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牛津书虫《福尔摩斯和公爵的儿子》4、沼泽地里的尸体

所属教程:书虫1级 福尔摩斯和公爵的儿子

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2018年09月06日

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Very early the next morning I opened my eyes, and saw Holmes next to my bed. He was already dressed.

Come, Watson,' he cried. 'There is hot coffee ready for you. We leave in ten minutes.'

By six o'clock we were through Ragged Shaw, and half an hour later we were on Lower Gill Moor. Across the middle of the moor was a small river, and the ground all around it was very wet.

We can easily see tracks in this wet ground,' said Holmes. 'Look carefully, Watson!'

We moved slowly across the moor, looking at every centimetre of mud. We found hundreds of sheep tracks, and once some cow tracks-but no bicycle tracks. And then at last, we found something. Not far from the little river, right across some nice black mud, was the track of a bicycle.

Hurrah!' I cried. 'We have it.'

But Holmes did not look happy. 'It's a bicycle, yes, but not the bicycle. Every bicycle has different tyres-I know forty-two different kinds of tyre. This tyre is a Dunlop, but Heidegger's bicycle had Palmer tyres. The English teacher told me that. So this is not Heidegger.'

Is it the boy, then?' I asked.

Probably not. The boy didn't take a bicycle with him,' said Holmes. He looked again at the track in the mud. 'This track is going away from the school.'

Or perhaps to the school?' I said.

No, no, my dear Watson. Look at the tracks of the two tyres. Are they the same?'

Er, no,' I said. 'One tyre makes a deeper track.'

And that's the back wheel,' said Holmes, 'because the rider, of course, sits over the back wheel. The deeper track is the one on top, so this bicycle went that way, across the moor away from the school. But who was the rider? Where did he come from?'

We followed the Dunlop track back, nearly to Ragged Shaw. Then we lost it, in some cow tracks. Holmes sat down and thought for some minutes.

No,' he said, getting up. 'We must leave this question for now. Back to the mud by the river, Watson!'

Two hours later Holmes gave a happy cry. I quickly ran over to him, and looked down at a long thin track in the mud. It was the Palmer tyre.

Here is Heidegger!' cried Holmes. 'Let's follow him, Watson.'

For a kilometre or more we followed the Palmer tyre north across the moor, losing the track, finding it again, losing it, and finding it. Suddenly, the track stopped.

What happened here?' I said. 'Did he fall?'

Holmes looked carefully on the ground. Then he moved to some small bushes with yellow flowers on them. 'Look,' he said quietly.

On one of the yellow flowers there was something red-the dark, browny-red of blood.

Bad!' said Holmes. 'Bad! What do I read here? Something or someone hit him. He fell, he stood up, he got onto his bicycle again, and rode away. But there is no other track. Some cow tracks here, but no footprints. We must follow the blood, Watson.'

We soon found the bicycle, and then behind a bush we saw a shoe, and found a body. There was blood on the man's head and face, and he was very, very dead. He had shoes on, but no socks, and we saw a night-shirt under his open coat. It was the German teacher.

Poor man,' Holmes said quietly. 'What shall we do, Watson? We can't lose any more time, but we must tell someone about this poor man.'

Shall I run back to the school?' I said.

No, I need you with me.' Holmes stood up and looked around. 'Look!' he said. 'There's a workman over there. He can go back to the school for us.'

I went and got the workman, and Holmes wrote a note for Dr Huxtable. The poor workman took one look at the body, and began to run quickly down the hill to Ragged Shaw.

Now,' said Holmes, 'before we go on, let's think carefully for a minute. What do we know so far? First, the boy left freely. He was dressed, he did not leave suddenly, he wanted to go-perhaps with someone, perhaps not. But the German teacher left without his socks and without his shirt, so he left very suddenly.'

That's right,' I said.

And why did Heidegger go? Because, from his bedroom window, he saw the boy. Because he wanted to follow him and bring him back. So far, so good. But why doesn't Heidegger just run after the boy? A man can easily run faster than a boy-but Heidegger doesn't do this. He gets his bicycle. He knows that he needs his bicycle. Why?'

Ah,' I said, 'because the boy has a bicycle.'

