Knocking, coughing, children crying. —-
晚上一直很吵！敲打声、咳嗽声、孩子们哭声。 —-

. . . It’s impossible!”
. . 完全不能住！”

The assistant prosecutor, a fat, well-nourished, dark man with gold spectacles, with a handsome, well-groomed beard, sat motionless as a statue, with his cheek propped on his fist, reading Byron’s “Cain.” His eyes were full of eager attention and his eyebrows rose higher and higher with wonder. —-
助理检察官，一个肥胖、滋养充足、肤色黝黑的男人，戴着金色眼镜，留着英俊整洁的胡须，像石像一样静坐着，脸颊撑着手，阅读拜伦的《伊甸》。他的眼睛充满了渴望的注意力，他的眉毛越来越高，越来越惊讶。 —-

. . . From time to time he dropped back in his chair, gazed without interest straight before him for a minute, and then buried himself in his reading again. —-
. . 他不时地坐回椅子里，毫无兴趣地直视前方一分钟，然后再次专心地阅读。 —-

The council for the defence moved the blunt end of his pencil about the table and mused with his head on one side. —-
辩护代理人用铅笔的钝头来回移动着，头歪向一侧思索着。 —-

. . . His youthful face expressed nothing but the frigid, immovable boredom which is commonly seen on the face of schoolboys and men on duty who are forced from day to day to sit in the same place, to see the same faces, the same walls. —-
他青春的脸上只表达出一种冰冷、不动摇的无聊，这种无聊常常在学生和被迫每天坐在同样的地方、看着同样的脸、同样的墙壁的执勤人员脸上看得见。 —-

He felt no excitement about the speech he was to make, and indeed what did that speech amount to? —-
他对自己即将发表的演讲没有一丝激动，实际上那个演讲有什么意义呢？ —-

On instructions from his superiors in accordance with long-established routine he would fire it off before the jurymen, without passion or ardour, feeling that it was colourless and boring, and then—gallop through the mud and the rain to the station, thence to the town, shortly to receive instructions to go off again to some district to deliver another speech. —-
根据上级的指示，他按照既定的程序将在陪审员面前演讲，毫无激情和热情，感到自己的演讲毫无色彩和无聊，然后穿越泥泞和雨水，奔向火车站，然后到城里，不久后又会接到指示，去某个地区发表另一场演讲。 —-

. . . It was a bore!
真是个烦人的事情！

At first the prisoner turned pale and coughed nervously into his sleeve, but soon the stillness, the general monotony and boredom infected him too. —-
起初，囚犯脸色变白，紧张地咳嗽着用袖子遮住，但很快，寂静、普遍的单调和无聊也影响到了他。 —-

He looked with dull-witted respectfulness at the judges’ uniforms, at the weary faces of the jurymen, and blinked calmly. —-
他用呆钝的恭敬眼神看着法官们的制服，看着陪审员疲惫的脸庞，平静地眨了眨眼睛。 —-

The surroundings and procedure of the court, the expectation of which had so weighed on his soul while he was awaiting them in prison, now had the most soothing effect on him. —-
法庭的环境和程序，他在监狱里等待它们时曾对他的内心产生过极大的压力，现在却对他起了最舒缓的作用。 —-

What he met here was not at all what he could have expected. —-
他在这里遇到的完全不是他期望的。 —-

The charge of murder hung over him, and yet here he met with neither threatening faces nor indignant looks nor loud phrases about retribution nor sympathy for his extraordinary fate; —-
他被指控犯有谋杀罪，然而这里没有威胁的面孔，没有愤怒的眼神，没有关于报应的高调措辞，也没有对他不同寻常的命运的同情； —-

not one of those who were judging him looked at him with interest or for long. . . . —-
那些审判他的人没有一个对他感兴趣或长时间地看着他…… —-

The dingy windows and walls, the voice of the secretary, the attitude of the prosecutor were all saturated with official indifference and produced an atmosphere of frigidity, as though the murderer were simply an official property, or as though he were not being judged by living men, but by some unseen machine, set going, goodness knows how or by whom. . . .
暗淡的窗户和墙壁，书记的声音，检察官的态度，都充满了官方的冷漠，仿佛杀人犯只是一种官方财产，或者说他不是被真正的生活人所裁判，而是被某个不知名的、谁知道是谁创建的机器所裁判……

The peasant, reassured, did not understand that the men here were as accustomed to the dramas and tragedies of life and were as blunted by the sight of them as hospital attendants are at the sight of death, and that the whole horror and hopelessness of his position lay just in this mechanical indifference. —-
这位农民放心了，却不明白这里的人们早已习惯了生活中的戏剧和悲剧，对此已经麻木不仁，就像医院的工作人员面对死亡一样。他没有意识到，他所处的可怕和绝望正是由于这种机械的冷漠。 —-

