The Hound of the Baskervilles

巴斯克維爾的獵犬

   Chapter 6

   第六章

   Baskerville Hall

   巴斯克維爾莊園

   Sir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed day, and we started as arranged for Devonshire. Mr. Sherlock Holmes drove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions and advice.

   在約定的那一天,亨利·巴斯克維爾爵士和摩梯末醫生都準備好了。我們就按照預先安排的那樣出發到德文郡去。歇洛克·福爾摩斯和我一道坐車到車站去,並對我作了些臨別的指示和建議。

   "I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions, Watson," said he; "I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest possible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing."

   “我不願提出各種說法和懷疑來影響你,華生,”他說,“我只希望你將各種事實儘可能詳盡地報告給我,至于歸納整理的工作,就讓我來干吧。”

   "What sort of facts?" I asked.

   “哪些事實呢?”我問道。

   "Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the case, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his neighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles. I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results have, I fear, been negative. One thing only appears to be certain, and that is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly gentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does not arise from him. I really think that we may eliminate him entirely from our calculations. There remain the people who will actually surround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor."

   “看來與這案件有關的任何事實,無論是多麼的間接,特別是年輕的巴斯克維爾和他的鄰居們的關係,或是與查爾茲爵士的暴卒有關的任何新的問題。前些天,我曾親自進行過一些調查,可是我恐怕這些調查結果都是無補於事的。只有一件看來是肯定的,就是下一繼承人傑姆士·戴斯門先生是一位年事較長的紳士,性格非常善良,因此這樣的迫害行為不會是他幹出來的。我真覺得在咱們考慮問題的時候可以完全將他拋開,剩下的實際上也就只有在沼地裡環繞在亨利·巴斯克維爾周圍的人們了。”

   "Would it not be well in the first place to get rid of this Barrymore couple?"

   “首先辭掉白瑞摩這對夫婦不好嗎?”

   "By no means. You could not make a greater mistake. If they are innocent it would be a cruel injustice, and if they are guilty we should be giving up all chance of bringing it home to them. No, no, we will preserve them upon our list of suspects. Then there is a groom at the Hall, if I remember right. There are two moorland farmers. There is our friend Dr. Mortimer, whom I believe to be entirely honest, and there is his wife, of whom we know nothing. There is this naturalist, Stapleton, and there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions. There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor, and there are one or two other neighbours. These are the folk who must be your very special study."

   “千萬別這樣做,否則你就要犯絶大的錯誤了。如果他們是無辜的話,這樣就太不公正了;如果他們是有罪的話,這樣一來,反而不能加他們以應得之罪了。不,不,不能這樣,咱們得把他們列入嫌疑分子名單。如果我沒有記錯的話,還有一個馬夫,還有兩個沼地的農民。還有咱們的朋友摩梯末醫生,我相信他是完全誠實的,但是,關於他的太太,咱們是一無所知的。生物學家斯台普吞,還有他的妹妹,據說她是位動人的年輕女郎呢。有賴福特莊園的弗蘭克蘭先生,他是個情況未明的人物。還有其他一兩個鄰居。這些都是你必須加以特別研究的人物。”

   "I will do my best."

   “我將儘力而為。”

   "You have arms, I suppose?"

   “我想你帶著武器吧?”

   "Yes, I thought it as well to take them."

   “帶了,我也想還是帶去的好。”

   "Most certainly. Keep your revolver near you night and day, and never relax your precautions."

   “當然,你那支左輪槍,日日夜夜都應帶在身邊,不能有一時一刻的粗心大意。”

   Our friends had already secured a first-class carriage and were waiting for us upon the platform.

   我們的朋友們已經訂下了頭等車廂的座位,正在月台上等着我們呢。

   "No, we have no news of any kind," said Dr. Mortimer in answer to my friend's questions. "I can swear to one thing, and that is that we have not been shadowed during the last two days. We have never gone out without keeping a sharp watch, and no one could have escaped our notice."

   “沒有,我們什麼消息都沒有,”摩梯末在回答我朋友的問題時說,“可是有一件事,我敢擔保,前兩天我們沒有被人盯梢。在我們出去的時候,沒有一次不是留意觀察的,誰也不可能逃出我們的眼去的。”

   "You have always kept together, I presume?"

