6.The Musgrave Ritual 马斯格雷夫礼典
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / 福尔摩斯回忆录
《福尔摩斯回忆录》
An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction.
在我朋友夏洛克·福尔摩斯的性格中，常令我感到诧异的一种矛盾现象是：尽管他在思维方法上堪称人类中最整洁、最有条理的人，且在衣着上也刻意保持一种低调的端庄，但在个人生活习惯方面，他却是最不修边幅、足以让同住室友抓狂的人之一。
Not that I am in the least conventional in that respect myself.
倒不是说我自己在这方面有多么循规蹈矩。
The rough-and-tumble work in Afghanistan, coming on the top of a natural Bohemianism of disposition, has made me rather more lax than befits a medical man.
在阿富汗那段颠沛流离的经历，加上我天性中固有的波希米亚式散漫，使我变得比一个医生应有的样子要随意得多。
But with me there is a limit, and when I find a man who keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slippers, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs.
但我毕竟还有个限度；当我看到一个人把雪茄放在煤斗里，把烟叶塞在波斯拖鞋的鞋头里，还把未回复的信件用一把折叠刀钉在木制壁炉架的正中央时，我便不禁觉得自己简直是个讲究人了。
I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.
我也一直认为，练习手枪射击分明应当是户外活动；可当福尔摩斯在某次怪脾气发作时，坐在扶手椅里拿着他那把轻扳机手枪和一百发博克瑟子弹，在对面的墙上打出一排弹孔组成的爱国字样“V.R.”（维多利亚女王）作为装饰时，我强烈感到这既没有改善我们房间的空气，也没有提升房间的颜值。
Our chambers were always full of chemicals and of criminal relics which had a way of wandering into unlikely positions, and of turning up in the butter-dish or in even less desirable places.
我们的房间里总是堆满了化学药品和犯罪证物，这些东西总会莫名其妙地出现在不该出现的地方，比如黄油碟里，甚至更糟糕的角落。
But his papers were my great crux.
但他的文件才是我最大的心病。
He had a horror of destroying documents, especially those which were connected with his past cases, and yet it was only once in every year or two that he would muster energy to docket and arrange them; for, as I have mentioned somewhere in these incoherent memoirs, the outbursts of passionate energy when he performed the remarkable feats with which his name is associated were followed by reactions of lethargy during which he would lie about with his violin and his books, hardly moving save from the sofa to the table.
他极其厌恶销毁文件，尤其是那些与他过往案件相关的资料，然而每一两年他才难得打起精神来归档整理一次；因为正如我在这些零散的回忆录中某处提到的那样，每当他完成那些令他声名远扬的非凡壮举后，随之而来的便是极度倦怠的反应期，期间他只是伴着小提琴和书本躺着，除了从沙发挪到桌子旁，几乎一动不动。
Thus month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by their owner.
于是月复一月，他的文件越积越多，直到房间的每个角落都堆满了一捆捆绝不能烧掉、且除了主人之外谁也不能收拾的手稿。
One winter’s night, as we sat together by the fire, I ventured to suggest to him that, as he had finished pasting extracts into his common-place book, he might employ the next two hours in making our room a little more habitable.
在一个冬夜，当我们围炉而坐时，我大着胆子向他建议，既然他已经剪贴完了摘录本，不妨利用接下来的两个小时把我们的房间弄得稍微像人住的地方一点。
He could not deny the justice of my request, so with a rather rueful face he went off to his bedroom, from which he returned presently pulling a large tin box behind him.
他无法否认我的要求合情合理，于是带着一脸懊丧的神情走进卧室，不一会儿拖着一个大铁皮箱回来了。
This he placed in the middle of the floor and, squatting down upon a stool in front of it, he threw back the lid.
他把箱子放在地板中央，蹲在箱子前面的凳子上，掀开了盖子。
I could see that it was already a third full of bundles of paper tied up with red tape into separate packages.
我看到箱子里已经装了三分之一用红带子扎成一捆捆的文件包。
“There are cases enough here, Watson,” said he, looking at me with mischievous eyes. “I think that if you knew all that I had in this box you would ask me to pull some out instead of putting others in.”
“华生，这里的案子可够多了，”他带着顽皮的眼神看着我说，“我想如果你知道这箱子里装了什么，你就会让我拿出一些来，而不是再往里塞了。”
“These are the records of your early work, then?” I asked. “I have often wished that I had notes of those cases.”
“那么这些都是你早期办案的记录吗？”我问，“我常常希望能有那些案子的笔记。”
“Yes, my boy, these were all done prematurely before my biographer had come to glorify me.” He lifted bundle after bundle in a tender, caressing sort of way. “They are not all successes, Watson,” said he. “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife. And here—ah, now, this really is something a little recherché.”
“是的，老伙计，这些都是在我的传记作家前来美化我之前早早办完的案子。”他温柔爱抚般地拿起一捆又一捆的文件。“华生，这些并不全是成功的案例，”他说，“但其中有些颇为精巧的小谜题。这是塔尔顿谋杀案的记录，这是酒商范贝里案，这是老俄国女人的奇遇，还有铝拐杖奇案，以及跛脚里科莱蒂和他那可恶妻子的完整案情。还有这个——啊，瞧，这个可真有点不同寻常。”
He dived his arm down to the bottom of the chest, and brought up a small wooden box with a sliding lid, such as children’s toys are kept in. From within he produced a crumpled piece of paper, an old-fashioned brass key, a peg of wood with a ball of string attached to it, and three rusty old disks of metal.
他把手伸到箱子底部，掏出一个带滑盖的小木盒，就像孩子们装玩具的那种。他从里面取出一张皱巴巴的纸、一把老式黄铜钥匙、一个系着线团的木钉，以及三个生锈的旧金属圆盘。
“Well, my boy, what do you make of this lot?” he asked, smiling at my expression.
“好吧，老伙计，你觉得这些东西怎么样？”他看着我惊讶的表情笑着问。
“It is a curious collection.”
“真是一堆奇怪的收藏品。”
“Very curious, and the story that hangs round it will strike you as being more curious still.”
“非常奇怪，而围绕它们的故事会让你觉得更加离奇。”
“These relics have a history then?”
“这么说这些遗物是有来历的？”
“So much so that they are history.”
“不仅有来历，它们本身就是历史。”
“What do you mean by that?”
“你这话是什么意思？”
Sherlock Holmes picked them up one by one, and laid them along the edge of the table. Then he reseated himself in his chair and looked them over with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.
夏洛克·福尔摩斯把它们一件件拿起来，沿着桌边摆好。然后他重新坐回椅子上，眼中闪烁着满意的光芒审视着它们。
“These,” said he, “are all that I have left to remind me of the adventure of the Musgrave Ritual.”
“这些，”他说，“是我仅存的能让我想起马斯格雷夫礼典冒险案的东西了。”
I had heard him mention the case more than once, though I had never been able to gather the details.
我曾不止一次听他提起过这个案子，但从未了解到详情。
“I should be so glad,” said I, “if you would give me an account of it.”
“如果你能给我讲讲这个案子，”我说，“我会非常高兴。”
“And leave the litter as it is?” he cried, mischievously. “Your tidiness won’t bear much strain after all, Watson. But I should be glad that you should add this case to your annals, for there are points in it which make it quite unique in the criminal records of this or, I believe, of any other country. A collection of my trifling achievements would certainly be incomplete which contained no account of this very singular business.
“然后让这些乱七八糟的东西就这么摊着？”他调皮地叫道，“华生，看来你的洁癖也经不起多大考验啊。不过我很乐意让你把这个案子加进你的编年史里，因为这个案子中有若干特点，使其在我国乃至我相信在任何其他国家的犯罪记录中都独树一帜。如果在我那些微不足道的成就集中缺少了这个极为奇特的案子，那肯定是不完整的。”
“You may remember how the affair of the Gloria Scott, and my conversation with the unhappy man whose fate I told you of, first turned my attention in the direction of the profession which has become my life’s work. You see me now when my name has become known far and wide, and when I am generally recognised both by the public and by the official force as being a final court of appeal in doubtful cases. Even when you knew me first, at the time of the affair which you have commemorated in ‘A Study in Scarlet,’ I had already established a considerable, though not a very lucrative, connection. You can hardly realize, then, how difficult I found it at first, and how long I had to wait before I succeeded in making any headway.
