《巴斯克威尔猎犬》 18格林盆宅邸的斯台普顿兄妹(1)

The Stapletons of Pen House

格林盆宅邸的斯台普顿兄妹

The next morning was sunny,and we were much more cheerful.

第二天早上阳光明媚，我们也就觉得心情舒畅些了。

I told Sir Henry about the crying I had heard.He rang the bell to call Barrymore,and asked him if he could explain the crying.Barrymore's face went white when he heard Sir Henry's question.

我对亨利爵士讲述了我所听到的哭声这件事。他摇铃把白瑞摩叫来，问他可否解释哭声的事。听到亨利爵士的问题时白瑞摩变得脸色煞白。

"There are only two women in the house,Sir Henry,"he answered."One is the maid, who sleeps on the other side of the house.The other is my wife, and she was certainly not crying."

“亨利爵爷，这个房子里只有两个女人，”他回答道。“一位是女仆，她睡在对面厢房里。另一位就是我的妻子，她当然没有哭了。”

But he was telling a lie.I saw Mrs Barrymore after breakfast.The sun was full on her face, and it was clear she had been crying.

但是他在撒谎。早饭后我见到了白瑞摩夫人。阳光普照在她的脸上，清楚地表明她曾哭过。

Why had Barrymore lied？What deep sadness had made his wife cry？There was a mystery surrounding this black-bearded, handsome man.Was it possible that Barrymore was in fact the man who had been watching Sir Henry in London？I decided¹ I must check with the local post office that the telegram had really been put into Barrymore's own hands.

白瑞摩为何要撒谎呢？是什么样的至深的悲伤曾使他的妻子哭泣呢？这个蓄着黑须的英俊男人的周围萦绕着一团疑云。白瑞摩有可能其实就是在伦敦监视亨利爵士的那个人吗？我决定与当地邮局核实一番，看看那封电报是否送到了白瑞摩手中。

While Sir Henryworked atsome papers, I walked to the post office.It was in the nearest village, which was called Grimpen.I spoke² to the boy who had taken the telegram to the Hall.

在亨利爵士处理一些文件时, 我便步行去了邮局。它在距此最近的一个名叫格林盆的村庄里。我对把电报投送到庄园的那个男孩说起话来。

"Did you give it to Mr Barrymore himself?" I asked.

“你把它交给白瑞摩先生本人了吗？”我问道。

"Well, 'the boy said, 'he was working upon the roof, so I couldn't give it to him.I gave it to Mrs Barrymore, and she promised to give it to him at once."

“啊，”小男孩说道，“他当时正在屋顶上忙乎，所以我便把它交给了白瑞摩太太，她还答应马上就把它交给他。”

"Did you see Mr Barrymore?" I asked him.

“你看到白瑞摩先生了吗？”我问他。

"No, "said the boy, "but why did his wife say he was upon the roof if he wasn't?"

“没看到，”男孩说，“要是他不在屋顶上他妻子干嘛要说他在呢？”

It washopelessto ask any more questions.It was clear that Holmes'cleverness with the telegram had not given us the proof³ we needed.

再继续问下去也是无望的了。很清楚，福尔摩斯在电报上所施的高招并未给我们提供所需的证据。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 proof   

adj.防...的，耐...的，能防护；n.校样，证据，证明；vt.检验，给...做防护措施

参考例句：

• He is living proof of the wonders of modern medicine.他是当代医学奇迹的活证明。
• The proof was fished up from some old papers.校样在旧文件中被找到了。