9.The Resident Patient 住院的病人
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes / 福尔摩斯回忆录
《福尔摩斯回忆录》
In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of memoirs with which I have endeavoured to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose.
在回顾我为了阐释我的朋友夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生某些独特的思维特质而撰写的一系列略显零散的回忆录时，我发现要挑选出在各方面都完全符合我意图的案例实属不易。
For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some tour-de-force of analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation, the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace that I could not feel justified in laying them before the public.
因为在那些福尔摩斯展现了非凡分析推理能力、并证明其独特调查方法价值的案件中，事实本身往往过于微不足道或平淡无奇，让我觉得没有正当理由将其公之于众。
On the other hand, it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish.
另一方面，他也经常参与一些事实极其离奇且充满戏剧性的调查，但在查明真相的过程中，他本人所起的作用却不如我这个传记作者所期望的那样显著。
The small matter which I have chronicled under the heading of “A Study in Scarlet,” and that other later one connected with the loss of the Gloria Scott, may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis which are forever threatening the historian.
我在《血字的研究》标题下记录的那件小事，以及后来与“格洛里亚斯科特号”沉没有关的另一个案件，或许可以作为这种始终困扰着记录者的进退两难的例子。
It may be that in the business of which I am now about to write the part which my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated; and yet the whole train of circumstances is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series.
也许在我现在即将记述的这个事件中，我朋友所扮演的角色不够突出；然而，整个事件的情节是如此非同寻常，以至于我无法忍心将其完全从这个系列中删去。
I cannot be sure of the exact date, for some of my memoranda upon the matter have been mislaid, but it must have been towards the end of the first year during which Holmes and I shared chambers in Baker Street.
我无法确定确切的日期，因为关于此事的一些备忘录已经遗失了，但这一定是在我和福尔摩斯合租贝克街寓所的第一年快结束的时候。
It was boisterous October weather, and we had both remained indoors all day, I because I feared with my shaken health to face the keen autumn wind, while he was deep in some of those abstruse chemical investigations which absorbed him utterly as long as he was engaged upon them.
那是十月里一个狂风大作的日子，我们俩整天都待在屋里，我是因为身体虚弱不敢面对凛冽的秋风，而他则全神贯注于那些深奥的化学研究，一旦投入其中便完全沉浸其中。
Towards evening, however, the breaking of a test-tube brought his research to a premature ending, and he sprang up from his chair with an exclamation of impatience and a clouded brow.
然而临近傍晚时，一支试管的破裂使他的研究提前终止，他从椅子上跳了起来，不耐烦地惊呼一声，眉头紧锁。
“A day’s work ruined, Watson,” said he, striding across to the window. “Ha! the stars are out and the wind has fallen. What do you say to a ramble through London?”
“一天的工作全毁了，华生，”他说着大步走到窗前，“哈！星星出来了，风也停了。我们去伦敦城里逛逛怎么样？”
I was weary of our little sitting-room and gladly acquiesced.
我对这间小起居室感到厌倦，便欣然同意了。
For three hours we strolled about together, watching the ever-changing kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through Fleet Street and the Strand.
我们一起漫步了三个小时，观察着弗利特街和斯特兰德大街上如潮水般涨落、瞬息万变的生活万花筒。
Holmes had shaken off his temporary ill-humour, and his characteristic talk, with its keen observance of detail and subtle power of inference held me amused and enthralled.
福尔摩斯已经摆脱了暂时的坏情绪，他那特有的谈话方式——对细节的敏锐观察和微妙的推理能力——让我既觉得有趣又深深着迷。
It was ten o’clock before we reached Baker Street again. A brougham was waiting at our door.
直到十点钟我们才回到贝克街。一辆四轮轿式马车正停在我们门前等候。
“Hum! A doctor’s—general practitioner, I perceive,” said Holmes. “Not been long in practice, but has had a good deal to do. Come to consult us, I fancy! Lucky we came back!”
“嗯！我看是一位医生——全科医生，”福尔摩斯说，“开业时间不长，但业务相当繁忙。我想是来向我们咨询的吧！幸好我们回来了！”
I was sufficiently conversant with Holmes’s methods to be able to follow his reasoning, and to see that the nature and state of the various medical instruments in the wicker basket which hung in the lamplight inside the broughman had given him the data for his swift deduction.
我对福尔摩斯的方法足够熟悉，能够跟上他的思路，看出马车里灯光下挂着的柳条篮中各种医疗器械的性质和状态为他提供了快速推断的依据。
The light in our window above showed that this late visit was indeed intended for us.
楼上我们窗户透出的灯光表明，这位深夜访客确实是来找我们的。
With some curiosity as to what could have sent a brother medico to us at such an hour, I followed Holmes into our sanctum.
怀着对究竟什么事能让一位同行在如此晚的时间来找我们的好奇，我跟着福尔摩斯走进了我们的房间。
A pale, taper-faced man with sandy whiskers rose up from a chair by the fire as we entered.
我们进去时，一个面色苍白、脸型瘦削、留着浅黄色络腮胡的男人从壁炉旁的椅子上站了起来。
His age may not have been more than three or four and thirty, but his haggard expression and unhealthy hue told of a life which has sapped his strength and robbed him of his youth.
他的年纪可能不过三十三四岁，但他憔悴的神情和不健康的脸色表明生活耗尽了他的精力，夺走了他的青春。
His manner was nervous and shy, like that of a sensitive gentleman, and the thin white hand which he laid on the mantelpiece as he rose was that of an artist rather than of a surgeon.
他的举止紧张而羞怯，像一位敏感的绅士，当他起身时将那只白皙纤细的手放在壁炉架上，那更像是一位艺术家的手而非外科医生的手。
His dress was quiet and sombre—a black frock-coat, dark trousers, and a touch of colour about his necktie.
他的衣着朴素而阴沉——黑色的长礼服，深色的裤子，领带上带有一点色彩。
“Good-evening, doctor,” said Holmes, cheerily. “I am glad to see that you have only been waiting a very few minutes.”
“晚上好，医生，”福尔摩斯愉快地说，“很高兴看到您只等了几分钟。”
“You spoke to my coachman, then?”
“那您跟我的车夫谈过了？”
“No, it was the candle on the side-table that told me. Pray resume your seat and let me know how I can serve you.”
“不，是边桌上的蜡烛告诉我的。请坐吧，告诉我有什么可以为您效劳的。”
“My name is Doctor Percy Trevelyan,” said our visitor, “and I live at 403, Brook Street.”
“我叫珀西·特里维廉医生，”来访者说，“住在布鲁克街403号。”
“Are you not the author of a monograph upon obscure nervous lesions?” I asked.
“您不就是那篇关于罕见神经损伤专著的作者吗？”我问道。
His pale cheeks flushed with pleasure at hearing that his work was known to me.
听到我知道他的著作，他苍白的脸颊因喜悦而泛起了红晕。
“I so seldom hear of the work that I thought it was quite dead,” said he. “My publishers gave me a most discouraging account of its sale. You are yourself, I presume, a medical man?”
“我很少听到有人提起这部作品，还以为它早就无人问津了，”他说，“出版商告诉我销售情况非常令人沮丧。我想您本人也是位医务工作者吧？”
“A retired Army surgeon.”
“一名退役的陆军外科医生。”
“My own hobby has always been nervous disease. I should wish to make it an absolute specialty, but, of course, a man must take what he can get at first. This, however, is beside the question, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and I quite appreciate how valuable your time is. The fact is that a very singular train of events has occurred recently at my house in Brook Street, and to-night they came to such a head that I felt it was quite impossible for me to wait another hour before asking for your advice and assistance.”