“你可能还记得‘格洛里亚斯科特号’事件，以及我与那个不幸之人的谈话（我曾向你讲述过他的命运），是如何首次将我的注意力引向后来成为我毕生事业的职业的。你现在看到的我，已经名扬四海，被公众和官方警力公认为疑难案件的终审法庭。甚至在你刚认识我的时候，也就是你在《血字的研究》中纪念的那个案子发生时，我已经建立了相当规模的客户关系，尽管收益并不丰厚。因此你很难体会到，起初我觉得多么艰难，又等了多久才取得了一些进展。”
“When I first came up to London I had rooms in Montague Street, just round the corner from the British Museum, and there I waited, filling in my too abundant leisure time by studying all those branches of science which might make me more efficient. Now and again cases came in my way, principally through the introduction of old fellow-students, for during my last years at the University there was a good deal of talk there about myself and my methods. The third of these cases was that of the Musgrave Ritual, and it is to the interest which was aroused by that singular chain of events, and the large issues which proved to be at stake, that I trace my first stride towards the position which I now hold.
“初到伦敦时，我在蒙塔古街租了房子，就在大英博物馆拐角处。我在那里等待机会，通过研究所有可能提高我效率的科学分支来打发过于充裕的闲暇时光。偶尔会有案子找上门来，主要是通过老同学的引荐，因为在我大学的最后几年里，校园里关于我和我的方法的议论颇多。这些案子中的第三个就是马斯格雷夫礼典案。正是这一连串奇特事件所激起的兴趣，以及后来证明牵涉其中的重大利害关系，促成了我向如今地位迈出的第一步。”
“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 birthplace 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 grey 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.
“雷金纳德·马斯格雷夫曾与我就读同一所学院，我和他有过一面之交。他在本科生中并不怎么受欢迎，尽管在我看来，人们所说的傲慢其实只是他试图掩饰天生极度羞怯的表现。从外表看，他是那种极具贵族气质的人，瘦削、高鼻梁、大眼睛，举止慵懒却不失优雅。他确实是王国最古老家族之一的后裔，不过他这一支是旁系，于十六世纪某个时期从北方的马斯格雷夫家族分离出来，定居在西萨塞克斯郡，那里的赫尔斯通庄园或许是该郡现存最古老的有人居住的建筑。他身上似乎带着故乡的气息，每当我看到他苍白敏锐的面庞或昂头的姿态，总会联想到灰色的拱门、竖棂窗以及封建城堡所有那些庄严的遗迹。我们曾有一两次偶然攀谈起来，我记得他不只一次对我的观察和推理方法表现出浓厚的兴趣。”
“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.
“此后四年我一直没见过他，直到一天早上他走进了我在蒙塔古街的房间。他几乎没什么变化，穿着像个时髦青年——他一直有点花花公子的派头——并且保持着从前那种文静温和的风度。”
“‘How has all gone with you Musgrave?’ I asked, after we had cordially shaken hands.
“‘你近来可好，马斯格雷夫？’我们在热情握手后我问道。”
“‘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?’
“‘你大概听说过我可怜的父亲去世的消息吧，’他说，‘大约两年前他走了。从那以后，我自然得管理赫尔斯通的产业，加上我又是我们选区的议员，生活一直很忙碌。不过福尔摩斯，我听说你现在正把你当年令我们惊叹的那些才能用于实际工作了？’”
“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘I have taken to living by my wits.’
“‘是的，’我说，‘我现在靠脑子吃饭了。’”
“‘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.’
“‘听到这个我很高兴，因为眼下你的建议对我极其宝贵。我们在赫尔斯通遇到了一些非常怪异的事，警方却一筹莫展。这实在是我所见过的最不可思议、最令人费解的事情。’”
“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.
“华生，你可以想象我是多么急切地倾听他的话，因为在那些无所事事的月份里我一直渴望的机会，此刻似乎触手可及。在我内心深处，我相信别人失败的地方我能成功，而现在我有了检验自己的机会。”
“‘Pray, let me have the details,’ I cried.
“‘请务必告诉我详情，’我喊道。”
“Reginald Musgrave sat down opposite to me, and lit the cigarette which I had pushed towards him.
“雷金纳德·马斯格雷夫在我对面坐下，点燃了我推给他的香烟。”
“‘You must know,’ said he, ‘that though I am a bachelor, I have to keep up a considerable staff of servants at Hurlstone, for it is a rambling old place, and takes a good deal of looking after. I preserve, too, and in the pheasant months I usually have a house-party, so that it would not do to be short-handed. Altogether there are eight maids, the cook, the butler, two footmen, and a boy. The garden and the stables of course have a separate staff.
“‘你得知道，’他说，‘虽然我是个单身汉，但在赫尔斯通还得维持一大群仆人，因为那是个布局杂乱的老宅子，需要不少人打理。我还保留着狩猎的传统，在野鸡狩猎季通常会举办家庭聚会，所以人手不能少。总共有八个女仆、一个厨师、一个管家、两个男仆和一个小厮。花园和马房当然另有专人照料。’”
“‘Of these servants the one who had been longest in our service was Brunton the butler. He was a young schoolmaster out of place when he was first taken up by my father, but he was a man of great energy and character, and he soon became quite invaluable in the household. He was a well-grown, handsome man, with a splendid forehead, and though he has been with us for twenty years he cannot be more than forty now. With his personal advantages and his extraordinary gifts—for he can speak several languages and play nearly every musical instrument—it is wonderful that he should have been satisfied so long in such a position, but I suppose that he was comfortable, and lacked energy to make any change. The butler of Hurlstone is always a thing that is remembered by all who visit us.
“‘在这些仆人中，在我们家服务时间最长的是管家布伦顿。他被我父亲雇用时还是个失业的年轻教师，但他精力充沛、性格坚毅，很快就成了家中不可或缺的人物。他身材高大、相貌英俊，前额宽阔，虽然在我们家待了二十年，但现在顶多不过四十岁。凭借他的个人优势和非凡天赋——因为他能说好几国语言，几乎会演奏所有乐器——他竟然能在这样一个职位上安分这么久，真是令人称奇，但我猜他是过得舒适，懒得做出改变。凡是来过我们家的人，都会记得赫尔斯通的这位管家。’”
“‘But this paragon has one fault. He is a bit of a Don Juan, and you can imagine that for a man like him it is not a very difficult part to play in a quiet country district. When he was married it was all right, but since he has been a widower we have had no end of trouble with him. A few months ago we were in hopes that he was about to settle down again for he became engaged to Rachel Howells, our second housemaid; but he has thrown her over since then and taken up with Janet Tregellis, the daughter of the head gamekeeper. Rachel—who is a very good girl, but of an excitable Welsh temperament—had a sharp touch of brain-fever, and goes about the house now—or did until yesterday—like a black-eyed shadow of her former self. That was our first drama at Hurlstone; but a second one came to drive it from our minds, and it was prefaced by the disgrace and dismissal of butler Brunton.
“‘但这个模范人物有个缺点。他有点唐璜式的作风，你可以想象，像他这样的人在宁静的乡间扮演这种角色并非难事。他结婚时倒还相安无事，但自从丧偶后，他就给我们惹了无数麻烦。几个月前我们还指望他能再次安定下来，因为他和我们家的二等女仆蕾切尔·豪厄尔斯订了婚；但他随后抛弃了她，转而与猎场看守长的女儿珍妮特·特雷杰利斯勾搭上了。蕾切尔是个很好的姑娘，但有着威尔士人那种易激动的性情，为此得了一场严重的脑热病，现在——或者说直到昨天为止——在屋子里走来走去就像个黑眼睛的影子，完全没了往日的模样。这是我们家在赫尔斯通遇到的第一出闹剧；但紧接着发生的第二件事让我们无暇顾及此事，而这第二件事的序幕便是管家布伦顿的丑行与被解雇。’”
“‘This was how it came about. I have said that the man was intelligent, and this very intelligence has caused his ruin, for it seems to have led to an insatiable curiosity about things which did not in the least concern him. I had no idea of the lengths to which this would carry him, until the merest accident opened my eyes to it.
