巴斯克威尔的猎犬 巴斯克维尔的诅咒（9）

 

"The facts of the case are simple. Sir Charles Baskerville was in the habit every night beforegoing to bed of walking down the famous yew² alley³ of Baskerville Hall. The evidence of theBarrymores shows that this had been his custom. On the fourth of May Sir Charles had declaredhis intention of starting next day for London, and had ordered Barrymore to prepare his luggage.

That night he went out as usual for his nocturnal walk, in the course of which he was in the habitof smoking a cigar. He never returned. At twelve o'clock Barrymore, finding the hall door stillopen, became alarmed, and, lighting⁴ a lantern, went in search of his master. The day had been wet,and Sir Charles's footmarks were easily traced down the alley. Halfway⁵ down this walk there is agate⁶ which leads out on to the moor⁷. There were indications that Sir Charles had stood for somelittle time here. He then proceeded down the alley, and it was at the far end of it that his body wasdiscovered. One fact which has not been explained is the statement of Barrymore that his master'sfootprints altered their character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and that he appearedfrom thence onward⁸ to have been walking upon his toes. One Murphy, a gipsy horse-dealer, wason the moor at no great distance at the time, but he appears by his own confession⁹ to have been theworse for drink. He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state from what direction theycame. No signs of violence were to be discovered upon Sir Charles's person, and though thedoctor's evidence pointed¹⁰ to an almost incredible facial distortion -- so great that Dr. Mortimerrefused at first to believe that it was indeed his friend and patient who lay before him -- it wasexplained that that is a symptom which is not unusual in cases of dyspnoea and death from cardiacexhaustion. This explanation was borne out by the post-mortem examination, which showedlong-standing organic disease, and the coroner's jury returned a verdict in accordance with themedical evidence. It is well that this is so, for it is obviously of the utmost importance that SirCharles's heir should settle at the Hall and continue the good work which has been so sadlyinterrupted. Had the prosaic¹¹ finding of the coroner not finally put an end to the romantic storieswhich have been whispered in connection with the affair, it might have been difficult to find atenant for Baskerville Hall. It is understood that the next of kin¹ is Mr. Henry Baskerville, if he bestill alive, the son of Sir Charles Baskerville's younger brother. The young man when last heard ofwas in America, and inquiries¹² are being instituted with a view to informing him of his goodfortune."

“案件实情甚为简单。 查尔兹· 巴斯克维尔有一种习惯， 每晚在就寝前， 须沿巴斯克维尔庄园出名之水松夹道散步。 白瑞摩夫妇的证词说明死者之习惯确是如此。 五月 四日， 查尔兹爵士曾声称他第二天想去伦敦， 并曾命白瑞摩为他准备行李。当晚他照常出去作晚间散步，他常吸着雪茄散步， 可是他再也没有回来。 在十二点钟的时候， 白瑞摩发现厅门还开着， 他吃了一惊， 于是就点了 灯笼， 出去寻找主人。 当时外面很潮湿， 所以沿着夹道下去很容易看到爵士的足迹， 小路的中间有个通向沼地的栅门。 种种迹象都说明查尔兹爵士曾站在门前，然后他就沿着夹道走了下去， 他的尸体就是在夹道的末端被发现的。 有一件尚未得到解释的事实就是： 白瑞摩说， 他主人的足迹在过了 通往沼地的栅门后就变了样， 好象是从那以后就换用足尖走路了。有一个叫作摩菲的吉卜赛马贩子， 当时正在沼地里距出事地点不远的地方，可是他自己承认当时酒醉得很厉害。 他说他曾听到过呼喊声， 但说不清是来自哪方。 在查尔兹爵士身上找不出遭受暴力袭击的痕迹， 可是医生的证明中曾指出面容变形到几乎难以相信的程度的、 躺在他面前的就是他的朋友和病人的尸体——据解释说， 这是一种在因呼吸困难和心脏衰竭而死的时候常有的现象。 这一解释已为尸体解剖所证明， 说明存在着由来已久的官能上的病症。 法院验尸官也缴呈了一份与医生证明相符的判断书。 如此结束究属妥善， 因查尔兹爵士之后代仍将在庄园居住， 并将继续不幸为之中断的善行， 因此， 显然此点具有极端重要性， 如验尸官平凡的发现不能最后扑灭那些邻里相传的有关此事的荒诞故事， 则欲为巴斯克维尔庄园找个住户就很困难了。 据了解， 如果说爵士还有活着的最近的亲属的话， 那就是他弟弟的儿子亨利·巴斯克维尔先生了。 以前曾听说这位年轻人在美洲。 现已进行调查，以便通知他来接受这笔为数庞大的财产。”

1 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

2 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

3 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

5 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

6 agate   

n.玛瑙

参考例句：

• He saw before him a flight of agate steps.他看到前面有一段玛瑙做的台阶。
• It is round,like the size of a small yellow agate.它是圆的，大小很像一个小的黄色的玛瑙。

7 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

8 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

9 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

12 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》