The Hound of the Baskervilles

巴斯克維爾的獵犬

   My dear Robinson,

   It was to your account of a West-Country legend that this tale owes its inception. For this and for your help in the details all thanks.

   Yours most truly,
A. CONAN DOYLE.

   Chapter 1

   第一章

   Mr. Sherlock Holmes

   歇洛克·福爾摩斯先生

   Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer." Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.," was engraved upon it, with the date "1884." It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified, solid, and reassuring.

   歇洛克·福爾摩斯先生坐在桌旁早餐,他除了時常徹夜不眠之外,早晨總是起得很晚的。我站在壁爐前的小地毯上,拿起了昨晚那位客人遺忘的手杖。這是一根很精緻而又沉重的手杖,頂端有個疙疸;這種木料産於檳榔嶼,名叫檳榔子木。緊挨頂端的下面是一圈很寬的銀箍,寬度約有一英吋。上刻“送給皇家外科醫學院學士傑姆士·摩梯末,C.C.H.的朋友們贈”,還刻有“一八八四年”。這不過是一根舊式的私人醫生所常用的那種既莊重、堅固而又實用的手杖。

   "Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"

   “啊,華生,你對它的看法怎麼樣?”

   Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.

   福爾摩斯正背對著我坐在那裡,我原以為我擺弄手杖的事並沒有叫他發覺呢。

   "How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head."

   “你怎麼知道我在幹什麼呢?我想你的後腦勺兒上一定長了眼睛了吧。”

   "I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me," said he. "But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it."

   “至少我的眼前放著一把擦得很亮的鍍銀咖啡壺。”他說,“可是,華生,告訴我,你對咱們這位客人的手杖怎樣看呢? 遺憾的是咱們沒有遇到他,對他此來的目的也一無所知,因此,這件意外的紀念品就變得更重要了。在你把它仔細地察看過以後,把這個人給我形容一番吧。”

   "I think," said I, following as far as I could the methods of my companion, "that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man, well-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their appreciation."

   “我想,”我儘量沿用着我這位夥伴的推理方法說,“從認識他的人們送給他這件用來表示敬意的紀念品來看,摩梯末醫生是一位功成名就、年歲較大的醫學界人士,並且很受人尊敬。”

   "Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!"

   “好哇!”福爾摩斯說:“好極了!”

   "I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot."

   “我還認為,他很可能是一位在鄉村行醫的醫生,出診時多半是步行的。”

   "Why so?"

   “為什麼呢?”

   "Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it. The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it."

   “因為這根手杖原來雖很漂亮,可是,已經磕碰得很厲害了,很難想象一位在城裡行醫的醫生還肯拿着它。下端所裝的厚鐵包頭已經磨損得很厲害了,因此,顯然他曾用它走過很多的路。”

   "Perfectly sound!" said Holmes.

   “完全正確!”福爾摩斯說。

   "And then again, there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.' I should guess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small presentation in return."

   “還有,那上面刻着‘C.C.H.的朋友們’,據我猜想,所指的大概是個獵人會[因為獵人(Hunter)一詞的頭一個字母是H,所以華生推想C.C.H.可能是個什麼獵人會組織名稱的縮寫字。——譯者注];他可能曾經給當地的這個獵人會的會員們作過一些外科治療,因此,他們才送了他這件小禮物表示酬謝。”

   "Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt."

   “華生,你真是大有長進了,”福爾摩斯一面說著,一面把椅子向後推了推,並點了支紙煙,“我不能不說,在你熱心地為我那些微小的成就所作的一切記載裡面,你已經習慣于低估自己的能力了。也許你本身並不能發光,但是,你是光的傳導者。有些人本身沒有天才,可是有着可觀的激發天才的力量。我承認,親愛的夥伴,我真是太感激你了。”

   He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods. I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval. He now took the stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked eyes. Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette, and carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a convex lens.

