巴斯克维尔猎犬 3.The Death of Sir Charles Baskerville

巴斯克维尔猎犬

The hound of the baskervilles

美国作家改编

原著 Conan Doyle

【英】柯南.道尔

改编 Robert Ellis

故事梗概

九月一个美丽的早晨，神探歌洛克.福尔摩斯收到一封来自一位名叫詹姆斯.摩梯末的医生的拜访信。上午十点半摩梯末医生如约而至，他随身带来了一扎神秘的手稿，这扎手稿来自已故的查尔斯.巴斯克雄尔爵士。信中讲述了一百多年前巴斯克维尔家庭的祖先雨果.巴斯克维尔是如何为非作歹，最终招致自己丧命在传说中凶悍无比的巴斯克维尔猎犬的利齿之下的故事。自此之后，巴斯克维尔家族就笼罩在祖先所犯下罪行的阴影之中，家族族长的继承人们都相继以蹊跷而恐怖的方式死去。

起初福尔摩斯并不为摩梯末医生的故事所吸引，认为这只是个有趣的传说。但随着摩梯末医生逐步向福尔摩斯讲述了查尔斯.巴斯克维尔爵士死因的疑点时，福尔摩斯决定插手此案，因为他意识到这不仅关系到已故伯爵查尔斯的真正死因，还关系到巴斯克维尔庄园的下一个继承人亨利.巴斯克维尔的生命安全。在福尔摩斯的巧妙安排之下。他的忠实搭档华生医生陪伴亨利爵士回到巴斯克维尔庄园。

在巴斯克维尔庄园期间，华生医生接二连三地遇到了种种怪异之事，如半夜时分女人凄惨的哭声，管家白瑞摩夜间可疑的举动，还有他后来发现的一封查尔斯爵士死前未被完全烧毁的信件的碎片，等等。这诸多的疑团使他坠入云雾之中。正当他决定开始深入虎穴探听虚实之时，他却出乎意料地遇到了从天而降的福尔摩斯。原来福尔摩斯为了弄清传说中那只可怕猎犬的秘密及发生在巴斯克维尔庄园的惨案，故意避人耳目，独自躲在人迹罕至的沼泽地，忍受暴风雨以及孤独和寒冷的袭击。而此时狡猾的罪犯也开始按捺不住，逐渐浮出水面，他迫不及待地误杀了穿着亨利爵士衣服的逃犯塞尔多。这使福尔摩斯更加确信自己的推断无误。于是，福尔摩斯果断地用亨利引出了真正的凶手——斯台普顿。原来两年前刚刚搬到德文郡的斯台普顿就是罗杰.巴斯克维尔，即查尔斯爵士最小弟弟的儿子。多年前人们误以为身为逃犯的罗杰死于南美洲，但实际上，他并没有死，而且还有了一个儿子也叫罗杰，他就是斯台普顿。斯台普顿知道如果查尔斯和亨利都死了，那么他将能得到巴斯克维尔家族的巨额财产，因此他便利用巴斯克维尔猎犬的传说不择手段地杀害了自己的亲人。他先是用怒犬吓死了年老体衰的查尔斯爵士，随后又妄图让恶犬咬死亨利爵士，但福尔摩斯最终识破了他的诡计，在华生和警探的配合下杀死了那只可怕的猎犬，而斯台普顿也在深夜仓皇出逃时生死不明……

CHAPTER THREE

感谢大耳朵网友“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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