It seemed that if he were not to sit quietly but to get up and begin beseeching, appealing with tears for their mercy, bitterly repenting, that if he were to die of despair—it would all be shattered against blunted nerves and the callousness of custom, like waves against a rock.
看起来，如果他不安静地坐着，而是起身乞求他们，流着眼泪恳求他们的怜悯，痛苦地忏悔，如果他因绝望而死去——这一切都将被麻木的神经和习惯的冷漠所摧毁，就像浪花撞击岩石一样。

When the secretary finished, the president for some reason passed his hands over the table before him, looked for some time with his eyes screwed up towards the prisoner, and then asked, speaking languidly:
秘书讲完后，总统不知为何在他面前的桌子上搓了一会儿手，用眯起的眼睛盯着囚犯看了一段时间，然后懒洋洋地问道：

“Prisoner at the bar, do you plead guilty to having murdered your wife on the evening of the ninth of June?”
“被告，你承认在六月九日晚上谋杀了你的妻子吗？”

“No, sir,” answered the prisoner, getting up and holding his gown over his chest.
“不，先生，”囚犯回答道，站起来用袍子遮住胸口。

After this the court proceeded hurriedly to the examination of witnesses. —-
此后，法庭匆忙地开始审问证人。 —-

Two peasant women and five men and the village policeman who had made the enquiry were questioned. —-
两个农妇和五个男人以及进行调查的村民警察都接受了询问。 —-

All of them, mud-bespattered, exhausted with their long walk and waiting in the witnesses’ room, gloomy and dispirited, gave the same evidence. —-
所有这些人，被泥浆弄得一身污垢，疲惫不堪地经过了长时间的行走和在证人室等待，阴郁而泄气，都作了相同的证词。 —-

They testified that Harlamov lived “well” with his old woman, like anyone else; —-
他们证明哈拉莫夫与他的老婆“和睦相处”，就像其他人一样； —-

that he never beat her except when he had had a drop; —-
他除非有了酒才会打老婆； —-

that on the ninth of June when the sun was setting the old woman had been found in the porch with her skull broken; —-
六月九日太阳下山时，他们发现那个老婆在门廊里头被打破了脑袋； —-

that beside her in a pool of blood lay an axe. —-
她的旁边还有一把斧头，地上满是鲜血。 —-

When they looked for Nikolay to tell him of the calamity he was not in his hut or in the streets. —-
当他们寻找尼古拉告诉他这一悲剧的时候，他既不在他的小屋中，也不在街上。 —-

They ran all over the village, looking for him. —-
他们在整个村庄里面四处寻找他。 —-

They went to all the pothouses and huts, but could not find him. —-
他们去了所有的小酒馆和茅屋，但找不到他。 —-

He had disappeared, and two days later came of his own accord to the police office, pale, with his clothes torn, trembling all over. —-
他消失了，两天后自己主动来到了警察局，脸色苍白，衣服破烂，浑身颤抖。 —-

He was bound and put in the lock-up.
他被绑起来关进了拘留所。

“Prisoner,” said the president, addressing Harlamov, “cannot you explain to the court where you were during the three days following the murder?”
“囚犯，”法院主席对哈拉莫夫说道，”你能向法庭解释清楚你在谋杀发生后的三天里都在哪里吗？”

“I was wandering about the fields. . . . Neither eating nor drinking . . . .”
“我在田野里徘徊……既不吃饭也不喝水……”

“Why did you hide yourself, if it was not you that committed the murder?”
“如果不是你犯下了谋杀，你为什么要隐藏自己？”

“I was frightened. . . . I was afraid I might be judged guilty. . . .”
“我害怕……我害怕自己可能会被判有罪……”

“Aha! . . . Good, sit down!”
“啊哈！好的，坐下！”

The last to be examined was the district doctor who had made a post- mortem on the old woman. —-
最后接受审问的是曾经对老妇人进行尸检的地区医生。 —-

He told the court all that he remembered of his report at the post-mortem and all that he had succeeded in thinking of on his way to the court that morning. —-
他向法庭讲述了他在尸检时记得的一切以及他在那天早上去法庭途中所成功思考到的一切。 —-

The president screwed up his eyes at his new glossy black suit, at his foppish cravat, at his moving lips; —-
主席缩紧了眼睛看着他那件新的亮黑西装、娇柔的领带、以及他的嘴唇移动。 —-

he listened and in his mind the languid thought seemed to spring up of itself:
他倾听着，脑海中懒散的思绪似乎自发地涌现出来：“现在每个人都穿短上衣，为什么他的却做得那么长？为什么是长的而不是短的？”

