So far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded during these early days to Sherlock Holmes. Now, however, I have arrived at a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method and to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which I kept at the time. A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to those scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory. I proceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the convict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.
我一直都在引用以前寄給歇洛克·福爾摩斯的報告。可是敘述到這裡，我又不得不放棄這種方法，再度依靠我的回憶，借助於我當時的日記了。隨便幾段日記就能使我想起那些詳盡無遺的、深印在我記憶之中的情景。好吧，我就從我們在沼地裡徒勞無功地追捕了一陣逃犯和經歷了那次奇遇的那個早晨談起吧。
OCTOBER 16TH.--A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain. The house is banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the dreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the hills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon their wet faces. It is melancholy outside and in. The baronet is in a black reaction after the excitements of the night. I am conscious myself of a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present danger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.
十月十六日——今天是個陰晦多霧、細雨蒙蒙的日子。房子被滾滾而來的濃霧重重包圍起來，可是濃霧也不時上升，露出荒漠起伏的沼地來，山坡上有纖細的如同縷縷銀絲似的水流，遠處突出的岩石的濕漉漉的表面，被天光照得閃閃爍爍，由表及裡都沉浸在陰鬱的氣氛之中。昨夜的驚恐在準男爵的身上產生了惡劣的影響；我感到心情沉重，有一種危險迫在眉睫的感覺——而且是一種始終存在的危險，由於我形容不出來，所以也就顯得特別可怕。東西
And have I not cause for such a feeling? Consider the long sequence of incidents which have all pointed to some sinister influence which is at work around us. There is the death of the last occupant of the Hall, fulfilling so exactly the conditions of the family legend, and there are the repeated reports from peasants of the appearance of a strange creature upon the moor. Twice I have with my own ears heard the sound which resembled the distant baying of a hound. It is incredible, impossible, that it should really be outside the ordinary laws of nature. A spectral hound which leaves material footmarks and fills the air with its howling is surely not to be thought of. Stapleton may fall in with such a superstition, and Mortimer also; but if I have one quality upon earth it is common-sense, and nothing will persuade me to believe in such a thing. To do so would be to descend to the level of these poor peasants, who are not content with a mere fiend dog but must needs describe him with hell-fire shooting from his mouth and eyes. Holmes would not listen to such fancies, and I am his agent. But facts are facts, and I have twice heard this crying upon the moor. Suppose that there were really some huge hound loose upon it; that would go far to explain everything. But where could such a hound lie concealed, where did it get its food, where did it come from, how was it that no one saw it by day? It must be confessed that the natural explanation offers almost as many difficulties as the other. And always, apart from the hound, there is the fact of the human agency in London, the man in the cab, and the letter which warned Sir Henry against the moor. This at least was real, but it might have been the work of a protecting friend as easily as of an enemy. Where is that friend or enemy now? Has he remained in London, or has he followed us down here? Could he--could he be the stranger whom I saw upon the tor?
難道我這種感覺是毫無來由的嗎？只要考慮一下連續發生的這一長串意外的事件就會明白，這些都說明在我們的周圍正進行着一件有計劃的罪惡活動。這莊園的前一個主人的死，分毫不爽地應驗了這家族中的傳說的內容，還有農民們一再聲稱的在沼地裡出現的怪獸。我曾兩次親耳聽到了很象是一隻獵狗在遠處嗥叫的聲音，這竟會是真正超乎自然的事？ 簡直是既不可信也不可能。一隻魔犬，可是又留下了爪印，又能嗥叫衝天，這實在是不可想象的事。斯台普吞可能會信這套鬼話，摩梯末也可能；可是如果我還能算是稍具常識的話，無論如何我也不能相信這樣的事。如果我自己對此也信以為真的話，那就無異於甘心把自己降低到這些可憐的莊稼人的水平。他們把那狗說成妖魔鬼怪還不夠，甚至還把它形容成口、眼都向外噴着地獄之火。福爾摩斯決不會聽信這些異想天開的說法，而我則是他的代理人。我就兩次在沼地裡聽到過這種叫聲。可是事實終歸是事實啊，假如真的有什麼大獵狗跑到沼地上來的話，那就一切都好解釋了。可是這樣一隻獵狗能藏到什麼地方去呢？它到哪裡去找吃的呢？它是從哪裡來的呢？白天為什麼沒有人看到它呢？不可否認，不管是合乎自然法則的解釋或是不合乎自然法則的解釋，現在都同樣地難於說得通。暫且先放下這只獵狗不提，那麼在倫敦發現的那個“人”總是事實啊！馬車裡的那個人，還有警告亨利爵士不要到沼地來的那封信，這至少是真的吧。這可能是個要保護他的朋友干的事，但也同樣可能是個敵人干的事。那個朋友或敵人現在究竟在哪裡呢？他是仍舊在倫敦呢，還是已經跟蹤我們到了這裡呢？他會不會……會不會就是我所看到的在岩崗上站着的那個陌生人呢？
It is true that I have had only the one glance at him, and yet there are some things to which I am ready to swear. He is no one whom I have seen down here, and I have now met all the neighbours. The figure was far taller than that of Stapleton, far thinner than that of Frankland. Barrymore it might possibly have been, but we had left him behind us, and I am certain that he could not have followed us. A stranger then is still dogging us, just as a stranger dogged us in London. We have never shaken him off. If I could lay my hands upon that man, then at last we might find ourselves at the end of all our difficulties. To this one purpose I must now devote all my energies.
