10.What the doctors saw 医生所见

During Charles Bravo’s illness, he was seen by no fewer than five different doctors.
在查尔斯·布拉沃生病期间,先后有不少于五位不同的医生为他诊治。

And of course, the Coroner’s enquiry took a great interest in what the doctors saw, and said, and thought …
当然,验尸官的调查也对医生们的所见、所言及所想给予了极大关注……

Dr Moore was the first doctor to arrive at The Priory on the night of Tuesday 18th April.
4月18日星期二当晚,穆尔医生是第一位抵达普赖厄里宅邸的医生。

He went upstairs to Charles Bravo’s bedroom.
他上楼来到了查尔斯·布拉沃的卧室。

A few minutes later, Dr Harrison arrived.
几分钟后,哈里森医生也到了。

Jane Cox met him at the front door.
简·考克斯在前门迎接了他。

‘Mr Bravo has been sick several times,’ she said. ‘I think he has poisoned himself with chloroform.’
“布拉沃先生已经呕吐了好几次,”她说,“我觉得他是用氯仿毒倒了自己。”

Dr Harrison went upstairs to the bedroom.
哈里森医生上楼走进卧室。

Dr Moore was already there. ‘This man is very ill,’ he said. ‘It’s some kind of poison, but I don’t know what it is.’
穆尔医生已经在里面了。“这个人病得很重,”他说,“是某种中毒,但我不知道是什么毒物。”

The two doctors looked around the room.
两位医生环顾了一下房间。

There were two medicine bottles on a table: one said Chloroform, and the other Laudanum.
桌上有两个药瓶:一个标着“氯仿”,另一个标着“鸦片酊”。

Chloroform and laudanum were ordinary medicines.
氯仿和鸦片酊都是普通药物。

Many people in those days had them in their houses – they took them for headache or toothache.
在那个年代,许多人家里都备有这些药——用来治疗头痛或牙痛。

They weren’t very dangerous; it would take an enormous amount of these medicines to kill somebody.
它们并非剧毒;要致人死亡需要极大的剂量。

‘He’s not dying because of these medicines, is he?’ said Dr Moore.
“他不会是因为这些药才快死的吧?”穆尔医生问道。

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Dr Harrison agreed. ‘He’s far too ill for that.’
“不,我不这么认为,”哈里森医生赞同道,“他的症状远比那严重得多。”

Florence Bravo was sitting on the bed beside her husband.
弗洛伦斯·布拉沃坐在丈夫床边的床上。

She was washing his face with cool water.
她正用凉水给他擦脸。

‘What’s wrong with my husband, doctor?’ she asked. ‘He’s not going to die, is he?’
“医生,我丈夫怎么了?”她问,“他不会死的,对吗?”

Dr Moore put his hand on her arm. ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Bravo,’ he said. ‘But your husband is really very ill. He has taken some terrible poison. He may not live long.’
穆尔医生把手放在她的手臂上。“很遗憾,布拉沃太太,”他说,“但您丈夫确实病危了。他服下了某种烈性毒药。恐怕时日无多。”

Florence cried when he said that.
听到这话,弗洛伦斯哭了起来。

She put her arms around her husband and kissed him. ‘Oh, Charlie, please don’t die!’ she said. ‘Come on, Charlie, you must get better. Speak to me – please don’t leave me!’
她抱住丈夫亲吻着他。“哦,查理,求你别死!”她说,“振作点,查理,你一定要好起来。跟我说句话——求你别丢下我!”

But Charles was too ill to speak.
但查尔斯病得太重,已经说不出话来了。

The doctors gave him some medicine but it didn’t help much.
医生们给他用了些药,但收效甚微。

Florence watched, her face wet with tears. ‘Charles’s cousin is a doctor,’ she said. ‘Dr Royes Bell. He knows Charles very well – do you mind if I send for him?’
弗洛伦斯泪眼婆娑地看着这一切。“查尔斯的表兄也是医生,”她说,“叫罗伊斯·贝尔。他对查尔斯非常了解——你们介意我请他来一趟吗?”

