3 How Sir Charles Died第3章 查尔斯爵士是如何死的
When Dr Mortimer had finished reading this strange story, he looked across at Sherlock Holmes.
摩梯末医生读完这个奇怪的故事后望着对面的歇洛克·福尔摩斯。
Holmes looked bored.
福尔摩斯看上去显得很不耐烦。
‘Did you find the story interesting?’ asked Dr Mortimer.
“你没觉得这个故事有趣吗？”摩梯末医生问道。
‘It may interest a collector of stories to frighten children,’ said Holmes.
“它可能会让那些收集吓唬孩子们的故事的人感兴趣，”福尔摩斯讲道。
Dr Mortimer took a newspaper from another pocket.
摩梯末医生从另一个衣袋里掏出一张报纸。
‘Now, Mr Holmes, let me read you something which was written only three months ago.
“福尔摩斯先生，现在让我来读给您听听就在三个月之前撰写的东西吧。
It is from the Devonshire County Newspaper, and it is about the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.’
它刊登在《德文郡纪事报》上，并与查尔斯·巴斯克维尔爵士的死有关。”
Holmes looked more interested.
福尔摩斯看上去更专注些了。
Dr Mortimer began to read:
摩梯末医生开始读了起来：
The sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville has caused great sadness in the county.
查尔斯·巴斯克维尔爵士之暴卒，使本郡不胜哀悼。
Although he had lived at Baskerville Hall for only two years, everyone liked him.
尽管他来巴斯克维尔庄园不过两年时间，但是大家都非常喜爱他。
Sir Charles had lived abroad and made his money there.
查尔斯爵士曾旅居国外，并在那里发了财。
He came back to spend his fortune on repairing Baskerville Hall and its farms and villages, as the buildings and lands were in very poor condition.
他致富后还乡，想把自己的资产用来修复巴斯克维尔庄园及其农场和村庄，因为这些建筑和土地都已处于潦倒不堪的境地了。
He was a friendly and generous man, who gave freely to the poor.
他待人友善而又慷慨大方，还毫无吝啬之意地资助捐送穷人。
The official report of his death does not explain everything that happened.
官方对他死亡的报告没有说明所发生的一切事情。
However, it does show that there was no question of murder.
然而，它的确表明其中并没有谋杀的成分。
Sir Charles died from natural causes, and the strange stories people are telling about his death are not true.
查尔斯爵士死于自然原因；人们讲述的关于他的死亡的种种故事都是不真实的。
His friend and doctor, Dr James Mortimer, said that Sir Charles’ heart had been weak for some time.
他的朋友兼医生詹姆斯·摩梯末医生说查尔斯爵士的心脏虚弱已颇有一段时日了。
The facts are simple.
实情甚为简单。
Every night before going to bed, Sir Charles went for a walk in the gardens of Baskerville Hall.
查尔斯爵士在每晚就寝前，总要在巴斯克维尔庄园的公园里散步。
His favourite walk was down a path between two hedges of yew trees, the famous Yew Alley of Baskerville Hall.
他喜欢沿着夹在水松树篱之间的那条小路即巴斯克维尔庄园里那条出名的水松小道散步。
On the night of 4th June he went out for his walk to think and to smoke his usual cigar.
6月4日晚，他出去散步来思考些问题并抽根他惯常抽的雪茄。
Sir Charles was going to London on the next day, and Barrymore, his butler, was packing his suitcases.
查尔斯爵士次日将去伦敦，他的总管白瑞摩当时正在为他准备行装。
By midnight Barrymore was worried that Sir Charles had not returned, so he went to look for him.
午夜时分，白瑞摩因查尔斯爵士还未回来而焦虑不安，因此便去找他。
He found the door of the Hall open.
他发现庄园的门还开着。
The day had been rainy and wet so Barrymore saw the prints left by Sir Charles’s shoes as he had walked down the Alley.
那天的天气很潮湿，因此白瑞摩看到了查尔斯爵士沿着那条小道走时留下的脚印。
Half way down the Alley is a gate, which leads to the moor.
