5 The incident of the letter

Chapter 5 The incident of the letter It was late afternoon by the time Utterson arrived at Henry Jekyll's house. The doctor's butler, Poole, greeted him with a worried frown. "My master is in sir," he said, "but he is in strange spirits." Poole led Utterson to a laboratory at the back of the house. Light fell dimly through a crack in the curtains, illuminating a clutter of test tubes, strange potions in jars and powders corked in bottles. Henry Jekyll sat slumped in an armchair. His eyes were red and his skin had turned deathly pale. "Have you heard the news about your friend Hyde?" Utterson asked. "The police are searching for him across London."

第五章那封信的事厄特森来到亨利·杰基尔家时，已是傍晚时分。 医生的管家普尔愁眉苦脸地跟他打招呼。 “我的主人在，先生，”他说，“但他情绪不太好。” 普尔把厄特森领到房子后面的一间实验室。 光线朦胧地从窗帘缝里射进来，照亮了乱七八糟的试管、装在罐子里的奇怪药水和塞在瓶子里的粉末。 亨利·杰基尔瘫坐在扶手椅上。 他的眼睛发红，皮肤变得死一般苍白。 “你听说你的朋友海德的消息了吗？”Utterson问道。 “警方正在伦敦各地搜捕他。”

Jekyll groaned in despair. "Utterson, I swear that I am done with Edward Hyde. Mark my words, that terrible man will never be heard from again. But there is one last thing..."

杰基尔绝望地呻吟着。 “厄特森，我发誓我和爱德华·海德一刀两断了。 记住我的话，那个可怕的人再也不会出现了。 不过还有最后一件事……”

Jekyll held up a crumpled sheet of paper. The page trembled in his hand. "A messenger brought this letter today from Hyde," he said. "It says that he has run away and will never return. Do with it what you want, old friend." "And what about your will Henry? Should I remove Hyde's name from that document?" Jekyll stared up at the dusky light leaking between the curtains. Utterson saw a look of desperate sadness in his friend's eyes. "No," Jekyll said finally. "Leave the will as it is. Just in case..." With that, the doctor sank into his chair, covering his face with his hands. As he left the house, Utterson turned to the butler. "Poole?" he asked. "There was a letter delivered today. Did you see what the messenger looked like?" Poole looked puzzled. "We have received no letters today sir," he said.

杰基尔举起一张皱巴巴的纸。 那页纸在他手里颤抖。 “今天有个信使从海德送来了这封信，”他说。 “上面说他逃走了，再也不会回来了。 随你怎么处置吧，老朋友。” “那你的遗嘱呢，亨利？” 我应该把海德的名字从那份文件上删掉吗？”杰基尔抬头凝视着窗帘间透出的昏暗光线。 厄特森看到他朋友眼中流露出绝望的悲伤。 “不。”杰基尔最后说。 “让遗嘱保持原样吧。以防万一……” 说着，医生坐到椅子上，双手蒙住脸。 离开家的时候，厄特森转向管家。 “普尔？”他问。“今天有一封信送来了。 你看到那个送信的长什么样了吗？”普尔看上去很困惑。 “我们今天没有收到信，先生，”他说。

A dark thought entered Utterson's mind. He took Hyde's letter from his pocket and folded the bottom to conceal the sender's name. "Tell me Poole," he asked, "do you recognize this handwriting?" Poole studied the page closely, and then nodded. "It looks different sir. But I swear this letter was written by Dr. Jekyll." Utterson stumbled into the dusky streets, his mind reeling. Could it be possible? Could Henry Jekyll be covering for a murderer?

一个阴暗的念头进入厄特森的脑海。 他从口袋里掏出海德的信，折起底部，遮住寄信人的名字。 “告诉我，普尔，”他问，“你认得这笔迹吗？”普尔仔细研究了一下那页纸，然后点了点头。 “看上去不太一样，先生。但我发誓这封信是约翰？ 变身怪医。”厄特森跌跌撞撞地走在昏暗的街道上，脑子里一片混乱。 这可能吗？亨利·杰基尔会不会是在包庇杀人犯？