《巴斯克威尔猎犬》 27出逃的囚犯(5)

It was difficult to cross the moor¹ in the dark, but at last we reached the light. It was standing² on a rock. Suddenly an evil³ face, more like an animal than a man, looked at us from behind the rock. The escaped prisoner⁴ saw us and screamed as he turned to run.

要在黑暗之中走过沼地是件难事，但是我们最终还是到达了光亮所在之处。蜡烛被搁在了一块岩石之上。突然之间，一张邪恶的、与其说是人长的不如说是野兽般的面孔从岩石后面探出来张望着我们。这个逃犯看到我们便尖叫着转身逃开了。

Sir Henry and I were both good runners and very healthy men, but we soon realized that we had no chance of catching⁵ Selden. He knew the way, and was running for his life. Soon we had lost him in the dark, so we stopped and sat down, breathing heavily, to rest.

我和亨利爵士都是飞毛腿，身体又很健康，可是我们很快便意识到已没机会抓获塞尔登了。他既识路又在逃命。不久之后我们便在黑暗之中看不到他了，因此我们便停下脚步，喘着粗气坐下来休息一番。

At that moment a very strange thing happened. The moon was low upon our right, and in its light we could see the top of a hill. On that hill, with the moon behind him, stood a tall, thin man. He was standing perfectly⁶ still. He was watching us.

就在那时，发生了一件非常奇怪的事情。月亮低悬在我们右侧的空中，我们在月光下看到一座小山的尖顶。在山顶上站着一个又高又瘦的男子，他背后的天幕上挂着一轮月亮。他一动不动地站着。他正注视着我们。

It was not Selden, who had been running away from that hill. This man was much taller. With a cry of surprise I turned to Sir Henry. As I turned, the man disappeared.

此人并非塞尔登，塞尔登已从那座山的旁边跑远了。此人要比他高得多。我惊叫一声，向亨利爵士转过身去。就在我转身时此人便消失了。

I wanted to go across to the hill and search for him, but we were tired and I remembered that Sir Henry might be in danger. So we went back to Baskerville Hall.

我本想去小山那边搜寻一番的，但是我们已精疲力尽了，我还想到亨利爵士可能有危险。于是我们便回巴斯克维尔庄园去了。

Who was the tall man I had seen standing against the moon? Was he an enemy, or a friend who was watching over us？

我所看到的这位背对月亮而站立的高个男人是谁？他是敌人还是密切注视着我们的朋友？

I wished more and more that Holmes could leave London and come to Baskerville Hall. I wrote to him every few days and gave him the details of everything that happened and everyone I met.

我越来越希望福尔摩斯能够从伦敦脱身到巴斯克维尔庄园来。每隔不几天我便给他写封信，详尽地告诉他有关这儿所发生的每件事情以及我所见到的每位人士的情况。

1 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

4 prisoner   

n.俘虏，囚犯，被监禁的人

参考例句：

• The soldier reported that a prisoner was at large.士兵报告说一名囚犯在逃。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。