《巴斯克威尔猎犬》 45沼地上的一起死亡事件(3)

"I cannot answer that, "I said, "but there is something else I don't understand. Why was the hound¹ out on the moor² tonight? Stapleton would not let it go out unless he thought Sir Henry was there."

“我回答不上来，”我说道。“但是，还有一事我不大理解。为什么猎犬单单在今晚被放出来在沼地上活动呢？除非是斯台普顿觉得亨利爵士会到那里去，否则他是不会把它放出来的。”

"We may know the answer to that question very soon, "said Holmes. "Here comes Stapleton."

“我们可能很快就能知道问题的答案了，”福尔摩斯讲道。“斯台普顿来了。”

His sharp eyes had seen a figure moving in the darkness in front of us, and the man came closer, I could see that it was indeed Stapleton.

他那敏锐的眼睛已经看到了黑暗之中在我们的前面移动的一个轮廓，而且在这个人走近时，我可以看出正是斯台普顿。

"We must be very careful not to show that we suspect him, "Holmes warned me.

“我们必须谨慎行事，不要表现出怀疑他的样子，”福尔摩斯警告我说。

Stapleton stopped when he saw us, and then walked forward again. "Dr Watson, is that you? I didn't expect to see you on the moor at this time of night But, dear me, what's this? Somebody hurt? Not—don't tell me that it's our friend Sir Henry! "

斯台普顿看到我们时停下了脚步，然后又向前走了起来。“华生医生，是您吗？我没想到会在晚上的这个时候在沼地上看到您。可是，天哪，这是怎么回事？有人受伤了吗？不——不要告诉我这就是咱们的朋友亨利爵士！”

He went past me and bent³ over the dead man. I heard him breathe in quickly.

他由我们身旁走过，并在那个死人的身旁弯下腰来。我听到他的呼吸急促。

"Who...who is this? " he asked, his voice shaking.

“这是谁……谁呀？”他问道，声音颤抖着。

"It's Selden, the escaped prisoner."

“是塞尔登，那个逃犯。”

Stapleton quickly managed to hide the look of surprise and disappointment on his face as he turned towards us. He looked sharply⁴ from Holmes to me. "Dear me! How terrible! How did he die?"

斯台普顿向我们转过身来时迅速地、设法掩饰着惊慌和失望的表情。他两眼死盯着福尔摩斯，又转向我。“天哪！多么可怕啊！他是怎么死的？”

"We think he broke his neck by falling over the edge of these rocks, "I said.

“我们认为他从岩脊边上掉下来便摔断了脖子，”我说道。

"I heard a cry, and that is why I came out. I was worried about Sir Henry, "Stapleton said.

“我听到了一声叫喊，那便是我跑了出来的原因。我很替亨利爵士担心，”斯台普顿说道。

1 hound   

n.猎狗，卑鄙的人；vt.用猎狗追，追逐

参考例句：

• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。
• The police have promised to hound down those responsible for the explosion.警方已保证要追查此次爆炸事件有责任的人员。

2 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。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。