英文名著分集阅读 柯南·道尔《福尔摩斯与赛马》part4
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Sherlock Holmes and the Sport of Kings by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
单词提示
1.lame 跛脚的
原文
Chapter 4: Looking for a horse
Holmes and I walked slowly across the moor.
In the evening sunlight, the autumn colors on the hills were beautiful reds and browns and yellows, but Holmes saw nothing of that.
"So,Watson," he said, "Let's forget John Straker for a minute, and think about the horse. Horses are friendly animals. Let's say that Silver Blaze runs away after the killing. Here he is out on the cold, wet moor. What does he do next?"
"He looks for a nice warm stable," I said, "With food and water."
"Right,Watson. He didn't go back to King's Pyland, we know that, but there is another stable not far away at Capleton, perhaps he went there. And the way to cable to Capleton. Watson, is down, this hill, let's go."
We walked quickly down the hill.
And at the bottom, we found a small river and some very wet ground.
"Wonderful,"said Holmes, "I wanted mud and here it is. You follow the left side of the river, Watson. We're looking for the tracks of horseshoes."
We found them after only 50 meters.
Holmes took the horseshoe out of his pocket and put it next to the tracks.
"Yes, that silver blaze, no question about it."
We followed the tracks easily, then lost them for a time, but found them again about 200 meters from the Capleton stables.
"Here they are," I cried, "And look, there's another track here of a man's shoe."
Holmes got down to look.
"You're right, Watson, and the man is walking next to the horse."
We followed the two tracks to Capleton stables, and were still 20 meters away when a man came out and called to us.
He had a red, angry face go away, "We don't want visitors here. Go away."
"Mr.Silas Brown?" Holmes said to him.
"What do you want?" said the man, "I don't talk to newspaper people, so just go away."
"We are not from a newspaper," said Holmes, smiling, "But you have a horse called Silver Blaze in your stable."
"That'snot true." Mr. Brown said angrily.
"Shall we go in and talk about it?" said Holmes.
He did not wait for an answer, but took the man's arm and moved quickly to the gate.
He looked back at me and said quietly, "Wait for me here, Watson."
Twenty minutes later, they came out again.
Holmes looked pleased, and Mr. Silas Brown was a different man.
He looked smaller and older, and his face was afraid.
"Remember," said Holmes, "You must be there on the day, on time, and everything must be ready."
"Yes,yes," Silas Brown said quickly, "You can be sure of it. Oh, yes, you can be sure of it."
"Good,"said Holmes, "Well, goodbye for now."
Holmes and I then began to walk back to King's Pyland along the road.
"Does he have the horse then?" I asked.
Holmes laughed.
"Yes,"he said, "No at first, of course, but he's afraid of the police. He doesn't want them to know about this, and I can help him with that."
"But why didn't the police find the horse?" I asked, "Inspector Gregory said they went to Capleton."
"Oh, it's easy to change the color of a horse's coat."
Holmes laughed again, "Gregory is a good policeman, but I don't think he knows much about horses."
"And why did Brown tell you?" I said.
"When I walked through the stables with him," said Holmes, "The ground was muddy and I saw the tracks of his shoes in the mud. You remember those tracks on the moor? Well, these were the same shoes. After that, it was easy, and he told me everything. He found Silver Blaze on the moor early in the morning, and brought him into the stables. The horse is very well, just a different color at the moment. Brown put a very big bet on Desborough to win the Wessex Cup, you see, and with Silver Blaze out of the race."
"But why did you leave the horse there? Is it safe with him?"
I did not understand Holmes's plan.
"My dear Watson," Holmes said, "The horse is very safe. Silas Brown is afraid of me, afraid of the police, afraid of losing everything. Silver Blaze must be ready to race next week, or Brown's life as a racehorse trainer is finished, and Brown knows that."
"Mr.Ross isn't going to like it," I said.
"Mr.Ross," said Holmes, "Doesn't understand detective work, he wants answers today, now, at once. So, he must learn a lesson, he must learn to wait.Say nothing about Silver Blaze for the moment, Watson."