“我自己的爱好一直是神经疾病研究。我本想把它作为绝对的专业方向，但是当然，一个人起初只能有什么做什么。不过，这都是题外话了，夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生，我非常清楚您的时间有多宝贵。事实是，最近我在布鲁克街的家里发生了一连串非常离奇的事件，今晚事态发展到了极点，我觉得一刻也不能再等了，必须立刻向您寻求建议和帮助。”
Sherlock Holmes sat down and lit his pipe. “You are very welcome to both,” said he. “Pray let me have a detailed account of what the circumstances are which have disturbed you.”
夏洛克·福尔摩斯坐下来点燃了烟斗。“这两者我都非常乐意提供，”他说，“请详细告诉我究竟是什么情况让您如此不安。”
“One or two of them are so trivial,” said Dr. Trevelyan, “that really I am almost ashamed to mention them. But the matter is so inexplicable, and the recent turn which it has taken is so elaborate, that I shall lay it all before you, and you shall judge what is essential and what is not.”
“其中一两件事实在太琐碎了，”特里维廉医生说，“说出来真让我感到难为情。但这事实在令人费解，而且最近的转折又如此复杂，我还是把所有事情都摊在您面前，由您来判断哪些是关键的，哪些不是。”
“I am compelled, to begin with, to say something of my own college career. I am a London University man, you know, and I am sure that you will not think that I am unduly singing my own praises if I say that my student career was considered by my professors to be a very promising one. After I had graduated I continued to devote myself to research, occupying a minor position in King’s College Hospital, and I was fortunate enough to excite considerable interest by my research into the pathology of catalepsy, and finally to win the Bruce Pinkerton prize and medal by the monograph on nervous lesions to which your friend has just alluded. I should not go too far if I were to say that there was a general impression at that time that a distinguished career lay before me.”
“首先，我不得不谈谈我自己的大学生涯。要知道，我是伦敦大学的学生，我相信如果我说教授们认为我的学生时代非常有前途，您不会觉得我是在过分自夸。毕业后我继续致力于研究，在国王学院医院担任一个小职位，我有幸通过对强直性昏厥病理学的研究引起了极大的关注，并最终凭借刚才您朋友提到的那篇关于神经损伤的专著赢得了布鲁斯·平克顿奖和奖章。如果说当时大家都普遍认为我前程似锦，那也不算夸张。”
“But the one great stumbling-block lay in my want of capital. As you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is compelled to start in one of a dozen streets in the Cavendish Square quarter, all of which entail enormous rents and furnishing expenses. Besides this preliminary outlay, he must be prepared to keep himself for some years, and to hire a presentable carriage and horse. To do this was quite beyond my power, and I could only hope that by economy I might in ten years’ time save enough to enable me to put up my plate. Suddenly, however, an unexpected incident opened up quite a new prospect to me.”
“但最大的绊脚石在于缺乏资金。您很容易理解，一个志向高远的专家必须在卡文迪什广场附近的十几条街道之一开业，而这些地方的租金和装修费用都极其高昂。除了这笔初期开支，他还得准备好维持几年的生计，并租一辆体面的马车和马匹。这完全超出了我的能力范围，我只能指望通过节俭，在十年后攒够钱挂牌行医。然而，一件意想不到的事突然为我开辟了全新的前景。”
“This was a visit from a gentleman of the name of Blessington, who was a complete stranger to me. He came up to my room one morning, and plunged into business in an instant.”
“一位名叫布莱辛顿的先生来拜访我，他对我来说完全是个陌生人。一天早上他来到我的房间，立刻就切入了正题。”
“‘You are the same Percy Trevelyan who has had so distinguished a career and won a great prize lately? ’ said he.”
“‘你就是那个学业优异、最近还得了大奖的珀西·特里维廉吗？’他说。”
“I bowed.”
“我点了点头。”
“‘Answer me frankly,’ he continued, ‘for you will find it to your interest to do so. You have all the cleverness which makes a successful man. Have you the tact?’”
“‘坦率地回答我，’他接着说，‘因为你会发现这样做对你有好处。你具备了成功人士所需的全部聪明才智。那你有没有处世圆通的能力呢？’”
“I could not help smiling at the abruptness of the question.”
“我不禁对他这突兀的问题微微一笑。”
“‘I trust that I have my share,’ I said.”
“‘我相信我也具备应有的分寸，’我说。”
“‘Any bad habits? Not drawn towards drink, eh? ’”
“‘有什么不良嗜好吗？比如不爱喝酒吧？’”
“‘Really, sir! ’ I cried.”
“‘真是的，先生！’我叫道。”
“‘Quite right! That’s all right! But I was bound to ask. With all these qualities, why are you not in practice? ’”
“‘很好！这就对了！但我不得不问。既然具备所有这些素质，你为什么还没开业呢？’”
“I shrugged my shoulders.”
“我耸了耸肩。”
“‘Come, come! ’ said he, in his bustling way. ‘It’s the old story. More in your brains than in your pocket, eh? What would you say if I were to start you in Brook Street?’”
“‘得了，得了！’他以那种忙忙碌碌的口吻说道，‘又是老一套。脑子里的东西比口袋里的多，是吧？如果我要让你在布鲁克街开业，你会怎么说？’”
“I stared at him in astonishment.”
“我惊讶地盯着他。”
“‘Oh, it’s for my sake, not for yours,’ he cried. ‘I’ll be perfectly frank with you, and if it suits you it will suit me very well. I have a few thousands to invest, d’ye see, and I think I’ll sink them in you.’”
“‘哦，这是为了我自己，不是为了你，’他大声说，‘我对你完全坦白，如果这适合你，那也非常适合我。你看，我有几千英镑想投资，我想把它们投在你身上。’”
“‘But why? ’ I gasped.”
“‘可是为什么呢？’我喘着气问。”
“‘Well, it’s just like any other speculation, and safer than most. ’”
“‘嗯，这就像任何其他投机生意一样，而且比大多数都安全。’”
“‘What am I to do, then? ’”
“‘那我该做什么呢？’”
“‘I’ll tell you. I’ll take the house, furnish it, pay the maids, and run the whole place. All you have to do is just to wear out your chair in the consulting-room. I’ll let you have pocket-money and everything. Then you hand over to me three quarters of what you earn, and you keep the other quarter for yourself. ’”
“‘我来告诉你。我会租下房子，置办家具，支付女仆薪水，打理一切事务。你要做的只是在诊室里坐诊。我会给你零花钱和其他一切必需品。然后你把收入的四分之三交给我，剩下的四分之一归你自己。’”
“This was the strange proposal, Mr. Holmes, with which the man Blessington approached me. I won’t weary you with the account of how we bargained and negotiated. It ended in my moving into the house next Lady Day, and starting in practice on very much the same conditions as he had suggested. He came himself to live with me in the character of a resident patient. His heart was weak, it appears, and he needed constant medical supervision. He turned the two best rooms of the first floor into a sitting-room and bedroom for himself. He was a man of singular habits, shunning company and very seldom going out. His life was irregular, but in one respect he was regularity itself. Every evening, at the same hour, he walked into the consulting-room, examined the books, put down five and three-pence for every guinea that I had earned, and carried the rest off to the strong-box in his own room.”