   “我想你們總是在一起的吧?”

   "Except yesterday afternoon. I usually give up one day to pure amusement when I come to town, so I spent it at the Museum of the College of Surgeons."

   “除了昨天下午以外。我每次進城來,總是要有一整天的時間是完全花在消遣上面的,因此我將昨天整個下午的時間都消磨在外科醫學院的陳列館裡了。”

   "And I went to look at the folk in the park," said Baskerville. "But we had no trouble of any kind."

   “我到公園去看熱閙去了,”巴斯克維爾說,“可是我們並沒有發生任何麻煩。”

   "It was imprudent, all the same," said Holmes, shaking his head and looking very grave. "I beg, Sir Henry, that you will not go about alone. Some great misfortune will befall you if you do. Did you get your other boot?"

   “不管怎麼樣,還是太疏忽大意了,”福爾摩斯說,一面樣子很嚴肅地搖着頭,“亨利爵士,我請求您不要單獨走來走去,否則您就要大禍臨頭了。您找到了另一隻高筒皮鞋了嗎?”

   "No, sir, it is gone forever."

   “沒有,先生,再也找不着了。”

   "Indeed. That is very interesting. Well, good-bye," he added as the train began to glide down the platform. "Bear in mind, Sir Henry, one of the phrases in that queer old legend which Dr. Mortimer has read to us, and avoid the moor in those hours of darkness when the powers of evil are exalted."

   “確實,真是很有趣味的事。好吧,再見,”當火車沿著月台徐徐開動起來的時候,他說,“亨利爵士,要記住摩梯末醫生給我們讀的那個怪異而古老的傳說中的一句話——不要在黑夜降臨、罪惡勢力囂張的時候走過沼地。”

   I looked back at the platform when we had left it far behind, and saw the tall, austere figure of Holmes standing motionless and gazing after us.

   當我們已遠離月台的時候,我回頭望去,看到福爾摩斯高高的、嚴肅的身影依然站在那裡一動不動地注視着我們。

   The journey was a swift and pleasant one, and I spent it in making the more intimate acquaintance of my two companions and in playing with Dr. Mortimer's spaniel. In a very few hours the brown earth had become ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in well-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation spoke of a richer, if a damper, climate. Young Baskerville stared eagerly out of the window, and cried aloud with delight as he recognized the familiar features of the Devon scenery.

   這真是一趟既迅速而又愉快的旅行,在這段時間裡,我和我的兩位同伴搞得較前更加親密了,有時還和摩梯末醫生的長耳獚犬嬉戲。車行幾小時以後,棕色的大地慢慢變成了紅色,磚房換成了石頭建築物,棗紅色的牛群在用樹籬圍得好好的地裡吃着草,青蔥的草地和極其茂密的菜園說明,這裡的氣候濕潤而易於獲得豐收。年輕的巴斯克維爾熱切地向窗外眺望着,他一認出了德文郡熟悉的風景,就高興得叫了起來。

   "I've been over a good part of the world since I left it, Dr. Watson," said he; "but I have never seen a place to compare with it."

   “自從離開這裡以後,我曾到過世界上很多地方,華生醫生,”他說道,“可是,我從來沒有見過一個地方能和這裡相比。”

   "I never saw a Devonshire man who did not swear by his county," I remarked.

   “我還從沒有見到過一個不讚美故鄉的德文郡人呢。”我說道。

   "It depends upon the breed of men quite as much as on the county," said Dr. Mortimer. "A glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of the Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm and power of attachment. Poor Sir Charles's head was of a very rare type, half Gaelic, half Ivernian in its characteristics. But you were very young when you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?"

   “不光是本郡的地理條件,就是本地的人也是不凡呢。”摩梯末醫生說道,“試看我們這位朋友,他那圓圓的頭顱就是屬於凱爾特型的,裡面充滿着凱爾特人的強烈的感情。可憐的查爾茲爵士的頭顱則屬於一種非常稀有的典型,他的特點是一半象蓋爾人,一半象愛弗人。以前看到巴斯克維爾莊園的時候,您還很年輕呢,是不是?”