‘No, that’s all right,’ Dr Harrison said. ‘I’ll write a letter for you.’
“不,没关系,”哈里森医生说,“我来替你写封信。”

Dr Royes Bell knew Charles Bravo very well.
罗伊斯·贝尔医生对查尔斯·布拉沃非常熟悉。

He had met him in London that morning, and Charles had seemed happy and healthy as usual.
那天早上他还在伦敦见过查尔斯,当时查尔斯看起来和往常一样快乐健康。

He certainly said nothing about killing himself.
他绝对没有提过任何自杀的事。

So Dr Bell was very surprised when a letter from Dr Harrison arrived late that night.
所以,当哈里森医生的信在那天深夜送达时,贝尔医生感到非常惊讶。

Your cousin is very ill, the letter said. Please come quickly; I think he is dying.
信中写道:“您的表兄病危。请速来;我想他快要不行了。”

Dr Royes Bell arrived at The Priory at about two o’clock in the morning.
凌晨两点左右,罗伊斯·贝尔医生抵达了普赖厄里宅邸。

He brought with him another doctor, Dr George Johnson, who was both a friend and a well-known London doctor.
他还带来了另一位医生,乔治·约翰逊医生,这既是他的朋友,也是伦敦的一位名医。

Charles was lying on his bed, asleep.
查尔斯躺在床上,处于昏睡状态。

His face was greyish white and he was breathing heavily.
他的脸色灰白,呼吸沉重。

Dr Bell touched his face and his eyes opened.
贝尔医生碰了碰他的脸,他睁开了眼睛。

‘Charlie,’ he said. ‘Do you know who I am?’
“查理,”他说,“你知道我是谁吗?”

For a moment Charles seemed not to understand, or recognize anybody around him.
有那么一瞬间,查尔斯似乎听不懂,也认不出周围的人。

Then, after a minute, he said, ‘Yes. You’re Royes.’
然后,过了一分钟,他说:“知道。你是罗伊斯。”

‘This is Dr Johnson,’ Dr Bell said. ‘We’ve come to help you, Charlie. How do you feel?’
“这位是约翰逊医生,”贝尔医生说,“我们是来帮你的,查理。你感觉怎么样?”

‘Terrible,’ Charles answered. ‘My stomach hurts. Let me out!’ He suddenly jumped up and tried to get to the door, but the doctors held him and after a minute he fell back onto the bed.
“糟透了,”查尔斯回答,“我肚子疼。让我出去!”他突然跳起来试图冲向门口,但医生们按住了他,一分钟后他又倒回了床上。

Dr Johnson gave him some medicine to take away the pain, and after a few minutes he began to look more comfortable.
约翰逊医生给了他一些止痛药,几分钟后,他看起来稍微舒服了一些。

Outside the room, the doctors spoke to Mrs Cox.
在房间外,医生们和考克斯太太进行了交谈。

‘You saw Mr Bravo first, before Dr Moore came,’ Dr Johnson said. ‘Did he say anything to you then?’
“在穆尔医生来之前,你是第一个见到布拉沃先生的,”约翰逊医生说,“那时他对你说了什么吗?”

‘Yes,’ Mrs Cox answered. ‘He said: “I’ve taken some of that poison; don’t tell Florence.”‘
“说了,”考克斯太太回答,“他说:‘我吃了那种毒药;别告诉弗洛伦斯。’”

‘Did he tell you what poison he took?’
“他告诉你他吃了什么毒药吗?”

‘No,’ Mrs Cox answered. ‘Nothing more than that.’
“没有,”考克斯太太答道,“就说了这些。”

When Dr Harrison heard this, he was angry. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that before?’ he asked. ‘You said he had taken chloroform, not poison.’
哈里森医生听到这话后很生气。“你之前为什么不告诉我?”他质问,“你说他吃的是氯仿,不是毒药。”

The doctors went back into Charles’s bedroom. ‘Charlie, have you taken poison?’ Dr Johnson asked.
医生们回到查尔斯的卧室。“查理,你服毒了吗?”约翰逊医生问。

‘I rubbed my teeth with laudanum; perhaps I drank a little by mistake,’ Charles replied.
“我用鸦片酊擦了牙齿;也许不小心喝下去了一点,”查尔斯回答。

‘Laudanum wouldn’t make you ill like this.’
“鸦片酊不会让你病成这样。”

‘Well, if it isn’t laudanum, I don’t know what it is,’ Charles said.
“好吧,如果不是鸦片酊,我就不知道是什么了,”查尔斯说。

Then Florence came back in. There were tears on her face and she looked very tired.
这时弗洛伦斯回来了。她满脸泪痕,看起来疲惫不堪。

Charles held out his arms to her. ‘Kiss me, my wife,’ he said.
查尔斯向她伸出双臂。“吻我一下,我的妻子,”他说。

Florence went to the bed and kissed him. Then she lay down beside him and touched his face gently with her fingers. The two doctors watched.
弗洛伦斯走到床边吻了他。然后她躺在他身边,用手指轻轻抚摸他的脸。两位医生在一旁看着。

‘What a lot of trouble I’m giving you, florrie,’ Charles said. ‘Kiss me again. You’ve been the best of wives.’
“我给你添了这么多麻烦,弗洛丽,”查尔斯说,“再吻我一次。你是世上最好的妻子。”

‘Oh, Charlie!’ Florence said. ‘What is the matter with you? What have you taken to make you so ill?’
“哦,查理!”弗洛伦斯说,“你到底怎么了?你究竟吃了什么才病得这么重?”

