2 A Tragic Discovery

Chapter 2 A Tragic Discovery "They still clung to the hope that the trainer had taken the horse out for an early morning ride, but their hearts sank when they spotted, a quarter of a mile from the stables, Straker's overcoat flapping from a bush. Just beyond this, at the bottom of a bowl-shaped hollow, they found the unfortunate trainer's dead body. "His head had been badly hurt by a cruel blow from some heavy weapon, and his thigh had been wounded by a sharp instrument. He must have put up a strong fight against his attacker because in his right hand was a small knife covered in blood. In his left, he clasped a red silk cravat, which Baxter recognized as belonging to the stranger who visited the stables. "Once he'd recovered, Hunter confirmed that the stranger had been wearing that same cravat. He was equally sure the stranger had, while

第二章一个悲剧性的发现"他们仍然抱着希望，认为驯马师已经把马牵出去遛达了，可是当他们在离马厩四分之一英里的地方看见斯特雷克的大衣在灌木丛中飘动时，他们的心都沉了下来。 就在这后面，在一个碗状凹洞的底部，他们发现了那个不幸的训练员的尸体。 “他的头部被某种重型武器残忍地击中，伤得很严重，他的大腿被一件锋利的工具划伤。 他一定与袭击者进行了激烈的搏斗，因为他右手拿着一把沾满鲜血的小刀。 他左手扣着一条红色丝绸领结，巴克斯特认出这是那个到马厩来的陌生人的。 亨特恢复过来后，他证实那个陌生人也戴着那条领带。 他同样肯定，那个陌生人也有

standing at the window, drugged his curried mutton. "As for the missing horse, there were hoof prints in the mud at the bottom of the hollow where Straker was found, but nowhere else. Search parties have been out and a large reward has been offered, but as of now—some thirty-six hours later—there's still no sign of Silver Blaze. "The remains of Ned Hunter's curried mutton were found to contain traces of powder from the drug opium. The people at the house who ate the same dish that night suffered no ill effects." "And what progress have the police made so far?" I asked.

站在窗前，给咖喱羊肉下药。 “至于那匹失踪的马，在发现斯特拉克的洼地底部的泥里有蹄印，别的地方就没有了。 搜救队已经出动，并开出了巨额赏金，但截至目前——大约36个小时过去了——仍然没有银光的踪迹。 “内德·亨特的咖喱羊肉残骸被发现含有鸦片粉末的痕迹。 当晚在家里吃同一道菜的人没有受到任何不良影响。” “到目前为止，警方取得了什么进展？”我问。

"Inspector Gregory, who's leading the investigation, had no trouble finding the suspicious stranger, who was staying at an inn in Tavistock. His name is Fitzroy Simpson. He's a well-educated fellow from a wealthy family who has thrown away a fortune by betting on the horses. Inspector Gregory discovered the man had bet five thousand pounds against Silver Blaze. "After he was arrested, Simpson claimed he'd come down to Dartmoor in the hope of getting some information about the King's Pyland horses, and also about Desborough, another horse running in the Wessex Cup, who is at the nearby Mapleton Stables.

负责调查的格雷戈里探长毫不费力地找到了这个可疑的陌生人，他住在塔维斯托克的一家旅馆里。 他叫菲茨罗伊·辛普森。 他是一个受过良好教育的人，出身于一个富裕的家庭，因为赌马而输掉了一大笔钱。 格雷戈里探长发现这个人赌了5000英镑赌银光。 “被捕后，辛普森声称他来到达特穆尔是希望得到一些关于国王派兰马的信息，还有关于另一匹参加威塞克斯杯的马德斯伯勒的信息，他住在附近的梅普尔顿马厩。

"Simpson didn't deny his actions as described by the maid and the stableboy, but insisted his only purpose had been to obtain first-hand information. When he was told his cravat had been found in the dead man's hand, Simpson turned very pale. He was unable to explain how this had happened. "Simpson's walking stick had a knob handle made of lead, which could have been used as a club to inflict the head injury suffered by the trainer. Yet there was no wound on Simpson, even though the blood on Straker's knife suggests he managed to hurt his attacker." "Is it possible that the blood on Straker's knife is his own?" I wondered. "You said he'd been wounded in the thigh, and he may have

辛普森并不否认女仆和马夫所描述的行为，但他坚称自己的唯一目的是获取第一手信息。 当辛普森被告知他的领带在死者的手中被发现时，他的脸色变得非常苍白。 他无法解释这是怎么发生的。 辛普森的手杖有一个由铅制成的把手，这可能被用作棍棒，造成教练头部受伤。 然而辛普森身上没有伤口，尽管斯特雷克刀上的血迹表明他设法伤害了袭击者。” “有没有可能斯特雷克刀上的血是他自己的？”我想知道。 “你说他的大腿受了伤，他可能受了伤

accidentally done this to himself while under attack." "That's quite possible," said Holmes, "and it deals with one of Simpson's main arguments against his arrest: namely, his lack of a wound." "Do the police have any idea how the crime played out?" "They imagine that Simpson somehow obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable door, and kidnapped the horse. The bridle's missing, so he must have put it on. Simpson was leading the horse across the moor when he encountered Straker, who had come chasing after him. The two men fought, and Simpson killed Straker without receiving any injury from Straker's knife.

在受到攻击时不小心把自己弄伤了。” “这很有可能，”福尔摩斯说，“这就涉及到辛普森反对逮捕他的主要理由之一，即他身上没有伤痕。” “警方知道犯罪是怎么发生的吗？”他们认为辛普森不知怎么弄到了一把备用钥匙，打开了马厩的门，绑架了那匹马。 马笼头不见了，一定是他戴上的。 辛普森牵着马穿过沼地时，遇到了追赶他的斯特拉克。 两人打了起来，辛普森杀死了斯特拉克，却没有被斯特拉克的刀刺伤。

Then Simpson might have led Silver Blaze to some secret hiding place, or else the horse bolted while the men were struggling and is now wandering the moors."

那么辛普森可能把银光带到了某个秘密的藏身之处，或者在人们挣扎的时候，那匹马跑掉了，现在正在荒野上游荡。”