確實是我只看到了他一眼，可是有幾點我是可以肯定的。 他絶不是我在這裡所見到過的人，而我現在和所有的鄰居都見過面了。那身形遠比斯台普吞高得多，也遠比弗蘭克蘭為瘦。說不定可能是白瑞摩，可是我們已把他留在家裡了，而且我可以肯定，他是不會跟蹤我們的。這樣說，一定還有一個人在尾隨着我們，正如同有一個陌生人在倫敦尾隨我們一樣，我們一直也未能把他甩掉。如果我們能抓住那個人的話，那麼，我們的一切困難就都迎刃而解了。為了達到這一目的，我現在非得全力以赴不可。
My first impulse was to tell Sir Henry all my plans. My second and wisest one is to play my own game and speak as little as possible to anyone. He is silent and distrait. His nerves have been strangely shaken by that sound upon the moor. I will say nothing to add to his anxieties, but I will take my own steps to attain my own end.
我的第一種想法是打算把我的整個計劃都告訴亨利爵士；第二種想法，我認為也是最聰明的想法，那就是自己幹自己的，儘量不和任何人談起。他顯得沉默而茫然，那沼地的聲音已使他的神經受到了不可思議的震驚，我不願再以任何事情來加深他的焦慮，為了達到自己的既定目的，我就必須採取單獨的行動了。
We had a small scene this morning after breakfast. Barrymore asked leave to speak with Sir Henry, and they were closeted in his study some little time. Sitting in the billiard-room I more than once heard the sound of voices raised, and I had a pretty good idea what the point was which was under discussion. After a time the baronet opened his door and called for me.
今天早飯之後，我們又出了一件小事。白瑞摩要求和亨利爵士單獨談話，他倆在爵士的書房裡關起門來待了一會。我坐在彈子房裡不止一次聽到談話的聲音變得高了起來，我很明了所談的是什麼問題。過了一會兒，準男爵就打開房門叫我進去了。
"Barrymore considers that he has a grievance," he said. "He thinks that it was unfair on our part to hunt his brother-in-law down when he, of his own free will, had told us the secret."
“白瑞摩認為他有一點不滿之處，”他說道，“他認為在他自願地把秘密告訴我們之後，我們就去追捕他內弟的這種做法是不公平的。”
The butler was standing very pale but very collected before us.
管事的站在我們的面前，面色很蒼白，可是很鎮定。
"I may have spoken too warmly, sir," said he, "and if I have, I am sure that I beg your pardon. At the same time, I was very much surprised when I heard you two gentlemen come back this morning and learned that you had been chasing Selden. The poor fellow has enough to fight against without my putting more upon his track."
“也許我說話太過火了一些，爵爺，”他說道，“如果是這樣的話，我就求您寬恕。但是，在今晨我聽見你們兩位回來並得知你們是去追捕塞爾丹的時候，確實感到非常吃驚。這個可憐的傢伙，不用我再給他添什麼麻煩就已經夠他苦鬥一陣的了。”
"If you had told us of your own free will it would have been a different thing," said the baronet, "you only told us, or rather your wife only told us, when it was forced from you and you could not help yourself."
