巴斯克维尔的猎犬 华生医生的第二份报告（1）

　　Chapter 9 - Second Report of Dr. Watson

　　第九章 华生医生的第二份报告

　　Baskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.

　　寄自巴斯克维尔庄园十月十五日

　　THE LIGHT UPON THE MOOR¹

　　沼地里的灯光

　　MY DEAR HOLMES:

　　我亲爱的福尔摩斯：

　　If I was compelled to leave you without much news during the early days of my mission youmust acknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now crowding thick andfast upon us. In my last report I ended upon my top note with Barrymore at the window, and now Ihave quite a budget already which will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably² surprise you.

　　Things have taken a turn which I could not have anticipated. In some ways they have within thelast forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some ways they have become more complicated.

　　But I will tell you all and you shall judge for yourself.

　　如果说在我担当起这个使命的初期， 在无可奈何的情况下， 我没有能供给你多少消息的话， 你就该知道， 我现在正设法弥补已经损失的时间， 而且现在， 在我们的周围， 事件发生得愈见频繁复杂起来了。 在我最后的那篇报告里， 我把高潮结束在白瑞摩站在窗前那里， 如果我没有估计错的话， 现在我已掌握了会使你相当吃惊的材料。事情变化得出乎我意料之外。

　　从几方面看来， 在过去四十八小时里， 事情已经变得清楚多了， 可是从另一些方面来看， 又似乎变得更为复杂了 。 我现在就把全部情况都告诉你， 你自己去加以判断吧。

　　Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the corridor andexamined the room in which Barrymore had been on the-night before. The western windowthrough which he had stared so intently has, I noticed, one peculiarity³ above all other windows inthe house -- it commands the nearest outlook on to the moor. There is an opening between twotrees which enables one from this point of view to look right down upon it, while from all theother windows it is only a distant glimpse which can be obtained. It follows, therefore, thatBarrymore, since only this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out forsomething or somebody upon the moor. The night was very dark, so that I can hardly imagine howhe could have hoped to see anyone. It had struck me that it was possible that some love intriguewas on foot. That would have accounted for his stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness ofhis wife. The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped to steal the heart of a countrygirl, so that this theory seemed to have something to support it. That opening of the door whlch Ihad heard after I had returned to my room might mean that he had gone out to keep someclandestine appointment. So I reasoned with myself in the morning, and I tell you the direction ofmy suspicions, however much the result may have shown that they were unfounded.

　　在我发现那桩怪事以后的第二天早饭以前， 我又穿过走廊， 察看了一下昨晚白瑞摩去过的那间屋子。 在他专心一志地向外看的西面窗户那里， 我发现了 和屋里其他窗户都不同的一个特点——这窗户是面向沼地开的， 在这里可以俯瞰沼地， 而且距离最近， 在这里可以穿过两树之间的空隙一直望见沼地， 而由其他窗口则只能远远地看到一点。 因此可以推论出来，白瑞摩一定是在向沼地上找什么东西或是什么人， 因为要达到这种目的只有这个窗户适用。

　　那天夜里非常黑暗， 因此我很难想象他能看到什么人。 我曾突然想到， 这可能是在搞什么恋爱的把戏， 这样也许可以说明他这种偷偷摸摸的行动和他妻子的惴惴不安之间的关系。 他是个相貌出众的家伙， 足可以使一个乡 村女子对他倾心， 因此这一说法看来还是稍有根据的呢。

　　我回到自己房间以后所听到的开门声， 可能是他出去赶密约了。 因此到了早晨我自己就细加推敲起来， 尽管结果也许证明这种怀疑是毫无根据的， 现在我还是把所怀疑的各点都告诉你吧。

 

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 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

3 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。