   他以前從來沒有講過這麼多的話,不可否認,他的話給了我極大的快樂。因為過去他對於我對他的欽佩和企圖將他的推理方法公諸于眾所作的努力,常是報以漠然視之的態度,這樣很傷我的自尊心。而現在我居然也能掌握了他的方法,並且實際應用起來,還得到了他的讚許,想起這點我就感到很驕傲。現在他從我手中把手杖拿了過去,用眼睛審視了幾分鐘,然後帶著一副很感興趣的神情放下了紙煙,把手杖拿到窗前又用放大鏡仔細察看起來。

   "Interesting, though elementary," said he as he returned to his favourite corner of the settee. "There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for several deductions."

   “雖很簡單,但還有趣,”他說著就重新在他所最喜歡的那只長椅的一端坐下了,“手杖上確實有一兩處能夠說明問題。它給我們的推論提供了根據。”

   "Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?"

   “我還漏掉了什麼東西嗎?”我有些自負地問道,“我相信我沒有把重大的地方忽略掉。”

   "I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a country practitioner. And he walks a good deal."

   “親愛的華生,恐怕你的結論大部分都是錯誤的呢!坦白地說吧,當我說你激發了我的時候,我的意思是說:在我指出你謬誤之處的同時,往往就把我引向了真理。但並不是說這一次你完全錯誤了。那個人肯定是一位在鄉村行醫的醫生,而且他確是常常步行的。”

   "Then I was right."

   “那麼說,我的猜測就是對的了。”

   "To that extent."

   “也只是到這個程度而已。”

   "But that was all."

   “但是,那就是全部事實了。”

   "No, no, my dear Watson, not all--by no means all. I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a hospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials 'C.C.' are placed before that hospital the words 'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest themselves."

   “不,不,親愛的華生,並非全部——決不是全部。譬如說,我倒願意提出,送給這位醫生的這件禮物,與其說是來自獵人會,倒不如說是來自一家醫院;由於兩個字頭‘C.C.’是放在‘醫院’一詞(在英文中,醫院一詞的字頭也是H)之前的。因此,很自然的使人想起了CharingCross這兩個字來。”

   "You may be right."

   “也許是你對了。”

   "The probability lies in that direction. And if we take this as a working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our construction of this unknown visitor."

   “很可能是這樣的。如果咱們拿這一點當作有效的假設的話,那我們就又有了一個新的根據了。由這個根據出發,就能對這位未知的來客進行描繪了。”

   "Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.' does stand for 'Charing Cross Hospital,' what further inferences may we draw?"

   “好吧!假設‘C.C.H.’所指的就是查林十字醫院,那麼我們究竟能得出什麼進一步的結論呢?”

   "Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Apply them!"

   “難道就沒有一點能夠說明問題的地方了嗎?既然懂得了我的方法,那麼就應用吧!”

   "I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has practised in town before going to the country."

   “我只能想出一個明顯的結論來,那個人在下鄉之前曾在城裡行過醫。”

   "I think that we might venture a little farther than this. Look at it in this light. On what occasion would it be most probable that such a presentation would be made? When would his friends unite to give him a pledge of their good will? Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start in practice for himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe there has been a change from a town hospital to a country practice. Is it, then, stretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the occasion of the change?"

   “我想咱們可以大膽地比這更前進一步,從這樣的角度來看,最可能是在什麼樣的情況下,才會發生這樣的贈禮的行動呢?在什麼時候,他的朋友們才會聯合起來向他表示他們的好意呢?顯然是在摩梯末為了自行開業而離開醫院的時候。 我們知道有過一次贈禮的事;我們相信他曾從一家城市醫院轉到鄉村去行醫。那麼咱們下結論,說這禮物是在這個轉換的當兒送的不算過分吧。”

   "It certainly seems probable."

   “看來當然是可能的。”

   "Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of the hospital, since only a man well-established in a London practice could hold such a position, and such a one would not drift into the country. What was he, then? If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff he could only have been a house-surgeon or a house-physician--little more than a senior student. And he left five years ago--the date is on the stick. So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty, amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite dog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and smaller than a mastiff."