   "I was a boy in my 'teens at the time of my father's death, and had never seen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast. Thence I went straight to a friend in America. I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I'm as keen as possible to see the moor."

   “我父親死的時候,我還是個十幾歲的孩子,那時他住在南面海邊的一所小房子裡,所以我從來還沒有看到過這所莊園。我父親死後,我就直接到美洲的一個朋友那兒去了。我跟您說,對於這莊園,我和華生醫生是同樣地感到新鮮的,我是非常渴望要看一看沼地的。”

   "Are you? Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first sight of the moor," said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage window.

   “是嗎?那樣的話,您的願望很容易就能實現了,因為您就要看到沼地了。”摩梯末醫生一面說著一面向車窗外邊指着。

   Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in a dream. Baskerville sat for a long time, his eyes fixed upon it, and I read upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of that strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long and left their mark so deep. There he sat, with his tweed suit and his American accent, in the corner of a prosaic railway-carriage, and yet as I looked at his dark and expressive face I felt more than ever how true a descendant he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery, and masterful men. There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick brows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes. If on that forbidding moor a difficult and dangerous quest should lie before us, this was at least a comrade for whom one might venture to take a risk with the certainty that he would bravely share it.

   在那被切割成無數綠色方格的田野和頂端連成低矮的曲綫的樹林那面,遠遠地升起了一座灰暗蒼鬱的小山,山頂上有形狀奇特、參差不齊的缺口,遠遠望去晦暗朦朧,宛如夢幻中的景色一般。巴斯克維爾靜坐了好久,兩眼盯住那裡。我從他那熱切的面部表情裡看得出來,這地方對他關係多麼重大啊,第一次看到那怪異的、被同族人掌管了那麼久的、處處都能引起人們對他們深深回憶的地方。他穿著蘇格蘭呢的服裝,說話時帶著美洲口音,坐在一節普普通通的火車車廂的角落裡,可是每當我看到他那黝黑而富於表情的面孔的時候,我就愈加感覺到他真真是那支高貴、熱情的家族的後裔,而且具有一家之主的風度。在他那濃濃的眉毛、神經質的鼻孔和慄色的大眼睛裡顯示着自尊、豪邁和力量。如果在那恐怖的沼地裡,果真出現了什麼困難和危險的事,他至少是個確實可靠的、會勇敢地擔當起責任來的同志。

   The train pulled up at a small wayside station and we all descended. Outside, beyond the low, white fence, a wagonette with a pair of cobs was waiting. Our coming was evidently a great event, for station-master and porters clustered round us to carry out our luggage. It was a sweet, simple country spot, but I was surprised to observe that by the gate there stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms, who leaned upon their short rifles and glanced keenly at us as we passed. The coachman, a hard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted Sir Henry Baskerville, and in a few minutes we were flying swiftly down the broad, white road. Rolling pasture lands curved upward on either side of us, and old gabled houses peeped out from amid the thick green foliage, but behind the peaceful and sunlit country-side there rose ever, dark against the evening sky, the long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by the jagged and sinister hills.

   火車在路旁的一個小站上停了下來,我們都下了車。在矮矮的白色欄杆外面,有一輛兩匹短腿小馬拉著的四輪馬車在那裡等着。我們的到來顯然是件大事,站長和腳伕都向我們圍了上來,帶著我們搬行李。這裡本是一個恬靜、可愛而又樸實的地方,但是,在出口的地方,有兩個穿著黑制服的、象軍人似的人站在那裡,卻不由得使我感到詫異。他們的身體倚在不長的來複槍上,兩眼直勾勾地瞧著我們走過去。馬車伕是個身材矮小的傢伙,相貌冷酷而又粗野,他向亨利·巴斯克維爾行了個禮。幾分鐘之後,我們就沿著寬闊的灰白色的大道飛馳而去了。起伏不平的牧草地,在大道的兩側向上隆起,穿過濃密綠蔭的隙縫,可以看到一些牆頭和屋頂都被修成人字形的古老的房屋,寧靜的、陽光普照的村子後面出現了綿延不斷的被傍晚的天空襯托出來的陰暗的沼地,中間還羅列着幾座參差不齊的、險惡的小山。

   The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward through deep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy with dripping moss and fleshy hart's-tongue ferns. Bronzing bracken and mottled bramble gleamed in the light of the sinking sun. Still steadily rising, we passed over a narrow granite bridge, and skirted a noisy stream which gushed swiftly down, foaming and roaring amid the gray boulders. Both road and stream wound up through a valley dense with scrub oak and fir. At every turn Baskerville gave an exclamation of delight, looking eagerly about him and asking countless questions. To his eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon the country-side, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year. Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we passed. The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.