“这就是布莱辛顿向我提出的奇怪提议，福尔摩斯先生。我就不详述我们讨价还价和协商的过程了，免得让您厌烦。结果是我在下一个圣母领报节搬进了那所房子，并按照他建议的条件开始了执业。他自己也以住院病人的身份和我住在一起。据说他心脏不好，需要持续的医疗监护。他把二楼最好的两个房间改成了自己的起居室和卧室。他是个习惯古怪的人，回避社交，极少出门。他的生活毫无规律，但在某一方面却又极其规律。每天晚上在同一时间，他会走进诊室，查看账本，对我赚到的每一个基尼放下五先令三便士，然后把其余的钱带回自己房间的保险箱里。”
“I may say with confidence that he never had occasion to regret his speculation. From the first it was a success. A few good cases and the reputation which I had won in the hospital brought me rapidly to the front, and during the last few years I have made him a rich man.”
“我可以自信地说，他从未有过后悔这笔投资的理由。从一开始就很成功。几个成功的病例加上我在医院赢得的声誉使我迅速崭露头角，在过去几年里我已经让他成了一个富人。”
“So much, Mr. Holmes, for my past history and my relations with Mr. Blessington. It only remains for me now to tell you what has occurred to bring me here to-night.”
“关于我的过往经历以及我与布莱辛顿先生的关系，就说到这里，福尔摩斯先生。现在只剩下告诉您今晚促使我来这里发生的事情了。”
“Some weeks ago Mr. Blessington came down to me in, as it seemed to me, a state of considerable agitation. He spoke of some burglary which, he said, had been committed in the West End, and he appeared, I remember, to be quite unnecessarily excited about it, declaring that a day should not pass before we should add stronger bolts to our windows and doors. For a week he continued to be in a peculiar state of restlessness, peering continually out of the windows, and ceasing to take the short walk which had usually been the prelude to his dinner. From his manner it struck me that he was in mortal dread of something or somebody, but when I questioned him upon the point he became so offensive that I was compelled to drop the subject. Gradually, as time passed, his fears appeared to die away, and he had renewed his former habits, when a fresh event reduced him to the pitiable state of prostration in which he now lies.”
“几周前，布莱辛顿先生下楼来找我，在我看来显得相当激动。他提到西区发生了一起入室盗窃案，我记得他对这件事表现得完全没有必要的兴奋，声称必须在一天之内给我们的门窗加装更坚固的门闩。整整一周他都处于一种特殊的焦躁状态，不断地向窗外张望，也不再像往常那样在饭前散步了。从他的举止来看，我觉得他对某人或某事怀有极度的恐惧，但当我向他询问时，他的态度变得非常恶劣，我只好作罢。随着时间的推移，他的恐惧似乎逐渐消退，也恢复了以前的习惯，直到一件新发生的事情使他陷入了如今这种可怜的崩溃状态。”
“What happened was this. Two days ago I received the letter which I now read to you. Neither address nor date is attached to it.”
“事情是这样的。两天前我收到了我现在念给您听的这封信。信上既没有地址也没有日期。”
“‘A Russian nobleman who is now resident in England,’ it runs, ‘would be glad to avail himself of the professional assistance of Dr. Percy Trevelyan. He has been for some years a victim to cataleptic attacks, on which, as is well known, Dr. Trevelyan is an authority. He proposes to call at about quarter past six to-morrow evening, if Dr. Trevelyan will make it convenient to be at home.’”
“信中写道：‘一位现居英国的俄罗斯贵族希望能得到珀西·特里维廉医生的专业协助。多年来他一直饱受强直性昏厥发作之苦，众所周知，特里维廉医生是该领域的权威。如果特里维廉医生明晚六点一刻方便在家接诊的话，他打算届时登门拜访。’”
“This letter interested me deeply, because the chief difficulty in the study of catalepsy is the rareness of the disease. You may believe, then, that I was in my consulting-room when, at the appointed hour, the page showed in the patient.”
“这封信引起了我的极大兴趣，因为研究强直性昏厥的主要困难就在于这种疾病的罕见性。因此您可以相信，在约定的时间，当小听差把病人领进来时，我正坐在诊室里。”
“He was an elderly man, thin, demure, and commonplace—by no means the conception one forms of a Russian nobleman. I was much more struck by the appearance of his companion. This was a tall young man, surprisingly handsome, with a dark, fierce face, and the limbs and chest of a Hercules. He had his hand under the other’s arm as they entered, and helped him to a chair with a tenderness which one would hardly have expected from his appearance.”
“那是一位上了年纪的男人，瘦削、端庄且相貌平平——完全不像人们想象中的俄罗斯贵族。反倒是他的同伴更令我印象深刻。那是个高个子年轻人，英俊得惊人，面容黝黑而凶悍，四肢和胸膛像赫拉克勒斯般强壮。他们进来时，他的手托着老人的胳膊，扶他坐到椅子上，那份温柔与他粗犷的外表极不相称。”
“‘You will excuse my coming in, doctor,’ said he to me, speaking English with a slight lisp. ‘This is my father, and his health is a matter of the most overwhelming importance to me.’”
“‘请原谅我跟进来，医生，’他用略带口齿不清的英语对我说，‘这是我父亲，他的健康对我来说至关重要。’”
“I was touched by this filial anxiety. ‘You would, perhaps, care to remain during the consultation?’ said I.”
“我被这份孝心感动了。“也许您愿意在问诊期间留下来？”我说。”
“‘Not for the world,’ he cried with a gesture of horror. ‘It is more painful to me than I can express. If I were to see my father in one of these dreadful seizures I am convinced that I should never survive it. My own nervous system is an exceptionally sensitive one. With your permission, I will remain in the waiting-room while you go into my father’s case.’”
“‘绝对不行，’他带着惊恐的手势叫道，‘那比我所能表达的还要痛苦。如果我亲眼看到父亲发作这种可怕的病症，我相信自己也活不下去了。我的神经系统异常敏感。如果您允许的话，在您检查我父亲的病情时，我就在候诊室里等着。’”
“To this, of course, I assented, and the young man withdrew. The patient and I then plunged into a discussion of his case, of which I took exhaustive notes. He was not remarkable for intelligence, and his answers were frequently obscure, which I attributed to his limited acquaintance with our language. Suddenly, however, as I sat writing, he ceased to give any answer at all to my inquiries, and on my turning towards him I was shocked to see that he was sitting bolt upright in his chair, staring at me with a perfectly blank and rigid face. He was again in the grip of his mysterious malady.”
“对此我当然同意了，年轻人便退了出去。随后我和病人开始深入讨论他的病情，我做了详尽的记录。他的智力并不出众，回答也经常含糊不清，我将其归因于他对我们的语言掌握有限。然而，正当我坐着书写时，他突然不再对我的提问做任何回应，当我转过身看他时，震惊地发现他笔直地坐在椅子上，面无表情、僵硬地盯着我。他又被那种神秘的疾病攫住了。”
“My first feeling, as I have just said, was one of pity and horror. My second, I fear, was rather one of professional satisfaction. I made notes of my patient’s pulse and temperature, tested the rigidity of his muscles, and examined his reflexes. There was nothing markedly abnormal in any of these conditions, which harmonised with my former experiences. I had obtained good results in such cases by the inhalation of nitrite of amyl, and the present seemed an admirable opportunity of testing its virtues. The bottle was downstairs in my laboratory, so leaving my patient seated in his chair, I ran down to get it. There was some little delay in finding it—five minutes, let us say—and then I returned. Imagine my amazement to find the room empty and the patient gone.”