Charles didn’t answer. ‘Oh, God help me!’ he screamed in pain.
查尔斯没有回答。“上帝啊,救救我吧!”他痛苦地尖叫着。

Then he turned to his cousin and said: ‘Royes, will I get better?’
然后他转向表兄说:“罗伊斯,我会好起来吗?”

‘I hope so, Charlie, but you are very ill indeed.’
“我希望如此,查理,但你确实病得非常重。”

When Dr Bell said that, Charles looked frightened. ‘Royes,’ he said. ‘Before I die, I want you to write something for me. Will you do that?’
听到贝尔医生这么说,查尔斯露出了恐惧的神情。“罗伊斯,”他说,“在我死之前,我想让你帮我写点东西。你愿意吗?”

Dr Bell wrote down Charles Bravo’s words. I leave everything I have to my wife, Florence Bravo.
贝尔医生记下了查尔斯·布拉沃的话:我将我的一切留给我的妻子,弗洛伦斯·布拉沃。

Charles sat up to write his name, and he and Dr Bell prayed to God together.
查尔斯坐起身签下自己的名字,随后他和贝尔医生一起向上帝祈祷。

Then he said: ‘When I’m dead, Royes, look after Florence for me, will you? She’s been the best of wives to me.’
接着他说:“我死后,罗伊斯,请替我照顾弗洛伦斯,好吗?她一直是我最好的妻子。”

At the Coroner’s enquiry in July, some of the lawyers said that Florence killed her husband.
在七月的验尸官调查中,一些律师声称是弗洛伦斯杀害了她的丈夫。

But Charles’s cousin, Dr Royes Bell, didn’t believe that.
但查尔斯的表兄罗伊斯·贝尔医生并不相信这种说法。

Charles loved his wife, he told the lawyers. He left her everything.
他告诉律师们,查尔斯深爱着他的妻子,并把一切都留给了她。

And Florence was very, very unhappy that night, when she saw her husband so ill.
而且那天晚上看到丈夫病得那么重,弗洛伦斯悲痛欲绝。

She called four doctors – Dr Moore, Dr Harrison, Dr Bell, and Dr Johnson.
她请了四位医生——穆尔医生、哈里森医生、贝尔医生和约翰逊医生。

And on Thursday 20th April she sent for a fifth doctor, Dr William Gull.
在4月20日星期四,她又请来了第五位医生,威廉·格尔医生。

Dr Gull was very famous and important, and was the doctor to Queen Victoria herself.
格尔医生声名显赫、地位崇高,甚至是维多利亚女王的御医。

He arrived at The Priory at six o’clock on Thursday evening.
他在星期四傍晚六点抵达了普赖厄里宅邸。

Charles Bravo was still alive, but he was very seriously ill.
查尔斯·布拉沃还活着,但已病入膏肓。

‘Mr Bravo, you have taken poison,’ Dr Gull told him. ‘Please tell me, who gave it to you?’
“布拉沃先生,你中毒了,”格尔医生告诉他,“请告诉我,是谁给你的毒药?”

‘I took it myself,’ Charles Bravo said.
“是我自己服的,”查尔斯·布拉沃说。

‘What did you take?’ Dr Gull asked.
“你服了什么?”格尔医生问。

‘Laudanum,’ Charles Bravo replied. ‘I took some laudanum because I had toothache.’
“鸦片酊,”查尔斯·布拉沃回答,“因为牙痛,我吃了一些鸦片酊。”

‘A little laudanum can’t kill you, Mr Bravo,’ Dr Gull said. ‘What else did you take?’
“一点点鸦片酊不会致死,布拉沃先生,”格尔医生说,“你还吃了什么?”

‘Nothing else. Only laudanum, doctor. That’s all.’
“没别的了。只有鸦片酊,医生。仅此而已。”

‘Mr Bravo, listen to me. You are very ill, you are going to die. It’s important that you tell me the truth. What is this poison? If someone gave it to you, they wanted to kill you. Do you understand that?’
“布拉沃先生,听我说。你病得很重,即将离世。对我说实话至关重要。这到底是什么毒药?如果是别人给你的,那就是想谋害你。你明白吗?”