   四輪馬車又轉入了旁邊的一條岔路,我們穿過了被車輪在幾世紀的時間裡軋成的、深深陷入地面的小巷似的溝道,曲折上行,道路兩側都是長滿着濕漉漉的苔蘚和一種枝葉肥厚的羊齒植物的石壁。古銅色的蕨類和色彩斑駁的黑莓在落日的餘輝之中閃閃發光。我們一直在往上走着,過了一座花崗石的窄橋,就沿著一條奔騰叫囂的急流向前走去了。水流洶湧奔騰,泡沫噴濺,在灰色的亂石之間怒吼而過。道路在密生着矮小的橡樹和樅樹的峽谷之中,沿著曲折迂迴的小河蜿蜒溯流而上。在每一轉折處,巴斯克維爾都要高興得歡呼起來,他急切地向四周環顧着,一面向我們問着無數的問題。在他看來,什麼都是美麗的,可是我總覺得這一帶鄉間有一些淒涼的味道和明顯的深秋的景象。小路上鋪滿了枯黃的樹葉,在我們經過的時候,又有些樹葉翩翩飛舞地由頭頂上飄落下來。當我們的馬車從枯葉上走過時,轔轔的輪聲靜了下來—— 這些東西在我看來都是造物主撒在重返家園的巴斯克維爾家族後裔車前的不祥的禮物。

   "Halloa!" cried Dr. Mortimer, "what is this?"

   “啊!”摩梯末醫生叫了起來。“那是什麼?”

   A steep curve of heath-clad land, an outlying spur of the moor, lay in front of us. On the summit, hard and clear like an equestrian statue upon its pedestal, was a mounted soldier, dark and stern, his rifle poised ready over his forearm. He was watching the road along which we travelled.

   前面出現了滿復着石南一類常青灌木的陡斜的坡地,這是突出在沼地邊緣的一處地方。在那最高的地方,有一個騎在馬上的士兵,清清楚楚的,就象是裝在碑座上的騎士雕像似的,黝黑而嚴峻,馬槍作預備放射的姿勢搭在伸向前方的左臂上。他在監視着我們所走的這條道路。

   "What is this, Perkins?" asked Dr. Mortimer.

   “那是幹什麼的啊,波金斯?”摩梯末醫生問道。

   Our driver half turned in his seat.

   車伕在座位上扭轉身來說道:

   "There's a convict escaped from Princetown, sir. He's been out three days now, and the warders watch every road and every station, but they've had no sight of him yet. The farmers about here don't like it, sir, and that's a fact."

   “王子鎮逃走了一個犯人,先生,到現在為止,他已經逃出來三天了,獄卒們正監視着每一條道路和每個車站,可是至今還沒有找到他的蹤跡呢。附近的農戶們很感不安,老爺,這倒是真的。”

   "Well, I understand that they get five pounds if they can give information."

   “啊,我知道,如果誰能去通風報信的話,就能拿到五鎊的賞金呢。”

   "Yes, sir, but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared to the chance of having your throat cut. You see, it isn't like any ordinary convict. This is a man that would stick at nothing."

   “是啊,老爺,可是如果和可能會被人割斷喉管相比起來,這種可能拿到的五鎊錢,就顯得太可憐了。您要知道,這可不是個普普通通的罪犯啊。他是個肆無忌憚的人。”

   "Who is he, then?"

   “那麼,他究竟是誰呀?”

   "It is Selden, the Notting Hill murderer."

   “他叫塞爾丹,就是那個在瑙亭山殺人的兇手。”

   I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an interest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the wanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin. The commutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his complete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct. Our wagonette had topped a rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled with gnarled and craggy cairns and tors. A cold wind swept down from it and set us shivering. Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was lurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his heart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out. It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren waste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky. Even Baskerville fell silent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.