“‘事情是这样的。我说过这人很聪明，而正是这份聪明毁了他，因为这似乎让他对那些与他毫不相干的事物产生了无法满足的好奇心。如果不是一个极偶然的意外让我开了眼界，我真不知道他会荒唐到什么地步。’”
“‘I have said that the house is a rambling one. One day last week—on Thursday night, to be more exact—I found that I could not sleep, having foolishly taken a cup of strong café noir after my dinner. After struggling against it until two in the morning, I felt that it was quite hopeless, so I rose and lit the candle with the intention of continuing a novel which I was reading. The book, however, had been left in the billiard-room, so I pulled on my dressing-gown and started off to get it.
“‘我说过这房子结构杂乱。上周的一天——确切地说是周四晚上——我发现自己睡不着觉，因为晚饭后愚蠢地喝了一杯浓黑咖啡。挣扎到凌晨两点，我觉得实在没希望入睡了，便起身点上蜡烛，打算继续读一本正在看的小说。可是书落在了台球室，于是我披上晨衣动身去取。’”
“‘In order to reach the billiard-room I had to descend a flight of stairs and then to cross the head of a passage which led to the library and the gun-room. You can imagine my surprise when, as I looked down this corridor, I saw a glimmer of light coming from the open door of the library. I had myself extinguished the lamp and closed the door before coming to bed. Naturally my first thought was of burglars. The corridors at Hurlstone have their walls largely decorated with trophies of old weapons. From one of these I picked a battle-axe, and then, leaving my candle behind me, I crept on tiptoe down the passage and peeped in at the open door.
“‘要去台球室，我得下一段楼梯，然后穿过通往书房和枪室的走廊尽头。你可以想象当我顺着这条走廊望去，看到书房敞开的门缝里透出一丝微光时有多惊讶。睡前我亲手熄了灯并关上了门。我第一个念头自然是进了窃贼。赫尔斯通的走廊墙壁上挂满了古代武器作为装饰。我从上面摘了一把战斧，然后把蜡烛留在身后，踮起脚尖沿着走廊悄悄走过去，从敞开的门缝向里窥视。’”
“‘Brunton, the butler, was in the library. He was sitting, fully dressed, in an easy-chair, with a slip of paper which looked like a map upon his knee, and his forehead sunk forward upon his hand in deep thought. I stood dumb with astonishment, watching him from the darkness. A small taper on the edge of the table shed a feeble light which sufficed to show me that he was fully dressed. Suddenly, as I looked, he rose from his chair, and walking over to a bureau at the side, he unlocked it and drew out one of the drawers. From this he took a paper, and returning to his seat he flattened it out beside the taper on the edge of the table, and began to study it with minute attention. My indignation at this calm examination of our family documents overcame me so far that I took a step forward, and Brunton, looking up, saw me standing in the doorway. He sprang to his feet, his face turned livid with fear, and he thrust into his breast the chart-like paper which he had been originally studying.
“‘管家布伦顿就在书房里。他穿戴整齐地坐在安乐椅上，膝盖上摊着一张看似地图的纸条，手托额头陷入沉思。我惊得目瞪口呆，站在暗处注视着他。桌边一支小蜡烛发出微弱的光，足以让我看清他确实衣着齐整。突然，就在我看着的时候，他从椅子上站起来，走到旁边的书桌前，打开锁拉开一个抽屉。他从中取出一张纸，回到座位上将其在桌边的蜡烛旁铺平，开始极其仔细地研读。看到他竟如此镇定地查阅我家的文件，我不禁怒火中烧，向前迈了一步。布伦顿抬起头，看见我站在门口。他猛地跳起来，脸色吓得铁青，急忙把刚才研读的那张图表似的纸塞进怀里。’”
“‘“So!” said I. “This is how you repay the trust which we have reposed in you. You will leave my service to-morrow.”
“‘“好啊！”我说，“这就是你对我们信任的回报。明天你就卷铺盖走人吧。”’”
“‘He bowed with the look of a man who is utterly crushed, and slunk past me without a word. The taper was still on the table, and by its light I glanced to see what the paper was which Brunton had taken from the bureau. To my surprise it was nothing of any importance at all, but simply a copy of the questions and answers in the singular old observance called the Musgrave Ritual. It is a sort of ceremony peculiar to our family, which each Musgrave for centuries past has gone through on his coming of age—a thing of private interest, and perhaps of some little importance to the archaeologist, like our own blazonings and charges, but of no practical use whatever.’
“‘他露出一副彻底崩溃的神情鞠了一躬，一言不发地从我身边溜走了。蜡烛还在桌上，借着烛光我瞥了一眼布伦顿从书桌里拿走的那张纸。令我惊讶的是，那根本不是什么重要文件，只不过是一份名为“马斯格雷夫礼典”的古老奇特仪式的问答副本。这是一种我们家特有的仪式，过去几个世纪里每位马斯格雷夫家族成员成年时都要经历——这只是私人的事务，或许对考古学家还有点像我们的纹章和徽记那样的小价值，但实际上毫无用处。’”
“‘We had better come back to the paper afterwards,’ said I.
“‘那张纸的事我们回头再说，’我说。”
“‘If you think it really necessary,’ he answered, with some hesitation. ‘To continue my statement, however: I relocked the bureau, using the key which Brunton had left, and I had turned to go when I was surprised to find that the butler had returned, and was standing before me.
“‘如果你觉得真有必要的话，’他有些犹豫地回答。‘不过接着说我的事：我用布伦顿留下的钥匙重新锁好书桌，正准备离开时，却惊讶地发现管家又回来了，站在我面前。’”
“‘“Mr. Musgrave, sir,” he cried, in a voice which was hoarse with emotion, “I can’t bear disgrace, sir. I’ve always been proud above my station in life, and disgrace would kill me. My blood will be on your head, sir—it will, indeed—if you drive me to despair. If you cannot keep me after what has passed, then for God’s sake let me give you notice and leave in a month, as if of my own free will. I could stand that, Mr. Musgrave, but not to be cast out before all the folk that I know so well.”
“‘“马斯格雷夫先生，老爷，”他用因激动而嘶哑的声音喊道，“我受不了这份耻辱，老爷。我一直以超出自己身份的方式保持着自尊，耻辱会要了我的命。如果您把我逼上绝路，老爷——真的会的——我的血债就要算在您头上了。如果出了这事您不能再留我，看在上帝的份上，请允许我自己提出辞呈，一个月后再走，就当是我自愿的。马斯格雷夫先生，那样我还能忍受，但我没法在所有熟人面前被扫地出门啊。”’”
“‘“You don’t deserve much consideration, Brunton,” I answered. “Your conduct has been most infamous. However, as you have been a long time in the family, I have no wish to bring public disgrace upon you. A month, however is too long. Take yourself away in a week, and give what reason you like for going.”
“‘“你不配得到太多体谅，布伦顿，”我答道，“你的行为极其恶劣。不过念你在家里待了这么久，我也不想让你当众出丑。但是一个月太长了。给你一周时间走人，理由随你自己编。”’”
“‘“Only a week, sir?” he cried, in a despairing voice. “A fortnight—say at least a fortnight!”
“‘“只有一周吗，老爷？”他绝望地叫道，“两周——至少给两周吧！”’”
“‘“A week,” I repeated, “and you may consider yourself to have been very leniently dealt with.”
“‘“就是一周，”我重申道，“你应该觉得自己已经受到了非常宽大的处理了。”’”
“‘He crept away, his face sunk upon his breast, like a broken man, while I put out the light and returned to my room.