“正如我刚才所说，我的第一感觉是怜悯和恐惧。恐怕我的第二个感觉更多是一种职业上的满足感。我记录了病人的脉搏和体温，测试了他肌肉的僵硬程度，并检查了他的反射。这些指标都没有明显的异常，这与我以往的经验相符。我曾通过吸入亚硝酸异戊酯在这类病例中取得了良好效果，眼下似乎是检验其疗效的绝佳机会。药瓶在楼下的实验室里，于是我让病人坐在椅子上，跑下楼去取。找药稍微耽搁了一会儿——就算五分钟吧——然后我回来了。想象一下当我发现房间空空如也、病人不见踪影时有多么惊讶。”
“Of course, my first act was to run into the waiting-room. The son had gone also. The hall door had been closed, but not shut. My page who admits patients is a new boy and by no means quick. He waits downstairs, and runs up to show patients out when I ring the consult-room bell. He had heard nothing, and the affair remained a complete mystery. Mr. Blessington came in from his walk shortly afterwards, but I did not say anything to him upon the subject, for, to tell the truth, I have got in the way of late of holding as little communication with him as possible.”
“当然，我的第一个反应是冲进候诊室。那个儿子也不见了。大厅的门关着，但没有锁上。负责接待病人的小听差是个新来的孩子，一点也不机灵。他在楼下等着，听到我按诊室的铃才会跑上来送病人出去。他什么也没听见，这件事成了一个完全的谜团。不久之后布莱辛顿先生散步回来了，但我没有向他提及此事，因为说实话，近来我已养成了尽可能少与他交流的习惯。”
“Well, I never thought that I should see anything more of the Russian and his son, so you can imagine my amazement when, at the very same hour this evening, they both came marching into my consulting-room, just as they had done before.”
“唉，我本以为再也见不到这对俄罗斯父子了，所以您可以想象，当他们今晚在同一时间又像上次一样大步走进我的诊室时，我是多么惊讶。”
“‘I feel that I owe you a great many apologies for my abrupt departure yesterday, doctor,’ said my patient.”
“‘医生，我觉得对于昨天我的突然离开欠您很多道歉，’我的病人说。”
“‘I confess that I was very much surprised at it,’ said I.”
“‘我承认对此感到非常吃惊，’我说。”
“‘Well, the fact is,’ he remarked, ‘that when I recover from these attacks my mind is always very clouded as to all that has gone before. I woke up in a strange room, as it seemed to me, and made my way out into the street in a sort of dazed way when you were absent.’”
“‘嗯，事实上，’他说，‘每当我从这种发作中恢复过来时，对之前发生的事情总是记忆模糊。我觉得自己在一个陌生的房间里醒来，趁着您不在的时候，迷迷糊糊地走到了街上。’”
“‘And I,’ said the son, ‘seeing my father pass the door of the waiting-room, naturally thought that the consultation had come to an end. It was not until we had reached home that I began to realize the true state of affairs.’”
“‘而我，’儿子说，‘看到我父亲经过候诊室的门口，自然以为问诊已经结束了。直到我们回到家，我才开始意识到真实的情况。’”
“‘Well,’ said I, laughing, ‘there is no harm done except that you puzzled me terribly; so if you, sir, would kindly step into the waiting-room I shall be happy to continue our consultation which was brought to so abrupt an ending.’”
“‘好吧，’我笑着说，‘除了让我大惑不解之外倒也没什么损害；所以，先生，如果您能移步候诊室，我很乐意继续我们那次被突然打断的问诊。’”
“‘For half an hour or so I discussed that old gentleman’s symptoms with him, and then, having prescribed for him, I saw him go off upon the arm of his son.”
“我和那位老先生讨论了大约半小时的症状，然后给他开了处方，看着他挽着儿子的手臂离开了。”
“I have told you that Mr. Blessington generally chose this hour of the day for his exercise. He came in shortly afterwards and passed upstairs. An instant later I heard him running down, and he burst into my consulting-room like a man who is mad with panic.”
“我告诉过您，布莱辛顿先生通常选择在这个时间段锻炼。他很快就回来了，上楼去了。片刻之后我听到他跑下楼的声音，他像个吓疯了的人一样冲进我的诊室。”
“‘Who has been in my room? ’ he cried.”
“‘谁进过我的房间？’他喊道。”
“‘No one,’ said I.”
“‘没有人，’我说。”
“‘It’s a lie! He yelled. ‘Come up and look!’”
“‘撒谎！’他吼道，‘上去看看！’”
“I passed over the grossness of his language, as he seemed half out of his mind with fear. When I went upstairs with him he pointed to several footprints upon the light carpet.”
“我没有计较他粗鲁的言辞，因为他似乎吓得有些神志不清了。当我跟他上楼时，他指着浅色地毯上的几个脚印。”
“‘D’you mean to say those are mine? ’ he cried.”
“‘你是想说那些是我的脚印吗？’他叫道。”
“They were certainly very much larger than any which he could have made, and were evidently quite fresh. It rained hard this afternoon, as you know, and my patients were the only people who called. It must have been the case, then, that the man in the waiting-room had, for some unknown reason, while I was busy with the other, ascended to the room of my resident patient. Nothing had been touched or taken, but there were the footprints to prove that the intrusion was an undoubted fact.”
“那些脚印确实比他可能留下的要大得多，而且显然是刚踩上去的。您知道今天下午雨下得很大，除了我的病人外没有其他人来过。那么一定是候诊室里的那个人趁着我忙于诊治另一位病人时，出于某种未知的原因溜上了我那位住院病人的房间。东西没有被翻动或拿走，但脚印证明了入侵是确凿无疑的事实。”
“Mr. Blessington seemed more excited over the matter than I should have thought possible, though of course it was enough to disturb anybody’s peace of mind. He actually sat crying in an armchair, and I could hardly get him to speak coherently. It was his suggestion that I should come round to you, and of course I at once saw the propriety of it, for certainly the incident is a very singular one, though he appears to completely overrate its importance. If you would only come back with me in my brougham, you would at least be able to soothe him, though I can hardly hope that you will be able to explain this remarkable occurrence.”
“布莱辛顿先生对此事的激动程度超出了我的想象，尽管这事确实足以扰乱任何人的心神。他竟然坐在扶手椅上哭了起来，我几乎无法让他连贯地说话。是他建议我来找您的，我当然立刻觉得这很合适，因为这确实是一桩非常离奇的事件，尽管他似乎完全高估了其重要性。如果您能坐我的马车跟我回去一趟，至少能安抚一下他，虽然我不太指望您能解释这件怪事。”
Sherlock Holmes had listened to this long narrative with an intentness which showed me that his interest was keenly aroused. His face was as impassive as ever, but his lids had drooped more heavily over his eyes, and his smoke had curled up more thickly from his pipe to emphasize each curious episode in the doctor’s tale. As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up without a word, handed me my hat, picked his own from the table, and followed Dr. Trevelyan to the door. Within a quarter of an hour we had been dropped at the door of the physician’s residence in Brook Street, one of those sombre, flat-faced houses which one associates with a West-End practice. A small page admitted us, and we began at once to ascend the broad, well-carpeted stair.
