马斯格雷夫礼典06（在线收听）

“‘This was how it came about. I have said that the man was intelligent, and  this very intelligence has caused his ruin, for it seems to have led to an  insatiable curiosity about things which did not in the least concern him. I had  no idea of the lengths to which this would carry him, until the merest accident  opened my eyes to it.

“‘I have said that the house is a rambling one. One day last week—on Thursday  night, to be more exact—I found that I could not sleep, having foolishly taken  a cup of strong café noir after my dinner. After struggling against it until two  in the morning, I felt that it was quite hopeless, so I rose and lit the candle  with the intention of continuing a novel which I was reading. The book, however,  had been left in the billiard-room, so I pulled on my dressing-gown and started  off to get it.

“‘In order to reach the billiard-room I had to descend a flight of stairs and  then to cross the head of a passage which led to the library and the gun-room.  You can imagine my surprise when, as I looked down this corridor, I saw a  glimmer of light coming from the open door of the library. I had myself  extinguished the lamp and closed the door before coming to bed. Naturally my  first thought was of burglars. The corridors at Hurlstone have their walls  largely decorated with trophies of old weapons. From one of these I picked a  battle-axe, and then, leaving my candle behind me, I crept on tiptoe down the  passage and peeped in at the open door.

“‘事情是这样的：我已经说过，这个人很聪明，可是聪明反被聪明误，因为聪明使他对毫 不关己的事显得过分好奇。

我根本没有想到好奇心会使他陷得这样深，直到发生了一件纯属偶然的事情，才使我重视起 来。

“‘我说过，这原是一所凌一乱的庄园。上星期有一天，更确切地说是上星期四晚上，我在 吃过晚餐以后，极为愚蠢地喝了一杯非常浓的咖啡，很久不能入睡，一直闹到清早两点钟， 我感到毫无入睡的希望了，便起来点起蜡烛，打算继续看我没看完的一本小说。然而我把这 本书丢在弹子房了，于是我便披上睡衣走出卧室去取。

“‘要到弹子房，我必须下一段楼梯，然后经过一段走廊，那条走廊的尽头，通往藏书室和 槍库。我向走廊望过去，忽见一道微弱的亮光从藏书室敞开的门内射一出，这时你可想见我 是多么惊奇了。临睡前我已经亲自把藏书室的灯熄灭，把门也关上了。我自然首先想到这一 定是夜盗了。赫尔斯通庄园的走廊里的墙壁上装饰着许多古代武器的战利品。我从里面挑出 一把战斧，然后，丢一了蜡烛，蹑手蹑脚地走过走廊，向门里窥视。