“‘他垂头丧气地爬走了，像个垮掉的人一样，而我则吹灭蜡烛回到了自己的房间。’”
“‘For two days after this Brunton was most assiduous in his attention to his duties. I made no allusion to what had passed, and waited with some curiosity to see how he would cover his disgrace. On the third morning, however he did not appear, as was his custom, after breakfast to receive my instructions for the day. As I left the dining-room I happened to meet Rachel Howells, the maid. I have told you that she had only recently recovered from an illness, and was looking so wretchedly pale and wan that I remonstrated with her for being at work.
“‘此后两天，布伦顿尽职尽责，格外勤勉。我对发生的事只字不提，只是好奇地等着看他如何掩饰自己的丑行。然而到了第三天早上，他没有像往常一样在早饭后出现接受当天的指示。离开餐厅时，我碰巧遇到了女仆蕾切尔·豪厄尔斯。我告诉过你她刚病愈不久，脸色苍白憔悴得可怕，我便责备她不该带病工作。’”
“‘“You should be in bed,” I said. “Come back to your duties when you are stronger.”
“‘“你应该躺在床上休息，”我说，“等身体好些再来干活。”’”
“‘She looked at me with so strange an expression that I began to suspect that her brain was affected.
“‘她用一种极其古怪的眼神看着我，让我开始怀疑她的脑子是不是出了问题。’”
“‘“I am strong enough, Mr. Musgrave,” said she.
“‘“我身体够好了，马斯格雷夫先生，”她说。’”
“‘“We will see what the doctor says,” I answered. “You must stop work now, and when you go downstairs just say that I wish to see Brunton.”
“‘“还是等医生怎么说吧，”我回答，“你现在必须停止工作，下楼时顺便告诉布伦顿我要见他。”’”
“‘“The butler is gone,” said she.
“‘“管家不见了，”她说。’”
“‘“Gone! Gone where?”
“‘“不见了！去哪儿了？”’”
“‘“He is gone. No one has seen him. He is not in his room. Oh, yes, he is gone, he is gone!” She fell back against the wall with shriek after shriek of laughter, while I, horrified at this sudden hysterical attack, rushed to the bell to summon help. The girl was taken to her room, still screaming and sobbing, while I made inquiries about Brunton. There was no doubt about it that he had disappeared. His bed had not been slept in, he had been seen by no one since he had retired to his room the night before, and yet it was difficult to see how he could have left the house, as both windows and doors were found to be fastened in the morning. His clothes, his watch, and even his money were in his room, but the black suit which he usually wore was missing. His slippers, too, were gone, but his boots were left behind. Where then could butler Brunton have gone in the night, and what could have become of him now?
“‘“他走了。没人见过他。他不在房间里。哦，是的，他走了，他走了！”她靠在墙上发出一阵阵歇斯底里的狂笑。我被这突如其来的癔症吓坏了，赶紧冲过去拉铃叫人帮忙。女孩被送回房间，仍在尖叫哭泣，而我则着手调查布伦顿的下落。毫无疑问，他失踪了。他的床没有人睡过的痕迹，自从前一晚回房后就再也没人见过他，然而很难想象他是如何离开房子的，因为早上门窗都是紧锁着的。他的衣服、手表甚至钱都在房间里，但他平时穿的那套黑色西装却不见了。他的拖鞋也不见了，靴子却留在了原地。那么管家布伦顿夜里究竟去了哪里？现在又遭遇了什么？’”
“‘Of course we searched the house from cellar to garret, but there was no trace of him. It is, as I have said, a labyrinth of an old house, especially the original wing, which is now practically uninhabited; but we ransacked every room and cellar without discovering the least sign of the missing man. It was incredible to me that he could have gone away leaving all his property behind him, and yet where could he be? I called in the local police, but without success. Rain had fallen on the night before and we examined the lawn and the paths all round the house, but in vain. Matters were in this state, when a new development quite drew our attention away from the original mystery.
“‘我们当然把房子从地窖到阁楼搜了个遍，但没有发现任何踪迹。正如我所说，这座老宅像个迷宫，尤其是原来的侧翼，现在几乎无人居住；但我们翻遍了每个房间和地窖，也没有发现失踪者的丝毫线索。他丢下所有财物离去简直令人难以置信，可他到底在哪呢？我请来了当地警察，但也一无所获。前一夜下过雨，我们检查了草坪和房子周围的小径，却徒劳无功。事情就这样僵持着，这时一个新的变故完全转移了我们对最初谜团的注意力。’”
“‘For two days Rachel Howells had been so ill, sometimes delirious, sometimes hysterical, that a nurse had been employed to sit up with her at night. On the third night after Brunton’s disappearance, the nurse, finding her patient sleeping nicely, had dropped into a nap in the armchair, when she woke in the early morning to find the bed empty, the window open, and no signs of the invalid. I was instantly aroused, and, with the two footmen, started off at once in search of the missing girl. It was not difficult to tell the direction which she had taken, for, starting from under her window, we could follow her footmarks easily across the lawn to the edge of the mere, where they vanished close to the gravel path which leads out of the grounds. The lake there is eight feet deep, and you can imagine our feelings when we saw that the trail of the poor demented girl came to an end at the edge of it.
“‘蕾切尔·豪厄尔斯病了两天，时而谵妄，时而歇斯底里，不得不雇了个护士夜间看护。布伦顿失踪后的第三天夜里，护士见病人睡得安稳，便在安乐椅上打了个盹，清晨醒来时发现床上空空如也，窗户大开，病人已无影无踪。我立刻被叫醒，带着两个男仆马上出发寻找失踪的女孩。她的去向不难判断，因为从她窗下开始，我们可以轻易地追踪她的脚印穿过草坪来到池塘边，脚印在通往外界的碎石路附近消失了。那里的湖水有八英尺深，当你看到这可怜疯女孩的足迹终止于湖边时，你可以想象我们的心情。’”
“‘Of course, we had the drags at once, and set to work to recover the remains, but no trace of the body could we find. On the other hand, we brought to the surface an object of a most unexpected kind. It was a linen bag which contained within it a mass of old rusted and discoloured metal and several dull-coloured pieces of pebble or glass. This strange find was all that we could get from the mere, and, although we made every possible search and inquiry yesterday, we know nothing of the fate either of Rachel Howells or of Richard Brunton. The county police are at their wits’ end, and I have come up to you as a last resource.’
“‘当然，我们立刻找来打捞工具，着手打捞遗体，却找不到尸体的踪迹。另一方面，我们捞出了一个极其意想不到的东西。那是一个亚麻布袋，里面装着一团生锈变色的旧金属和几块颜色暗淡的卵石或玻璃碎片。这个奇怪的发现是我们从池塘里得到的唯一收获，尽管昨天我们进行了各种可能的搜寻和问询，但对蕾切尔·豪厄尔斯或理查德·布伦顿的命运依然一无所知。郡警局已经束手无策，我只好来找你做最后的尝试了。’”
“You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to this extraordinary sequence of events, and endeavoured to piece them together, and to devise some common thread upon which they might all hang. The butler was gone. The maid was gone. The maid had loved the butler, but had afterwards had cause to hate him. She was of Welsh blood, fiery and passionate. She had been terribly excited immediately after his disappearance. She had flung into the lake a bag containing some curious contents. These were all factors which had to be taken into consideration, and yet none of them got quite to the heart of the matter. What was the starting-point of this chain of events? There lay the end of this tangled line.
“华生，你可以想象我是多么急切地倾听这一连串离奇事件，并试图将它们拼凑起来，找到一条能将它们串联起来的共同线索。管家失踪了。女仆也失踪了。女仆曾爱过管家，但后来又有理由恨他。她有威尔士血统，性情火爆热烈。在他失踪后她表现得极度激动。她把一个装着奇怪物品的袋子扔进了湖里。这些都是必须考虑的因素，但没有一个触及问题的核心。这一连串事件的起点是什么？解开这团乱麻的关键就在于此。”
“‘I must see that paper, Musgrave,’ said I, ‘which this butler of yours thought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of the loss of his place.’
