马斯格雷夫礼典04（在线收听）

“Reginald Musgrave had been in the same college as myself, and I had some  slight acquaintance with him. He was not generally popular among the  undergraduates, though it always seemed to me that what was set down as pride  was really an attempt to cover extreme natural diffidence. In appearance he was  a man of exceedingly aristocratic type, thin, high-nosed, and large-eyed, with  languid and yet courtly manners. He was indeed a scion of one of the very oldest  families in the kingdom, though his branch was a cadet one which had separated  from the northern Musgraves some time in the sixteenth century, and had  established itself in western Sussex, where the Manor House of Hurlstone is  perhaps the oldest inhabited building in the county. Something of his birth  place seemed to cling to the man, and I never looked at his pale, keen face or  the poise of his head without associating him with gray archways and mullioned  windows and all the venerable wreckage of a feudal keep. Once or twice we  drifted into talk, and I can remember that more than once he expressed a keen  interest in my methods of observation and inference.

“For four years I had seen nothing of him until one morning he walked into my  room in Montague Street. He had changed little, was dressed like a young man of  fashion—he was always a bit of a dandy—and preserved the same quiet, suave  manner which had formerly distinguished him.

“‘How has all gone with you Musgrave?’ I asked, after we had cordially shaken  hands.

“‘You probably heard of my poor father's death,’ said he; ‘he was carried  off about two years ago. Since then I have of course had the Hurlstone estates  to manage, and as I am member for my district as well, my life has been a busy  one. But I understand, Holmes, that you are turning to practical ends those  powers with which you used to amaze us?’

“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘I have taken to living by my wits.’

“‘I am delighted to hear it, for your advice at present would be exceedingly  valuable to me. We have had some very strange doings at Hurlstone, and the  police have been able to throw no light upon the matter. It is really the most  extraordinary and inexplicable business.’

“You can imagine with what eagerness I listened to him, Watson, for the very  chance for which I had been panting during all those months of inaction seemed  to have come within my reach. In my inmost heart I believed that I could succeed  where others failed, and now I had the opportunity to test myself.

“‘Pray, let me have the details,’ I cried.

“雷金纳德-马斯格雷夫和我在同一个学校学一习一，我和他有一面之一交一。因为他看上 去很骄傲，所以在大学生中是不怎么受欢迎的。但我总觉得他的骄傲，实际上是力图掩盖他 那天生的羞怯的表现。他有一副极为典型的贵族子弟的相貌，瘦身形，高鼻子，大眼睛，慢 条斯理，一温一文尔雅。事实上他确是大英帝国一家最古老贵族的后裔。可是在十六世纪时 ，他们这一支（次子的后裔）就从北方的马斯格雷夫家族中分出来，定居在苏塞克斯西部， 而赫尔斯通庄园或许是这一地区至今还有人居住的最古老的建筑了。他出生地苏塞克斯一带 的事物看来对他影响很大，我每次看到他那苍白而机灵的面孔或他那头部的姿态，就不免联 想起那些灰色的拱道、直棂的窗户以及封建古堡的一切遗迹。有一两次我们不知不觉地攀谈 起来，我还记得他不止一次说他对我的观察和推理方法感兴趣。

“我们有四年没有见面了，一天早晨他到蒙塔格街来找我。他变化不大，穿戴得象一个上流 社会的年轻人（他一爱一讲究穿戴），依然保持他从前那种与众不同的安静文雅的风度。

“‘你一向很好吗？马斯格雷夫，’我们热情地握手以后，我问道。

“‘你大概听说过我可怜的父亲去世了，’马斯格雷夫说道，“他是两年前故去的。从那时 起我当然要管理赫尔斯通庄园了。因为我是我们这一区的议员，所以忙得不可开一交一。可 是，福尔摩斯，我听说你正在把你那令人惊奇的本领用到实际生活中？’

“‘是的，’我说道，‘我已经靠这点小聪明谋生了！’“‘听你这么说我很高兴，因为眼 下你的指教对我非常宝贵。我在赫尔斯通碰到许多怪事，警察未能查出任何头绪。这确实是 一件最不寻常的难以言喻的案件。’

“你可以想象我听他讲时是多么急不可耐了，华生，因为几个月来我无所事事，我一直渴望 的机会看来终于来到了。在我内心深处，我相信别人遭到失败的事情，我能成功，现在我有 机会试一试身手了。

“‘请把详情见告，’我大声说道。