2 A Mysterious Figure

Chapter 2 A Mysterious Figure The meeting with Mr. Hilton Cubitt left Sherlock Holmes in a thoughtful mood, and several times over the next few days I saw him take the slip of paper from his notebook and stare at the strange figures written on it. We didn't speak of it again, however, until one afternoon about two weeks later, when Cubitt returned. His face was lined with worry and there were heavy bags under his eyes. "This business is getting to me, Mr. Holmes," he said, sinking wearily into an armchair. "It's bad enough feeling surrounded by an unseen enemy; what's worse is knowing that it's gradually killing my wife. She's wearing away from the anxiety, wearing away before my eyes." "Has she said anything yet?"

与希尔顿·丘比特先生的会面使歇洛克·福尔摩斯陷入了沉思。在接下来的几天里，我好几次看到他从笔记本里拿出那张纸条，盯着上面写着的奇怪的数字。 然而，我们没有再提起这件事，直到大约两周后的一个下午，丘比特回来了。 他的脸上满是忧虑的皱纹，眼袋很重。 “福尔摩斯先生，这件事使我心烦意乱，”他说着，疲倦地倒在一把扶手椅里。 “被看不见的敌人包围已经够糟糕的了；更糟糕的是，我知道我的妻子正在逐渐死去。 她的焦虑渐渐消失了，在我眼前消失了。” “她说什么了吗？”

"No. There have been times when the poor woman seemed about to speak, but couldn't quite bring herself to. I've tried to encourage her —told her she wouldn't find a truer or more supportive friend if she ever wanted to talk—but fear is keeping her silent." "Have you found out anything yourself?" asked Holmes. "Indeed I have. The morning after my visit to you, I found a fresh crop of dancing men, drawn in chalk on the door of the toolshed. Here is a

“没有。有好几次，这个可怜的女人似乎想说话，但又说不出话来。 我试着鼓励她——告诉她，如果她想倾诉，她再也找不到比她更真诚、更支持她的朋友了——但恐惧让她保持沉默。” 福尔摩斯问道：“你自己有什么发现吗？” ”“是的。在我拜访你的第二天早晨，我发现一群跳舞的人，用粉笔画在工具房的门上。 这是一个

copy." He placed a piece of paper on the table. This is what they looked like... "Excellent!" said Holmes. "Please continue." "After taking the copy, I rubbed out the marks. Two mornings later, a fresh set appeared in the same place. Here is my copy..." Holmes rubbed his hands with delight. "Our sample material is rapidly growing," he said. "Three days after that, I found this piece of paper placed under a pebble on the sundial. The characters are, as you can see, exactly the same as the last one. "After that, I decided to try and catch the wretched scribbler in the act, so I took out my revolver and sat in my study by the window that overlooks the garden and the toolshed. At two in the morning my wife came in and begged me to come to bed, but I refused, telling her I had to see who was responsible for these messages.

复制。”他把一张纸放在桌子上。 这就是他们的样子…… “太好了！”福尔摩斯说。“请继续。” “拿了稿子后，我擦掉了上面的记号。 两天后的早晨，在同一个地方又出现了一组新的。 这是我的副本……”福尔摩斯高兴地搓着手。 “我们的样品材料正在迅速增长，”他说。 “三天后，我在日晷上的一块鹅卵石下面发现了这张纸。 正如你所看到的，这些字符和上一个完全一样。 “在那之后，我决定试着当场抓住那个可恶的乱写乱画的人，于是我掏出左轮手枪，坐在书房里，靠着可以俯瞰花园和工具间的窗户。 凌晨两点，我妻子进来，求我上床睡觉，但我拒绝了，告诉她我得看看是谁负责这些信息。

"She said it was a stupid practical joke and I should ignore it. 'Come to bed, my darling,' she pleaded, 'and we can discuss it in the morning.' But as she spoke, her face suddenly paled and her hand tightened on my shoulder. Something was moving in the shadow of the toolshed. I saw a dark, creeping figure come around the corner to squat in front of the door. "Seizing my pistol, I started to run out of the room, but my wife threw her arms around me, holding me back. By the time I managed to shake her off and reach the toolshed, the trespasser was

“她说这是一个愚蠢的恶作剧，我应该忽略它。 “快上床吧，亲爱的，”她恳求道，“我们明早再谈。”但就在她说话的时候，她的脸色突然变得苍白，她的手紧紧抓住了我的肩膀。 工具棚的阴影里有东西在动。 我看见一个黑黑的、蹑手蹑脚的身影从拐角处走过来，蹲在门前。 “我拿起手枪，开始跑出房间，但我的妻子伸出双臂搂住我，把我拉了回来。 当我设法摆脱她，到达工具间时，入侵者已经

gone. He had left a trace of his presence, though. There on the door was the same arrangement of dancing men that had already appeared twice before. "I searched the grounds but found no further sign of him. Yet he must have remained there all that time because the next morning I found some more figures drawn on the door, beneath the first set. Here's my copy. It's much shorter..."

一去不复返了。不过，他留下了一些痕迹。 门上还摆着一群跳舞的人，他们已经出现过两次了。 “我找遍了场地，但没有再找到他的踪迹。 然而，他一定一直呆在那里，因为第二天早上，我发现门上又画了一些人物，就在第一幅画的下面。 这是我的复印件。它要短得多……”

Holmes seemed particularly excited by this latest set. "Was this simply added to the first group of dancing men, or did it appear to be entirely separate?" he asked. "It was on a different panel of the door." "Excellent! This is by far the most important discovery so far. It fills me with hope. Please continue with your story, Mr. Cubitt." "I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife for having held me back when I might have caught the scoundrel. She said she feared I might come to harm. Yet for a moment I wondered if her real fear was that he might come to harm, for I had no doubt that she knew this man and understood what he meant by these strange symbols. But the look she gave me convinced me that I was being foolish and her only concern was for me."

福尔摩斯似乎对最近的这一套特别感兴趣。 他问道：“这只是加入了第一组跳舞的男人，还是看起来完全是分开的？” “它在门的另一块镶板上。” “太好了!这是迄今为止最重要的发现。 它让我充满了希望。请继续讲你的故事，丘比特先生。” “福尔摩斯先生，我没有什么可说的了，我只是对我的妻子很生气，因为我本来可以抓住那个恶棍的，她却把我拖了回来。 她说她担心我会受到伤害。 然而，有那么一刻，我怀疑她真正害怕的是不是他可能会受到伤害，因为我毫不怀疑她认识这个人，也明白他用这些奇怪的符号表示什么意思。 但她看我的眼神让我觉得我很傻，她只关心我。”