“‘我必须看看那张纸，马斯格雷夫，’我说，‘就是你那位管家宁愿冒着丢掉饭碗的风险也要查阅的那张。’”
“‘It is rather an absurd business, this ritual of ours,’ he answered. ‘But it has at least the saving grace of antiquity to excuse it. I have a copy of the questions and answers here if you care to run your eye over them.’
“‘我们这个礼典挺荒唐的，’他回答，‘但至少它的古老年代可以作为借口。我这里有一份问答副本，如果你愿意过目的话。’”
“He handed me the very paper which I have here, Watson, and this is the strange catechism to which each Musgrave had to submit when he came to man’s estate. I will read you the questions and answers as they stand.
“华生，他递给我的正是我现在手里这张纸，这就是每位马斯格雷夫家族成员成年时必须接受的奇特问答。我把上面的问答原文念给你听。”
“‘Whose was it?’
“‘它是谁的？’”
“‘His who is gone.’
“‘属于已逝之人。’”
“‘Who shall have it?’
“‘谁将拥有它？’”
“‘He who will come.’
“‘即将到来之人。’”
“‘Where was the sun?’
“‘太阳在哪里？’”
“‘Over the oak.’
“‘在橡树之上。’”
“‘Where was the shadow?’
“‘影子在哪里？’”
“‘Under the elm.’
“‘在榆树之下。’”
“How was it stepped?’
“‘步法如何？’”
“‘North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under.’
“‘向北十步又十步，向东五步又五步，向南两步又两步，向西一步又一步，然后向下。’”
“‘What shall we give for it?’
“‘我们要付出什么代价？’”
“‘All that is ours.’
“‘倾尽我们所有。’”
“‘Why should we give it?’
“‘为何要付出？’”
“‘For the sake of the trust.’
“‘为了信守托付。’”
“‘The original has no date, but is in the spelling of the middle of the seventeenth century,’ remarked Musgrave. ‘I am afraid, however, that it can be of little help to you in solving this mystery.’
“‘原件上没有日期，但从拼写来看是十七世纪中叶的风格，’马斯格雷夫评论道，‘不过恐怕这对解决这个谜团帮不上什么忙。’”
“‘At least,’ said I, ‘it gives us another mystery, and one which is even more interesting than the first. It may be that the solution of the one may prove to be the solution of the other. You will excuse me, Musgrave, if I say that your butler appears to me to have been a very clever man, and to have had a clearer insight than ten generations of his masters.’
“‘至少，’我说，‘它给了我们另一个谜题，而且比第一个更有趣。也许解开这一个谜题就能解开另一个。恕我直言，马斯格雷夫，在我看来你的管家是个非常聪明的人，他的洞察力比他之前十代主人都要敏锐。’”
“‘I hardly follow you,’ said Musgrave. ‘The paper seems to me to be of no practical importance.’
“‘我不太明白你的意思，’马斯格雷夫说，‘我觉得这张纸没有什么实际意义。’”
“‘But to me it seems immensely practical, and I fancy that Brunton took the same view. He had probably seen it before that night on which you caught him.’
“‘但在我看来它极具实际意义，我想布伦顿也是这么认为的。在你撞见他的那个晚上之前，他可能早就看过这张纸了。’”
“‘It is very possible. We took no pains to hide it.’
“‘很有可能。我们并没有刻意把它藏起来。’”
“‘He simply wished, I should imagine, to refresh his memory upon that last occasion. He had, as I understand, some sort of map or chart which he was comparing with the manuscript, and which he thrust into his pocket when you appeared.’
“‘我想他最后一次只是想温习一下记忆。据我了解，他有某种地图或图表在与手稿对照，当你出现时他把它塞进了口袋。’”
“‘That is true. But what could he have to do with this old family custom of ours, and what does this rigmarole mean?’
“‘没错。但这跟我们家这个古老的习俗有什么关系？这篇冗长的废话又是什么意思？’”
“‘I don’t think that we should have much difficulty in determining that,’ said I; ‘with your permission we will take the first train down to Sussex, and go a little more deeply into the matter upon the spot.’
“‘我认为要弄清这一点并不难，’我说，‘如果你允许的话，我们将乘最早一班火车去萨塞克斯，在现场更深入地调查此事。’”
“The same afternoon saw us both at Hurlstone. Possibly you have seen pictures and read descriptions of the famous old building, so I will confine my account of it to saying that it is built in the shape of an L, the long arm being the more modern portion, and the shorter the ancient nucleus, from which the other had developed. Over the low, heavily-lintelled door, in the centre of this old part, is chiseled the date, 1607, but experts are agreed that the beams and stonework are really much older than this. The enormously thick walls and tiny windows of this part had in the last century driven the family into building the new wing, and the old one was used now as a storehouse and a cellar, when it was used at all. A splendid park with fine old timber surrounds the house, and the lake, to which my client had referred, lay close to the avenue, about two hundred yards from the building.
“当天下午我们就抵达了赫尔斯通。你可能看过这座著名古建筑的照片或描述，所以我就不再赘述，只简单说它呈L形，长边是较新的部分，短边则是古老的核心建筑，新部分是由此扩建而来的。在这座老建筑中央低矮厚重的门楣上方刻着1607年的字样，但专家们一致认为其梁木和石工实际上要比这古老得多。这部分墙体极厚、窗户极小，上世纪迫使家族另建新翼，而旧翼现在仅用作储藏室和地窖，如果还用得上的话。房子四周环绕着优美的公园和参天古木，我的委托人提到的那个湖泊紧邻车道，距离建筑约两百码。”
“I was already firmly convinced, Watson, that there were not three separate mysteries here, but one only, and that if I could read the Musgrave Ritual aright I should hold in my hand the clue which would lead me to the truth concerning both the butler Brunton and the maid Howells. To that then I turned all my energies. Why should this servant be so anxious to master this old formula? Evidently because he saw something in it which had escaped all those generations of country squires, and from which he expected some personal advantage. What was it then, and how had it affected his fate?
“华生，当时我已经确信，这里并非三个独立的谜团，而是一个整体；只要我能正确解读马斯格雷夫礼典，就能掌握揭开管家布伦顿和女仆豪厄尔斯真相的线索。于是我将全部精力投入其中。为什么这个仆人如此急于掌握这个古老的口诀？显然是因为他从中看到了历代乡绅们忽略的东西，并期望从中获取个人利益。那究竟是什么？又是如何影响了他的命运？”
“It was perfectly obvious to me, on reading the Ritual, that the measurements must refer to some spot to which the rest of the document alluded, and that if we could find that spot, we should be in a fair way towards finding what the secret was which the old Musgraves had thought it necessary to embalm in so curious a fashion. There were two guides given us to start with, an oak and an elm. As to the oak there could be no question at all. Right in front of the house, upon the left-hand side of the drive, there stood a patriarch among oaks, one of the most magnificent trees that I have ever seen.
“读完礼典后我很清楚，其中的度量必定指向文中提到的某个地点，如果我们能找到那个地点，就有很大希望揭开老马斯格雷夫们认为有必要以如此奇特方式保存的秘密。开头给了我们两个参照物：一棵橡树和一棵榆树。橡树毫无疑问。就在房子正前方、车道的左侧，矗立着一棵橡树之王，那是我见过的最壮观的树木之一。”
“‘That was there when your Ritual was drawn up,’ said I, as we drove past it.
“‘你们制定礼典时这棵树就在了，’当我们驱车经过时我说。”
“‘It was there at the Norman Conquest in all probability,’ he answered. ‘It has a girth of twenty-three feet.’
“‘很可能诺曼征服时期它就在了，’他回答，‘树干周长有二十三英尺。’”
“‘Have you any old elms?’ I asked.
“‘你们这里有老榆树吗？’我问。”
“‘There used to be a very old one over yonder but it was struck by lightning ten years ago, and we cut down the stump.’
