马斯格雷夫礼典14

“Well, at least I knew that if Brunton could do it, I could also. Besides,  there was no real difficulty. I went with Musgrave to his study and whittled  myself this peg¹, to which I tied this long string with a knot at each yard. Then  I took two lengths of a fishing-rod, which came to just six feet, and I went  back with my client to where the elm had been. The sun was just grazing the top  of the oak. I fastened the rod on end, marked out the direction of the shadow,  and measured it. It was nine feet in length.

“Of course the calculation now was a simple one. If a rod of six feet threw a  shadow of nine, a tree of sixty-four feet would throw one of ninety-six, and the  line of the one would of course be the line of the other. I measured out the  distance, which brought me almost to the wall of the house, and I thrust a peg  into the spot. You can imagine my exultation², Watson, when within two inches of  my peg I saw a conical depression in the ground. I knew that it was the mark  made by Brunton in his measurements, and that I was still upon his trail.

“From this starting-point I proceeded to step, having first taken the cardinal  points by my pocket-compass. Ten steps with each foot took me along parallel  with the wall of the house, and again I marked my spot with a peg. Then I  carefully paced off five to the east and two to the south. It brought me to the  very threshold of the old door. Two steps to the west meant now that I was to go  two paces down the stone-flagged passage, and this was the place indicated by  the Ritual.

“Never have I felt such a cold chill of disappointment, Watson. For a moment it  seemed to me that there must be some radical³ mistake in my calculations. The  setting sun shone full upon the passage floor, and I could see that the old,  foot-worn gray stones with which it was paved were firmly cemented together, and  had certainly not been moved for many a long year. Brunton had not been at work  here. I tapped upon the floor, but it sounded the same all over, and there was  no sign of any crack or crevice⁴. But fortunately, Musgrave, who had begun to  appreciate the meaning of my proceedings⁵, and who was now as excited as myself,  took out his manuscript to check my calculation.

“嗯，至少我知道，既然布伦顿能找到的，我也能找到。何况，实际上并不困难。我和马斯 格雷夫走进他的书房，削了这个木钉，我把这条长绳拴在木钉上，每隔一码打一个结，然后 拿了两根钓鱼竿绑在一起，总长度正好是六英尺，便和我的委托人回到老榆树旧址。这时太 一陽一正好偏过橡树顶。我把钓竿一端插一进土中，记下一陰一影的方向，丈量了一陰一影 的长度，影长九英尺。

“计算起来当然很简单的了。如竿长六英尺时投影为九英尺，则树高六十四英尺时投影就是 九十六英尺了。而钓竿一陰一影的方向自然也就是榆树的方向了。我丈量出这段距离，差不 多就达到了庄园的墙根。我在这地方钉下木钉。华生，当我发现离木钉不到两英寸的地方地 上有个锥形的小一洞时，你可以想象我当时欣喜若狂的样子了。我知道这是布伦顿丈量时做 的标记，我正在走他的老路呢。

“从这点起步我们开始步测，首先用我的袖珍指南针定下方向，顺着庄园墙壁向北行了二十 步，再钉下一个木钉。然后我小心地向东迈十步，向南迈四步，便到了旧房大门门槛下。按 照礼典指示的地点，再向西迈两步，我就走到石板铺的甬道上了。

“华生，我从来还没有象那时那样扫兴失望过。一时之间我似乎觉得我的计算一定有根本一 性一的错误。斜一陽一把甬道的路面照得通亮，我看到甬道上铺的那些灰色石板，虽然古老 ，而且被过往行人踏薄了，但还是用水泥牢固地铸在一起，肯定多年未被人移动过。布伦顿 显然未在此地下手。我敲了敲石板，到处声音都一样，石板下面没有洞一穴一和裂缝。不过 ，幸而马斯格雷夫开始体会到我这样做的用意，也象我一样兴奋异常，拿来手稿来核对我计 算的结果。

1 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

2 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 crevice   

n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口

参考例句：

• I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
• He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。

5 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