   “現在,你可以看得出來,他不會是主要醫師,因為只有當一個人在倫敦行醫已有了相當名望的時候,才能據有這樣的地位,而這樣的一個人就不會遷往鄉村去了。那麼,他究竟是個做什麼的呢?如果說他是在醫院裡工作而又不算在主要醫師之列,那麼他就只可能是個住院外科醫生或者是住院內科醫生——地位稍稍高於醫學院最高年級的學生;而他是在五年以前離開的——日期是刻在手杖上的,因此你的那位嚴肅的、中年的醫生就化為烏有了。親愛的華生,可是這裡出現了一位青年人,不到三十歲,和藹可親、安於現狀、馬馬虎虎,他還有一隻心愛的狗,我可以大略地把它形容成比狸犬大,比獒犬小。”

   I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and blew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.

   我不相信地笑了起來。歇洛克·福爾摩斯向後靠在長椅上,向天花板上吐着飄蕩不定的小煙圈。

   "As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you," said I, "but at least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the man's age and professional career." From my small medical shelf I took down the Medical Directory and turned up the name. There were several Mortimers, but only one who could be our visitor. I read his record aloud.

   “至于後一部份,我無法檢查你是否正確,”我說,“但是要想找出幾個有關他的年齡和履歷的特點來,至少是不怎麼困難的。”我從我那小小的放醫學書籍的書架上拿下一本醫藥手冊來,翻到人名欄的地方。裡面有好幾個姓摩梯末的,但只有一個可能是我們的來客。我高聲地讀出了這段記載:

   "Mortimer, James, M.R.C.S., 1882, Grimpen, Dartmoor, Devon. House-surgeon, from 1882 to 1884, at Charing Cross Hospital. Winner of the Jackson prize for Comparative Pathology, with essay entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?' Corresponding member of the Swedish Pathological Society. Author of 'Some Freaks of Atavism' (Lancet 1882). 'Do We Progress?' (Journal of Psychology, March, 1883). Medical Officer for the parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow."

   “傑姆士·摩梯末,一八八二年畢業于皇家外科醫學院,德文郡達特沼地格林盆人。一八八二至一八八四年在查林十字醫院任住院外科醫生。因著文《疾病是否隔代遺傳》而獲得傑克遜比較病理學獎金。瑞典病理學協會通訊會員。曾著有《幾種隔代遺傳的畸形症》(載于一八八二年的《柳葉刀》),[《柳葉刀》(原文為Lance)是英國的一種醫學雜誌,至今仍繼續出版。——譯者注]《我們在前進嗎?》(載于一八八三年三月份的《心理學報》)。曾任格林盆、索斯利和高塚村等教區的醫務官。”

   "No mention of that local hunt, Watson," said Holmes with a mischievous smile, "but a country doctor, as you very astutely observed. I think that I am fairly justified in my inferences. As to the adjectives, I said, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded. It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who receives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London career for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his stick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room."

   “並沒有提到那個本地的獵人會啊,華生!”福爾摩斯帶著嘲弄的微笑說,“正象你所說的觀察結果一樣,他不過是個鄉村醫生;我覺得我的推論是很正確的了。至于那些形容詞,如果我記得不錯的話,我說過‘和藹可親、安於現狀和馬馬虎虎’。根據我的經驗,在這個世界裡只有待人親切的人才會收到紀念品;只有不貪功名的人才會放棄倫敦的生涯而跑到鄉村去;只有馬馬虎虎的人才會在你的屋裡等了一小時以後不留下自己的名片,反而留下自己的手杖。”

   "And the dog?"

   “那狗呢?”

   "Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind his master. Being a heavy stick the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of his teeth are very plainly visible. The dog's jaw, as shown in the space between these marks, is too broad in my opinion for a terrier and not broad enough for a mastiff. It may have been--yes, by Jove, it is a curly-haired spaniel."