“‘那边曾经有一棵很老的榆树，但十年前被雷劈了，我们就把树桩砍掉了。’”
“‘You can see where it used to be?’
“‘还能看出它原来生长的位置吗？’”
“‘Oh, yes.’
“‘哦，可以。’”
“‘There are no other elms?’
“‘没有其他榆树了吗？’”
“‘No old ones, but plenty of beeches.’
“‘没有老的，但有很多山毛榉。’”
“‘I should like to see where it grew.’
“‘我想去看看它原来生长的地方。’”
“We had driven up in a dog-cart, and my client led me away at once, without our entering the house, to the scar on the lawn where the elm had stood. It was nearly midway between the oak and the house. My investigation seemed to be progressing.
“我们是驾着双轮马车来的，我的委托人没有进屋，直接带我来到草坪上榆树曾生长过的痕迹处。那里几乎位于橡树和房子的正中间。我的调查似乎有了进展。”
“‘I suppose it is impossible to find out how high the elm was?’ I asked.
“‘我想不可能知道那棵榆树有多高了吧？’我问。”
“‘I can give you it at once. It was sixty-four feet.’
“‘我可以马上告诉你。六十四英尺。’”
“‘How do you come to know it?’ I asked, in surprise.
“‘你怎么知道的？’我惊讶地问。”
“‘When my old tutor used to give me an exercise in trigonometry, it always took the shape of measuring heights. When I was a lad I worked out every tree and building in the estate.’
“‘以前我的老导师给我布置三角学作业时，总是让我测量高度。小时候我把庄园里每棵树和每栋建筑的高度都算过。’”
“This was an unexpected piece of luck. My data were coming more quickly than I could have reasonably hoped.
“这真是个意外的好运。数据来得比我合理预期的还要快。”
“‘Tell me,’ I asked, ‘did your butler ever ask you such a question?’
“‘告诉我，’我问，‘你的管家有没有问过你这个问题？’”
“Reginald Musgrave looked at me in astonishment. ‘Now that you call it to my mind,’ he answered, ‘Brunton did ask me about the height of the tree some months ago, in connection with some little argument with the groom.’
“雷金纳德·马斯格雷夫惊讶地看着我。‘经你这么一提，’他回答，‘几个月前布伦顿确实问过我树的高度，好像是因为跟马夫的一点争执。’”
“This was excellent news, Watson, for it showed me that I was on the right road. I looked up at the sun. It was low in the heavens, and I calculated that in less than an hour it would lie just above the topmost branches of the old oak. One condition mentioned in the Ritual would then be fulfilled. And the shadow of the elm must mean the farther end of the shadow, otherwise the trunk would have been chosen as the guide. I had, then, to find where the far end of the shadow would fall when the sun was just clear of the oak.”
“这是个极好的消息，华生，因为它表明我走上了正确的道路。我抬头看了看太阳。太阳已经西斜，我计算出不到一小时它就会正好位于老橡树最高树枝的上方。这样礼典中提到的一个条件就满足了。而榆树的影子必然是指影子的远端，否则就会选择树干作为参照了。因此，我必须找出当太阳刚刚越过橡树顶端时，影子远端落在何处。”
“That must have been difficult, Holmes, when the elm was no longer there.”
“福尔摩斯，榆树已经不在了，这一定很难办吧。”
“Well, at least I knew that if Brunton could do it, I could also. Besides, there was no real difficulty. I went with Musgrave to his study and whittled myself this peg, to which I tied this long string with a knot at each yard. Then I took two lengths of a fishing-rod, which came to just six feet, and I went back with my client to where the elm had been. The sun was just grazing the top of the oak. I fastened the rod on end, marked out the direction of the shadow, and measured it. It was nine feet in length.
“嗯，至少我知道如果布伦顿能做到，我也能。况且这并没有什么真正的困难。我和马斯格雷夫去了他的书房，削了这个木钉，在上面绑了一根每隔一码打个结的长绳。然后我拿了两截钓鱼竿，刚好六英尺长，和我的委托人回到榆树原址。太阳刚刚擦过橡树顶端。我把钓竿垂直固定，标出影子的方向并测量了长度。影长九英尺。”
“Of course the calculation now was a simple one. If a rod of six feet threw a shadow of nine, a tree of sixty-four feet would throw one of ninety-six, and the line of the one would of course be the line of the other. I measured out the distance, which brought me almost to the wall of the house, and I thrust a peg into the spot. You can imagine my exultation, Watson, when within two inches of my peg I saw a conical depression in the ground. I knew that it was the mark made by Brunton in his measurements, and that I was still upon his trail.
“接下来的计算当然很简单。如果六英尺的竿子投下九英尺的影子，那么六十四英尺的树就会投下九十六英尺的影子，而且两者的连线必然在同一直线上。我量出了这段距离，几乎到了房子的墙根，并在该点插了一个木钉。华生，你可以想象我当时有多兴奋，就在离我的木钉不到两英寸的地方，我看到了地面上一个圆锥形的凹陷。我知道那是布伦顿测量时留下的标记，说明我依然紧跟他的足迹。”
“From this starting-point I proceeded to step, having first taken the cardinal points by my pocket-compass. Ten steps with each foot took me along parallel with the wall of the house, and again I marked my spot with a peg. Then I carefully paced off five to the east and two to the south. It brought me to the very threshold of the old door. Two steps to the west meant now that I was to go two paces down the stone-flagged passage, and this was the place indicated by the Ritual.
“从这个起点开始，我先用袖珍指南针确定了方位，然后迈步前行。左右脚各走十步，沿着与房墙平行的方向前进，我再次用木钉标记了位置。接着我小心地向东走了五步，向南走了两步。这让我来到了那扇古老大门的门槛前。向西两步意味着我要沿着石板铺成的通道走两码，这就是礼典所指的地方。”
“Never have I felt such a cold chill of disappointment, Watson. For a moment it seemed to me that there must be some radical mistake in my calculations. The setting sun shone full upon the passage floor, and I could see that the old, foot-worn grey stones with which it was paved were firmly cemented together, and had certainly not been moved for many a long year. Brunton had not been at work here. I tapped upon the floor, but it sounded the same all over, and there was no sign of any crack or crevice. But, fortunately, Musgrave, who had begun to appreciate the meaning of my proceedings, and who was now as excited as myself, took out his manuscript to check my calculation.
“华生，我从未感到过如此冰冷的失望。那一刻我觉得自己的计算一定出了根本性的错误。夕阳照满了通道地面，我能看到铺地的古老灰色石板已被踩得磨损，彼此间用水泥牢牢粘合，显然多年未曾移动过。布伦顿没有在这里动过手脚。我敲了敲地板，声音到处都一样，没有任何裂缝或缝隙的迹象。但幸运的是，马斯格雷夫已经开始领会我行动的含义，此刻也和我一样兴奋，他掏出手稿来核对我的计算。”
“‘And under,’ he cried. ‘You have omitted the “and under.”’
“‘还有“向下”，’他叫道，‘你漏掉了“然后向下”。’”
“I had thought that it meant that we were to dig, but now, of course, I saw at once that I was wrong. ‘There is a cellar under this then?’ I cried.
“我原以为这意味着我们要挖掘，但现在我立刻意识到自己错了。‘那这下面有个地窖？’我喊道。”
“‘Yes, and as old as the house. Down here, through this door.’
“‘是的，跟房子一样古老。从这里下去，穿过这扇门。’”
“We went down a winding stone stair, and my companion, striking a match, lit a large lantern which stood on a barrel in the corner. In an instant it was obvious that we had at last come upon the true place, and that we had not been the only people to visit the spot recently.
“我们沿着蜿蜒的石阶走下去，我的同伴划燃火柴，点亮了角落里桶上的一盏大灯笼。一瞬间就很明显，我们终于找到了真正的地点，而且最近来过这里的不仅是我们。”
“It had been used for the storage of wood, but the billets, which had evidently been littered over the floor, were now piled at the sides, so as to leave a clear space in the middle. In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a rusted iron ring in the centre to which a thick shepherd’s-check muffler was attached.
