巴斯克威尔的猎犬 疑案（9）（在线收听）

"With a wood round it?"

“周围是被树林围绕着的吗？ ”

"Exactly. I fancy the yew alley, though not marked under that name, must stretch along thisline, with the moor, as you perceive, upon the right of it. This small clump of buildings here is thehamlet of Grimpen, where our friend Dr. Mortimer has his headquarters. Within a radius of fivemiles there are, as you see, only a very few scattered dwellings. Here is Lafter Hall, which wasmentioned in the narrative. There is a house indicated here which may be the residence of thenaturalist -- Stapleton, if I remember right, was his name. Here are two moorland farmhouses,High Tor and Foulmire. Then fourteen miles away the great convict prison of Princetown.

Between and around these scattered points extends the desolate, lifeless moor. This, then, is thestage upon which tragedy has been played, and upon which we may help to play it again."“是的。 我想那条水松夹道， 虽然在这儿并没有注明， 一定是沿着这条线伸展下去的；而沼地呢， 你可以看得出来， 是在它的右侧。 这一小堆房子就是格林盆村， 咱们的朋友摩梯末医生的住宅就在这里。 在半径五里之内， 你看得到， 只有很少几座零星散布的房屋。 这里就是事件里提到过的赖福特庄园。这里有一所注明了的房屋， 可能就是那位生物学家的住宅；如果我没有记错的话， 他姓斯台普吞。 这里是两家沼地的农舍， 高陶和弗麦尔。 十四英里以外就是王子镇的大监狱。 在这些分散的各点之间和周围伸延着荒漠凄凉的沼地。 这里就是曾经演出悲剧的舞台， 也许靠我们的帮助， 在这舞台上还会演出些好戏呢。”

"It must be a wild place."

“这一定是个荒野之地。”

"Yes, the setting is a worthy one. If the devil did desire to have a hand in the affairs of men--"“啊， 左近的环境可真太合适了， 如果魔鬼真想插足于人世间的事情的话……”

"Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation."“这么说， 你自己也倾向于神怪的说法了。”

"The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not? There are two questions waitingfor us at the outset. The one is whether any crime has been committed at all; the second is, what isthe crime and how was it committed? Of course, if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct, andwe are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature, there is an end of our investigation.

But we are bound to exhaust all other hypotheses before falling back upon this one. I think we'llshut that window again, if you don't mind. It is a singular thing, but I find that a concentratedatmosphere helps a concentration of thought. I have not pushed it to the length of getting into abox to think, but that is the logical outcome of my convictions. Have you turned the case over inyour mind?"“魔鬼的代理人也许是血肉之躯呢， 难道不会吗？ 咱们面临着两个问题： 第一， 究竟是不是发生过犯罪的事实； 第二， 究竟是什么性质的罪行和这罪行是怎样进行的？ 当然罗， 如果摩梯末医生的疑虑是正确的话， 我们就要和超乎一般自然法则的势力打交道了 ； 那样， 我们的调查工作也就算是到了头了 。 但是我们只有在各种假设都被推翻之后， 才能再回到这条路上来探索。 如果你不反对的话， 我想咱们得关上那窗户了。 很奇怪， 我总觉得浓厚的空气能使人们的思想集中。 虽然我还没有到非钻进箱子去才能思考的地步， 可是我相信， 如果再继续发展下去的话， 势必会得到那样的结果呢。 这件案子， 你在脑子里思考过了 吗？ ”