   那件案子我記得很清楚,他的罪行極端殘忍,全部暗殺的過程都貫串着絶頂的暴行,因而此案曾引起了福爾摩斯的興趣。後來所以減免了他的死刑,是由於他的行為出奇地殘暴,人們對他的精神狀態是否健全發生了一些懷疑。我們的馬車爬上了斜坡的頂巔,面前出現了廣袤的沼地,上面點綴着很多圓錐形的石塚和凹凸不平的岩崗,色彩斑駁,光怪陸離。一股冷風從沼地上吹來,使我們都打起了寒戰。在那荒無人跡的平原上,這個魔鬼似的人,不定在哪一條溝壑之中象個野獸似地潛藏了起來,他內心充滿着對擯棄他的那些人們的憎恨。光禿禿的荒地,冷颼颼的寒風和陰暗的天空,再加上這個逃犯,就益發顯得恐怖了。即使巴斯克維爾也沉默了,他把大衣裹得更緊了些。

   We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us. We looked back on it now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of gold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad tangle of the woodlands. The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder over huge russet and olive slopes, sprinkled with giant boulders. Now and then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone, with no creeper to break its harsh outline. Suddenly we looked down into a cup-like depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been twisted and bent by the fury of years of storm. Two high, narrow towers rose over the trees. The driver pointed with his whip.

   豐饒的鄉區已落在我們的後下方,我們回頭遙望了一下,夕陽斜照,把水流照得象金絲一般,照得初耕的紅色土地和寬廣的密林都在閃爍發光。前面赤褐色和橄欖色斜坡上的道路益發變得荒蕪蕭瑟了,到處羅列着巨石。我們時而路過一所沼地裡的小房,牆和屋頂都是用石料砌成的,牆上也沒有蔓藤掩飾它那粗糙的輪廓。我們俯望下面,忽然看到了一處象碗似的凹地,那里長着小片小片的因年久而被狂風吹彎了的發育很壞的橡樹和樅林。在樹林的頂上,伸出了兩個又細又高的塔尖。車伕用鞭子指了指說道:

   "Baskerville Hall," said he.

   “這就是巴斯克維爾莊園。”

   Its master had risen and was staring with flushed cheeks and shining eyes. A few minutes later we had reached the lodge-gates, a maze of fantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather-bitten pillars on either side, blotched with lichens, and surmounted by the boars' heads of the Baskervilles. The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of rafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed, the first fruit of Sir Charles's South African gold.

   莊園的主人站了起來,雙頰泛紅,目光炯炯地望着,幾分鐘後,我們就到了寓所門口。大門是用稠密的、曲折交織成奇妙花樣的鐵條組成的,兩側各有一根久經風雨侵蝕的柱子,由於長了苔蘚而顯得骯髒了,柱頂裝有石刻的巴斯克維爾家的野豬頭。門房已經成了一堆坍塌的黑色花崗石,並露出了一根根光禿的椽木。可是它的對面卻是一座新的建築,剛建成了一半,是查爾茲爵士首次用由南非賺來的黃金興建的。

   Through the gateway we passed into the avenue, where the wheels were again hushed amid the leaves, and the old trees shot their branches in a sombre tunnel over our heads. Baskerville shuddered as he looked up the long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the farther end.

   一進大門就走上了小道。這時,車輪因走在枯葉上而沉靜了下來,老樹的枝丫在我們的頭頂上交織成一條陰暗的拱道。穿過長而陰暗的車道,看到了末端有一所房屋象幽靈似地在發着亮光,巴斯克維爾不由得顫慄了一下。

   "Was it here?" he asked in a low voice.

   “就是在這裡發生的嗎?”他低聲地問道。

   "No, no, the Yew Alley is on the other side."

   “不,不是,水松夾道在那一邊。”

   The young heir glanced round with a gloomy face.

   這位年輕的繼承人面色陰鬱地向四周眺望着。

   "It's no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a place as this," said he. "It's enough to scare any man. I'll have a row of electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won't know it again, with a thousand candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front of the hall door."