   “經常是叼着這根手杖跟在它主人的後面。由於這根木杖很重,狗不得不緊緊地叼着它的中央,因此,它的牙印就能看得很清楚了。從這些牙印間的空隙看來,我以為這只狗的下巴要比狸犬下巴寬,而比獒犬下巴窄。它可能是……對了,它一定是一隻捲毛的長耳獚犬。”

   He had risen and paced the room as he spoke. Now he halted in the recess of the window. There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I glanced up in surprise.

   他站了起來,一面說著一面在屋裡來回地走着。他在向樓外突出的窗檯前站住了。他的語調裡充滿了自信,引得我抬起頭來,以驚奇的眼光望着他。

   "My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?"

   “親愛的夥伴,對這一點,你怎麼能這樣地肯定呢?”

   "For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on our very door-step, and there is the ring of its owner. Don't move, I beg you, Watson. He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be of assistance to me. Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man of science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime? Come in!"

   “原因很簡單,我現在已經看到那只狗正在咱們大門口的台階上,而且它主人按鈴的聲音也傳了上來。不要動,我懇求你,華生。他是你的同行兄弟,你在場對我也許會有幫助。 華生,現在真是命運之中最富戲劇性的時刻了,你聽得到樓梯上的腳步聲了吧,他正在走進你的生活;可是,你竟不知道是禍是福。這位醫學界的人物,傑姆士·摩梯末醫生要向犯罪問題專家歇洛克·福爾摩斯請教些什麼呢?請進!”

   The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected a typical country practitioner. He was a very tall, thin man, with a long nose like a beak, which jutted out between two keen, gray eyes, set closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly fashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed. Though young, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward thrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence. As he entered his eyes fell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran towards it with an exclamation of joy. "I am so very glad," said he. "I was not sure whether I had left it here or in the Shipping Office. I would not lose that stick for the world."

   這位客人的外表,對我來說真是值得驚奇的事,因為我先前預料的是一位典型的鄉村醫生,而他卻是一個又高又瘦的人,長長的鼻子象只鳥嘴,突出在一雙敏鋭而呈灰色的眼睛之間,兩眼相距很近,在一副金邊眼鏡的後面炯炯發光。他穿的是他這一行人常愛穿的衣服,可是相當落拓,因為他的外衣已經臟了,褲子也已磨損。雖然還年輕,可是長長的後背已經彎曲了,他在走路的時候頭向前探着,並具有貴族般的慈祥風度。他一進來,眼光馬上就落在福爾摩斯拿着的手杖上了,他歡呼一聲就向他跑了過去。“我太高興了!”他說道,“我不能肯定究竟是把它忘在這裡了呢?還是忘在輪船公司裡了。我寧可失去整個世界,也不願失去這根手杖。”

   "A presentation, I see," said Holmes.

   “我想它是件禮物吧。”福爾摩斯說。

   "Yes, sir."

   “是的,先生。”

   "From Charing Cross Hospital?"

   “是查林十字醫院送的嗎?”

   "From one or two friends there on the occasion of my marriage."

   “是那裡的兩個朋友在我結婚時送的。”

   "Dear, dear, that's bad!" said Holmes, shaking his head.

   “唉呀!天哪,真糟糕!”福爾摩斯搖着頭說。

   Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment.

   摩梯末醫生透過眼鏡稍顯驚異地眨了眨眼。

   "Why was it bad?"

   “為什麼糟糕?”

   "Only that you have disarranged our little deductions. Your marriage, you say?"

   “因為您已經打亂了我們的幾個小小的推論。您說是在結婚的時候,是嗎?”

   "Yes, sir. I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of a consulting practice. It was necessary to make a home of my own."

   “是的,先生,我一結婚就離開了醫院,也放棄了成為顧問醫生[顧問醫生為醫生中之地位最高者。顧問醫生停止一般醫療工作而專門協助診斷治療一般醫生難以診治之疑難病症。——譯者注]的全部希望。可是,為了能建立起自己的家庭來,這樣做是完全必要的。”

   "Come, come, we are not so far wrong, after all," said Holmes. "And now, Dr. James Mortimer ------"

   “啊哈!我們總算還沒有弄錯。”福爾摩斯說道,“嗯,傑姆士·摩梯末博士……”

   "Mister, sir, Mister--a humble M.R.C.S."

