4 A Visit to Mapleton Stables

Chapter 4 A Visit to Mapleton Stables The Sun was starting to sink toward the horizon and the long, sloping plain before us was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, reddish browns where the faded ferns caught the evening light. But the beauties of the landscape were lost on Holmes, who was sunk in thought. "I'm thinking about where Silver Blaze went," he said at last. "Suppose he broke away while the two men were fighting, he might have run wild on the moor, but I think that unlikely for two reasons. First, he would surely have been seen by

第四章梅普尔顿马厩之行太阳开始向地平线下沉，我们面前那长长的、倾斜的平原染上了金黄色，在褪了色的蕨类植物在晚霞的映照下逐渐变成了丰富的红棕色。 但是，福尔摩斯对这美丽的景色毫无兴趣，他陷入了沉思。 “我在想‘银光’去哪儿了。”他终于说。 “假如他是在这两个人打架的时候逃跑的，他可能会在沼地里发狂，但是我认为这不太可能，有两个理由。 首先，他肯定会被

now. Second, he's accustomed to shelter, so he would most likely have headed for a nearby stable, either King's Pyland or Mapleton. He isn't at King's Pyland, so he must be at Mapleton. "This part of the moor is hard and dry, leaving no hoofprints, but the land dips toward the west in a long hollow that would have been very wet on Tuesday night. If I'm right and Silver Blaze went to Mapleton, he would have crossed that hollow. That's where we should look for his tracks." A few minutes of brisk walking brought us there.

现在。其次，他习惯了庇护所，所以他很可能会去附近的马厩，要么是国王派兰，要么是梅普尔顿。 他不在国王派兰，所以他一定在梅普尔顿。 “沼地的这一部分又硬又干，没有留下蹄印，但是这片土地向西倾斜，在一个长长的洼地里，星期二晚上会很潮湿的。 如果我是对的，银光去了梅普尔顿，他就会穿过那个山谷。 我们应该在那里寻找他的踪迹。” 轻快地走了几分钟，我们就到了那里。

We hadn't walked more than fifty paces along the floor of the hollow when my companion gave a cry of triumph. I looked down to see a trail of hoofprints pressed into the soft earth. Holmes took the horseshoe from his pocket and placed it on one of these impressions. It fit perfectly. We crossed over the marshy bottom of the hollow and returned to the hard, dry, moorland turf. The tracks disappeared, but we could guess their direction by now. A quarter of a mile farther on, the ground dipped again, and the tracks reappeared. Then we lost them for half a mile before finding them again quite close to Mapleton. This time, a set of human footprints were visible beside the horse's.

我们沿着山谷的地面走了不到五十步，我的同伴就发出了一声胜利的叫声。 我低头一看，看见软土上压着一串蹄印。 福尔摩斯从口袋里掏出马蹄铁，放在其中一个印痕上。 非常合身。我们穿过洼地的沼泽底部，回到又硬又干的沼地草皮上。 脚印消失了，但我们现在可以猜到它们的方向了。 又走了四分之一英里，地面又下降了，脚印又出现了。 后来我们在离梅普尔顿很近的地方又找到了他们，跟丢了半英里。 这一次，在马的脚印旁边可以看到一组人的脚印。

"The horse was found by someone!" I cried. "So it appears," said Holmes. "Hold up, what's this?" The pair of tracks had veered sharply off in the direction of King's Pyland. We began to follow them. Holmes kept his eyes on the trail, but I happened to look up and saw, to my surprise, the same pair of tracks coming back again in the opposite direction. "Well spotted, Watson!" said Holmes. "You've saved us a long walk, which would have brought us in a circle. Let's follow the return track." We didn't need to go far. The pair of tracks ended at the gates of Mapleton Stables. We were about to enter when a stableboy came running up. "We don't want any loiterers around here," he said. "I only wish to have a quick word with your master, Mr. Silas Brown," said Holmes. "You'll have to come back in the morn—"

“马被人发现了！”我哭了。 “看来是这样，”福尔摩斯说道。 “等等，这是什么？”这对足迹突然转向国王派兰的方向。 我们开始跟着他们。福尔摩斯目不转睛地盯着那道脚印，但我碰巧抬起头来，使我吃惊的是，原来那对脚印又朝相反的方向回来了。 “说得好，华生！”福尔摩斯说道。 “你帮我们省了走很远的路，否则我们会绕一个圈的。 我们沿着回程的路线走吧。” 我们不需要走很远。这对铁轨在梅普尔顿马厩的门口结束了。 我们正要进去，一个马夫跑了过来。 “我们不希望这里有闲荡的人，”他说。 “我只想和你的主人西拉斯·布朗先生说几句话，”福尔摩斯说。 “你明天早上必须再来——”

"It's all right, Dawson, you leave these people to me," said a big, fierce-looking man striding toward us, a hunting crop swinging menacingly in his hand. As Dawson scurried away, the man said: "I'm Silas Brown. Now what the devil do you want?" "Ten minutes talk with you, my good sir," said Holmes in his most charming voice. "I've no time to talk to every stranger who happens by. Now be off before I set the dog on you." Holmes leaned forward and whispered something in the trainer's ear. Brown gave a

“没关系，道森，你把这些人交给我吧，”一个身材高大、长相凶狠的男人大步朝我们走来，手里挥舞着一根猎鞭，威胁着我们。 道森匆匆离开时，那人说：“我是西拉斯·布朗。 你到底想要什么？”“我的好先生，跟您谈十分钟，”福尔摩斯用他那极具魅力的声音说道。 “我没有时间和每一个路过的陌生人说话。 在我放狗咬你之前，快走吧。” 福尔摩斯探身向前，在教练的耳边低声说了些什么。 布朗说：

violent start and his face flushed deep red. "It's a lie!" he bellowed. "A rotten lie!" "Really? And would you like to argue about it here in public or shall we talk it over in your office?" Brown shrugged. "Come in if you must," he growled. "We shan't be more than a few minutes, Watson," said Holmes as he followed Brown inside. It was twenty minutes, and the shadows had darkened across the stable yard before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have I seen such a change in a person over such a short time as I witnessed that evening in Silas Brown. His face was ashen and beads of perspiration shone on his brow. His bullying manner was gone, and he clasped his hands and bent his head meekly before Holmes. "Your instructions will be done, sir, have no fear." "There must be no mistake," said Holmes. "There won't be. It'll be there, I promise. Should I change it first or not?"

猛然一惊，他的脸涨得通红。 “这是谎言！”他吼道。 “一个卑鄙的谎言！”“真的吗?你是愿意在这里当众争论呢，还是我们到你的办公室里谈呢？”布朗耸耸肩。 “非进来不可。”他咆哮道。 福尔摩斯跟着布朗进了屋，说道："华生，我们只需要几分钟的时间。 过了二十分钟，在福尔摩斯和驯马师重新出现之前，马厩院子里的阴影已经变暗了。 那天晚上，我在西拉斯·布朗身上目睹了一个人在如此短的时间内发生的变化，这是我从未见过的。 他脸色苍白，额头上冒出汗珠。 他那威吓人的样子一去不复返了，他双手合十，温顺地在福尔摩斯面前低下头来。 “先生，您的指示一定会执行的，不要害怕。” 福尔摩斯说道："这是绝对不会弄错的。 “不会有。它会在那儿的，我保证。 我该不该先换呢？”