夏洛克·福尔摩斯全神贯注地听完了这段长篇叙述，这表明他的兴趣被强烈地激发了。他的表情一如既往地平静，但眼皮垂得更低了，烟斗里冒出的烟雾也更浓密了，仿佛在强调医生故事中的每一个离奇情节。当我们的客人讲完后，福尔摩斯一言不发地跳了起来，递给我帽子，从桌上拿起他自己的帽子，跟着特里维廉医生走到了门口。不到一刻钟，我们就被送到了布鲁克街这位医生的住所门前，那是西区诊所常见的那种阴暗、立面平整的房子。一个小听差让我们进去，我们立刻开始爬上铺着厚地毯的宽敞楼梯。
But a singular interruption brought us to a standstill. The light at the top was suddenly whisked out, and from the darkness came a reedy, quivering voice.
但一次奇特的打断使我们停了下来。楼梯顶端的灯突然熄灭了，黑暗中传来一个尖细颤抖的声音。
“I have a pistol,” it cried. “I give you my word that I’ll fire if you come any nearer.”
“我有手枪，”声音喊道，“我向你们保证，如果再靠近一步我就开枪了。”
“This really grows outrageous, Mr. Blessington,” cried Dr. Trevelyan.
“这真是太离谱了，布莱辛顿先生，”特里维廉医生喊道。
“Oh, then it is you, doctor,” said the voice, with a great heave of relief. “But those other gentlemen, are they what they pretend to be?”
“噢，原来是您啊，医生，”声音如释重负地说道，“但那几位先生，他们真的是他们所声称的身份吗？”
We were conscious of a long scrutiny out of the darkness.
我们感觉到黑暗中有一道目光审视了我们许久。
“Yes, yes, it’s all right,” said the voice at last. “You can come up, and I am sorry if my precautions have annoyed you.”
“是的，是的，没问题了，”声音终于说道，“你们可以上来了，如果我的防范措施惹恼了你们，我很抱歉。”
He relit the stair gas as he spoke, and we saw before us a singular-looking man, whose appearance, as well as his voice, testified to his jangled nerves. He was very fat, but had apparently at some time been much fatter, so that the skin hung about his face in loose pouches, like the cheeks of a blood-hound. He was of a sickly colour, and his thin, sandy hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion. In his hand he held a pistol, but he thrust it into his pocket as we advanced.
他边说边重新点亮了楼梯的煤气灯，我们看到了一个长相奇特的人，他的外表和声音都证明了他紧绷的神经。他很胖，但显然曾经更胖，以至于脸上的皮肤松垮地垂下来，像寻血猎犬的脸颊一样。他面色病态，稀疏的浅黄头发似乎因情绪的激烈而竖立起来。他手里拿着一把手枪，但随着我们走近，他把它塞进了口袋。
“Good-evening, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “I am sure I am very much obliged to you for coming round. No one ever needed your advice more than I do. I suppose that Dr. Trevelyan has told you of this most unwarrantable intrusion into my rooms.”
“晚上好，福尔摩斯先生，”他说，“我非常感激您的到来。没人比我更需要您的建议了。我想特里维廉医生已经告诉了您这次对我房间最无理的闯入。”
“Quite so,” said Holmes. “Who are these two men Mr. Blessington, and why do they wish to molest you?”
“没错，”福尔摩斯说，“这两个人是谁，布莱辛顿先生？他们为什么要骚扰您？”
“Well, well,” said the resident patient, in a nervous fashion, “of course it is hard to say that. You can hardly expect me to answer that, Mr. Holmes.”
“哎，哎，”这位住院病人紧张地说，“这当然很难说。您不能指望我回答这个问题，福尔摩斯先生。”
“Do you mean that you don’t know?”
“您的意思是您不知道？”
“Come in here, if you please. Just have the kindness to step in here.”
“请进这里来。劳驾请进这里。”
He led the way into his bedroom, which was large and comfortably furnished.
他领路走进他的卧室，房间很大，布置得很舒适。
“You see that,” said he, pointing to a big black box at the end of his bed. “I have never been a very rich man, Mr. Holmes—never made but one investment in my life, as Dr. Trevelyan would tell you. But I don’t believe in bankers. I would never trust a banker, Mr. Holmes. Between ourselves, what little I have is in that box, so you can understand what it means to me when unknown people force themselves into my rooms.”
“您看那个，”他指着床尾的一个黑色大箱子说，“我从来都不是很有钱的人，福尔摩斯先生——正如特里维廉医生会告诉您的，我这辈子只做过一笔投资。但我不信任银行家。我绝不会信任银行家，福尔摩斯先生。私下里说，我仅有的一点积蓄都在那个箱子里，所以您可以理解当陌生人强行闯入我的房间时对我意味着什么。”
Holmes looked at Blessington in his questioning way and shook his head.
福尔摩斯用探究的目光看着布莱辛顿，摇了摇头。
“I cannot possibly advise you if you try to deceive me,” said he.
“如果您试图欺骗我，我就不可能给您任何建议，”他说。
“But I have told you everything.”
“但我已经把一切都告诉您了。”
Holmes turned on his heel with a gesture of disgust. “Good-night, Dr. Trevelyan,” said he.
福尔摩斯厌恶地转身就走。“晚安，特里维廉医生，”他说。
“And no advice for me?” cried Blessington, in a breaking voice.
“就没有给我的建议吗？”布莱辛顿用破碎的声音喊道。
“My advice to you, sir, is to speak the truth.”
“先生，我给您的建议就是讲真话。”
A minute later we were in the street and walking for home. We had crossed Oxford Street and were half way down Harley Street before I could get a word from my companion.
一分钟后我们走在街上往回走。我们穿过牛津街，走到哈利街一半时，我才从我同伴那里得到一句话。
“Sorry to bring you out on such a fool’s errand, Watson,” he said at last. “It is an interesting case, too, at the bottom of it.”
“很抱歉把你叫出来白跑一趟，华生，”他终于开口了，“不过这案子本质上还是很有趣的。”
“I can make little of it,” I confessed.
“我却看不出什么头绪，”我坦白道。
“Well, it is quite evident that there are two men—more, perhaps, but at least two—who are determined for some reason to get at this fellow Blessington. I have no doubt in my mind that both on the first and on the second occasion that young man penetrated to Blessington’s room, while his confederate, by an ingenious device, kept the doctor from interfer.”
“嗯，很明显至少有两个人——也许更多，但至少有两个——出于某种原因决心要对这个布莱辛顿下手。我毫不怀疑，无论是第一次还是第二次，那个年轻人都潜入了布莱辛顿的房间，而他的同伙则用巧妙的手段拖住了医生使其无法干涉。”
“And the catalepsy?”
“那强直性昏厥呢？”
“A fraudulent imitation, Watson, though I should hardly dare to hint as much to our specialist. It is a very easy complaint to imitate. I have done it myself.”
“那是骗人的伪装，华生，虽然我几乎不敢向我们的专家暗示这一点。这种病很容易模仿。我自己就曾试过。”
“And then?”
“然后呢？”
“By the purest chance Blessington was out on each occasion. Their reason for choosing so unusual an hour for a consultation was obviously to insure that there should be no other patient in the waiting-room. It just happened, however, that this hour coincided with Blessington’s constitutional, which seems to show that they were not very well acquainted with his daily routine. Of course, if they had been merely after plunder they would at least have made some attempt to search for it. Besides, I can read in a man’s eye when it is his own skin that he is frightened for. It is inconceivable that this fellow could have made two such vindictive enemies as these appear to be without knowing of it. I hold it, therefore, to be certain that he does know who these men are, and that for reasons of his own he suppresses it. It is just possible that to-morrow may find him in a more communicative mood.”
