英文名著分集阅读 柯南·道尔《福尔摩斯和公爵的儿子》part1

Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

单词提示

1.kidnapping 绑架

原文

Chapter 1: Sherlock Holmes has a Visitor

When visitors came to see Sherlock Holmes in Baker Street, they often did surprising things.

Sometimes,they put their heads in their hands and cried.

Sometimes,they talked and talked and couldn't stop.

And sometimes,they just sat there and didn't say a word.

But nobody was more surprising than Dr Thorneycroft Huxtable.

He was a large man, tall, well dressed, and important looking.

He came into the room, walked to one of the big chairs, and suddenly fell into it.

He sat there with his eyes closed, looking white and ill.

I ran to get some water for him, then I got my Dr's bag and looked at him carefully.

"What is it, Watson?" said Holmes.

"He's all right, I think, " I said, "He's just very, very tired and probably hungry, too. "

Holmes looked in the man's pockets and found a train ticket from Mackleton in the north of England.

"Mackleton? That's a long way," said Holmes, "it'snot 12 o'clock yet, so he probably left home before 5 o'clock this morning."

After a minute or two, the man began to move and his eyes opened.

A second later,he got quickly to his feet.

His face was now red and unhappy.

"Mr.Holmes, I am so sorry I forgot to eat or drink anything this morning, that's why I felt ill."

"When you feel better?" I began.

"I'm better now. Thank you," said our visitor, "and I want very much to talk to Mr. Holmes to ask him something. Please, Mr.Holmes, come back to Mackleton to with me by the next train."

"I'm sorry, that's not possible," said Holmes, "I'm working on two important cases, the Ferris case and the Abergavenny case. I cannot leave London at the moment."

"Important cases? "our visitor cried, "but this case is very important too. You know about the kidnapping of the son of the Duke of Holderness three days ago."

"What? The government minister?"

"Yes, that's so you didn't know, it's not in the newspapers yet, that's true."

"But Sherlock Holmes always hears news before other people."I thought.

Holmes went to get one of his books and began to read the page about the Duke of Holderness.

"Holderness,6th Duke. Wife: Edith, daughter of Lord Grey. One child: Lord Arthur Saltire,houses in London, Lancashire and Wales. Government minister for this, for that, for the other. Well,well…" said Holmes, "he's one of the greatest men in the country."

"One of the greatest and one of the richest," said Dr Huxtable, "I know, Mr.Holmes, that you don't work for money, but I must tell you this. The duke is offering 5000 pounds for news of his son and another 1000 pounds for the name of his kidnapper."

"That,"said Holmes, "is a most interesting offer."

He looked at me.

"Watson,I think we are going with Dr Huxtable back to the north of England this afternoon."

Holmes then looked at Dr Huxtable.

"Now, sir, tell me everything, what happened, when did it happen, how did it happen, and why does Dr Thorneycroft Huxtable come to ask for my help three days later?"

Our visitor drank some water and began his story.

翻译

第一章：夏洛克·福尔摩斯迎来访客

当访客们来到贝克街看望夏洛克·福尔摩斯时，他们常常会做出一些令人惊讶的举动。
有时，他们会双手抱头哭泣。
有时，他们会不停地交谈，无法停止。
还有时，他们只是静静地坐着，一言不发。
但没有人比索恩克罗夫特·赫克斯特博士更令人惊讶了。
他是个身材高大、衣着讲究、看上去很有身份的男人。
他走进房间，走到一张大椅子前，突然就瘫坐在了椅子上。
他闭着眼睛坐在那里，脸色苍白，看起来病恹恹的。
我跑去给他拿来一些水，然后拿上我的医生包，仔细地打量着他。
“怎么了，华生？”福尔摩斯问道。
“我觉得他没事，”我说，“他只是非常非常疲惫，可能还饿了。”
福尔摩斯查看了那个人的口袋，发现里面有一张从英格兰北部麦克勒顿出发的火车票。
“麦克勒顿？那可远着呢，”福尔摩斯说，“现在才 12 点，所以他大概是在今天早上 5 点前就离开家的。”
过了一两分钟，那个人开始动起来，眼睛也睁开了。
片刻之后，他迅速站了起来。
他的脸现在红了，显得很不高兴。“福尔摩斯先生，非常抱歉，我今天早上竟然什么都没吃也没喝，所以才身体不适。”
“那你感觉好些了吗？”我问道。
“现在好多了。谢谢你。”我们的访客说道，“我非常想和福尔摩斯先生谈谈，向他请教一些问题。拜托了，福尔摩斯先生，能和我一起乘坐下一班火车回到麦克勒顿吗？”
“很抱歉，这不行。”福尔摩斯说道，“我目前正忙于处理两起重要的案件，费里斯案和阿伯加文尼案。此刻我无法离开伦敦。”
“重要的案件？”访客惊呼道，“但这个案子也很重要。你知道三天前霍尔德伦斯公爵的儿子被绑架的事吧。”
“什么？那位政府部长？”
“是的，这样你就不知道这件事了，因为它还没有登报，这是真的。”
“但夏洛克·福尔摩斯总是比其他人更早得知消息。”我想。
福尔摩斯去拿了一本书，然后开始阅读有关霍尔德内斯公爵的那一章节。
“霍尔德内斯，第六代公爵。妻子：伊迪丝，格雷勋爵的女儿。有一个孩子：亚瑟·萨特里勋爵，他在伦敦、兰开夏和威尔士都有房产。担任这个部门、那个部门、其他部门的政府部长。嗯，嗯……”福尔摩斯说道，“他是这个国家最杰出的人物之一。”
“他是最杰出的，也是最富有的之一。”赫克斯特博士说道，“福尔摩斯先生，我知道您不为金钱工作，但我必须告诉您这件事。这位公爵出价 5000 英镑想要获取有关他儿子的消息，另外还出价 1000 英镑想要知道绑架他的凶手的名字。”
“那，”福尔摩斯说道，“这是一个非常有趣的提议。”
他看向我。
“华生，我觉得今天下午我们会和赫克斯塔布尔医生一起回到英格兰北部。”
然后霍姆斯看向赫克斯塔布尔医生。
“现在，先生，请告诉我一切，发生了什么，什么时候发生的，是怎么发生的，还有为什么索恩克罗夫特·赫克斯特博士三天后会来向我求助？”
我们的访客喝了些水，开始讲述他的故事。