巴斯克维尔的猎犬 华生医生日记摘录（9）

 

　　October 17th. All day to-day the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy and dripping from theeaves. I thought of the convict out upon the bleak, cold, shelterless moor. Poor devil! Whatever hiscrimes, he has suffered something to atone for them. And then I thought of that other one -- theface in the cab, the figure against the moon. Was he also out in that deluged -- the unseen watcher,the man of darkness? In the evening I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the soddenmoor, full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling about my ears.

　　God help those who wander into the great mire now, for even the firm uplands are becoming amorass. I found the black tor upon which I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggysummit I looked out myself across the melancholy downs. Rain squalls drifted across their russetface, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung low over the landscape, trailing in gray wreathsdown the sides of the fantastic hills. In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by the mist, thetwo thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose above the trees. They were the only signs of human lifewhich I could see, save only those prehistoric huts which lay thickly upon the slopes of the hills.

　　Nowhere was there any trace of that lonely man whom I had seen on the same spot two nightsbefore.

　　十月十七日——今天大雨终日， 浇得常春藤唰唰作响， 房檐水滴沥沥。 我想起了 那个身处荒凉、 寒冷而又无遮无盖的沼地里的逃犯。 可怜的人啊！ 不管他犯的是什么罪， 他现在所吃的苦头， 也总算赎了他的罪了。 我又想起了另一个人—— 马车里的那个面孔， 月亮前面的那个人影， 那个隐蔽的监视者和不可解的人——难道他也暴身 于倾盆大雨之中吗？ 傍晚时分， 我穿上了雨衣雨鞋， 在湿软的沼地里走出去很远， 心里充满着可怕的想象， 雨打在我的脸上， 风在我的耳旁呼哨。 但求上帝援助那些流落在大泥潭里的人吧， 因为连坚硬的高地都变成了泥淖了。 我终于找到了那黑色的岩岗， 就是在这岩岗上， 我看到过那个孤独的监视人，我从它那嵯峨的绝顶， 一眼望到远近一无树木的阴惨的高地。 暴风夹杂着大雨， 刷过赤褐色的地面， 浓重的青石板似的云层， 低低地悬浮在大地之上， 又有绺绺的灰色残云， 拖在奇形怪状的山边。 在左侧远处的山沟里， 巴斯克维尔庄园的两座细长的塔楼， 隔着雾气， 半隐半现地矗立在树林高处。 除了 那些密布在山坡上的史前期的小房之外， 这要算是我所能见到的唯一的人类生活的迹象了。哪里也看不到两晚之前我在同一地点所见到过的那个孤独的人的踪影。

　　As I walked back I was overtaken by Dr. Mortimer driving in his dog-cart over a roughmoorland track which led from the outlying farmhouse of Foulmire. He has been very attentive tous, and hardly a day has passed that he has not called at the Hall to see how we were getting on.

　　He insisted upon my climbing into his dog-cart, and he gave me a lift homeward. I found himmuch troubled over the disappearance of his little spaniel. It had wandered on to the moor and hadnever come back. I gave him such consolation as I might, but I thought of the pony on theGrimpen Mire, and I do not fancy that he will see his little dog again.

　　当我走回去的时候， 摩梯末医生赶了上来， 他驾着他那辆双轮马车， 走在一条通向边远的弗欧麦尔农舍的坎坷不平的沼地小路上。 他一向非常关心我们， 几乎没有一天他不到庄园来看看我们过得好不好。 他一定要我上他的马车， 所以我就搭他的车回家了。 我知道他近来由于那只小长耳獚犬的失踪而非常烦恼； 那小狗自从有一次乱跑跑到沼地里去以后， 一直没有回来。 我尽可能地安慰了他， 可是我一想起了格林盆泥潭里的小马， 也就不再幻想他会再见到他的小狗了。