“纯粹是巧合，布莱辛顿两次都不在。他们选择如此不寻常的时间就诊，显然是为了确保候诊室里没有其他病人。然而碰巧这个时间正好赶上布莱辛顿散步，这似乎表明他们对他的日常作息并不十分了解。当然，如果他们仅仅是为了抢劫，至少会尝试搜查一番。此外，当一个人是为自己的性命担忧时，我能从他的眼神中看出来。难以想象这家伙会在不知情的情况下结下这两个看起来如此报复心切的仇人。因此，我确信他知道这些人是谁，只是出于自身原因隐瞒了实情。也许明天他会更愿意开口。”
“Is there not one alternative,” I suggested, “grotesquely improbable, no doubt, but still just conceivable? Might the whole story of the cataleptic Russian and his son be a concoction of Dr. Trevelyan’s, who has, for his own purposes, been in Blessington’s rooms?”
“难道没有另一种可能性吗，”我提议道，“虽然荒谬至极，但也并非完全不可想象？会不会整个关于患强直性昏厥的俄罗斯人及其儿子的故事都是特里维廉医生编造的，而他出于自己的目的进过布莱辛顿的房间？”
I saw in the gaslight that Holmes wore an amused smile at this brilliant departure of mine.
在煤气灯下，我看到福尔摩斯对我这一精彩的推论露出了被逗乐的微笑。
“My dear fellow,” said he, “it was one of the first solutions which occurred to me, but I was soon able to corroborate the doctor’s tale. This young man has left prints upon the stair-carpet which made it quite superfluous for me to ask to see those which he had made in the room. When I tell you that his shoes were square-toed instead of being pointed like Blessington’s, and were quite an inch and a third longer than the doctor’s, you will acknowledge that there can be no doubt as to his individuality. But we may sleep on it now, for I shall be surprised if we do not hear something further from Brook Street in the morning.”
“亲爱的伙伴，”他说，“这也是我最初想到的解释之一，但我很快就能证实医生的故事是真的。这个年轻人在楼梯地毯上留下了脚印，使得我根本没必要再去查看他在房间里留下的痕迹。如果我告诉你他的鞋是方头的，不像布莱辛顿的那样是尖头的，而且比医生的鞋足足长了一英寸三分之一，你就会承认他的身份是毋庸置疑的了。不过我们现在可以去睡觉了，如果明早我们没有收到来自布鲁克街的新消息，那我才会感到惊讶。”
Sherlock Holmes’s prophecy was soon fulfilled, and in a dramatic fashion. At half-past seven next morning, in the first glimmer of daylight, I found him standing by my bedside in his dressing-gown.
夏洛克·福尔摩斯的预言很快就应验了，而且是以一种戏剧性的方式。第二天早上七点半，天刚蒙蒙亮，我就发现他穿着晨衣站在我的床边。
“There’s a brougham waiting for us, Watson,” said he.
“有辆马车在等我们，华生，”他说。
“What’s the matter, then?”
“出什么事了？”
“The Brook Street business.”
“布鲁克街的事。”
“Any fresh news?”
“有新消息吗？”
“Tragic, but ambiguous,” said he, pulling up the blind. “Look at this—a sheet from a note-book, with ‘For God’s sake come at once—P.T.,’ scrawled upon it in pencil. Our friend, the doctor, was hard put to it when he wrote this. Come along, my dear fellow, for it’s an urgent call.”
“悲剧性的，但又模棱两可，”他说着拉起百叶窗，“看这个——一张笔记本纸，上面用铅笔潦草地写着‘看在上帝的份上请立即赶来——P.T.’。我们的医生朋友写这张纸条时一定处境艰难。走吧，亲爱的伙伴，这是紧急召唤。”
In a quarter of an hour or so we were back at the physician’s house. He came running out to meet us with a face of horror.
大约一刻钟后我们又回到了医生的住所。他满脸惊恐地跑出来迎接我们。
“Oh, such a business!” he cried, with his hands to his temples.
“噢，出了大事了！”他双手抱着头喊道。
“What then?”
“怎么了？”
“Blessington has committed suicide!”
“布莱辛顿自杀了！”
Holmes whistled.
福尔摩斯吹了一声口哨。
“Yes, he hanged himself during the night.”
“是的，他在夜里上吊了。”
We had entered, and the doctor had preceded us into what was evidently his waiting-room.
我们进了屋，医生先我们一步走进了显然是候诊室的房间。
“I really hardly know what I am doing,” he cried. “The police are already upstairs. It has shaken me most dreadfully.”
“我真的不知道自己该怎么办了，”他喊道，“警察已经在楼上了。这事把我吓坏了。”
“When did you find it out?”
“你们什么时候发现的？”
“He has a cup of tea taken in to him early every morning. When the maid entered, about seven, there the unfortunate fellow was hanging in the middle of the room. He had tied his cord to the hook on which the heavy lamp used to hang, and he had jumped off from the top of the very box that he showed us yesterday.”
“每天早上很早就会有人给他送一杯茶进去。女仆大约七点进去时，那个不幸的家伙就吊在房间中央。他把绳子系在以前挂重灯的钩子上，是从昨天给我们看的那个箱子顶上跳下去的。”
Holmes stood for a moment in deep thought.
福尔摩斯站着沉思了片刻。
“With your permission,” said he at last, “I should like to go upstairs and look into the matter.”
“如果您允许的话，”他终于说道，“我想上楼去看看这件事。”
We both ascended, followed by the doctor.
我们俩上了楼，医生跟在后面。
It was a dreadful sight which met us as we entered the bedroom door. I have spoken of the impression of flabbiness which this man Blessington conveyed. As he dangled from the hook it was exaggerated and intensified until he was scarce human in his appearance. The neck was drawn out like a plucked chicken’s, making the rest of him seem the more obese and unnatural by the contrast. He was clad only in his long night-dress, and his swollen ankles and ungainly feet protruded starkly from beneath it. Beside him stood a smart-looking police-inspector, who was taking notes in a pocket-book.
当我们走进卧室门时，映入眼帘的景象十分可怕。我之前提过布莱辛顿这个人给人一种松弛肥胖的印象。当他悬挂在钩子上时，这种感觉被夸大和加剧了，以至于他看起来几乎不像个人类。脖子被拉得像拔了毛的鸡一样长，相比之下身体的其余部分显得更加肥胖和不自然。他只穿着长长的睡袍，肿胀的脚踝和笨拙的双脚赤裸裸地从下面露出来。旁边站着一位精明的警探，正在记事本上做笔记。
“Ah, Mr. Holmes,” said he, heartily, as my friend entered, “I am delighted to see you.”
“啊，福尔摩斯先生，”我的朋友进去时，他热情地说，“见到您真高兴。”
“Good-morning, Lanner,” answered Holmes; “you won’t think me an intruder, I am sure. Have you heard of the events which led up to this affair?”
“早上好，兰纳，”福尔摩斯回答，“我相信你不会把我当成不速之客。你听说过导致这起事件的前因后果吗？”
“Yes, I heard something of them.”
“是的，我听说了一些。”
“Have you formed any opinion?”
“你有什么看法了吗？”
“As far as I can see, the man has been driven out of his senses by fright. The bed has been well slept in, you see. There’s his impression deep enough. It’s about five in the morning, you know, that suicides are most common. That would be about his time for hanging himself. It seems to have been a very deliberate affair.”
“据我所见，这人是被吓得失去了理智。你看，床上有明显的睡痕。他的压痕很深。你知道，凌晨五点通常是自杀最高发的时段。那大概就是他上吊的时间。看起来这是一次深思熟虑的行为。”
“I should say that he has been dead about three hours, judging by the rigidity of the muscles,” said I.