“Everyone wears a short jacket nowadays, why has he had his made long? Why long and not short?”
法院主席背后传来慎重的靴子声。

The circumspect creak of boots was audible behind the president’s back. —-
那是助理检察官走到桌子前取一些文件。 —-

It was the assistant prosecutor going up to the table to take some papers.
“米哈伊尔·弗拉基米罗维奇，”助理检察官弯下身子对法院主席的耳朵说道，”科列斯基进行的调查真是令人惊讶的懒散。“

“Mihail Vladimirovitch,” said the assistant prosecutor, bending down to the president’s ear, “amazingly slovenly the way that Koreisky conducted the investigation. —-
助理检察官走到桌子前拿了一些文件。 —-

The prisoner’s brother was not examined, the village elder was not examined, there’s no making anything out of his description of the hut. . . .”
囚犯的兄弟没有接受审讯，村长也没有接受审讯，无法通过他对小屋的描述来确定任何事情……

“It can’t be helped, it can’t be helped,” said the president, sinking back in his chair. —-
“没办法，没办法，”总统说着，向椅子上沉下去。 —-

“He’s a wreck . . . dropping to bits!”
“他是个废物……都快瓦解了！”

“By the way,” whispered the assistant prosecutor, “look at the audience, in the front row, the third from the right . —-
“顺便说一句，”副检察官轻声说，“看看观众席，正前排，第三个从右边开始。” —-

. . a face like an actor’s . . . that’s the local Croesus. —-
…像演员一样的脸……那是当地的克罗伊斯。 —-

He has a fortune of something like fifty thousand.”
他有着大约五万的财富。

“Really? You wouldn’t guess it from his appearance. . . . —-
“真的吗？从他的外表看不出来……” —-

Well, dear boy, shouldn’t we have a break?”
那么，亲爱的朋友，我们休息一下如何？

“We will finish the case for the prosecution, and then. . . .”
“我们会结束原告的陈述，然后……”

“As you think best. . . . Well?” the president raised his eyes to the doctor. —-
“按照你的意见来吧……好了？”总统抬起眼睛看着医生。 —-

“So you consider that death was instantaneous?”
“那么你认为死亡是瞬间发生的？”

“Yes, in consequence of the extent of the injury to the brain substance. . . .”
“是的，由于大脑组织的受伤程度……”

When the doctor had finished, the president gazed into the space between the prosecutor and the counsel for the defence and suggested:
当医生讲完后，总统凝视着检察官和辩护律师之间的空间，提议道：

“Have you any questions to ask?”
“你有什么问题要问吗？”

The assistant prosecutor shook his head negatively, without lifting his eyes from “Cain”; —-
副检察官摇了摇头，没有从《该隐》上抬起眼睛。 —-

the counsel for the defence unexpectedly stirred and, clearing his throat, asked:
辩护律师意外地动了动，清了清嗓子，问道：

“Tell me, doctor, can you from the dimensions of the wound form any theory as to . . . —-
“告诉我，医生，你能根据伤口的大小判断出被告的精神状态吗…… —-

as to the mental condition of the criminal? —-
关于犯罪者的精神状况…… —-

That is, I mean, does the extent of the injury justify the supposition that the accused was suffering from temporary aberration?”
我的意思是，伤口的程度是否能证明被告有暂时的异常？”

The president raised his drowsy indifferent eyes to the counsel for the defence. —-
主席将昏昏欲睡的无所谓的目光投向了辩护律师。 —-

The assistant prosecutor tore himself from “Cain,” and looked at the president. —-
助检察官从《肯恩》中脱身，望向主席。 —-

They merely looked, but there was no smile, no surprise, no perplexity—their faces expressed nothing.
他们只是看了看，但没有微笑，没有惊讶，也没有困惑——他们的脸上毫无表情。

“Perhaps,” the doctor hesitated, “if one considers the force with which . . . er—er—er . —-
“也许，”医生犹豫着，“如果考虑到……嗯……嗯……犯罪者所用的力量……” —-

. . the criminal strikes the blow. . . . —-
“…犯罪者发动打击的力度……” —-

However, excuse me, I don’t quite understand your question. . . .”
不过，对不起，我不太理解你的问题……”

The counsel for the defence did not get an answer to his question, and indeed he did not feel the necessity of one. —-
辩护律师没有得到对他的问题的回答，事实上，他也没有感到需要回答。 —-

It was clear even to himself that that question had strayed into his mind and found utterance simply through the effect of the stillness, the boredom, the whirring ventilator wheels.
他自己都明白，那个问题是在他的脑海中走失了，仅仅是因为寂静、无聊和呼呼作响的通风机的影响而说出来的。

When they had got rid of the doctor the court rose to examine the “material evidences. —-
赶走医生后，法庭准备检查“实物证据”。 —-

