巴斯克維爾獵犬 3.The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville

巴斯克維爾獵犬

The hound of the baskervilles

美國作家改編

原著 Conan Doyle

【英】柯南.道爾

改編 Robert Ellis

故事梗概

九月一個美麗的早晨，神探歌洛克.福爾摩斯收到一封來自一位名叫詹姆斯.摩梯末的醫(yī)生的拜訪信。上午十點半摩梯末醫(yī)生如約而至，他隨身帶來了一扎神秘的手稿，這扎手稿來自已故的查爾斯.巴斯克雄爾爵士。信中講述了一百多年前巴斯克維爾家庭的祖先雨果.巴斯克維爾是如何為非作歹，最終招致自己喪命在傳說中兇悍無比的巴斯克維爾獵犬的利齒之下的故事。自此之后，巴斯克維爾家族就籠罩在祖先所犯下罪行的陰影之中，家族族長的繼承人們都相繼以蹊蹺而恐怖的方式死去。

起初福爾摩斯并不為摩梯末醫(yī)生的故事所吸引，認為這只是個有趣的傳說。但隨著摩梯末醫(yī)生逐步向福爾摩斯講述了查爾斯.巴斯克維爾爵士死因的疑點時，福爾摩斯決定插手此案，因為他意識到這不僅關(guān)系到已故伯爵查爾斯的真正死因，還關(guān)系到巴斯克維爾莊園的下一個繼承人亨利.巴斯克維爾的生命安全。在福爾摩斯的巧妙安排之下。他的忠實搭檔華生醫(yī)生陪伴亨利爵士回到巴斯克維爾莊園。

在巴斯克維爾莊園期間，華生醫(yī)生接二連三地遇到了種種怪異之事，如半夜時分女人凄慘的哭聲，管家白瑞摩夜間可疑的舉動，還有他后來發(fā)現(xiàn)的一封查爾斯爵士死前未被完全燒毀的信件的碎片，等等。這諸多的疑團使他墜入云霧之中。正當他決定開始深入虎穴探聽虛實之時，他卻出乎意料地遇到了從天而降的福爾摩斯。原來福爾摩斯為了弄清傳說中那只可怕獵犬的秘密及發(fā)生在巴斯克維爾莊園的慘案，故意避人耳目，獨自躲在人跡罕至的沼澤地，忍受暴風雨以及孤獨和寒冷的襲擊。而此時狡猾的罪犯也開始按捺不住，逐漸浮出水面，他迫不及待地誤殺了穿著亨利爵士衣服的逃犯塞爾多。這使福爾摩斯更加確信自己的推斷無誤。于是，福爾摩斯果斷地用亨利引出了真正的兇手——斯臺普頓。原來兩年前剛剛搬到德文郡的斯臺普頓就是羅杰.巴斯克維爾，即查爾斯爵士最小弟弟的兒子。多年前人們誤以為身為逃犯的羅杰死于南美洲，但實際上，他并沒有死，而且還有了一個兒子也叫羅杰，他就是斯臺普頓。斯臺普頓知道如果查爾斯和亨利都死了，那么他將能得到巴斯克維爾家族的巨額財產(chǎn)，因此他便利用巴斯克維爾獵犬的傳說不擇手段地殺害了自己的親人。他先是用怒犬嚇死了年老體衰的查爾斯爵士，隨后又妄圖讓惡犬咬死亨利爵士，但福爾摩斯最終識破了他的詭計，在華生和警探的配合下殺死了那只可怕的獵犬，而斯臺普頓也在深夜倉皇出逃時生死不明……

CHAPTER THREE

感謝大耳朵網(wǎng)友“Alice-nemo”提供??！

The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville

When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this strange story, he looked across at Sherlock Holmes. I was surprised to see that Hoknes looked bored, but also looked as if he thought the letter was funny.

"Do you think this is an interesting story, Mr. Holmes?" asked Dr. Mortimer.

Holmes laughed. "My dear sir, only a story teller or a child would find this story interesting!"

Dr. Mortimer did not answer him. Instead he took a newspaper from another pocket in his coat.

"Now, Mr. Holmes, let me read you something else. This was written only three months ago. It is from the Devonsltire County Newspaper, and it is about the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. "

Hoknes looked more interested. Dr. Mortimer began to read:

People in Devonshire country feel much sadness at the terrible death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Sir Charles was an extremely good man. Although he had lived at Baskerville Hall for only two years, everyone in thearea liked him very much, because of the great help he gave to the people of Devonshire. Sir Charles had lived in a foreign land, and made his money there. He returned to England to repair Baskerville Hall and the villages around it. These places were old, and in very bad condition, but with Sir Charles' help they became beautiful once again. He was a friendly and kind man, who gave much help to the poor.