“如果你真是自願地告訴了我們的話，也許事情就不會這樣了，”準男爵說道，“但實際情況卻是當你，或者還不如說是當你太太被迫不得不說的時候才告訴我們的。”
"I didn't think you would have taken advantage of it, Sir Henry--indeed I didn't."
“我真沒有想到您竟會利用了這一點，亨利爵士……我真沒想到。”
"The man is a public danger. There are lonely houses scattered over the moor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing. You only want to get a glimpse of his face to see that. Look at Mr. Stapleton's house, for example, with no one but himself to defend it. There's no safety for anyone until he is under lock and key."
“這個人對社會說來是個危險。在沼地裡到處都是孤立無援的人家，而他又是個無法無天的人，只要看他一眼，你就能明白這一點了。比如說，你就看斯台普吞先生的家吧，就只有他一個人保護家。除非塞爾丹重新被關進監獄，否則誰也不會感到安全。”
"He'll break into no house, sir. I give you my solemn word upon that. But he will never trouble anyone in this country again. I assure you, Sir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have been made and he will be on his way to South America. For God's sake, sir, I beg of you not to let the police know that he is still on the moor. They have given up the chase there, and he can lie quiet until the ship is ready for him. You can't tell on him without getting my wife and me into trouble. I beg you, sir, to say nothing to the police."
“他絶不會闖進任何人家的，爵爺，這一點我可以向您保證。反正他在這裡再不會騷擾任何人了，我向您保證，亨利爵士，過不了幾天就可做好必要的安排，他就要去南美了。看在上帝的面上，爵爺，我懇求您不要讓警察知道他還在沼地裡。在那裡他們已經放棄了對他的追捕了，他可以一直安靜地藏到準備好船隻的時候為止。您若告發了他，就一定要使我和我的妻子遭到麻煩。我懇求您，爵爺，什麼也不要和警察說。”
"What do you say, Watson?"
“你看怎麼樣，華生？”
I shrugged my shoulders. "If he were safely out of the country it would relieve the tax-payer of a burden."
我聳了聳肩。“如果他能安全地離開這個國家，那就能給納稅人減去一樁負擔呢。”
"But how about the chance of his holding someone up before he goes?"
“可是他會不會在臨走以前搞誰一傢伙呢？”
"He would not do anything so mad, sir. We have provided him with all that he can want. To commit a crime would be to show where he was hiding."
“他不會這樣發瘋的，爵爺，他所需要的一切東西我們都給他準備齊全了。他若再犯一次罪就會暴露他的藏身之所了。”
"That is true," said Sir Henry. "Well, Barrymore --"
“這倒是實話，”亨利爵士說道，“好吧，白瑞摩……”
"God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart! It would have killed my poor wife had he been taken again."
“上帝祝福您，爵爺，我從心眼裡感激您！如果他再度被捕的話，我那可憐的妻子一定要活不成了。”
"I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson? But, after what we have heard I don't feel as if I could give the man up, so there is an end of it. All right, Barrymore, you can go."
“我想咱們這是在慫恿助成一件重大的罪行吧，華生？可是在聽了他剛纔說的那些話以後，我覺得好象已經不能再檢舉那人似的，算了吧！好吧，白瑞摩，你可以走了。”
With a few broken words of gratitude the man turned, but he hesitated and then came back.
那人一邊斷斷續續地說了些感謝的話，一邊轉過身去，可是他猶豫一下之後又迴轉身來。
"You've been so kind to us, sir, that I should like to do the best I can for you in return. I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should have said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it out. I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man. It's about poor Sir Charles's death."
“您對我們太好了，爵爺，我願盡我所能地來報答您。我知道一件事，亨利爵士，也許我早就該說出來了，可是這還是在驗屍之後很久我才發現的。關於這件事我還沒有向任何人提過，這是一件和查爾茲爵士的死有關的事。”
The baronet and I were both upon our feet. "Do you know how he died?"
準男爵和我兩個人都站了起來。“你知道他是怎麼死的嗎？”
"No, sir, I don't know that."
“不，爵爺，這個我可不知道。”
"What then?"
“那麼，你知道什麼呢？”
"I know why he was at the gate at that hour. It was to meet a woman."
“我知道當時他為什麼站在那門旁，那是為了要和一個女人會面。”
"To meet a woman! He?"
“去和一個女人會面！他？！”
"Yes, sir."