   “在這樣的地方,難怪我伯父會總覺得要大難臨頭了,”他說道,“足以讓任何人恐懼呢。我決定在六個月內在廳前裝上一行一千支光的天鵝牌和愛迪生牌的燈泡,到那時您就要再也認不得這個地方了。

   The avenue opened into a broad expanse of turf, and the house lay before us. In the fading light I could see that the centre was a heavy block of building from which a porch projected. The whole front was draped in ivy, with a patch clipped bare here and there where a window or a coat-of-arms broke through the dark veil. From this central block rose the twin towers, ancient, crenelated, and pierced with many loopholes. To right and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite. A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high chimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a single black column of smoke.

   道路通向一片寬闊的草地,房子就在我們的面前了。在暗淡的光線之下,我看得出中央是一幢堅實的樓房,前面突出着一條走廊。房子的前面爬滿了常春藤,只有在窗戶或裝有盾徽的地方被剪去了,就象是在黑色面罩的破處打上的補釘似的。中央這座樓的頂上有一對古老的塔樓,開有槍眼和很多瞭望孔。在塔樓的左右兩側,各有一座式樣更新的、用黑色花崗岩建成的翼樓。暗淡的光線,射進了窗欞堅實的窗口,裝在陡峭而傾斜的屋頂上的高高的煙囪裡噴出了一條黑色的煙柱。

   "Welcome, Sir Henry! Welcome to Baskerville Hall!"

   “亨利爵爺,歡迎!歡迎您到巴斯克維爾莊園來!”

   A tall man had stepped from the shadow of the porch to open the door of the wagonette. The figure of a woman was silhouetted against the yellow light of the hall. She came out and helped the man to hand down our bags.

   一個高個子的男人由走廊的陰影中走了出來,打開了四輪馬車的車門。在廳房的淡黃色的燈光前面,又出現了一個女人的身影,她走出來幫助那人拿下了我們的行李袋。

   "You don't mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?" said Dr. Mortimer. "My wife is expecting me."

   “亨利爵士,如果我要一直趕回家去您不會見怪吧?”摩梯末醫生說道,“我太太在等着我呢。”

   "Surely you will stay and have some dinner?"

   “您還是等一下吃了晚飯再回去吧。”

   "No, I must go. I shall probably find some work awaiting me. I would stay to show you over the house, but Barrymore will be a better guide than I. Good-bye, and never hesitate night or day to send for me if I can be of service."

   “不,我一定得走,也許家中已經有事在等着我干呢。我本該留下來領您看一看房子,但若拿白瑞摩和我比較起來,他卻是個更好的嚮導呢。再見吧,不分晝夜,只要我能幫助的話,就馬上去叫我好了。”

   The wheels died away down the drive while Sir Henry and I turned into the hall, and the door clanged heavily behind us. It was a fine apartment in which we found ourselves, large, lofty, and heavily raftered with huge balks of age-blackened oak. In the great old-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled and snapped. Sir Henry and I held out our hands to it, for we were numb from our long drive. Then we gazed round us at the high, thin window of old stained glass, the oak panelling, the stags' heads, the coats-of-arms upon the walls, all dim and sombre in the subdued light of the central lamp.

   亨利爵士和我一進廳堂,小路上的車輪聲就聽不到了,身後隨着發出了沉重的關門聲。我們所在的房間確是華美,又高又大,因年代久遠而變成了黑色的椽木巨梁密密地排着。在高高的鐵狗雕像後面,巨大的舊式壁爐裡面,木柴在劈啪爆裂地燃燒着。亨利爵士和我伸手烤火取暖,因為長途乘車,弄得我們都渾身麻木了。後來我們又向四周環顧了一番,看到狹長的、裝着古老的彩色玻璃的窗戶,橡木做的嵌板細工,牡鹿頭的標本,以及牆上所掛的盾徽,在中央大吊燈柔和的光線照耀下,都顯得幽暗而陰鬱。

   "It's just as I imagined it," said Sir Henry. "Is it not the very picture of an old family home? To think that this should be the same hall in which for five hundred years my people have lived. It strikes me solemn to think of it."