“这里曾被用来存放木柴，但原本显然散落满地的木柴现在被堆到了两边，在中间腾出了一块空地。空地上放着一块又大又重的石板，中心有一个生锈的铁环，上面系着一条厚厚的方格围巾。”
“‘By Jove!’ cried my client. ‘That’s Brunton’s muffler. I have seen it on him, and could swear to it. What has the villain been doing here?’
“‘天哪！’我的委托人叫道，‘那是布伦顿的围巾。我见他戴过，绝对错不了。这个恶棍在这里干什么？’”
“At my suggestion a couple of the county police were summoned to be present, and I then endeavoured to raise the stone by pulling on the cravat. I could only move it slightly, and it was with the aid of one of the constables that I succeeded at last in carrying it to one side. A black hole yawned beneath into which we all peered, while Musgrave, kneeling at the side, pushed down the lantern.
“在我的建议下，叫来了两名郡警在场作证，然后我试着拉住围巾抬起石板。我只能稍微挪动它一点，最后是在一名警员的帮助下才成功将其移到一边。下面露出了一个黑洞，我们都往里窥视，马斯格雷夫跪在旁边，把灯笼放了下去。”
“A small chamber about seven feet deep and four feet square lay open to us. At one side of this was a squat, brass-bound wooden box, the lid of which was hinged upwards, with this curious old-fashioned key projecting from the lock. It was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten through the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside of it. Several discs of metal, old coins apparently, such as I hold here, were scattered over the bottom of the box, but it contained nothing else.
“一个约七英尺深、四英尺见方的小密室展现在我们眼前。密室一侧放着一个矮胖的铜边木箱，箱盖向上翻开，锁孔里插着这把奇特的老式钥匙。箱子外面覆盖着厚厚一层灰尘，潮湿和虫蛀侵蚀了木头，内壁长出了一片青紫色的霉菌。箱底散落着几个金属圆盘，显然是古钱币，就像我手里拿的这些，但除此之外别无他物。”
“At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for our eyes were riveted upon that which crouched beside it. It was the figure of a man, clad in a suit of black, who squatted down upon his hams with his forehead sunk upon the edge of the box and his two arms thrown out on each side of it. The attitude had drawn all the stagnant blood to the face, and no man could have recognised that distorted liver-coloured countenance; but his height, his dress, and his hair were all sufficient to show my client, when we had drawn the body up, that it was indeed his missing butler. He had been dead some days, but there was no wound or bruise upon his person to show how he had met his dreadful end. When his body had been carried from the cellar we found ourselves still confronted with a problem which was almost as formidable as that with which we had started.
“然而此刻我们无暇顾及那个旧箱子，因为我们的目光都被蜷缩在旁边的东西吸引住了。那是一个身穿黑衣的男人身影，他蹲坐着，额头抵在箱子边缘，双臂垂在箱子两侧。这种姿势使所有淤血都涌上了面部，没人能认出那张扭曲成猪肝色的脸；但他的身高、衣着和头发足以让我的委托人在我们把尸体抬上来后确认，这确实是他失踪的管家。他已经死了几天，但身上没有任何伤口或淤青表明他是如何惨死的。当尸体被抬出地窖后，我们发现摆在自己面前的问题几乎和开始时一样棘手。”
“I confess that so far, Watson, I had been disappointed in my investigation. I had reckoned upon solving the matter when once I had found the place referred to in the Ritual; but now I was there, and was apparently as far as ever from knowing what it was which the family had concealed with such elaborate precautions. It is true that I had thrown a light upon the fate of Brunton, but now I had to ascertain how that fate had come upon him, and what part had been played in the matter by the woman who had disappeared. I sat down upon a keg in the corner and thought the whole matter carefully over.
“坦白说，华生，到目前为止我对调查结果感到失望。我原以为一旦找到礼典中提到的地点就能解决问题；但现在我到了这里，对于这个家族煞费苦心隐藏的秘密却依然毫无头绪。诚然，我已经揭示了布伦顿的命运，但现在我必须查明他是如何遭遇这种命运的，以及那个失踪的女人在其中扮演了什么角色。我在角落的一个小木桶上坐下，仔细思索整件事。”
“You know my methods in such cases, Watson. I put myself in the man’s place and, having first gauged his intelligence, I try to imagine how I should myself have proceeded under the same circumstances. In this case the matter was simplified by Brunton’s intelligence being quite first-rate, so that it was unnecessary to make any allowance for the personal equation, as the astronomers have dubbed it. He knew that something valuable was concealed. He had spotted the place. He found that the stone which covered it was just too heavy for a man to move unaided. What would he do next? He could not get help from outside, even if he had some one whom he could trust, without the unbarring of doors and considerable risk of detection. It was better, if he could, to have his helpmate inside the house. But whom could he ask? This girl had been devoted to him. A man always finds it hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman’s love, however badly he may have treated her. He would try by a few attentions to make his peace with the girl Howells, and then would engage her as his accomplice. Together they would come at night to the cellar, and their united force would suffice to raise the stone. So far I could follow their actions as if I had actually seen them.
“华生，你知道我在这种情况下使用的方法。我设身处地站在那个人的角度，先评估他的智力水平，然后试着想象自己在同样情况下会怎么做。在这个案子中，由于布伦顿的智商极高，事情变得简单了，不需要像天文学家所说的那样考虑“个人误差”。他知道藏着值钱的东西。他找到了地点。他发现覆盖它的石板太重，一个人搬不动。接下来他会怎么做？即使有可信的人，他也无法从外面找人帮忙，因为那样就得打开门锁，大大增加被发现的风险。如果可能的话，最好在屋里找个帮手。但他能找谁呢？这个女孩曾深爱着他。男人总是难以相信一个女人可能已经彻底不再爱他，无论他曾多么恶劣地对待她。他会试着献些殷勤与豪厄尔斯姑娘和解，然后拉她做同伙。他们会一起在夜里来到地窖，合力抬起石板。到这里，我仿佛亲眼所见般还原了他们的行动。”
“But for two of them, and one a woman, it must have been heavy work the raising of that stone. A burly Sussex policeman and I had found it no light job. What would they do to assist them? Probably what I should have done myself. I rose and examined carefully the different billets of wood which were scattered round the floor. Almost at once I came upon what I expected. One piece, about three feet in length, had a very marked indentation at one end, while several were flattened at the sides as if they had been compressed by some considerable weight. Evidently, as they had dragged the stone up they had thrust the chunks of wood into the chink, until at last, when the opening was large enough to crawl through, they would hold it open by a billet placed lengthwise, which might very well become indented at the lower end, since the whole weight of the stone would press it down on to the edge of this other slab. So far I was still on safe ground.
“但对于他们两个人来说，其中一个还是女人，抬起那块石板一定是项繁重的工作。我和一个魁梧的萨塞克斯警察都觉得这不轻松。他们会用什么办法辅助呢？很可能是我自己会用的方法。我站起身仔细检查散落在地上的各种木柴。几乎立刻就发现了预料之中的东西。一根约三英尺长的木头一端有明显的凹痕，另外几根的侧面被压扁了，仿佛承受过巨大的重量。显然，当他们撬起石板时，会把木块塞进缝隙里，直到开口大到足以让人爬进去，他们再用一根纵向放置的木条撑住开口，这根木条下端很可能会被压出凹痕，因为石板的全部重量都会压在另一块石板的边缘上。至此我的推理仍然稳妥。”
“And now how was I to proceed to reconstruct this midnight drama? Clearly, only one could fit into the hole, and that one was Brunton. The girl must have waited above. Brunton then unlocked the box, handed up the contents presumably—since they were not to be found—and then—and then what happened?
