马斯格雷夫礼典18（在线收听）

“‘You must bear in mind,’ said I, ‘that the royal party made head in England  even after the death of the King, and that when they at last fled they probably  left many of their most precious possessions buried behind them, with the  intention of returning for them in more peaceful times.’

“‘My ancestor, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a prominent Cavalier and the right-hand  man of Charles the Second in his wanderings,’ said my friend.

“‘Ah, indeed!’ I answered. ‘Well now, I think that really should give us the  last link that we wanted. I must congratulate you on coming into the possession,  though in rather a tragic manner, of a relic which is of great intrinsic value,  but of even greater importance as an historical curiosity.’

“‘What is it, then?’ he gasped in astonishment.

“‘It is nothing less than the ancient crown of the kings of England.’

“‘The crown!’

“‘Precisely. Consider what the Ritual says: How does it run? “Whose was it?”  “His who is gone.” That was after the execution of Charles. Then, “Who shall  have it?” “He who will come.” That was Charles the Second, whose advent was  already foreseen. There can, I think, be no doubt that this battered and  shapeless diadem once encircled the brows of the royal Stuarts.’

“‘And how came it in the pond?’

“‘你一定还记得，’我说道，‘甚至在英王查理一世死后，保皇一党一还在英国进行武装 反抗，而当他们终于逃亡时，他们可能把许多极贵重的财宝埋藏起来，准备在太平时期回国 挖取。’

“‘我的祖先拉尔夫-马斯格雷夫爵士，在查理一世时代是著名的保皇一党一党一员，在查 理二世亡命途中，是查理二世的得力助手。’我的朋友说道。

“‘啊，不错！’我答道，‘现在好了，我看这才真正是我们所要找的最后环节呢。我必须 祝贺你得到这笔珍宝，虽然来得很有悲剧一性一，却是一件价值连城的遗物啊，而作为历史 珍品，其意义更为重大呢。’

“‘那到底是什么东西？’马斯格雷夫惊讶地追问道。

“‘这不是别的，正是英国的一顶古代的王冠。’

“‘王冠！’

“‘丝毫不假。想想礼典上的话吧！它怎么说来着！“它是谁的？是那个走了的人的。”这 是指查理一世被处死说的。然后是“谁应该得到它？那个即将来到的人。”这是指查理二世 说的，已经预见到查理二世要来到赫尔斯通的这座庄园了。我认为，毫无疑问，这顶一破旧 得不成样子的王冠曾经是斯图亚特帝王戴过的。’

“‘它怎么跑到湖里去了呢？’