” The first thing examined was the full-skirted coat, upon the sleeve of which there was a dark brownish stain of blood. —-
第一个检查的是大摆裙子的外套，袖子上有一块暗褐色的血迹。 —-

Harlamov on being questioned as to the origin of the stain stated:
在被问及血迹来源时，哈拉莫夫表示：

“Three days before my old woman’s death Penkov bled his horse. I was there; —-
“在我老太的死前三天，彭科夫给他的马放血。我在那里； —-

I was helping to be sure, and . . . and got smeared with it. . . .”
我帮忙确保，然后……然后弄脏了。……

“But Penkov has just given evidence that he does not remember that you were present at the bleeding. . . .”
“但是彭科夫刚刚作证说他不记得你在放血时在场……。”

“I can’t tell about that.”
“那我就不知道了。”

“Sit down.”
“坐下。”

They proceeded to examine the axe with which the old woman had been murdered.
他们开始检查老太被谋杀时使用的斧头。

“That’s not my axe,” the prisoner declared.
“那不是我的斧头，”囚犯宣称。

“Whose is it, then?”
“那是谁的？”

“I can’t tell . . . I hadn’t an axe. . . .”
“我也说不准……我没有斧头……”

“A peasant can’t get on for a day without an axe. —-
“一个农民一天都离不开斧头. —-

And your neighbour Ivan Timofeyitch, with whom you mended a sledge, has given evidence that it is your axe. . . .”
而你的邻居伊万·提莫菲耶维奇与你一起修好雪橇，已经作证说是你的斧头……”

“I can’t say about that, but I swear before God (Harlamov held out his hand before him and spread out the fingers), before the living God. And I don’t remember how long it is since I did have an axe of my own. —-
“那我没法说，但是我在上帝面前发誓（哈拉莫夫将手伸在面前并展开手指），在这位活着的上帝面前。而且我不记得我有自己的斧头有多久了。 —-

I did have one like that only a bit smaller, but my son Prohor lost it. —-
我确实有一个类似的，只是稍微小一点，但是我的儿子普罗霍尔弄丢了它。 —-

Two years before he went into the army, he drove off to fetch wood, got drinking with the fellows, and lost it. . . .”
他入伍前两年，他开车去取木头，与伙伴们喝了酒，结果丢了它……”

“Good, sit down.”
“好的，坐下。”

This systematic distrust and disinclination to hear him probably irritated and offended Harlamov. —-
这种系统性的不信任和不愿意倾听他，可能激怒并冒犯了哈拉莫夫。 —-

He blinked and red patches came out on his cheekbones.
他眨了眨眼，脸颊上红斑出现了。

“I swear in the sight of God,” he went on, craning his neck forward. —-
“我在上帝的眼前发誓。”他继续说，把脖子伸得很长。 —-

“If you don’t believe me, be pleased to ask my son Prohor. —-
“如果你不相信我，请问我的儿子普罗霍尔。” —-

Proshka, what did you do with the axe?” he suddenly asked in a rough voice, turning abruptly to the soldier escorting him. “Where is it?”
“普罗什卡，你把斧头放在哪里了？”他突然用粗声问道，突然转身对着押送他的士兵说。“它在哪里？”

It was a painful moment! Everyone seemed to wince and as it were shrink together. —-
这是一个痛苦的时刻！每个人似乎都畏缩了，仿佛在一起收缩。 —-

The same fearful, incredible thought flashed like lightning through every head in the court, the thought of possibly fatal coincidence, and not one person in the court dared to look at the soldier’s face. —-
同样可怕、难以置信的念头像闪电一样在法庭上的每个人的脑海中闪过，那就是可能的致命巧合的想法，没有一个法庭上的人敢看士兵的脸。 —-

Everyone refused to trust his thought and believed that he had heard wrong.
每个人都不愿相信自己的想法，相信自己听错了。

“Prisoner, conversation with the guards is forbidden . . .” the president made haste to say.
“犯人，与护卫的对话是禁止的……”庭长匆忙说道。

No one saw the escort’s face, and horror passed over the hall unseen as in a mask. —-
没人看到押送人的脸，恐怖无声地在大厅上方飘过，就像戴着面具一样。 —-

The usher of the court got up quietly from his place and tiptoeing with his hand held out to balance himself went out of the court. —-
法庭的引导员静静地从他的位置上站起来，脚尖踮起来，伸手平衡着，走出了法庭。 —-

Half a minute later there came the muffled sounds and footsteps that accompany the change of guard.
半分钟后，传来了伴随换班的低沉声音和脚步声。

All raised their heads and, trying to look as though nothing had happened, went on with their work. . . .
大家都抬起头来，装作什么都没发生，继续工作着. . . .