Back at King's Pyland, we found Mr. Ross and Inspector Gregory in the trainer's house.
"An interesting visit," said Holmes, "But my friend and I must go back to London by the midnight train."
The Inspector and Mr. Ross stared at him, and I saw that Holmes was right about Mr. Ross.
"So our famous London detective can't find poor Straker's killer," Mr. Ross said. "Or my horse."
"It's a difficult case, that's true," said Holmes quietly, "But your horse is going to run in the Wessex Cup next Tuesday. You have my promise on that."
"A promise is a wonderful thing," said Mr. Ross, "but I would like the horse better than a promise."
Holmes smiled, then turned to Inspector Gregory.
"Inspector,can you give me a photograph of Straker?"
"Yes,of course." said the Inspector.
He took one from an envelope in his pocket and gave it to Holmes.
It was now time to go back to Tavistock, and we went outside.
One of the stable boys was there, and Holmes suddenly spoke to him.
"I see you have some sheep here, next to the stables," he said, "Are they all well?"
"They're all right, sir," said the boy, "But two or three of them are a little lame. They went lame last week."
Holmes was very pleased about this.
He got into the carriage and said to the Inspector, "Remember the lame sheep,Gregory, remember the lame sheep!"
Mr.Ross was not interested in the sheep, but the Inspector stared at Holmes.
"You think the sheep are important?"
"Oh,yes," said Holmes, "Very important."
The inspector still stared at him, very interested now.
"And what other things are important, Mr. Holmes?"
"The strange incident of the dog in the night-time."
"The dog did nothing in the night time."
"That was the strange incident."
翻译
第四章：寻找赛马
福尔摩斯和我慢慢穿过高沼地。
夕阳下，山上的秋色非常美--红色、棕色、黄色交相辉映。
但福尔摩斯对此视而不见。
"那么，华生，"他说，"让我们暂时忘记斯特雷克，想想那匹马吧。马是温顺的动物。我们假设'银光'在斯特雷克被杀之后跑了。它跑到这又湿又冷的高沼地上，然后会怎么办呢?"
"它会寻找一处温暖的马厩，"我说，"一个有食有水的地方。"
"对，华生。它没回到金斯皮兰，我们知道这一点，但离这儿不远的地方还有一个马厩，在卡普莱顿。没准它去那儿了。华生，去卡普莱顿的路就是从这儿下山。我们走!"
我们很快下了山，在山脚下，我们发现一条小河，还有一片很湿的地面。
"太好了，"福尔摩斯说，"我正想有块泥地，它就出现了。华生，你沿着河的左岸走。我们找找马蹄铁的痕迹。"
就在50米远的地方，我们发现了马蹄铁的印子。
福尔摩斯从口袋里拿出那块马蹄铁，放在那个蹄印的旁边。
"没错，这就是'银光'，毫无疑问。"
我们轻松地追踪着蹄印，有一会儿又失去了它的踪迹，但在离卡普莱顿马厩大约200米的地方，又发现了蹄印。
"在这儿，"我叫道，"看，这儿还有个印记，是一个人的鞋印。"
福尔摩斯蹲下查看。"你说得对，华生。而且这个人是走在马旁边的。"
我们随着二者的脚印一直到了卡普莱顿的马厩。当我们离马厩还有20米远时，一个人出来朝我们大吼。
他满脸通红，怒火万丈。
"走开!我们这儿不欢迎游客!走开!"
