马斯格雷夫礼典16

“I confess that so far, Watson, I had been disappointed in my investigation¹. I  had reckoned upon solving the matter when once I had found the place referred to  in the Ritual; but now I was there, and was apparently² as far as ever from  knowing what it was which the family had concealed³ with such elaborate  precautions. It is true that I had thrown a light upon the fate of Brunton, but  now I had to ascertain⁴ how that fate had come upon him, and what part had been  played in the matter by the woman who had disappeared. I sat down upon a keg in  the corner and thought the whole matter carefully over.

“You know my methods in such cases, Watson. I put myself in the man's place  and, having first gauged⁵ his intelligence, I try to imagine how I should myself  have proceeded under the same circumstances. In this case the matter was  simplified by Brunton's intelligence being quite first-rate, so that it was  unnecessary to make any allowance for the personal equation, as the astronomers  have dubbed⁶ it. He knew that something valuable was concealed. He had spotted  the place. He found that the stone which covered it was just too heavy for a man  to move unaided. What would he do next? He could not get help from outside, even  if he had some one whom he could trust, without the unbarring of doors and  considerable risk of detection. It was better, if he could, to have his helpmate  inside the house. But whom could he ask? This girl had been devoted⁷ to him. A  man always finds it hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman's  love, however badly he may have treated her. He would try by a few attentions to  make his peace with the girl Howells, and then would engage her as his  accomplice⁸. Together they would come at night to the cellar, and their united  force would suffice to raise the stone. So far I could follow their actions as  if I had actually seen them.

“But for two of them, and one a woman, it must have been heavy work the raising  of that stone. A burly Sussex policeman and I had found it no light job. What  would they do to assist them? Probably what I should have done myself. I rose  and examined carefully the different billets of wood which were scattered⁹ round  the floor. Almost at once I came upon what I expected. One piece, about three  feet in length, had a very marked indentation at one end, while several were  flattened¹⁰ at the sides as if they had been compressed by some considerable  weight. Evidently, as they had dragged the stone up they had thrust the chunks  of wood into the chink, until at last, when the opening was large enough to  crawl through, they would hold it open by a billet placed lengthwise, which  might very well become indented¹¹ at the lower end, since the whole weight of the  stone would press it down on to the edge of this other slab¹². So far I was still  on safe ground.

“华生，到现在我依然承认，我那时曾经对我的调查感到失望。在我按照礼典的暗示找到这 个地方时，我曾经指望解决这个问题。可是现在我已身在此地，显然远未能弄清这一家族采 取如此一精一心筹划的防范措施，究竟为着什么。诚然我是搞清楚了布伦顿的下场，可是现 在还得查明他是如何遭到这个下场的；而那个失踪的姑一娘一在这件事情上又起了什么作用 。我坐到墙角的一个小桶上，仔细地思索着这整个案件。

“遇到这样的情形，你是知道我的处置方法的，华生。我替这个人设身处地想一想，首先衡 量一下他的智力水平，尽力设想我自己在同一情况下该怎么办。在这一情况下，事情就来得 很简单，因为布伦顿是个绝顶聪明的人，不必考虑他观察问题会出什么‘个人观测误差’（ 这里是借用了天文观测人员的一个术语），他知道藏着宝物，便准确地找到了地方，发现石 板盖太重，单人无法挪动。下一步怎么办？就算他在庄园以外有信得过的人吧，那要求此人 帮助，也得开门放他进来，要冒被人发觉的重大危险。最好的办法是在庄园内部找个助手。 可是他能向谁求助呢？这个姑一娘一曾经倾心一爱一过他。男人不管对女人多坏，他也始终 不承认最后会失去那女人的一爱一情。他可能献几次殷勤，同姑一娘一豪厄尔斯重归旧好， 然后约好共同行动。他俩可能夜间一同来到地下室，合力掀一开石板。至此我可以追述他们 的行动，犹如耳闻目睹一般。

“不过要揭起这块石板，对于他们两个人，并且其中一个是妇女，还是过于吃力。因为就连 我和那个五大三粗的苏塞克斯警察合力去干也不觉得是轻快事呢。他们挪不动石板怎么办？ 要是我的话应该怎么办呢？我站起身来，仔细地查看了地面四下乱放着的各种短木。我几乎 立刻看到了我料到会有的东西。一根约三英尺长的木料，一端有明显的缺痕，还有几块木头 侧面都压平了，好象是被相当重的东西压平的。很显然，他们一面把石板往上提，一面把一 些木头塞一进缝隙中，直到这个缝隙可以爬进一个人去，才用一块木头竖着顶一住石板，不 让它落下来。因为石板重量全部压在这根木头上，使它压在另一块石板边缘上，这就使得木 头着地的一端产生了缺痕。至此我的证据仍然是可靠的。

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

4 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

5 gauged   

adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• He picked up the calipers and gauged carefully. 他拿起卡钳仔细测量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Distance is gauged by journey time rather than miles. 距离以行程时间而非英里数来计算。 来自辞典例句

6 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

11 indented   

adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版

参考例句：

• His voyage was down Chile's indented coastline.他的航行沿智利参差曲折的海岸线行进。
• Each paragraph of the body is usually indented five blocks.正文每段开始，一般缩进五个英文字母。

12 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。