1 A Sad Tale

THE RIGATE SQUIRES.

卫兵们。

Chapter 1 A Sad Tale Sherlock Holmes was ill. The great detective had been pushing himself much too hard lately. For two solid months he'd been busy on his latest case, working for over fifteen hours a day, and it had taken its toll on his health. As his doctor and closest friend, I ordered him to take a break. It was April in the year 1887, and I believed a week of spring sunshine in the countryside might do him the world of good. My old friend Colonel Hayter had bought a house near Reigate in Surrey and had said we were welcome to visit at any time. This, I decided, was the perfect moment to take him up on his offer. Holmes, luckily, didn't take too much persuading, and on the morning of April 25, we set out from our Baker Street home for Waterloo Station. By mid-afternoon, we had arrived at the colonel's house.

第一章悲伤的故事歇洛克·福尔摩斯病了。 这位大侦探最近把自己逼得太紧了。 整整两个月来，他一直忙于最新的案子，每天工作超过15个小时，这对他的健康造成了损害。 作为他的医生和最亲密的朋友，我命令他休息一下。 那是1887年的4月，我相信在乡间度过一个星期春日的阳光，对他会大有好处。 我的老朋友海特上校在萨里郡雷盖特附近买了一栋房子，他说随时欢迎我们去拜访。 我决定，这是接受他提议的最佳时机。 幸运的是，福尔摩斯没有被说服太多，4月25日上午，我们从贝克街的家出发去滑铁卢车站。 下午三点左右，我们到达了上校的家。

After dinner, while Holmes lounged on the sofa, the colonel showed me his collection of weapons—relics of the Afghan War where the two of us had met. "By the way," he said suddenly, "I think I'll take one of these pistols upstairs with me tonight in case we have a break-in." "A break-in?" I exclaimed. "Indeed! We had an incident not far from here last Monday. Burglars broke into the house of a local businessman named Acton. They didn't do much damage, but these fellows are still at large and one can't be too careful."

晚饭后，福尔摩斯懒洋洋地躺在沙发上，上校给我看了他收藏的武器——我们两人相遇的地方——阿富汗战争的遗物。 “顺便说一下，”他突然说，“我想今晚我要带一支手枪上楼，以防有人闯入。” “一个磨合吗?”我叫道。 “确实!上周一在离这里不远的地方发生了一起事故。 窃贼闯入了当地一位名叫阿克顿的商人的家。 他们并没有造成太大的破坏，但是这些家伙仍然逍遥法外，我们怎么小心都不为过。”

Holmes, who I assumed was asleep, cocked one eye open. "Did they leave any clues?" he asked. "Not as far as I know," said Hayter. "It was a very minor burglary, not worthy of your attention, Mr. Holmes. The thieves ransacked the library. They turned the place upside down, breaking open drawers and pulling things off shelves. All they took was a book, two candlesticks, a paperweight, a small clock, and a ball of string." "What an odd mix of items!" I exclaimed. "Clearly they grabbed the first things they could lay their hands on," said Hayter.

福尔摩斯睁着一只眼睛，我猜想他已经睡着了。 “他们留下什么线索了吗？”他问。 “据我所知没有。”海特说。 "福尔摩斯先生，这是一起非常轻微的盗窃案，不值得您注意。 小偷洗劫了图书馆。 他们把这个地方翻了个底朝天，打碎抽屉，把架子上的东西扯下来。 他们只带了一本书、两个烛台、一个镇纸、一个小钟和一团线。” “这些东西的组合真奇怪！”我叫道。 海特说：“很明显，他们抓住了他们能拿到的第一件东西。”

"The local police ought to draw some conclusions from that list," Holmes said, sitting up a little straighter on his sofa. "Why, it seems obvious to me that..." I held up a warning finger. "You're here to rest, my dear fellow. I forbid you to get drawn into another problem in your current state." Holmes shrugged his shoulders and sighed, and talk drifted onto less dangerous subjects. Yet my efforts to make this a relaxing trip were in vain, for peaceful Reigate suddenly became a major crime spot. The next morning, we were eating breakfast when Hayter's butler rushed in

“当地警方应该从这张单子上得出一些结论，”福尔摩斯说着，在沙发上坐直了一些。 “唔，在我看来，很明显……” 我竖起一根手指以示警告。 “你是来这里休息的，我亲爱的朋友。 我不允许你在目前的情况下再陷入另一个问题。” 福尔摩斯耸了耸肩，叹了口气，谈话便转到不那么危险的话题上去了。 然而，我想让这次旅行轻松愉快的努力白费了，因为和平的赖盖特突然变成了一个主要的犯罪地点。 第二天早上，我们正在吃早饭，海特的管家冲了进来

looking pale. "Have you heard the news, sir?" he gasped. "At the Cunninghams'?" "Another burglary?" enquired the colonel, his coffee cup in mid air. "Murder, sir!" The colonel whistled. "By Jove! Who's been killed then, the father or the son?" "Neither, sir. It was William, their coachman. Shot through the heart, sir." "Who shot him?" "The burglar, sir. Then he was off like a shot and got clean away. He'd just broken through the

面色苍白。“你听到消息了吗，先生？”他喘着气说。 “在坎宁安家？”“又是入室行窃？”上校问道，咖啡杯悬在半空中。 “谋杀,先生!”上校吹了一声口哨。 “木星呀!那么是谁被杀了，父亲还是儿子？”“既不,先生。 是他们的马车夫威廉。 射中了心脏，先生。” “谁开枪打他的？”“那个飞贼，先生。 然后他像子弹一样跑掉了。 他刚刚突破了