“是的，爵爺。”
"And the woman's name?"
“那個女人叫什麼？”
"I can't give you the name, sir, but I can give you the initials. Her initials were L. L."
“她的姓名我沒法告訴您，爵爺，可是，我可以告訴您那姓名的字頭。她那姓名的字頭是Ｌ．Ｌ．”
"How do you know this, Barrymore?"
“這你是怎麼知道的，白瑞摩？”
"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning. He had usually a great many letters, for he was a public man and well known for his kind heart, so that everyone who was in trouble was glad to turn to him. But that morning, as it chanced, there was only this one letter, so I took the more notice of it. It was from Coombe Tracey, and it was addressed in a woman's hand."
“啊，亨利爵士，您伯父在那天早晨收到了一封信。他經常收到很多信件，因為他是個聞名的人物，而且還以心地善良著稱，因此，無論是誰，在發生困難的時候，都喜歡求助於他。可是那天早晨，碰巧只有那一封信，所以引起了我特別的注意。那信是從庫姆·特雷西地方寄來的，而且是女人的筆跡。”
"Well?"
“嗯？”
"Well, sir, I thought no more of the matter, and never would have done had it not been for my wife. Only a few weeks ago she was cleaning out Sir Charles's study--it had never been touched since his death--and she found the ashes of a burned letter in the back of the grate. The greater part of it was charred to pieces, but one little slip, the end of a page, hung together, and the writing could still be read, though it was gray on a black ground. It seemed to us to be a postscript at the end of the letter, and it said: 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn this letter, and be at the gate by ten o clock. Beneath it were signed the initials L. L."
“啊，爵爺，要不是因為我太太的關係，我決不會想起這件事來的，也許我永遠也想不起來了呢。剛剛幾個禮拜以前，在她清理查爾茲爵士的書房的時候——從他死以後還一碰也沒碰過呢——在爐格後面發現了一封燒過的信紙的灰燼。信已大部燒焦，碎成小片，只有信末的一小條還算完整，字跡在黑地上顯得灰白，還可以看得出來。看來很象是信末的附筆，寫的是：‘您是一位君子，請您千萬將此信燒掉，並在十點鐘的時候到柵門那裡去。’下面就是用Ｌ．Ｌ．這兩個字頭簽的名。”*
"Have you got that slip?"
“那張字條還在你那兒嗎？”
"No, sir, it crumbled all to bits after we moved it."
“沒有了，爵爺，我們一動，它就粉碎了。”
"Had Sir Charles received any other letters in the same writing?"
“查爾茲爵士還收到過同樣筆跡的信件嗎？”
"Well, sir, I took no particular notice of his letters. I should not have noticed this one, only it happened to come alone."
“噢，爵爺，我並沒有特別注意他的信件。只是因為這封信是單獨寄來的，所以我才注意到了它。”
"And you have no idea who L. L. is?"
“你也弄不清Ｌ．Ｌ．是誰嗎？”
"No, sir. No more than you have. But I expect if we could lay our hands upon that lady we should know more about Sir Charles's death."
“弄不清，爵爺，我比您知道得並不多。可是我想，如果咱們能夠找到那位女士的話，那麼關於查爾茲爵士的死，咱們就會多知道些情況了。”
"I cannot understand, Barrymore, how you came to conceal this important information."
“我真莫名其妙，白瑞摩，這樣重要的情況你怎麼竟會秘而不宣？”
"Well, sir, it was immediately after that our own trouble came to us. And then again, sir, we were both of us very fond of Sir Charles, as we well might be considering all that he has done for us. To rake this up couldn't help our poor master, and it's well to go carefully when there's a lady in the case. Even the best of us ----"
“噢，爵爺，那正是我們自己的煩惱剛剛到來之後。還有就是，爵爺，我們兩人都很敬愛查爾茲爵士，我們不能不考慮到他對我們的厚意。我們認為把這件事兜出來對我們那位可憐的主人並沒有什麼好處，再加以這問題還牽連到一位女士，當然就更該小心從事了。即使是在我們當中最好的人……”
"You thought it might injure his reputation?"
“你以為這一點會有傷他的名譽嗎？”
"Well, sir, I thought no good could come of it. But now you have been kind to us, and I feel as if it would be treating you unfairly not to tell you all that I know about the matter."