It is unfortunate that the police report on Sir Charles' death does not tell us everything that happened. However, we can be sure that he was not murdered. The strange stories the village people tell about his death are not true! His friend and doctor, Dr. James Mortimer, said that Sir Charles' heart had been week for a long time. It is likely that he died of a sudden heart attack.

The facts of this death are simple. Every evening, Sir Charles went for a walk in the gardens of Baskerville Hall. His favorite place to walk was down a path, between two rows of trees. This path is the famous "Yew Alley" of Baskerville Hall. On the night of June 4, he went out to walk and to smoke his cigar, as he often did. Sir Charles was going to London the next morning, and Barrymore, his head servant, was insidethe house packing his suitcases. But by midnight, Barrymore realized that Sir Charles had not returned. So he went to look for him. He saw that the door of the house was open. That day had been rainy and wet, so Barrymom could see the footprints left by Sir Charles' shoes as he had walked down the path of trees. Half way down this path is a gate, which leads to the moor. There were signs that Sir Charles had stood at this gate for some time, before continuing his walk Barry- followed the footprints to the end of the path and there he found Sir Charles' body.

Barrymore told the police an interesting detail about these footprints. He said that they changed between the gate leading to the moor and the end of the path of trees. As far as the moor gate, all the footprints were normal. But Barrymore saw only toe prints in the ground after Sir Charles passed this gate. Barrymore thought that Sir Charles had walked on his toes.

A man called Murphy, who buys and sells horses, was close to Baskerville Hall when Sir Charles died. This man is known in the town for his drunkenness, and that night he had been drinking a lot of beer as usual. However, he swore that he heard sommne shouting, as if they were calling for help. The shouts came from the direction of Baskerville Hall.

Dr. James Mortimer was asked to look at Sir Charles' body. After he examined the body, Dr. Mortimer decided that Sir Charles had not been murdered. However, Dr. Mortimer told police that Sir Charles had a look on his face of surprise and fear. But Dr. Mortimer decided this was normal. Sir Charles' weak heart had failed suddenly, and this had caused his death.

Now that Sir Charles is dead, there will be a new head of the fiaskerville family. He will own Baskerville Hall. The people of Devonshire hope very much that this person will move into Baskervdle Hall as soon as possible. The people would like Sir Charles' good work in this area to continue.

The new head of the Piaskerville family is a man named Sir Henry Baskerville. At this time we do not know if Sir Henry is still alive, or if the lawyers can find him. He is the son of Sir Charles Baskerville's younger brother, who died some years ago. This young man has been living in the United States of America. At this time, the Baskerville lawyers are trying to find him, to tell him of his inheritance.

The article was finished. Dr. Mortimer put the newspaper back into his pocket.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, those are the facts about the death of Sir Charles. Everyone knows these things, he said.

"Thank you for reading me this paper, Dr. Mortimer. It is very interesting to me," Holmes said. " I read about Sir Charles' death in our London newspaper, but I did not know the details. The newspaper gives us the facts that everybody knows.

Now I want you to tell me all the other facts that only you know. What do you really think about Sir Charles' death, Dr. Mortimer?"

Dr. Mortimer sighed. "I haven't told anyone what I really think," he said. "I am a man of science, as you know. I have always believed that there is a good reason for everything. And certainly, I did not want to say anything that might stop Sir Henry from going to Baskerville Hall. But I will tell you some things that were not in the report.”

"In the months before his death." Dr. Mortimer certain that the Hound would find and kill him, as it had killed Sir Hugo. He believed the Baskerville family was cursed because of Sir Hugo's evil acts. He would not go out on the moor at night. Often, he would ask me if I had heard the howl of a hound on the moor at night. He was always very excited and nervous when he asked this question.

"About three weeks before Sir Charles died I went to Baskerville Hall. As I drove up to the house, Sir Charles was standing at the door, as if he was meeting me. I went up to him, but he did not say "hello." There was a look of horror on his face, and he was staring at something behind me. I turned around quickly and saw something moving between the trees. It looked like a small black cow.Sir Charles was so frightened that he looked as if he would die that minute! I went to look for the aninual, to make him feel better. However, it had disappeared. I stayed with Sir Charles all that evening. It was then he gave me the old papers I have just read to you. Mr. Holmes, Sir Charles' behavior that evening may be important, when you think about what happened on the night of his death.

"When Barrymore, the head servant, found SirCharles' body, he sent someone, to get me. I examined Sir Charles' body. No one had killed him. All the things in the newspaper I have just read to you are true.But Barrymore made a mistake." He said that there were no other footprints on the ground around Sir Charles' body. He did not notice any. But I did. These prints were not close to the body, but they were large, and very clear.”

"Were they a man's or a woman's footprints?" asked Hrimes.

Dr. Mortimer looked at us for a moment.

"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a huge hound."

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