   “您稱我先生好了,我是個卑微的皇家外科醫學院的學生。”

   "And a man of precise mind, evidently."

   “而且顯而易見,還是個思想精密的人。”

   "A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells on the shores of the great unknown ocean. I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes whom I am addressing and not ------"

   “一個對科學略知一二的人,福爾摩斯先生;一個在廣大的未知的海洋岸邊揀貝殼的人。我想我是在對歇洛克·福爾摩斯先生講話,而不是……”

   "No, this is my friend Dr. Watson."

   “不,這是我的朋友華生醫生。”

   "Glad to meet you, sir. I have heard your name mentioned in connection with that of your friend. You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development. Would you have any objection to my running my finger along your parietal fissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull."

   “很高興能見到您,先生。我曾聽到人家把您和您朋友的名字相提並論。您使我很感興趣,福爾摩斯先生。我真想不到會看見這樣長長的頭顱或是這種深深陷入的眼窩。您不反對我用手指沿著您的頭頂骨縫摸一摸吧,先生?在沒有得到您這具頭骨的實物以前,如果按照您的頭骨做成模型,對任何人類學博物館說來都會是一件出色的標本。我並不想招人討厭,可是我承認,我真是羡慕您的頭骨。”

   Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair. "You are an enthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I am in mine," said he. "I observe from your forefinger that you make your own cigarettes. Have no hesitation in lighting one."

   歇洛克·福爾摩斯用手勢請我們的陌生客人在椅子上坐下。“先生,我看得出來,您和我一樣,是個很熱心于思考本行問題的人,如同我對我的本行一樣。”他說道,“我從您的食指上能看出來您是自己捲煙抽的;不必猶豫了,請點一支吧。”

   The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other with surprising dexterity. He had long, quivering fingers as agile and restless as the antennae of an insect.

   那人拿出了捲煙紙和煙草,在手中以驚人的熟練手法捲成了一支。他那長長的手指抖動着,好象昆蟲的觸鬚一樣。

   Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed me the interest which he took in our curious companion.

   福爾摩斯很平靜,可是他那迅速地轉來轉去的眼珠使我看出,他已對我們這位怪異的客人發生了興趣。

   "I presume, sir," said he at last, "that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull that you have done me the honour to call here last night and again to-day?"

   “我認為,先生,”他終於說起話來了,“您昨晚賞光來訪,今天又來,恐怕不僅僅是為了研究我的頭顱吧?”

   "No, sir, no; though I am happy to have had the opportunity of doing that as well. I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am myself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a most serious and extraordinary problem. Recognizing, as I do, that you are the second highest expert in Europe ------"

   “不,先生,不是的,雖然我也很高興有機會這樣做。我所以來找您,福爾摩斯先生,是因為我知道我自己是個缺乏實際經驗的人,而且我忽然遇到了一件最為嚴重而又極為特殊的問題。由於我確知您是歐洲第二位最高明的專家……”

   "Indeed, sir! May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?" asked Holmes with some asperity.

   “喝,先生!請問,榮幸地站在第一位的是誰呢?”福爾摩斯有些刻薄地問道。

   "To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon must always appeal strongly."

   “對於一個具有精確的科學頭腦的人來說,貝蒂榮先生辦案的手法總是具有很強的吸引力的。”

   "Then had you not better consult him?"

   “那麼您去找他商討不是更好嗎?”

   "I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind. But as a practical man of affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone. I trust, sir, that I have not inadvertently ------"

   “先生,我是說,就具有精確的科學頭腦的人說來。可是,就對事物的實際經驗說來,眾所共知的,您是獨一無二的了。東西 我相信,先生,我並沒有在無意之中……”

   "Just a little," said Holmes. "I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do wisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the exact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance."

   “不過稍微有一點罷了,”福爾摩斯說道,“我想,摩梯末醫生,最好請您立刻把要求我協助的問題明白地告訴我吧。”

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