“嗯，爵爺，我想這總不會有什麼好結果的。可是您現在對我們這樣好，使我覺得，如果我不把這件事的全部情況都告訴您，那我就太對不起您了。”
"Very good, Barrymore; you can go." When the butler had left us Sir Henry turned to me. "Well, Watson, what do you think of this new light?"
“好極了，白瑞摩，你可以走了。”當管事的走了以後，亨利爵士轉身向我說道，“喂，華生，您對這新發現怎麼看法？”
"It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before."
“好象又是一個難解的問題，弄得比以前更加使人莫名其妙了。”
"So I think. But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole business. We have gained that much. We know that there is someone who has the facts if we can only find her. What do you think we should do?"
“我也是這樣想呢，可是隻要咱們能夠查明Ｌ．Ｌ．這個人，可能就會把整個問題都搞清楚了。咱們能得到的線索就是這麼多了，咱們已經知道，有人瞭解事情的真相，只要能找到她就好了。您認為咱們應當從何着手呢？”
"Let Holmes know all about it at once. It will give him the clue for which he has been seeking. I am much mistaken if it does not bring him down."
“馬上將全部經過告訴福爾摩斯，這樣就能把他一直在尋找的線索供給他了。如果這樣還不能把他吸引到這裡來，那才真是怪事呢。”
I went at once to my room and drew up my report of the morning's conversation for Holmes. It was evident to me that he had been very busy of late, for the notes which I had from Baker Street were few and short, with no comments upon the information which I had supplied and hardly any reference to my mission. No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing all his faculties. And yet this new factor must surely arrest his attention and renew his interest. I wish that he were here.
我馬上回到自己的屋裡去，給福爾摩斯寫了關於今早那次談話的報告。我很清楚，他最近很忙，因為從貝克街寄來的信很少。寫得也短，對於我所供給他的消息也沒有提出什麼意見，而且更難得提到關於我的任務。無疑的是他的精神已全部貫注在那封匿名恐嚇信的案件上面了。可是，事情的這種新的進展，定會引起他的注意並能恢復他對這個案子的興趣的。他現在若是在這裡有多好啊。
OCTOBER 17TH.--All day to-day the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy and dripping from the eaves. I thought of the convict out upon the bleak, cold, shelterless moor. Poor devil! Whatever his crimes, he has suffered something to atone for them. And then I thought of that other one--the face in the cab, the figure against the moon. Was he also out in that deluged--the unseen watcher, the man of darkness? In the evening I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling about my ears. God help those who wander into the great mire now, for even the firm uplands are becoming a morass. I found the black tor upon which I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggy summit I looked out myself across the melancholy downs. Rain squalls drifted across their russet face, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung low over the landscape, trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the fantastic hills. In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by the mist, the two thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose above the trees. They were the only signs of human life which I could see, save only those prehistoric huts which lay thickly upon the slopes of the hills. Nowhere was there any trace of that lonely man whom I had seen on the same spot two nights before.
十月十七日——今天大雨終日，澆得常春藤唰唰作響，房檐水滴瀝瀝。我想起了那個身處荒涼、寒冷而又無遮無蓋的沼地裡的逃犯。可憐的人啊！不管他犯的是什麼罪，他現在所吃的苦頭，也總算贖了他的罪了。我又想起了另一個人—— 馬車裡的那個面孔，月亮前面的那個人影，那個隱蔽的監視者和不可解的人——難道他也暴身于傾盆大雨之中嗎？傍晚時分，我穿上了雨衣雨鞋，在濕軟的沼地裡走出去很遠，心裡充滿着可怕的想象，雨打在我的臉上，風在我的耳旁呼哨。
但求上帝援助那些流落在大泥潭裡的人吧，因為連堅硬的高地都變成了泥淖了。我終於找到了那黑色的岩崗，就是在這岩崗上，我看到過那個孤獨的監視人，我從它那嵯峨的絶頂，一眼望到遠近一無樹木的陰慘的高地。暴風夾雜着大雨，刷過赤褐色的地面，濃重的青石板似的雲層，低低地懸浮在大地之上，又有綹綹的灰色殘雲，拖在奇形怪狀的山邊。在左側遠處的山溝裡，巴斯克維爾莊園的兩座細長的塔樓，隔着霧氣，半隱半現地矗立在樹林高處。除了那些密佈在山坡上的史前期的小房之外，這要算是我所能見到的唯一的人類生活的跡象了。哪裡也看不到兩晚之前我在同一地點所見到過的那個孤獨的人的蹤影。
As I walked back I was overtaken by Dr. Mortimer driving in his dog-cart over a rough moorland track which led from the outlying farmhouse of Foulmire. He has been very attentive to us, and hardly a day has passed that he has not called at the Hall to see how we were getting on. He insisted upon my climbing into his dog-cart, and he gave me a lift homeward. I found him much troubled over the disappearance of his little spaniel. It had wandered on to the moor and had never come back. I gave him such consolation as I might, but I thought of the pony on the Grimpen Mire, and I do not fancy that he will see his little dog again.