“根据肌肉僵硬度判断，我认为他已经死了大约三个小时，”我说。
“Noticed anything peculiar about the room?” asked Holmes.
“注意到房间里有什么特别之处吗？”福尔摩斯问。
“Found a screw-driver and some screws on the wash-hand stand. Seems to have smoked heavily during the night, too. Here are four cigar-ends that I picked out of the fireplace.”
“在洗脸架上发现了一把螺丝刀和一些螺丝。昨晚似乎抽烟抽得很凶。这是我从壁炉里捡出来的四个雪茄头。”
“Hum!” said Holmes, “have you got his cigar-holder?”
“哼！”福尔摩斯说，“你找到他的雪茄嘴了吗？”
“No, I have seen none.”
“没有，我没看到。”
“His cigar-case, then?”
“那他的雪茄盒呢？”
“Yes, it was in his coat-pocket.”
“有的，在他外套口袋里。”
Holmes opened it and smelled the single cigar which it contained.
福尔摩斯打开盒子，闻了闻里面唯一的一支雪茄。
“Oh, this is a Havana, and these others are cigars of the peculiar sort which are imported by the Dutch from their East Indian colonies. They are usually wrapped in straw, you know, and are thinner for their length than any other brand.” He picked up the four ends and examined them with his pocket-lens.
“噢，这支是哈瓦那雪茄，而另外几支是一种特殊的雪茄，是荷兰人从其东印度殖民地进口的。你知道，它们通常用稻草包裹，相对于长度来说比其他任何品牌都要细。”他拿起那四个雪茄头，用袖珍放大镜仔细检查。
“Two of these have been smoked from a holder and two without,” said he. “Two have been cut by a not very sharp knife, and two have had the ends bitten off by a set of excellent teeth. This is no suicide, Mr. Lanner. It is a very deeply planned and cold-blooded murder.”
“其中两支是用雪茄嘴抽的，两支不是，”他说，“两支是用一把不太锋利的刀切的，另外两支的末端是被一副好牙齿咬掉的。这不是自杀，兰纳先生。这是一场精心策划的冷血谋杀。”
“Impossible!” cried the inspector.
“不可能！”警探叫道。
“And why?”
“为什么不可能？”
“Why should any one murder a man in so clumsy a fashion as by hanging him?”
“谁会笨拙到用上吊的方式来杀人呢？”
“That is what we have to find out.”
“这正是我们要查明的。”
“How could they get in?”
“他们是怎么进来的？”
“Through the front door.”
“从前门进来的。”
“It was barred in the morning.”
“早上门是上了闩的。”
“Then it was barred after them.”
“那就是在他们进来之后才上的闩。”
“How do you know?”
“你怎么知道？”
“I saw their traces. Excuse me a moment, and I may be able to give you some further information about it.”
“我看到了他们的痕迹。请容我片刻，我也许能提供更多信息。”
He went over to the door, and turning the lock he examined it in his methodical way. Then he took out the key, which was on the inside, and inspected that also. The bed, the carpet, the chairs, the mantelpiece, the dead body, and the rope were each in turn examined, until at last he professed himself satisfied, and with my aid and that of the inspector cut down the wretched object and laid it reverently under a sheet.
他走到门前，转动门锁，有条不紊地进行了检查。然后他取出插在里面的钥匙，也进行了查验。床、地毯、椅子、壁炉架、尸体和绳索都被逐一检查，直到最后他表示满意，并在我和警探的帮助下把那具可怜的躯体割了下来，恭敬地盖上床单放好。
“How about this rope?” he asked.
“这根绳子是怎么回事？”他问。
“It is cut off this,” said Dr. Trevelyan, drawing a large coil from under the bed. “He was morbidly nervous of fire, and always kept this beside him, so that he might escape by the window in case the stairs were burning.”
“是从这上面剪下来的，”特里维廉医生说着从床下拉出一大盘绳子，“他对火灾有病态的恐惧，总是把这根绳子放在身边，以便在楼梯着火时能从窗户逃生。”
“That must have saved them trouble,” said Holmes, thoughtfully. “Yes, the actual facts are very plain, and I shall be surprised if by the afternoon I cannot give you the reasons for them as well. I will take this photograph of Blessington, which I see upon the mantelpiece, as it may help me in my inquiries.”
“那倒是省了他们不少麻烦，”福尔摩斯若有所思地说，“是的，事实本身很清楚，如果到下午我还不能给出原因，那才奇怪呢。我要拿走壁炉架上这张布莱辛顿的照片，这可能对我的调查有帮助。”
“But you have told us nothing!” cried the doctor.
“可您什么都还没告诉我们呢！”医生喊道。
“Oh, there can be no doubt as to the sequence of events,” said Holmes. “There were three of them in it: the young man, the old man, and a third, to whose identity I have no clue. The first two, I need hardly remark, are the same who masqueraded as the Russian count and his son, so we can give a very full description of them. They were admitted by a confederate inside the house. If I might offer you a word of advice, Inspector, it would be to arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only recently come into your service, Doctor.”
“噢，事件的顺序是毫无疑问的，”福尔摩斯说，“一共有三个人参与：年轻人、老人，还有第三个身份不明的人。不用说，前两个就是假扮俄罗斯伯爵和他儿子的那两人，我们可以对他们的特征做出非常详细的描述。他们是靠屋内的同伙放进去的。如果我可以给您一条建议的话，警探，那就是逮捕那个小听差，据我所知，医生，他是最近才到您这儿做事的。”
“The young imp cannot be found,” said Dr. Trevelyan; “the maid and the cook have just been searching for him.”
“找不到那个小鬼了，”特里维廉医生说，“女仆和厨娘刚刚还在找他。”
Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
福尔摩斯耸了耸肩。
“He has played a not unimportant part in this drama,” said he. “The three men having ascended the stairs, which they did on tiptoe, the elder man first, the younger man second, and the unknown man in the rear—”
“他在这场戏里扮演了不小的角色，”他说，“这三个人踮着脚尖上了楼，年长的在前，年轻的居中，那个身份不明的在最后——”
“My dear Holmes!” I ejaculated.
“亲爱的福尔摩斯！”我惊呼道。
“Oh, there could be no question as to the superimposing of the footmarks. I had the advantage of learning which was which last night. They ascended, then, to Mr. Blessington’s room, the door of which they found to be locked. With the help of a wire, however, they forced round the key. Even without the lens you will perceive, by the scratches on this ward, where the pressure was applied.”
“噢，脚印的重叠是毫无疑问的。我有幸在昨晚分辨出了哪个是哪个。于是他们上到了布莱辛顿先生的房间，发现门锁着。然而借助一根铁丝，他们拨动了钥匙。即使不用放大镜，你也可以从钥匙孔周围的划痕看出施力的位置。”
“On entering the room their first proceeding must have been to gag Mr. Blessington. He may have been asleep, or he may have been so paralyzed with terror as to have been unable to cry out. These walls are thick, and it is conceivable that his shriek, if he had time to utter one, was unheard.”