"赛拉斯·布朗先生?"福尔摩斯对他说道。
"你们想干什么?"那个人问，"我不接受记者采访，赶快走开。"
"我们不是报社的记者，"福尔摩斯微笑着说，"但你的马厩里有一匹名叫'银光'的马。"
"那不可能!"布朗先生愤怒地说。
"我们能进去谈谈吗?"福尔摩斯说。
他没有等着那人回答，而是抓住他的胳膊，快步走向大门。
他回头看看我，从容地说："华生，在这儿等我。"
20分钟后，他们又出来了。
福尔摩斯看上去很满意，赛拉斯·布朗先生完全变了个人。
他看上去矮了些，也老了些，脸上满是惊恐。
"记住，"福尔摩斯说道，"到那天你一定得准时到，准备好一切。"
"好的，好的，"赛拉斯·布朗连忙说，"你放心吧。好的，你放心。"
"那好，"福尔摩斯说，"那先再见吧。"
福尔摩斯与我开始沿着大路走回金斯皮兰。
"那他藏着那匹马吗?"我问道。
福尔摩斯大笑起来。"没错。他一开始当然说没有。但他害怕警察。他不想让他们知道这件事，而我能帮他应付。"
"但警方为什么没发现那匹马呢?"我问道，"格雷戈里巡官说他们去过卡普莱顿。"
"哦，要改变一匹马的毛色很容易，"福尔摩斯再次大笑起来。"格雷戈里是个好警察，但我认为他对马了解不深。"
"那布朗为什么要告诉你呢?"我说。
"当我跟他一起穿过马厩的时候，"福尔摩斯说，"地上有很多泥，我看见了他留在泥地上的鞋印。你还记得高沼地里的脚印吗?两种鞋印是一样的。然后就简单了，他把一切都告诉了我。那天清早，他在高沼地里发现了'银光'，就把它带回了自己的马厩。那匹马很好，只不过现在是另一个颜色。你知道，布朗下了重注，赌德斯伯勒能赢得韦塞克斯杯。如果'银光'不参加比赛的话......"
"但你为什么要把马留在那儿呢?它在他那儿安全吗?"我不明白福尔摩斯的想法。
"亲爱的华生，"福尔摩斯说，"那匹马很安全。赛拉斯·布朗害怕我，害怕警察，害怕失去一切。'银光'一定要参加下周的比赛，否则布朗作为赛马训练师的生涯就完蛋了--布朗明白这一点。"
"罗斯先生不会喜欢这样的。"我说。
"罗斯先生，"福尔摩斯说，"不了解侦探工作。他想今天、现在、立刻就得到答案。因此，他必须得到点儿教训。他得学会等。暂时不要透露关于'银光'的事情，华生。"
我们回到金斯皮兰，发现罗斯先生和格雷戈里巡官都在驯马师家里。
"这是一次很有意思的拜访，"福尔摩斯说，"但我的朋友和我必须乘午夜的火车返回伦敦。"
巡官和罗斯先生瞪着他，我发现福尔摩斯对罗斯先生的判断是对的。
罗斯先生说道："这么说我们著名的伦敦大侦探找不到杀死可怜的斯特雷克的凶手，也找不到我的马。"
"不错，这个案子很复杂。"福尔摩斯平静地说，"但你的马会参加下星期二的韦塞克斯杯。这一点我敢保证。"
"哼!保证真是妙不可言，"罗斯先生说，"但我更想要回我的马，不想要什么保证。"
福尔摩斯笑了，然后转向格雷戈里巡官。"巡官，能不能给我一张斯特雷克的照片?"
"当然可以。"巡官说。
他从口袋里的一个信封内掏出一张照片，递给福尔摩斯。
该回塔维斯托克了，我们走到屋外。
有一个小马倌在外面，福尔摩斯突然跟他说起话来。
"我看见你们在这儿养了几只羊，在马厩旁边，"他说，"它们还好吗?"
"它们很好，先生，"小马倌说，"但其中两三只有点儿跛。它们上星期开始跛的。"
福尔摩斯对此非常高兴。
他上了马车，对巡官说道："记住那些跛脚的羊，格雷戈里，记住那些跛脚的羊!"
罗斯先生对羊一点儿兴趣都没有，但巡官盯着福尔摩斯。"你觉得那些羊很重要?"
"对。"福尔摩斯说，"非常重要。"
巡官还瞪着他，马上就来了兴致。
"那你觉得还有什么东西很重要，福尔摩斯先生?"
"狗在那天晚上的奇怪举动。"
"那天晚上狗什么举动都没有。"
"这就是奇怪的地方。"