“那么接下来该如何重构这场午夜悲剧呢？很明显，只有一个人能钻进洞里，那就是布伦顿。女孩一定在上面等着。布伦顿打开了箱子，大概是把里面的东西递了上去——因为东西找不到了——然后……然后发生了什么？”
“What smouldering fire of vengeance had suddenly sprung into flame in this passionate Celtic woman’s soul when she saw the man who had wronged her—wronged her, perhaps, far more than we suspected—in her power? Was it a chance that the wood had slipped, and that the stone had shut Brunton into what had become his sepulchre? Had she only been guilty of silence as to his fate? Or had some sudden blow from her hand dashed the support away and sent the slab crashing down into its place? Be that as it might, I seemed to see that woman’s figure still clutching at her treasure trove and flying wildly up the winding stair, with her ears ringing perhaps with the muffled screams from behind her and with the drumming of frenzied hands against the slab of stone which was choking her faithless lover’s life out.
“当这个热情的凯尔特女人看到那个辜负了她——或许比我们想象的还要严重得多——的男人落入自己掌控时，她灵魂深处压抑的复仇之火是如何骤然爆发的？是木头意外滑落，石板将布伦顿关进了他的坟墓？还是她仅仅对他的命运保持了沉默？亦或是她突然出手打掉了支撑物，让石板轰然落下归位？无论如何，我仿佛看到那个女人的身影紧紧抱着她的宝藏，疯狂地冲上蜿蜒的楼梯，耳边或许回荡着身后沉闷的尖叫声，以及那双疯狂的手敲击石板的声音，而那石板正慢慢夺去她那负心情人的生命。”
“Here was the secret of her blanched face, her shaken nerves, her peals of hysterical laughter on the next morning. But what had been in the box? What had she done with that? Of course, it must have been the old metal and pebbles which my client had dragged from the mere. She had thrown them in there at the first opportunity to remove the last trace of her crime.
“这就解释了她第二天早上为何面色惨白、神经崩溃、发出阵阵歇斯底里的狂笑。但箱子里装的是什么？她是怎么处理的？当然，一定是我的委托人从池塘里捞出来的那些旧金属和卵石。她一有机会就把它们扔了进去，以消除罪行的最后痕迹。”
“For twenty minutes I had sat motionless, thinking the matter out. Musgrave still stood with a very pale face, swinging his lantern and peering down into the hole.
“我一动不动地坐了二十分钟，把事情想了个通透。马斯格雷夫依然脸色苍白地站着，摇晃着灯笼向洞里窥视。”
“‘These are coins of Charles the First,’ said he, holding out the few which had been in the box; ‘you see we were right in fixing our date for the Ritual.’
“‘这些是查理一世时期的硬币，’他举起箱子里仅有的几枚说道，‘你看，我们确定礼典的年代是正确的。’”
“‘We may find something else of Charles the First,’ I cried, as the probable meaning of the first two questions of the Ritual broke suddenly upon me. ‘Let me see the contents of the bag which you fished from the mere.’
“‘我们可能还会找到查理一世的其他东西，’我喊道，礼典前两个问题的可能含义突然在我脑海中闪现，‘让我看看你从池塘里捞上来的袋子里的东西。’”
“We ascended to his study, and he laid the débris before me. I could understand his regarding it as of small importance when I looked at it, for the metal was almost black and the stones lustreless and dull. I rubbed one of them on my sleeve, however, and it glowed afterwards like a spark in the dark hollow of my hand. The metal work was in the form of a double ring, but it had been bent and twisted out of its original shape.
“我们上楼来到他的书房，他把那些残骸摆在我面前。看着这些东西，我能理解他为何认为它们无关紧要，因为金属几乎变成了黑色，石头也黯淡无光。然而我在袖子上擦了擦其中一块，它随即在我幽暗的手心里像火花一样闪耀起来。那件金属制品呈双环状，但已被弯曲扭转变了形。”
“‘You must bear in mind,’ said I, ‘that the Royal party made head in England even after the death of the King, and that when they at last fled they probably left many of their most precious possessions buried behind them, with the intention of returning for them in more peaceful times.’
“‘你必须记住，’我说，‘即使在国王死后，保皇党在英国仍有一定势力，当他们最终逃亡时，很可能将许多最珍贵的财产埋藏起来，打算在局势平稳后再回来取走。’”
“‘My ancestor, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a prominent Cavalier and the right-hand man of Charles the Second in his wanderings,’ said my friend.
“‘我的祖先拉尔夫·马斯格雷夫爵士是一位著名的保皇党人，也是查理二世流亡期间的得力助手，’我的朋友说。”
“‘Ah, indeed!’ I answered. ‘Well now, I think that really should give us the last link that we wanted. I must congratulate you on coming into the possession, though in rather a tragic manner of a relic which is of great intrinsic value, but of even greater importance as an historical curiosity.’
“‘啊，原来如此！’我回答，‘好吧，我想这真的补上了我们缺失的最后一环。我必须恭喜你获得了一件具有巨大内在价值、且作为历史文物更为重要的遗物，尽管获得的方式颇为悲惨。’”
“‘What is it, then?’ he gasped in astonishment.
“‘那它到底是什么？’他惊讶地喘着气问。”
“‘It is nothing less than the ancient crown of the Kings of England.’
“‘这绝非别物，正是英格兰国王古老的王冠。’”
“‘The crown!’
“‘王冠！’”
“‘Precisely. Consider what the Ritual says: How does it run? “Whose was it?” “His who is gone.” That was after the execution of Charles. Then, “Who shall have it?” “He who will come.” That was Charles the Second, whose advent was already foreseen. There can, I think, be no doubt that this battered and shapeless diadem once encircled the brows of the royal Stuarts.’
“‘确切地说。想想礼典是怎么说的：“它是谁的？”“属于已逝之人。”那是在查理被处决之后。接着，“谁将拥有它？”“即将到来之人。”那就是查理二世，他的归来已在预料之中。我认为毫无疑问，这顶破损变形的王冠曾戴在斯图亚特王朝君主的头上。’”
“‘And how came it in the pond?’
“‘那它怎么会跑到池塘里去的？’”
“‘Ah, that is a question that will take some time to answer.’ And with that I sketched out to him the whole long chain of surmise and of proof which I had constructed. The twilight had closed in and the moon was shining brightly in the sky before my narrative was finished.
“‘啊，这个问题需要花点时间来回答。’于是我把构建的整条漫长的推测与证据链向他勾勒了一遍。暮色降临，明月高悬夜空，我的叙述才结束。”
“‘And how was it then that Charles did not get his crown when he returned?’ asked Musgrave, pushing back the relic into its linen bag.
“‘那么查理复辟时为什么没有拿回他的王冠呢？’马斯格雷夫问道，把那件遗物推回亚麻布袋里。”
“‘Ah, there you lay your finger upon the one point which we shall probably never be able to clear up. It is likely that the Musgrave who held the secret died in the interval, and by some oversight left this guide to his descendant without explaining the meaning of it. From that day to this it has been handed down from father to son, until at last it came within reach of a man who tore its secret out of it and lost his life in the venture.’
“‘啊，你触及了我们可能永远无法弄清的唯一疑点。很可能掌握秘密的那位马斯格雷夫在此期间去世了，由于某种疏忽，他把这份指引留给了后代却没有解释其含义。从那天起它便父传子、子传孙，直到最后落到一个揭开了其中秘密却为此丧命的人手中。’”
“And that’s the story of the Musgrave Ritual, Watson. They have the crown down at Hurlstone—though they had some legal bother and a considerable sum to pay before they were allowed to retain it. I am sure that if you mentioned my name they would be happy to show it to you. Of the woman nothing was ever heard, and the probability is that she got away out of England and carried herself and the memory of her crime to some land beyond the seas.”
“这就是马斯格雷夫礼典的故事，华生。王冠现在就在赫尔斯通——尽管他们经历了一些法律纠纷并支付了一大笔钱才得以保留。我相信如果你提我的名字，他们会很乐意展示给你看。至于那个女人，从此杳无音讯，很可能她已经逃出了英国，带着她自己和她犯罪的记忆去了某个海外国度。”
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