當我走回去的時候，摩梯末醫生趕了上來，他駕着他那輛雙輪馬車，走在一條通向邊遠的弗歐麥爾農舍的坎坷不平的沼地小路上。他一向非常關心我們，几乎沒有一天他不到莊園來看看我們過得好不好。他一定要我上他的馬車，所以我就搭他的車回家了。我知道他近來由於那只小長耳獚犬的失蹤而非常煩惱；那小狗自從有一次亂跑跑到沼地裡去以後，一直沒有回來。我儘可能地安慰了他，可是我一想起了格林盆泥潭裡的小馬，也就不再幻想他會再見到他的小狗了。
"By the way, Mortimer," said I as we jolted along the rough road, "I suppose there are few people living within driving distance of this whom you do not know?"
“我說，摩梯末，”當我們在崎嶇不平的路上顛簸搖晃着的時候我說，“我想在這裡凡是乘馬車能到達的住家，您很少有不認識的人吧。”
"Hardly any, I think."
“我想，簡直沒有。”
"Can you, then, tell me the name of any woman whose initials are L. L.?"
“那麼，您能不能告訴我，哪些女人的姓名的字頭是Ｌ．Ｌ．呢？”
He thought for a few minutes.
他想了幾分鐘。
"No," said he. "There are a few gipsies and labouring folk for whom I can't answer, but among the farmers or gentry there is no one whose initials are those. Wait a bit though," he added after a pause. "There is Laura Lyons--her initials are L. L.--but she lives in Coombe Tracey."
“不能，”他說道，“有幾個吉卜賽人和作苦工的我就不知道，而在農民或是鄉紳之中沒有一個人的姓名的字頭是這樣的。哦，等一等，”他停了一下之後又說，“有一個勞拉·萊昂絲——她那姓名的字頭是Ｌ．Ｌ．——可是她住在庫姆·特雷西。”
"Who is she?" I asked.
“她是誰啊？”我問道。
"She is Frankland's daughter."
“她是弗蘭克蘭的女兒。”
"What! Old Frankland the crank?"
“什麼！就是那個老神經弗蘭克蘭嗎？”
"Exactly. She married an artist named Lyons, who came sketching on the moor. He proved to be a blackguard and deserted her. The fault from what I hear may not have been entirely on one side. Her father refused to have anything to do with her because she had married without his consent, and perhaps for one or two other reasons as well. So, between the old sinner and the young one the girl has had a pretty bad time."
“正是，她和一個到沼地來畫素描的姓萊昂絲的畫家結了婚。可是，他竟是個下流的壞蛋，他遺棄了她。根據我所聽到的情況判斷，過錯可能並不完全在於一方。任何有關她的事，她父親決定一律不管，因為她沒有得到父親的同意就結了婚，也許還有其他原因。由於這放蕩的老傢伙和女兒之間的不和，弄得這女子陷入了窘迫的境地。”
"How does she live?"
“那她怎麼生活呢？”
"I fancy old Frankland allows her a pittance, but it cannot be more, for his own affairs are considerably involved. Whatever she may have deserved one could not allow her to go hopelessly to the bad. Her story got about, and several of the people here did something to enable her to earn an honest living. Stapleton did for one, and Sir Charles for another. I gave a trifle myself. It was to set her up in a typewriting business."