Not so fast, Watson. Think about it. Heidegger dies eight kilometres from the school. So the boy is moving very fast, because it is eight kilometres before a man on a bicycle can get near him. And Heidegger dies because someone hits him very hard on the head. A boy can't do that, so there was someone with the boy-a man, let's say. But we looked very carefully at the mud all round poor Heidegger's body, Watson, and what did we find? Some cow tracks, but nothing more. No footprints from people, no bicycle tracks.'

Holmes,' I cried. 'This is not possible.'

Very good, Watson,' he said. 'It's not possible, so something is wrong with my thinking. What can it be?'

Perhaps,' I said, 'Heidegger broke his head in a fall?'

In mud, Watson?'

Oh, I don't know, I just don't know.'

Come, come, Watson,' said Holmes. 'Every mystery has an answer. But for now, the Palmer tyre can tell us nothing more, so we must go back to the Dunlop tyre.'

We found the Dunlop track again and followed it north. Here there was very little mud, and we lost the track. Across the moor we could now see Holdernesse Hall, some kilometres to our left, and in front of us we could see the Chesterfield road. We walked down to the road, and along to the Green Man Inn.



 

  • dress v. put clothes on (sb. /oneself). 穿衣。
  • track n. line or series of marks left by a moving vehicle, person, animal, etc. (车辆、人、动物等行走时留下的)踪迹,足迹,痕迹。
  • centimetre n. one 100th part of a metre. 厘米。
  • mud n. soft wet earth. 泥土,淤泥。
  • tyre n. covering fitted round the rim of a wheel to absorb shocks, usu. of reinforced rubber filled with air or covering a pneumatic inner tube. 轮胎。
  • take sth. with sb. carry sth. (某人) 携带某物。
  • get up stand after sitting, kneeling etc. , rise. 站起。
  • follow v. (cause sth. to) come, go or take place after (sb. /sth.) (in place, time or order). 跟随。
  • bush n. low thickly-growing plant with several woody stems coming up from the root. 灌木。
  • browny adj. having the colour of toasted bread. 褐色的,棕色的。
  • read v. learn the significance of (sth.); interpret. 领会(某事物的)意义,解释。
  • body n. dead body; corpse or carcass. 死尸;遗体。
  • so far until now; up to this/that point of time. 迄今为止。
  • So far, so good. up to now everything has been successful. (谚语)到目前为止,一切都顺利。
  • run after sb. run to try to catch sb. 追赶某人。
  • round prep. having (sth.) as the central point of a circular movement. 围绕。
  • break v. (of a whole object) separate into two or more parts as a result of force or strain. 破,碎,断。




第二天一大早,我睁开眼睛,看到福尔摩斯站在我的床边。他已经穿戴整齐了。

来,华生,他叫道,"给你准备了热咖啡。10分钟后我们出发。"

6点钟时我们穿过了杂木林,半个小时后我们到了低峡谷沼泽。沼泽地的中间有一条小河,河畔的地面非常湿。

我们能很容易地看到这湿地上的痕迹,福尔摩斯说,"仔细看,华生!"

我们慢慢地穿过沼泽地,查看了每一寸泥土。我们发现了许多绵羊的蹄印,还有一些牛的蹄印--但是没有自行车的车辙。最后,我们发现了些什么。离小河不远的地方有自行车的车辙,恰好穿过一些肥沃的黑±。

好啊!我叫起来,"我们找到了。"

但是福尔摩斯没有显出高兴的样子。"这是自行车的车辙,没错,但不是那辆自行车。每一辆自行车的轮胎都各不相同--我能分辨42种不同的轮胎。这一种是邓禄普轮胎,但是海德格的车用的是帕默轮胎。这是英语老师告诉我的。所以骑这辆车的不是海德格。"

那么是那男孩儿吗?我问。"

可能不是,那男孩儿没有骑自行车。福尔摩斯说。他又看了一眼泥土中的车辙。"这个车辙是从学校那边过来的。"

或者也许是往学校方向去的?我说。"

不,不,我亲爱的华生。看看这两道车辙,它们一样吗?

嗯,不一样,我说,"其中一个轮胎的车辙印深一些。"

那是后轮,福尔摩斯说,"因为骑车的人当然是坐在后轮上。深一些的车辙是压在上面的那一道,因此这辆自行车走的是那条路,从学校那边过来穿过沼泽地一直骑下去。但是骑车的人是谁?他从哪里来?"