   “正如我所想象的那樣,”亨利爵士說道,“難道這不恰恰是一個古老的家庭應有的景象嗎?這就是我家的人們住了五百年的大廳,一想到這些就使我感到沉重。”

   I saw his dark face lit up with a boyish enthusiasm as he gazed about him. The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed down the walls and hung like a black canopy above him. Barrymore had returned from taking our luggage to our rooms. He stood in front of us now with the subdued manner of a well-trained servant. He was a remarkable-looking man, tall, handsome, with a square black beard and pale, distinguished features.

   當他向四周環顧的時候,我看得出來,在他那黝黑的面孔上燃起了孩童般的熱情。在他站立的地方雖有燈光照射,可是牆上長長的投影和黑黝黝的天花板就象在他的頭頂上張開了一座天棚似的。白瑞摩把行李送進我們的居室以後又回來了。他以受過良好訓練的仆役所特有的服從的態度,站在我們的面前。他是個儀表非凡的人,高高的身材,相貌漂亮,剪得方方正正的黑鬍鬚,有一副白皙而出色的面貌。

   "Would you wish dinner to be served at once, sir?"

   “爵爺,您願意馬上吃晚飯嗎?”

   "Is it ready?"

   “已經準備好了嗎?”

   "In a very few minutes, sir. You will find hot water in your rooms. My wife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have made your fresh arrangements, but you will understand that under the new conditions this house will require a considerable staff."

   “幾分鐘之內就能準備好,爵爺。你們的屋裡已經預備了熱水,亨利爵士,在您作出新的安排以前,我的妻子和我很願意和您獃在一起,可是您得瞭解,在這種新的情況下,這所房子裡就需要相當多的傭人。”

   "What new conditions?"

   “什麼新的情況?”

   "I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we were able to look after his wants. You would, naturally, wish to have more company, and so you will need changes in your household."

   “爵爺,我不過是說,查爾茲爵爺過的是非常隱遁的生活,因此我們還可以照顧得了他的需要,而您呢,當然希望有更多的人和您同居一起,因此您必然會需要將家事情況加以改變。”

   "Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?"

   “你是說,你和你的妻子想要辭職嗎?”

   "Only when it is quite convenient to you, sir."

   “爵爺,這當然要在對您很方便的時候才行。”

   "But your family have been with us for several generations, have they not? I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family connection."

   “可是你們一家已經和我家的人同居了好幾代了,不是嗎?如果我一開始在這裡生活便斷絶了這條由來已久的家庭聯繫,那我真要感到遺憾了。”

   I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.

   我好象在這管家的白皙的面孔上看出了一些感情激動的跡象。

   "I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife. But to tell the truth, sir, we were both very much attached to Sir Charles, and his death gave us a shock and made these surroundings very painful to us. I fear that we shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall."

   “我也這樣覺得,爵爺,我的妻子也是一樣。說實話,爵爺,我們兩人都是很敬愛查爾茲爵士的,他的死使我們大為震驚,這裡周圍的環境,處處都使我們感到十分痛苦。我怕在巴斯克維爾莊園裡我們的內心再也不會得到安寧了。”

   "But what do you intend to do?"

   “可是你想怎麼辦呢?”

   "I have no doubt, sir, that we shall succeed in establishing ourselves in some business. Sir Charles's generosity has given us the means to do so. And now, sir, perhaps I had best show you to your rooms."

   “爵爺,我確信,如果我們做點兒生意,一定會成功的。 查爾茲爵爺的慷慨大量,已使我們有可能這樣去做了。可是現在,爵爺,我最好還是先領您看看您的房間去吧。”

   A square balustraded gallery ran round the top of the old hall, approached by a double stair. From this central point two long corridors extended the whole length of the building, from which all the bedrooms opened. My own was in the same wing as Baskerville's and almost next door to it. These rooms appeared to be much more modern than the central part of the house, and the bright paper and numerous candles did something to remove the sombre impression which our arrival had left upon my mind.

