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16 The Hound of the Baskervilles
That evening Holmes and I drove across the moor until we could see the lights of the Stapletons’ house in front of us.Then we got out and began to walk very quietly along the path towards the house.When we were very close,Holmes told me to stop.He took his revolver from his pocket,and I did the same.
’We shall hide behind these rocks,’ he whispered.’ Watson,you know the house,so I want you to go forward and look through the windows.I want to know where the Staple- tons and Sir Henry are,and what they are doing.Take great care,because they must not know that somebody is watching them.’
Very carefully and quietly I moved towards the house.I looked first into the dining-room window.Statleton and Sir Henry were sitting and smoking their cigars,but there was no sign of Miss Stapleton.I moved round to the other windows,but I could not see her in any of the rooms.
I went back to the dining-room window,and as I looked in again,Stapleton left the room and came out of the house.He went to a hut beside the house,and unlocked the door.I heard a strange sound coming from the hut,but I could not think what was making the noise.Then Stapleton locked the door,and went back into the house and into the dining-room.
I went back to Holmes and told him what I had seen.He wanted to know where Miss Stapleton was,and I had to tell him twice that there was no sign of her in the house.
The moon was shining on the Great Grimpen Marsh,and a fog was rising from it Holmes watched the fog and began to look worried The fog was creeping up from the marsh towards the house.We were hidden near the path,which was on the far side of the house from the marsh.
’The fog is moving towards us,Watson,and that is very serious,’said Holmes.’It is the one thing that could make my plans go wrong.’
As we watched,the fog,which had crept as far as the house,began to flow round it.Angrily Holmes hit the rock in front of us with his open hand.
’If Sir Henry doesn’t come out in the next quarter of an hour,the path will be covered by the fog.In half an hour we shall not be able to see our hands in front of our faces.We must move back to higher ground above the fog.’
We moved away from the house and out of the fog,which was creeping slowly along the ground and hiding the path from our view.
’We must not go too far,’said Holmes.’If we do,Sir Henry may be caught before he reaches us.’
Holmes went down on one knee,and put his ear to the ground.’Thank heaven,I think I hear him coming.’
Then we heard quick footsteps on the path.After a few moments,Sir Henry appeared out of the fog and walked on in the clear moonlight.He came quickly along the path,passed close to where we were hidden,and began to walk up the hill behind us.As he walked,he looked over his shoulder again and again,like a man who is worried that something is following him.
’Listen!’said Holmes sharply.’Look out!It’s coming!’
I heard him make his revolver ready to fire,and I did the same.
There was a sound of quick,light footsteps from inside the curtain of fog.The thick cloud had crept to within fifty metres of where we were hidden.We tried to see into it,and wondered what horrible thing would appear.I looked at Holmes.His eyes were fixed on the place where the path disappeared into the fog.He was pale,but his eyes were bright.He looked like a man who was going to win the most important game of his life.Then suddenly his eyes nearly jumped out of his head,and his mouth opened in frightened surprise.I looked away from him to see what his eyes were fixed on.When I saw the awful shape that was coming towards us out of the fog,my blood turned cold.The revolver nearly fell from my hands,and my whole body froze with fear.
I saw a hound,an enormous black hound.It was bigger than any dog I had ever seen.But it was something else that filled us with terror.No human eye had ever seen a hound like this one.Fire came from its open mouth.Its eyes were burning.Flames covered its head and body.It was a more horrible sight than anyone could imagine—a hell-hound sent by the devil.It was not a creature of the natural world.
The huge,black,burning hound ran quickly and silently after Sir Henry.Far away along the path we saw him turn and look back at the hound.His face was white in the moonlight and his hands were lifted in horror.He watched helplessly as the terrible creature got closer to him.We were so frozen bythe ghostly and unnatural sight that we let the hound go past us,and we could not move.Our friend was near to death,and we were helpless with fear.