在小道的中途有一个栅门，它通向沼地。
There were signs that Sir Charles had stood there for some time.
有种种迹象说明查尔斯爵士曾在此站过一会儿。
Barrymore followed the footprints to the far end of the Alley.
白瑞摩循着足迹走到了小道的尽头。
And there he found Sir Charles’ body.
而且就在那儿他发现了查尔斯爵士的尸体。
Barrymore reported something interesting about the footprints.
白瑞摩报告了一件有关脚印的有趣的事情。
He said that they changed between the moor gate and the end of the Alley.
他说，脚印在栅门和小道的尽头之间变样了。
As far as the moor gate there was a whole footprint for each of Sir Charles’s steps.
到栅门为止，查尔斯爵士的每个脚印都是完整的。
After he passed the gate, only toe prints could be seen.
但过了栅门之后，则只能看到他脚趾的印记了。
Barrymore thought that Sir Charles had walked on his toes.
白瑞摩以为查尔斯爵士曾用脚尖走过。
A man called Murphy, who buys and sells horses, was not far away at the time of Sir Charles’ death.
一位名叫摩菲的马贩子在查尔斯爵士死时正在距出事地点不远之处。
He had been drinking a lot of beer, but he says he heard cries.
他当时已喝了许多啤酒，但是他说他那时曾听到呼喊声。
He is not sure where they came from.
他不清楚呼喊声来自何方。
Dr Mortimer was called to look at Sir Charles’ body.
摩梯末医生被叫来查看查尔斯爵士的尸体。
There were no signs that Sir Charles had been murdered, but Dr Mortimer did not recognize his friend’s face.
没有迹象说明查尔斯爵士是被谋杀的，但是摩梯末医生已认不出他朋友的面容了。
The whole shape of it was changed.
整个脸已经变形了。
However, this often happens with deaths which are caused by weak hearts.
然而，这对因心脏衰竭而导致的死亡来说是常有的。
When Dr Mortimer looked at the body, he found that this was, in fact, what had happened.
当摩梯末医生察看尸体时，他发现这事实上正是所发生的情况。
Sir Charles’ weak heart had failed, and this had caused his death.
查尔斯爵士的虚弱的心脏已无力承受重荷，这导致了他的死亡。
Everyone hopes that the new head of the Baskerville family will move quickly into the Hall.
大家都期盼巴斯克维尔家族的新主人能快速入住巴斯克维尔庄园。
Sir Charles’ good work must go on.
查尔斯爵士的善行必须继续进行下去。
The new head of the Baskerville family will be Sir Henry Baskerville, if he is still alive and if the lawyers can find him.
巴斯克维尔家族的新主人将是亨利·巴斯克维尔爵士，如果他尚在人世而律师们又能找到他的话。
He is the son of Sir Charles Baskerville’s younger brother, who died some years ago.
他是查尔斯·巴斯克维尔爵士的弟弟的儿子，他弟弟本人已在数年前故去。
The young man has been living in the USA.
这位年轻人一直居住在美国。
The Baskerville lawyers are trying to contact him to tell him about his good fortune.
巴斯克维尔家族的律师们正试图与他联系以将他的好运告诉他。
Dr Mortimer put the newspaper back into his pocket.
摩梯末医生将这份报纸放回了口袋里。
‘Those are the official facts about the death of Sir Charles. They are the facts that everyone knows, Mr Holmes,’ he said.
“那些便是有关查尔斯爵士之死的官方报导。它们是些众所周知的事实，福尔摩斯先生，”他说道。
‘Thank you for informing me about this interesting case,’ Holmes said.
“感谢您告知我有关这个饶有趣味的案件的情况，”福尔摩斯说道。
‘I read about it at the time, but I heard none of the details.
“当时我曾看到过有关它的报导，但是我从未听到过相关的细节。
The newspaper gives the facts that everybody knows.
报纸提供了那些众所周知的事实。
Now I want you to tell me all the other facts that you know.