   在這古老的廳堂的上部,有一周裝有回欄的方形遊廊,要通過一段雙疊的樓梯才能上去。由中央廳堂伸出兩條長長的甬道一直穿過整個建築,所有的寢室都是開向這兩條甬道的。 我和巴斯克維爾的寢室是在同一側的,並且几乎是緊緊相鄰,這些房間看來要比大樓中部房間的樣式新得多,顏色鮮明的糊牆紙和點着的無數蠟燭多少消除了在我們剛到時留在腦中的陰鬱的印象。

   But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow and gloom. It was a long chamber with a step separating the dais where the family sat from the lower portion reserved for their dependents. At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it. Black beams shot across above our heads, with a smoke-darkened ceiling beyond them. With rows of flaring torches to light it up, and the colour and rude hilarity of an old-time banquet, it might have softened; but now, when two black-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown by a shaded lamp, one's voice became hushed and one's spirit subdued. A dim line of ancestors, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan knight to the buck of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted us by their silent company. We talked little, and I for one was glad when the meal was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room and smoke a cigarette.

   可是開向廳堂的飯廳則是個晦暗陰鬱的處所,這是一間長形的屋子,有一段台階把屋子由中間分成高低不同的兩部分,較高部分為家中人進餐之所,較低部分則留給傭人們使用。在一端的高處建有演奏廊。烏黑的梁木橫過我們的頭頂,再上面就是被燻黑了的天花板了。如果用一排盛燃的火炬把屋子照亮,在一個豐富多采、狂歡不覊的古老的宴樂之中,這嚴峻的氣氛也許能被緩和下來,可是現在呢?兩位黑衣紳士坐在由燈罩下面照出來的不大的光環之內,說話的聲音都變低了,而精神上也感受到壓抑。一排隱隱現出的祖先的畫像,穿著各式各樣的服裝,由伊麗莎白女皇時代的騎士起,直至喬治四世皇太子攝政時代的花花公子止,他們都張目注視着我們,沉默地陪伴着我們,威懾着我們。我們很少說話,我很高興這頓飯總算是吃完了,我們可以到新式的彈子房去吸一支菸了。

   "My word, it isn't a very cheerful place," said Sir Henry. "I suppose one can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present. I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone in such a house as this. However, if it suits you, we will retire early to-night, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful in the morning."

   “說實話,我覺得這裡真不是一個能使人很愉快的地方,” 亨利爵士說道,“我本以為可以逐漸習慣于這樣的環境呢,可是現在我總感覺有點不對勁。難怪我伯父單獨住在這樣一所房子裡會變得心神不安呢。啊,如果您願意的話,咱們今晚早些休息,也許在清晨時分事物會顯得更使人愉快些呢。”

   I drew aside my curtains before I went to bed and looked out from my window. It opened upon the grassy space which lay in front of the hall door. Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind. A half moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds. In its cold light I saw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve of the melancholy moor. I closed the curtain, feeling that my last impression was in keeping with the rest.

   我在上床以前拉開了窗帘,由窗內向外眺望了一番。這窗是向廳前草地開着的,再遠一些又有兩叢樹,在愈刮愈大的風中呻吟搖擺。由競相奔走的雲朵的縫隙之中露出了半圓的月亮。在慘淡的月光之下,在樹林的後面,我看到了殘缺不齊的山崗邊緣和綿長低窪、緩緩起伏的陰鬱的沼地。我拉上了窗帘,覺得我當時的印象和以先所得的印象還是一致的。

   And yet it was not quite the last. I found myself weary and yet wakeful, tossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would not come. Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the hours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house. And then suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable. It was the sob of a woman, the muffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow. I sat up in bed and listened intently. The noise could not have been far away and was certainly in the house. For half an hour I waited with every nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming clock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall.

   可是這還不算是最後的印象呢。我雖感疲倦,可是又不能入睡,輾轉反側,愈想睡愈睡不着。古老的房屋被死一般的沉寂籠罩了,遠處傳來了報時的鐘聲,一刻鐘一刻鐘地打着。可是後來,突然間,在死寂的深夜裡,有一種聲音傳進了我的耳鼓,清晰而又響亮。決不會弄錯,是個婦女啜泣的聲音,象是一個被按捺不住的悲痛折磨着的人所發出的強忍着的和哽噎的喘息。我在床上坐了起來,聚精會神地聽著。這聲音不可能是來自遠處的,而且可以肯定,就是在這所房子裡。我就這樣,每根神經都緊張地等了半小時,可是除了鐘的敲打聲和牆外常春藤的窸窣聲之外,再也沒有傳來別的聲音。

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