Charles Bravo shook his head slowly. ‘It was only laudanum, doctor,’ he said. ‘No one gave it to me. I took it myself.’
查尔斯·布拉沃缓慢地摇了摇头。“真的只是鸦片酊,医生,”他说,“没人给我毒药。是我自己吃的。”

That was the last thing he said to Dr Gull.
这是他对格尔医生说的最后一句话。

A few hours later, Charles Bravo died.
几个小时后,查尔斯·布拉沃去世了。

Five different doctors had seen him, and he told them all the same story.
五位不同的医生诊治过他,而他对所有人都讲了同样的故事。

He had taken laudanum, he said, and then called for hot water to make himself sick.
他说自己服了鸦片酊,然后要了热水来催吐。

‘Where was he sick?’ Dr Gull asked.
“他在哪里吐的?”格尔医生问。

‘Out of the window,’ said Dr Johnson. ‘Look, there.’
“窗外,”约翰逊医生说,“看,就在那儿。”

He picked up some of the roof vomit with a silver spoon and put it in a glass bottle.
他用一把银勺从屋顶上取了一些呕吐物,装进一个玻璃瓶里。

Dr Gull sent it to Professor Redwood, a famous scientist, in London.
格尔医生将其送往伦敦,交给了著名科学家雷德伍德教授。

Professor Redwood looked at it carefully.
雷德伍德教授对其进行了仔细检验。

‘The poison was antimony,’ the Professor told the Coroner later. ‘I found ten grains of it in the vomit in the glass bottle. There were probably thirty grains in his body. That’s what killed him.’
“毒物是锑,”教授后来告诉验尸官,“我在玻璃瓶的呕吐物中发现了十格令(重量单位)。他体内可能含有三十格令。这就是致死原因。”

‘I found ten grains of antimony.’
“我发现了十格令锑。”

The antimony destroyed Charles Bravo’s stomach. He died very slowly, in great pain.
锑摧毁了查尔斯·布拉沃的胃。他在极度痛苦中缓慢地死去。

But how did the antimony get into his stomach? That is the question.
但是锑是如何进入他胃里的?这才是关键问题。

Antimony is a white powder.
锑是一种白色粉末。

You can put very small amounts of it in a glass of wine, but it makes the wine look strange and taste awful.
你可以把极少量的锑放进一杯酒里,但这会让酒看起来浑浊且味道极其糟糕。

But if you put a lot of antimony in water, no one will notice.
但如果把大量的锑放入水中,就不会有人察觉。

You can’t see it or smell it or taste it. You can drink it like ordinary water. But a few minutes later, you will be very ill indeed.
你看不到、闻不到也尝不出它的存在。你可以像喝普通水一样把它喝下去。但几分钟后,你就会重病发作。

Every evening, Charles Bravo drank from the bottle of water beside his bed.
每天晚上,查尔斯·布拉沃都会喝床头水瓶里的水。

The antimony was probably in the bottle. But who put the antimony in the water? Charles Bravo, or someone else?
锑很可能就在那个水瓶里。但是谁把锑放进了水里?是查尔斯·布拉沃本人,还是另有其人?

Dr Gull thought he knew. ‘No one else killed Charles Bravo,’ he told Florence’s father, Mr Campbell. ‘Your daughter didn’t kill him. He killed himself.’
格尔医生认为自己知道答案。“没有其他人杀害查尔斯·布拉沃,”他告诉弗洛伦斯的父亲坎贝尔先生,“不是您女儿杀了他。他是自杀的。”

But Charles’s stepfather, Joseph Bravo, didn’t agree. ‘Charles was a strong, brave young man,’ he said. ‘He didn’t kill himself. He was murdered.’
但查尔斯的继父约瑟夫·布拉沃不同意这个看法。“查尔斯是个强壮勇敢的年轻人,”他说,“他没有自杀。他是被谋杀的。”

‘Nonsense,’ Florence’s father said. ‘Who wanted to kill him?’
“胡说八道,”弗洛伦斯的父亲说,“谁会想杀他?”

‘Ask your daughter,’ Joseph Bravo said angrily. ‘And her friends, Jane Cox and James Gully. One of them knows the answer, I’m sure.’
“去问你女儿吧,”约瑟夫·布拉沃愤怒地说,“还有她的朋友,简·考克斯和詹姆斯·格利。我敢肯定,他们之中有人知道真相。”


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