现在我想让您告诉我您所知道的其他事实。
What do you know about the strange stories?’
你对这些怪诞的故事知道些什么呢？”
‘I haven’t told anyone these other facts,’ said Dr Mortimer.
“我从未告诉过任何人这些内幕，”摩梯末医生道。
‘I am a man of science, as you know.
“如您所知，我是一位从事科学工作的人。
I have always believed that there are sensible explanations for everything.
我从来都认为凡事都有个明智的解释办法。
I didn’t want to say anything that could stop Sir Henry from coming to live at the Hall.
我当时不想说出阻止亨利爵士前来庄园定居的任何话。
But I will tell you the details that were not in the report.’
可是我将告诉您那些从未在报导中写进去的种种细节。”
‘In the months before his death,’ Dr Mortimer went on, ‘Sir Charles was a very worried man.
“在他去世之前的几个月里，”摩梯末医生接着说道，“查尔斯爵士已是非常焦虑不安。
He was near to breaking down.
他几乎濒于崩溃的境地。
He believed the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles.
他相信巴斯克维尔猎犬的故事。
He refused to go out at night.
他拒绝在晚上外出。
He often asked me whether I had seen any strange animal or heard the cry of a hound on the moor at night.
他常常问我是否在夜间看到过什么奇怪的动物或是听见过一只猎狗在沼地上的嗥叫声。
He always got very excited when he asked this question.
每当他问起这个问题的时候他总是变得非常亢奋。”
‘I remember driving up to the Hall one evening about three weeks before he died.
“我记得，在他死之前大约三个星期的一天傍晚，我驾着马车去他的庄园。
He was standing at the door.
他正站在门前。
I went up to him, and saw him staring at something behind me.
我走到他面前，看到他正盯着我背后的什么东西。
There was a look of horror on his face.
他的脸上带着恐怖的神情。
I turned quickly and saw something moving between the trees.
我赶快转过身去，看到有个东西正在树林之间移动。
It looked like a small black cow.
它看似一头黑色的小牛。
He was so frightened that I went to look for the animal.
他是如此恐惧不安，我便不得不去那儿四下里寻找一番那个东西了。
It had disappeared but Sir Charles was very worried.
它已经消失了，可是查尔斯爵士非常担心。
I stayed with him all the evening.
整个晚上我都陪着他。
It was then he gave me the old papers I have read to you.
就是在那时，他将我已读给您听的那篇古老的手稿交给了我。
What I saw that evening may be important when you consider what happened on the night of his death.’
在您考虑他死去的那个晚上所发生的情况时，我在那个傍晚看到的情况也许会是重要的。”
‘When Barrymore, the butler, found Sir Charles’ body, he sent someone to fetch me.
“当白瑞摩，那个总管，发现了查尔斯爵士的尸体时，他派人叫我去了。
I checked all the facts. I have just read them to you, and they are all true.’
我核实了所有的情况。我刚才已把它们念给你们听了，而且这些事实都是确凿的。”
‘But Barrymore said one thing that was not true.
“但是白瑞摩有一件事没讲真话。
He said that there were no other prints on the ground around the body.
他说，在尸体周围的地面上没有别的痕迹。
He did not notice any. But I did.
他没有注意到其他痕迹。可是我注意到了。
They were not close to the body, but they were fresh and clear.’
虽没有挨着尸体，可是既痕迹犹新而又清晰可见。”
‘Footprints?’ asked Holmes.
“是足迹吗？”福尔摩斯问道。
‘Yes. Footprints,’ said Mortimer.
“是的。是足迹，”摩梯末说道。
‘A man’s or a woman’s?’ asked Holmes.
“是男人的还是女人的？”福尔摩斯问道。
Dr Mortimer looked at us strangely for a moment.
摩梯末奇怪地望了我们一会儿。
His voice became a whisper as he answered:
他回答时声音变得犹如耳语：
‘Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a huge hound!’
“福尔摩斯先生，是一个极大的猎犬的一些爪印！”
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