2 Brunton the Butler

Chapter 2 Brunton the Butler "Richard Brunton was extremely good at his job," Musgrave told me, "and he received praise from all who visited Hurlstone. With a man of his gifts —he could speak several languages and was a fine musician—it was perhaps surprising that he was satisfied with being a mere butler. Yet he'd been at Hurlstone for twenty years and seemed in no hurry to move on. "He was married to the housekeeper, who had been there for almost as long as him. Sadly, she died after a short illness last year. A few months ago, he became engaged to Rachel Howells, our second housemaid. Soon after that, however, he dropped her for Janet Tregellis, the daughter of our head gamekeeper.

“理查德·布伦顿非常擅长他的工作，”马斯格雷夫告诉我，“所有拜访赫尔斯通的人都称赞他。 以他这样一个有天赋的人——他会说好几种语言，而且是个优秀的音乐家——他满足于仅仅做一个管家，这也许令人惊讶。 然而，他已经在赫尔斯通工作了二十年，似乎并不急于离开。 “他娶了女管家，她在那里的时间几乎和他一样长。 不幸的是，去年她在一场短暂的疾病后去世了。 几个月前，他和瑞秋·豪威尔斯订婚了，我们的第二个女仆。 然而，不久之后，他抛弃了她，爱上了珍妮特·特雷格里斯，我们的首席猎场看守人的女儿。

"Rachel's a good-natured young woman, but can be rather emotional. She took the break-up very badly and cried for days. After that, whenever I saw her around the house, she looked like a dark-eyed shadow of her former self. "That was our first drama at Hurlstone. The second one was far worse, and it began with the downfall and dismissal of Richard Brunton. "As I've said, he was an intelligent man. And this intelligence turned out to be his ruin, because it made him curious about matters that did not concern him. I wouldn't have had any idea what he was up to if it hadn't been for a cup of black

“雷切尔是一个脾气很好的年轻女子，但有时会很情绪化。 分手让她伤心欲绝，哭了好几天。 从那以后，每当我在家里看到她时，她看起来就像以前自己的一个黑眼睛的影子。 “那是我们在赫尔斯通的第一出戏。 第二次危机要糟糕得多，始于理查德·布伦顿的下台和解职。 “正如我所说的，他是一个聪明的人。 而这种智慧却毁了他，因为它使他对与他无关的事情产生了好奇心。 要不是喝了一杯黑咖啡，我根本不知道他在干什么

coffee I foolishly drank after dinner last Thursday night. "Because of the coffee, I couldn't sleep. By two in the morning, still feeling restless, I lit a candle, planning to continue with the novel I'd been reading. The book, however, wasn't by my bed because I'd left it in the billiard room. "So, I put on my dressing gown and went to fetch it. In order to reach the billiard room, I had to descend a flight of stairs and then walk along a passage that took me past the library and the gun room.

我上周四晚饭后愚蠢地喝下的咖啡。 “因为喝了咖啡，我睡不着。 凌晨两点，我仍然感到不安，我点了一支蜡烛，打算继续读我一直在读的小说。 然而，那本书不在我床边，因为我把它忘在台球室了。 于是，我穿上晨衣去取。 为了到达台球室，我必须走下一段楼梯，然后沿着一条走廊走过图书馆和枪室。

"You can imagine my surprise when I looked down this corridor and saw a glimmer of light coming from the open door of the library. "I had distinctly remembered switching off the lamp and closing the door before going to bed. Naturally, I assumed we had been visited by burglars. "Many of the walls at Hurlstone are decorated with the weapons of my ancestors, which I was most grateful for in this instance. I put down my candle and helped myself to a large battle-ax. Feeling this sturdy old implement in my hands, I

“你可以想象，当我沿着走廊往下看，看到从图书馆敞开的门里射出来的微光时，我有多么惊讶。 “我清楚地记得上床睡觉前关了灯，关了门。 很自然，我以为我们被窃贼拜访了。 “赫尔斯通的许多墙壁上都装饰着我祖先的武器，在这种情况下，我非常感激。 我放下蜡烛，拿了一把大战斧。 手摸着这个结实的旧工具，我

felt a little more confident about facing the intruder. I crept on tiptoe down the passage and peeped in through the open door. "Instead of a thief, I was shocked to see Brunton the butler in there, sitting fully dressed in an armchair. The only light was provided by a small taper on the edge of the table. Its feeble glow revealed what looked like a map spread upon his knee, which he was studying with great concentration. "I stood there in the doorway, dumb with astonishment and unsure how to react. Brunton was the most trusted member of our staff. I tried to think of possible explanations for his actions— some reason why he might need to visit the library in the middle of the night. Of course, I could think of none.

面对闯入者，我觉得更有信心了。 我蹑手蹑脚地穿过走廊，从敞开的门往里偷看。 “我吃惊地看到里面不是小偷，而是管家布伦顿，他穿着整齐地坐在一张扶手椅上。 唯一的光线是桌子边上的一根小蜡烛。 那微弱的光芒照出了他膝盖上摊开的一张地图，他正聚精会神地研究着。 我站在门口，惊讶得说不出话来，不知道该如何反应。 布伦顿是我们员工中最值得信赖的人。 我试着为他的行为想一些可能的解释——他可能需要在半夜去图书馆的原因。 当然，我想不出一个。

"All of a sudden, Brunton rose from his chair and went to a large bureau standing against the wall. Producing a key from somewhere, he unlocked one of the drawers and began searching through its contents. After finding the document he was looking for, he carried it back to the table. He placed it beside the taper and began to examine it alongside the map, his eyes flitting constantly between the two.

突然，布伦顿从椅子上站起来，走到靠墙的一个大写字台前。 他从什么地方掏出一把钥匙，打开了一个抽屉，开始搜查里面的东西。 找到他要的文件后，他把它拿回到桌子上。 他把它放在锥形的旁边，开始在地图旁边检查它，他的眼睛不断地在两者之间掠过。