“进入房间后，他们的首要行动一定是堵住布莱辛顿先生的嘴。他可能睡着了，或者被吓得瘫软无力而无法喊叫。这些墙壁很厚，可以想象即使他来得及发出一声尖叫，也不会被人听到。”
“Having secured him, it is evident to me that a consultation of some sort was held. Probably it was something in the nature of a judicial proceeding. It must have lasted for some time, for it was then that these cigars were smoked. The older man sat in that wicker chair; it was he who used the cigar-holder. The younger man sat over yonder; he knocked his ash off against the chest of drawers. The third fellow paced up and down. Blessington, I think, sat upright in the bed, but of that I cannot be absolutely certain.”
“控制住他之后，显然他们进行了某种形式的商议。很可能是一场类似审判的程序。这一定持续了一段时间，因为那些雪茄就是在那时抽的。年长者坐在那把藤椅上，用的是雪茄嘴。年轻人坐在那边，对着抽屉柜弹烟灰。第三个人来回踱步。我想布莱辛顿是直挺挺地坐在床上的，但这点我不能完全确定。”
“Well, it ended by their taking Blessington and hanging him. The matter was so prearranged that it is my belief that they brought with them some sort of block or pulley which might serve as a gallows. That screw-driver and those screws were, as I conceive, for fixing it up. Seeing the hook, however they naturally saved themselves the trouble. Having finished their work they made off, and the door was barred behind them by their confederate.”
“最后，他们把布莱辛顿吊了起来。这一切都是预先安排好的，我相信他们带来了某种滑轮组之类的装置当作绞刑架。依我看，那把螺丝刀和那些螺丝本来是用来安装它的。不过看到了钩子，他们自然就省去了这番麻烦。完事后他们就逃走了，门则由他们的同伙从外面上了闩。”
We had all listened with the deepest interest to this sketch of the night’s doings, which Holmes had deduced from signs so subtle and minute that, even when he had pointed them out to us, we could scarcely follow him in his reasoning. The inspector hurried away on the instant to make inquiries about the page, while Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast.
我们都怀着极大的兴趣聆听了福尔摩斯对昨夜事件的勾勒，这些都是他从极其细微的迹象中推断出来的，即便他指给我们看，我们也几乎跟不上他的推理思路。警探立刻匆匆离去调查那个小听差的下落，而福尔摩斯和我则返回贝克街吃早餐。
“I’ll be back by three,” said he, when we had finished our meal. “Both the inspector and the doctor will meet me here at that hour, and I hope by that time to have cleared up any little obscurity which the case may still present.”
“三点前我会回来，”吃完饭他说，“警探和医生都会在那个时候来这里见我，希望届时我能澄清此案尚存的任何疑点。”
Our visitors arrived at the appointed time, but it was a quarter to four before my friend put in an appearance. From his expression as he entered, however, I could see that all had gone well with him.
我们的客人在约定时间到达了，但直到三点四十五分我的朋友才露面。不过从他进门时的表情可以看出，一切进展顺利。
“Any news, Inspector?”
“有什么消息吗，警探？”
“We have got the boy, sir.”
“我们抓到那个男孩了，先生。”
“Excellent, and I have got the men.”
“太好了，我也查到了那几个人的身份。”
“You have got them!” we cried, all three.
“你查到他们了！”我们三人齐声喊道。
“Well, at least I have got their identity. This so-called Blessington is, as I expected, well known at headquarters, and so are his assailants. Their names are Biddle, Hayward, and Moffat.”
“嗯，至少我弄清了他们的身份。正如我所料，这个所谓的布莱辛顿在警察总局是挂了号的，袭击他的人也是。他们的名字是比德尔、海沃德和莫法特。”
“The Worthingdon bank gang,” cried the inspector.
“沃辛顿银行劫匪团伙，”警探叫道。
“Precisely,” said Holmes.
“正是，”福尔摩斯说。
“Then Blessington must have been Sutton.”
“那么布莱辛顿肯定就是萨顿了。”
“Exactly,” said Holmes.
“一点没错，”福尔摩斯说。
“Why, that makes it as clear as crystal,” said the inspector.
“哎呀，这下真相大白了，”警探说。
But Trevelyan and I looked at each other in bewilderment.
但特里维廉和我面面相觑，一脸茫然。
“You must surely remember the great Worthingdon bank business,” said Holmes. “Five men were in it—these four and a fifth called Cartwright. Tobin, the caretaker, was murdered, and the thieves got away with seven thousand pounds. This was in 1875. They were all five arrested, but the evidence against them was by no means conclusive. This Blessington or Sutton, who was the worst of the gang, turned informer. On his evidence Cartwright was hanged and the other three got fifteen years apiece. When they got out the other day, which was some years before their full term, they set themselves, as you perceive, to hunt down the traitor and to avenge the death of their comrade upon him. Twice they tried to get at him and failed; a third time, you see, it came off. Is there anything further which I can explain, Dr. Trevelyan?”
“你一定记得著名的沃辛顿银行劫案，”福尔摩斯说，“一共五个人参与——就是这四个加上一个叫卡特赖特的第五人。看守托宾被杀害，窃贼卷走了七千英镑。那是1875年的事。他们五人都被捕了，但针对他们的证据并不确凿。这个布莱辛顿或者说萨顿，是团伙中最恶劣的一个，转而做了污点证人。根据他的证词，卡特赖特被处以绞刑，其余三人各被判十五年徒刑。前几天他们获释了，比刑期提前了几年，正如你所见，他们便开始追捕叛徒，为死去的同伙报仇。他们两次试图接近他都失败了；你看，第三次成功了。还有什么需要我解释的吗，特里维廉医生？”
“I think you have made it all remarkably clear,” said the doctor. “No doubt the day on which he was perturbed was the day when he had seen of their release in the newspapers.”
“我想您已经把一切都解释得非常清楚了，”医生说，“毫无疑问，他那天惊慌失措就是因为他在报纸上看到了他们获释的消息。”
“Quite so. His talk about a burglary was the merest blind.”
“完全正确。他谈论入室盗窃纯粹是掩人耳目。”
“But why could he not tell you this?”
“可他为什么不能告诉您呢？”
“Well, my dear sir, knowing the vindictive character of his old associates, he was trying to hide his own identity from everybody as long as he could. His secret was a shameful one, and he could not bring himself to divulge it. However, wretch as he was, he was still living under the shield of British law, and I have no doubt, Inspector, that you will see that, though that shield may fail to guard, the sword of justice is still there to avenge.”
“唉，亲爱的先生，深知旧日同伙的报复性格，他竭力向所有人隐瞒自己的身份。他的秘密是可耻的，他实在无法启齿。然而，尽管他是个卑鄙小人，却依然生活在英国法律的庇护之下，我深信不疑，警探，你会确保即使法律的盾牌未能保护他，正义之剑仍会为他复仇。”
Such were the singular circumstances in connection with the Resident Patient and the Brook Street Doctor. From that night nothing has been seen of the three murderers by the police, and it is surmised at Scotland Yard that they were among the passengers of the ill-fated steamer Norah Creina, which was lost some years ago with all hands upon the Portuguese coast, some leagues to the north of Oporto. The proceedings against the page broke down for want of evidence, and the Brook Street Mystery, as it was called, has never until now been fully dealt with in any public print.
以上就是与住院病人和布鲁克街医生有关的离奇案情。从那晚起警方再也没有见过那三名凶手的身影，苏格兰场推测他们可能在命运多舛的“诺拉·克雷纳号”轮船的乘客之中，该船几年前在波尔图以北几里格的葡萄牙海岸失事，全员遇难。针对那个小听差的诉讼因证据不足而不了了之，而这个被称为“布鲁克街之谜”的案件，直到现在才首次在任何公开出版物中被完整披露。
0 条评论