我们跟着邓禄普车胎的车辙往回走,回到了杂木林的附近。然后车辙就消失在一堆牛蹄印中,找不到了。福尔摩斯坐下来思考了几分钟。

不,他说着站了起来,"我们现在不要考虑这个问题。回到河边的淤泥那儿去,华生!"

两小时后福尔摩斯发出一声欢呼。我飞快地向他跑过去,看到淤泥中一条又长又窄的车辙。这正是帕默轮胎的车辙。

这是海德格的!福尔摩斯叫道,"我们跟着这个,华生。"

我们跟着帕默轮胎的车辙走了一公里或许更多,向北穿过沼泽地,车辙印不见了,然后又找到了,又不见了,又找到了。突然,车辙印断了。

这里发生过什么?我说,"他摔下来了?"

福尔摩斯仔细地看了看地面,然后他向开着黄花的小灌木丛走去。"看。"他平静地说。

有一朵黄花上面溅着红色的东西--深红褐色的血。

糟糕!福尔摩斯说,"糟糕!我从这里看出了什么?有什么东西或什么人击中了他。他倒下了,接着又站了起来,他又爬上自行车,然后骑走了。但是这里没有别的车辙了。有一些牛蹄印,但是没有脚印。我们必须跟着这血迹,华生。"

我们很快就找到了自行车,然后在灌木丛后面看到了一只鞋,又发现了一具尸体。那男人的头上和脸上都是血,已经死了。他穿着鞋,但是没有穿袜子,敞开的外衣里面套着睡衣。他就是那个德语老师。

可怜的人,福尔摩斯轻声说,"我们应该做些什么,华生?我们不能再浪费时间了,但是必须把这个可怜人的事告诉给谁。"

要我跑回学校吗?我说。"

不,我需要你跟着我。福尔摩斯站起来,朝四周看了看。"看!"他说,"那边有个工人。他可以为我们去一趟学校。"

我去把那个工人叫了过来,福尔摩斯给赫克斯特伯博士写了一张便条。可怜的工人看了一眼尸体,便飞快地跑下小山,朝杂木林跑去。

现在,福尔摩斯说,"在继续工作之前,我们仔细考虑一下。到目前为止,我们都知道些什么?首先,孩子是自愿离开的。他穿戴整齐,不是突然出走。他愿意去--也许是和什么人一起,也许没有别人。但是德语老师没穿袜子和衬衫就走了,说明他是匆忙离开的。"

没错。我说。"

海德格为什么要走?因为透过他卧室的窗户,他看到了那个男孩儿。因为他想跟着他并把他带回学校。就这些,不错。但是为什么海德格没有追到男孩儿?成年人轻而易举地就能比孩子跑得快--但是海德格没有这么做。他骑了自行车,他知道他需要自行车。为什么?

啊,我说,"因为那男孩儿有自行车。"

不要这么快就下结论,华生。仔细想想。海德格死在离学校8公里外的地方,说明那男孩儿走得非常快,因为走出8公里以后,骑着自行车的成年人才赶上他。而且海德格死了是因为有人猛击他的头部。一个孩子是做不到这个的,因此说有人和男孩儿在一起--是一个男人,让我们姑且这么推测。但是我们仔细查看了可怜的海德格身边的泥土,华生,我们发现什么了?一些牛蹄印,但是此外就没有别的了。没有人的脚印,也没有自行车的车辙。

福尔摩斯,我叫道,"这是不可能的。"

很好,华生,他说,"这不可能,因此我的想法有点儿问题。错在什么地方呢?"

也许,我说,"海德格摔下来的时候摔破了自己的脑袋?"

在泥里摔破了脑袋,华生?

哦,我不知道,我真的不知道。

得啦,得啦,华生,福尔摩斯说,"每个秘密都有它的答案。但是现在,帕默轮胎没能告诉我们更多的东西,因此我们必须回去找邓禄普轮胎。"

我们又找到了邓禄普轮胎的车辙,跟着它往北走。这里的泥不多,我们便看不到车辙了。现在我们能看到沼泽对面的霍尔德内斯府,在我们左边的几公里之外,在我们的前方,能看到切斯特菲尔德路。我们沿着那条路,朝林中人客栈走去。

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