“我想老弗蘭克蘭會給她一些資助的，可是不可能多，因為他自己的那些亂事已經把他拖累得相當夠受了。不管她是如何的罪有應得，總不能讓她不可救藥地趨于墮落啊。她的事傳出去以後，此地有些人就設法幫助她，使她能過正當的生活。斯台普吞和查爾茲都幫了忙，我也給過一點錢，為的是讓她作起打字的營業來。”
He wanted to know the object of my inquiries, but I managed to satisfy his curiosity without telling him too much, for there is no reason why we should take anyone into our confidence. To-morrow morning I shall find my way to Coombe Tracey, and if I can see this Mrs. Laura Lyons, of equivocal reputation, a long step will have been made towards clearing one incident in this chain of mysteries. I am certainly developing the wisdom of the serpent, for when Mortimer pressed his questions to an inconvenient extent I asked him casually to what type Frankland's skull belonged, and so heard nothing but craniology for the rest of our drive. I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing.
他想知道我問這些問題的目的何在，可是我沒法滿足他的好奇心，並沒有告訴他許多，因為我沒有理由對隨便任何人都給以信任。明早我要到庫姆·特雷西去。如果我能見到那位名聲曖昧的勞拉·萊昂絲太太的話，就會把為弄清這一連串神秘莫測的事情所做的調查工作大大地向前推進一步了。我一定發展到象蛇一樣地聰明了，因為當摩梯末追問到很不便回答的時候，我就隨便地問了問他弗蘭克蘭的顱骨屬於哪一種類型。這樣一來，一直到抵達目的地為止，除了頭骨學之外就什麼也聽不到了。我總算沒有白和歇洛克·福爾摩斯相處了這麼多年。
I have only one other incident to record upon this tempestuous and melancholy day. This was my conversation with Barrymore just now, which gives me one more strong card which I can play in due time.
在這狂風暴雨的陰慘的天氣裡，只有一件值得記載的事。 那就是我剛纔和白瑞摩的談話，他又給了我一張能在適當的時候亮出來用的有力的好牌。
Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and the baronet played ecarté afterwards. The butler brought me my coffee into the library, and I took the chance to ask him a few questions.
摩梯末留下來吃了晚飯，飯後他和準男爵兩人玩起牌來。 管事的到書房來給我送咖啡，我乘機問了他幾個問題。
"Well," said I, "has this precious relation of yours departed, or is he still lurking out yonder?"
“啊，”我說道，“你那好親戚已經走了呢？還是仍然隱藏在那裡？”
"I don't know, sir. I hope to heaven that he has gone, for he has brought nothing but trouble here! I've not heard of him since I left out food for him last, and that was three days ago."
“我不知道，先生。但願他已經走了，因為他在這裡只能給人添麻煩。從我最後一次給他送了食物之後，再沒有聽到過關於他的情況，那已是三天以前的事了。”
"Did you see him then?"
“那一次你看到他了嗎？”
"No, sir, but the food was gone when next I went that way."
“沒有，先生，可是當我再到那裡去的時候，食物已經不見了。”
"Then he was certainly there?"
“那麼說，他一定還在那裡呢？”
"So you would think, sir, unless it was the other man who took it."
“先生，除非是被另外那個人拿去，否則您一定會認為他還在那兒呢。”
I sat with my coffee-cup halfway to my lips and stared at Barrymore.
我坐在那裡，咖啡還沒有送到嘴邊就又盯住他問道：
"You know that there is another man then?"
“那麼說，你是知道還有另外一個人羅？”
"Yes, sir; there is another man upon the moor."
“是的，先生，在沼地裡還有另外一個人。”
"Have you seen him?"
“你見到他了嗎？”
"No, sir."
“沒有，先生。”
"How do you know of him then?"
“那你怎麼知道的呢？”
"Selden told me of him, sir, a week ago or more. He's in hiding, too, but he's not a convict as far as I can make out. I don't like it, Dr. Watson--I tell you straight, sir, that I don't like it." He spoke with a sudden passion of earnestness.
“是塞爾丹告訴我的，先生，在一星期以前或是更早一些的時候。他也在藏着呢，可是據我估計他並不是逃犯。這些事我真傷腦筋，華生醫生——我和您坦白地說吧，先生，這些事真讓我傷腦筋。”他突然帶著真摯熱切的情感說道。
"Now, listen to me, Barrymore! I have no interest in this matter but that of your master. I have come here with no object except to help him. Tell me, frankly, what it is that you don't like."
