1 The Curse of the Baskervilles

The hound of the Baskervilles.

巴斯克维尔家的猎犬。

Chapter 1 The Curse of the Baskervilles It was September 25, 1888, and I was with my friend Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective, at our Baker Street home, listening to a client. "Mr. Holmes," Dr. James Mortimer began, "I am faced with an extraordinary problem, and I hope you can help me. Before I explain it to you, I must give you some background history." He pulled an old manuscript from his coat pocket. "This document," he said, "describes a legend concerning the Baskerville family of Devonshire." The story Mortimer read to us was about a cruel, seventeenth-century nobleman named Hugo Baskerville. He took a liking to a farmer's daughter and stole her away one night, carrying her back to Baskerville Hall, his remote house on Dartmoor, where he imprisoned her in a tower. But that same night, while he was downstairs

第一章巴斯克维尔家的诅咒那是1888年9月25日，我和我的朋友、著名的侦探歇洛克·福尔摩斯在贝克街的家中听委托人谈话。 “福尔摩斯先生，”詹姆斯·摩梯末医生开始说道，“我正面临着一个非同寻常的问题，我希望您能帮助我。 在我向你解释之前，我必须给你一些背景历史。” 他从上衣口袋里掏出一份旧手稿。 “这份文件，”他说，“描述了一个关于德文郡巴斯克维尔家族的传说。” 摩梯末给我们读的故事是关于一个名叫雨果·巴斯克维尔的残忍的十七世纪贵族的。 他喜欢上了一个农民的女儿，一天晚上把她偷走了，把她带回了他在达特穆尔的偏远住所巴斯克维尔庄园，并把她囚禁在一座塔楼里。 但就在同一天晚上，当他在楼下的时候

making merry with his three friends, she managed to escape out of a window. Finding her gone, Hugo saddled his horse and went chasing after her across the moonlit moor. After several hours, when Hugo didn't return, his friends took off in search of him. Soon, they came across a shepherd who could barely speak for fear. He told them he'd seen Hugo on his horse being chased by a hound from hell. The searchers rode on and eventually came to a wide space between two great stones.

她和他的三个朋友寻欢作乐时，设法从窗户逃了出去。 雨果发现她不见了，便备好马，在月光下的沼地上追赶她。 几个小时后，雨果没有回来，他的朋友们就去找他了。 很快，他们遇到了一个牧羊人，他害怕得几乎说不出话来。 他告诉他们，他看到雨果骑在马上被一只来自地狱的猎犬追赶。 搜寻者骑着马继续前进，最后来到了两块巨石之间的一块宽阔的空地。

Here they found the farmer's daughter, dead from fear and exhaustion. Near her lay the body of Hugo Baskerville. But what scared them more than anything was the sight of a giant black hound, bigger than any that ever lived, devouring their friend. Suddenly, it looked up, turning its blazing eyes and dripping jaws on them. They screamed and rode for all their worth. One, it is said, died of fright shortly afterward. The other two were broken men for the rest of their lives. Since that night, according to the legend, the Baskerville family has been cursed. Many of Hugo's descendants have suffered sudden, mysterious, and gruesome deaths.

在这里，他们发现了农夫的女儿，她因恐惧和疲惫而死去。 在她旁边躺着雨果·巴斯克维尔的尸体。 但最让他们害怕的是一只巨大的黑猎犬，比任何现存的狗都大，正在吞噬他们的朋友。 突然，它抬起头来，把火红的眼睛和滴水的下巴转向他们。 他们拼命地尖叫和骑马。 据说，其中一个不久就被吓死了。 另外两个人的余生都是支离破碎的。 根据传说，从那天晚上起，巴斯克维尔家族就受到了诅咒。 雨果的许多后代都遭受了突然的、神秘的、可怕的死亡。

When he had finished reading, Dr. Mortimer gazed at Holmes, who was looking bored. "Is this not interesting?" he frowned. "To a collector of fairy tales, perhaps," said Holmes. "Less so to a detective." "Then perhaps I should update you on a more recent development," said Mortimer, drawing a folded newspaper from his pocket. The newspaper was from May of that year, and he read us a report on the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, the most recent owner of Baskerville Hall. According to the article, he was in the habit of taking a walk along an alley of yew trees in the grounds of Baskerville Hall each night before bed. On the night of May 4, he went out as usual, but never returned. At midnight, Barrymore the butler became alarmed—for Sir Charles was known to suffer from a weak heart—and he went in search of him. The day had been wet and Sir Charles's footprints were easily followed. He found cigar ash about halfway along the alley at a gate leading onto the moor, indicating that Sir Charles had stopped there for a while.

当他读完书后。 摩梯末望着福尔摩斯，福尔摩斯一副厌烦的样子。 “这不有趣吗？”他皱起眉头。 福尔摩斯说：“也许是给一个收集童话故事的人。” “对侦探来说就不是这样了。”“那么，也许我应该把最近发生的一件事告诉您，”摩梯末一面说，一面从口袋里掏出一张叠好的报纸。 那是那年五月的报纸，他给我们读了一篇关于巴斯克维尔庄园最近的主人查尔兹·巴斯克维尔爵士去世的报道。 据那篇文章说，他有每晚睡觉前沿着巴斯克维尔庄园院子里的一条紫杉小道散步的习惯。 5月4日晚上，他像往常一样出去了，但再也没有回来。 午夜时分，管家白瑞摩吓坏了——因为大家都知道查尔兹爵士心脏虚弱——于是他去找他。 那天很潮湿，查尔兹爵士的脚印很容易被找到。 他在小路中间的一个通向沼地的门口发现了雪茄烟灰，这表明查尔兹爵士曾在那里停过一会儿。

The footprints continued on from there, but they looked different, as if Sir Charles had been walking on tiptoes. Near the end of the alley, Barrymore was dismayed to find Sir Charles's body. There were no signs of violence on the corpse. However, his expression was that of someone suffering from extreme fear.

脚印从那里继续往前走，但是它们看起来不同了，仿佛查尔兹爵士踮着脚尖走路似的。 在小巷的尽头，白瑞摩惊愕地发现了查尔兹爵士的尸体。 尸体上没有暴力的痕迹。 然而，他的表情是一种极度恐惧的表情。