16 巴斯克維爾獵犬
那個(gè)傍晚我和福爾摩斯坐著馬車駛過(guò)沼地,直到看見(jiàn)我們前面的斯臺(tái)普頓夫婦家的燈光才停了下來(lái)。然后,我們從馬車?yán)锍鰜?lái),開(kāi)始無(wú)聲無(wú)息地沿著那條小道朝那棟房子走去。當(dāng)我們靠到很近時(shí),福爾摩斯叫我停下來(lái)。他從衣兜里掏出了左輪手槍,我也這么干了。
“我們將藏在這些巖石后面,”他低聲說(shuō)道。“華生,你了解這棟房子,所以我想讓你上前從窗戶向里瞧瞧。我想知道斯臺(tái)普頓夫婦和亨利爵士現(xiàn)在在什么地方以及他們正在干些什么。謹(jǐn)慎行事些,因?yàn)樗麄儾辉撝烙腥苏诒O(jiān)視他們。”
我非常小心地、輕輕地朝房子挪去。我先從飯廳的窗戶向里望去。斯臺(tái)普頓和亨利爵士正坐著,還抽著雪茄,可是沒(méi)有斯臺(tái)普頓小姐的跡象。我又挪向了別的窗戶,可看到她不在任何房間里。
我又返回到飯廳的窗戶旁;當(dāng)我又向里張望時(shí),斯臺(tái)普頓離開(kāi)了房間,又走出了屋子。他去了屋子旁的一個(gè)小屋,還開(kāi)了門上的鎖。我聽(tīng)到了從小屋里發(fā)出的一種奇怪的響聲,可是我想不出來(lái)是什么東西發(fā)出了這種響聲。接著,斯臺(tái)普頓鎖好了房門,又回到屋里去了,還返回了飯廳。
我回到福爾摩斯那兒,告訴了他我所見(jiàn)到的一切。他想要知道斯臺(tái)普頓小姐在哪里,我不得不對(duì)他說(shuō)了兩遍,說(shuō)屋內(nèi)沒(méi)有她的跡象。
月光正照在格林盆大泥潭上,白霧正從那兒冉冉飄起。福爾摩斯望著白霧,開(kāi)始露出擔(dān)憂的神情。霧正從泥潭緩緩地沿著地面飄向這棟房子。我們藏在小路旁,那條小路正坐落在這棟房子離泥潭較遠(yuǎn)的那一邊。
“霧正向我們移來(lái),華生,形勢(shì)很嚴(yán)峻,”福爾摩斯說(shuō)道。“這正是會(huì)打亂我的計(jì)劃的那件事。”
在我們注視時(shí),已經(jīng)飄到了房子旁邊的霧開(kāi)始圍著整個(gè)房屋飛旋著。福爾摩斯用張開(kāi)的手掌生氣地打了一下我們前面的巖石。
“如果他在一刻鐘之內(nèi)再不出來(lái),這條小路就要被大霧遮住了。再過(guò)半小時(shí),咱們都要看不見(jiàn)伸到前面的手了。我們必須后退到高出大霧的一處地方去。”
我們從房子旁退開(kāi),也就從那片大霧之中撤出身來(lái)。大霧正在慢慢地沿著地面飄移著,還把那條小路遮擋在我們的視野之外。
“我們不該走得太遠(yuǎn)了,”福爾摩斯說(shuō)道。“那樣的話,亨利爵士就可能在到達(dá)我們這兒之前給斯臺(tái)普頓逮著了。”
福爾摩斯單膝跪著,把耳朵貼在地面上。“感謝上帝,我想我已聽(tīng)到他走來(lái)了。”
然后,我們聽(tīng)到了小路上傳來(lái)的急促的腳步聲。過(guò)了一小會(huì)兒,亨利爵士走出了濃霧,在清朗的月色中繼續(xù)走著。他沿著那條小路快速走來(lái)了,經(jīng)過(guò)了離我們的隱藏之處很近的地方,又開(kāi)始走上我們背后的山坡。他一邊走,一邊不時(shí)地轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)向后張望,就像一個(gè)為有什么東西跟著他而擔(dān)憂的人。
“聽(tīng)!”福爾摩斯突然尖聲說(shuō)道。“當(dāng)心!它來(lái)了!”
我聽(tīng)到他將左輪手槍做好開(kāi)火的準(zhǔn)備,我也這么做了。
從濃霧里傳來(lái)了急促而又輕巧的腳步聲。那云狀的濃霧已經(jīng)飄到了距我們藏匿的地方不到50米之處。我們努力向霧里張望著,不知道那里將出現(xiàn)什么可怕的東西。我看了看福爾摩斯。他的雙眼直勾勾地盯著這條小路被大霧遮沒(méi)之處。他面色蒼白,可是雙眼閃閃發(fā)光。他看上去像一位即將贏得一生中最重要的比賽的人。接著,他的雙眼突然之間幾乎要從眼眶里迸出來(lái)了,嘴巴因驚嚇而大張著。我從他的身上移開(kāi)視線去看他注視的地方。當(dāng)我看到從霧中竄出、向我們直面撲來(lái)的那個(gè)形狀可怕的怪物時(shí),我便嚇得魂飛魄散了。左輪手槍幾乎要從手中跌落了,而我的整個(gè)身體也因害怕而發(fā)僵了。
我看到了一只獵犬,一只大的、黑色的獵犬。它比我所見(jiàn)過(guò)的任何狗都要大。可是,是別的原因才使我們充滿恐懼之情的。任何人都未見(jiàn)過(guò)與此類似的獵犬?;饛乃菑堉淖彀屠飮娏顺鰜?lái)。它的眼睛亮得像冒火一樣。頭和軀體都由火焰籠罩著。這是一幅比任何人的想像所及還要恐怖的景象——一只由從惡魔派來(lái)的地獄看門犬。它不是自然界的一個(gè)生靈。
那只發(fā)光的大黑獵犬快速地、悄無(wú)聲息地在亨利爵士后面跑著。我們從這條小路的遠(yuǎn)處看到,亨利爵士轉(zhuǎn)身向后看到了那只獵犬。他的臉色在月光下慘白,雙手恐懼地舉了起來(lái)。那個(gè)可怕的家伙逼近他時(shí)他絕望地瞪著眼睛。我們被這個(gè)幽靈鬼怪似的景象驚得竟發(fā)呆到了那種程度,以至于聽(tīng)任它從我們身旁跑過(guò),我們自己還絲毫動(dòng)彈不得。我們的朋友正瀕于死亡的邊緣,而我們則因恐怖而無(wú)能為力。