马斯格雷夫礼典12

“The same afternoon saw us both at Hurlstone. Possibly you have seen pictures  and read descriptions of the famous old building, so I will confine my account  of it to saying that it is built in the shape of an L, the long arm being the  more modern portion, and the shorter the ancient nucleus¹, from which the other  had developed. Over the low, heavily-lintelled door, in the centre of this old  part, is chiseled² the date, 1607, but experts are agreed that the beams and  stone-work are really much older than this. The enormously thick walls and tiny  windows of this part had in the last century driven the family into building the  new wing, and the old one was used now as a store-house and a cellar, when it  was used at all. A splendid park with fine old timber surrounds the house, and  the lake, to which my client had referred, lay close to the avenue, about two  hundred yards from the building.

“I was already firmly convinced, Watson, that there were not three separate  mysteries here, but one only, and that if I could read the Musgrave Ritual  aright I should hold in my hand the clue which would lead me to the truth  concerning both the butler Brunton and the maid Howells. To that then I turned  all my energies. Why should this servant be so anxious to master this old  formula? Evidently because he saw something in it which had escaped all those  generations of country squires³, and from which he expected some personal  advantage. What was it then, and how had it affected⁴ his fate?

“It was perfectly⁵ obvious to me, on reading the ritual, that the measurements  must refer to some spot to which the rest of the document alluded⁶, and that if  we could find that spot, we should be in a fair way towards finding what the  secret was which the old Musgraves had thought it necessary to embalm⁷ in so  curious a fashion. There were two guides given us to start with, an oak and an  elm. As to the oak there could be no question at all. Right in front of the  house, upon the left-hand side of the drive, there stood a patriarch among oaks,  one of the most magnificent trees that I have ever seen.

“‘That was there when your ritual was drawn⁸ up,’ said I, as we drove past it.

“‘It was there at the Norman Conquest in all probability,’ he answered. ‘It  has a girth of twenty-three feet.’

“我们两个人当天下午就到了赫尔斯通。可能你早已见过这座著名的古老建筑物的照片和记 载，所以我不详加介绍了，只想说明那是一座Ｌ形的建筑物。长的一排房是比较近代样式的 ，短的一排房是古代遗留的房屋中心，其他房屋都是从这里扩展出去的。在旧式房屋中部的 低矮笨重的门楣上，刻着一六○七年这个日期。不过行家们都认为，那屋梁和石造构件的实 际年代还要久远些。旧式房屋的墙壁又高又厚，窗户都很小，使得这一家人在上一世纪就盖 了那一排新房。现在旧房已用做库房和酒窖，此外别无用途。房子四周环绕着茂密的古树， 形成一个幽雅的小花园，我的委托人提到的那个小湖紧挨着林荫路，离房屋约有二百码。

“华生，我已经确信，这不是孤立的三个谜，而只是一个谜，如果我能正确地理解‘马斯格 雷夫礼典’，就一定能抓住线索，借以查明与管家布伦顿和女仆豪厄尔斯两人有关的事实真 相。于是我全力以赴地干这件事。为什么那个管家那样急于掌握那些古老仪式的语句？显然 是因为他看出了其中的奥秘，这种奥秘却从来没有受到这家乡绅历代人的注意。布伦顿正在 指望从这种奥秘中牟取私利。那么，这奥秘到底是什么？它对管家的命运又有什么影响呢？

“我把礼典读了一遍，便觉得一清二楚了，这种测量法一定是指礼典中某些语句暗示的某个 地点，如果能够找到这个地点，我们就走上了揭穿秘密的正确道路，而马斯格雷夫的先人认 为必须用这种奇妙方式才能使后代不忘这个秘密。要开始动手，我们得知两个方位标竿：一 棵橡树和一棵榆树。橡树根本不成问题，就在房屋的正前方，车道的左侧，橡树丛中有一棵 最古老的，是我平生见过的最高大的树。

“‘起草你家礼典的时候就有了这棵橡树吗？’当我们驾车经过橡树时，我说道。

“‘八成在诺耳曼人征服英国时［指一○六六年——译者注］，就有这棵树了，’马斯格雷 夫答道，‘这棵橡树有二十三英尺粗呢。’

1 nucleus   

n.核，核心，原子核

参考例句：

• These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
• These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。

2 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

3 squires   

n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The family history was typical of the Catholic squires of England. 这个家族的历史，在英格兰信天主教的乡绅中是很典型的。 来自辞典例句
• By 1696, with Tory squires and Amsterdam burghers complaining about excessive taxes. 到1696年，托利党的乡绅们和阿姆斯特丹的市民都对苛捐杂税怨声载道。 来自辞典例句

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

7 embalm   

v.保存（尸体）不腐

参考例句：

• The Egyptians used to embalm the bodies of their dead kings and queens.埃及人以前用药物保存国王和王后的尸体。
• His body was embalmed.他的尸体进行了防腐处理。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。