“現在，你聽我說，白瑞摩！我只是為了你的主人，否則對於這樣的事我是毫無興趣的。我到這裡來除了幫助他之外，沒有其他目的。坦白地告訴我吧，究竟是什麼使你這樣傷腦筋呢？”
Barrymore hesitated for a moment, as if he regretted his outburst, or found it difficult to express his own feelings in words.
白瑞摩猶豫了一會兒，似乎是後悔不該衝口說出或是感覺難以用言語表達自己的感情。
"It's all these goings-on, sir," he cried at last, waving his hand towards the rain-lashed window which faced the moor. "There's foul play somewhere, and there's black villainy brewing, to that I'll swear! Very glad I should be, sir, to see Sir Henry on his way back to London again!"
“就是這些不断發生的事，先生，”他終於對著被雨水沖刷着的向沼地而開的窗戶揮舞着手喊了起來，“我敢肯定那裡在進行着暗殺的勾當，正在醞釀著一個可怕的陰謀！先生，我真希望亨利爵士能回到倫敦去呢。”
"But what is it that alarms you?"
“可是，使你這樣驚恐不安的有什麼事實根據呢？”
"Look at Sir Charles's death! That was bad enough, for all that the coroner said. Look at the noises on the moor at night. There's not a man would cross it after sundown if he was paid for it. Look at this stranger hiding out yonder, and watching and waiting! What's he waiting for? What does it mean? It means no good to anyone of the name of Baskerville, and very glad I shall be to be quit of it all on the day that Sir Henry's new servants are ready to take over the Hall."
“您看查爾茲爵士的死！就拿驗屍官所說的那些話來說，就已經夠糟糕的了。您再看夜間沼地裡的怪聲，日落之後，就是您給多少錢也沒有人肯從沼地裡走過去。還有藏在那裡的那個人，他在那裡窺伺等待着！他等待什麼呢？用意又是什麼呢？所有這些，對巴斯克維爾家的任何人說來，都絶不是什麼好兆。到亨利爵士的新僕人們來接管莊園的那一天，我是會很樂於離開這一切的。”
"But about this stranger," said I. "Can you tell me anything about him? What did Selden say? Did he find out where he hid, or what he was doing?"
“可是關於沼地裡的這個陌生人，”我說道，“你能告訴我些什麼嗎？塞爾丹說過什麼？他找到了他的藏身之所或是發現了他正在幹什麼嗎？”
"He saw him once or twice, but he is a deep one, and gives nothing away. At first he thought that he was the police, but soon he found that he had some lay of his own. A kind of gentleman he was, as far as he could see, but what he was doing he could not make out."
“塞爾丹看到過他一兩次，可是他是個很陰險的傢伙，什麼情況也不肯暴露。起初他想那人是個警察，可是不久他發現了那人自己另有計劃。據他看來，那人象是個上流人物，可是他弄不清楚他究竟在幹些什麼。”
"And where did he say that he lived?"
“他說過那人住在什麼地方嗎？”
"Among the old houses on the hillside--the stone huts where the old folk used to live."
“在山坡上古老的房子裡——就是那古代人住過的小石頭房子。”
"But how about his food?"
“可是他吃飯怎麼辦呢？”
"Selden found out that he has got a lad who works for him and brings him all he needs. I dare say he goes to Coombe Tracey for what he wants."
“塞爾丹發現有一個為他服務的小孩，給他送他所需要的東西。我敢說，那小孩是到庫姆·特雷西去弄他需要的東西的。”
"Very good, Barrymore. We may talk further of this some other time." When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked through a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline of the wind-swept trees. It is a wild night indoors, and what must it be in a stone hut upon the moor. What passion of hatred can it be which leads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time! And what deep and earnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial! There, in that hut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which has vexed me so sorely. I swear that another day shall not have passed before I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the mystery.
“好極了，白瑞摩。這個問題咱們改日再深談吧。”管事的走了以後，我透過模糊的窗玻璃，望着外面奔馳的雲朵，和那被大風橫掃的樹頂聯成的高低不一的輪廓綫。這樣的夜晚在室內就已夠險惡的了，在沼地的一棟石屋裡是什麼味道就更不用說了。多麼強烈的恨才能使一個人在這種時候潛藏在那樣的地方！究竟是什麼樣的深遠和急不可待的目的才使得他如此不辭辛勞！看來使我困擾萬分的問題的中心就在沼地的那所房子裡。我發誓要在明天盡一切可能探明那神秘的核心。