赖盖特之谜01（在线收听）

The Reigate Puzzle

It was some time before the health of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes recovered  from the strain caused by his immense exertions in the spring of '87. The whole  question of the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron  Maupertuis are too recent in the minds of the public, and are too intimately  concerned with politics and finance to be fitting subjects for this series of  sketches. They led, however, in an indirect fashion to a singular and complex  problem which gave my friend an opportunity of demonstrating the value of a  fresh weapon among the many with which he waged his life-long battle against  crime.

On referring to my notes I see that it was upon the 14th of April that I  received a telegram from Lyons which informed me that Holmes was lying ill in  the Hotel Dulong. Within twenty-four hours I was in his sick-room, and was  relieved to find that there was nothing formidable in his symptoms. Even his  iron constitution, however, had broken down under the strain of an investigation  which had extended over two months, during which period he had never worked less  than fifteen hours a day, and had more than once, as he assured me, kept to his  task for five days at a stretch. Even the triumphant issue of his labors could  not save him from reaction after so terrible an exertion, and at a time when  Europe was ringing with his name and when his room was literally ankle-deep with  congratulatory telegrams I found him a prey to the blackest depression. Even the  knowledge that he had succeeded where the police of three countries had failed,  and that he had outmanoeuvred at every point the most accomplished swindler in  Europe, was insufficient to rouse him from his nervous prostration.

Three days later we were back in Baker Street together; but it was evident that  my friend would be much the better for a change, and the thought of a week of  spring time in the country was full of attractions to me also. My old friend,  Colonel Hayter, who had come under my professional care in Afghanistan, had now  taken a house near Reigate in Surrey, and had frequently asked me to come down  to him upon a visit. On the last occasion he had remarked that if my friend  would only come with me he would be glad to extend his hospitality to him also.  A little diplomacy was needed, but when Holmes understood that the establishment  was a bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell in  with my plans and a week after our return from Lyons we were under the Colonel's  roof. Hayter was a fine old soldier who had seen much of the world, and he soon  found, as I had expected, that Holmes and he had much in common.

赖盖特之谜

那是在一八八七年春天，我的朋友歇洛克-福尔摩斯先生由于一操一劳过度，把身一体累垮 了，健康尚未恢复。荷兰-苏门答腊公司案和莫波吐依兹男爵的庞大计划案，人们还记忆犹 新。这些案件与政治和经济关系极为密切，不便在我的一系列回忆录中加以报道。但是，从 另一个角度来说，那两起案子又很独特、复杂，使我的朋友有机会证实一种新的斗争方法的 重要，这方法是他在毕生与犯罪行为作斗争中所使用的许多方法中的一种。

我查阅笔记，看到在四月十四日，我曾收到一封从里昂发来的电报，通知我，福尔摩斯在杜 朗旅馆卧病在一床一。没过二十四小时，我就赶到他的病房，发现他的症状不甚严重，方才 放心。不过，甚至象他这样钢铁般的体质，在两个多月调查的劳累之下，也免不了垮了下来 。在这段期间，他每天最少工作十五小时，而且他向我说，还有一次他夜以继日地工作了五 天。甚至胜利的喜悦也不能使他在如此可怕的劳累之后恢复过来。在他的名字响遍欧洲，各 处发来的贺电在他屋中堆积如山的时候，我发现福尔摩斯依然感到很痛苦，神情沮丧。消息 传来，三个国家的警察都失败了，而他却赢得了成功，他在各方面都挫败了欧洲最高超的诈 骗犯玩一弄的鬼把戏。即使这样，也不能使他从疲惫中振作起来。

三天以后，我们一起回到了贝克街。不过，换个环境对我的朋友显然会更好一些，乘此大好 春一光，到乡间去呆一个星期，这种想法对我也充满着吸引力。我的老朋友海特上校在阿富 汗时，请我给他治过病。他现在在萨里郡的赖盖特附近买了一所住宅，经常邀请我到他那里 去作客。最近，他说，只要我的朋友愿意和我一起去，他也会很高兴地款待他。我转弯抹角 地把这意思说了出来，当福尔摩斯听说主人是个单身汉，而且他完全可以自一由行动时，他 同意了我的计划。在从里昂回来后一个星期，我们便来到了上校的住所。海特是一个洒脱的 老军人，见多识广，他很快就发觉，他和福尔摩斯很谈得来，这正是我料到的。