4 The Ritual

Chapter 4 The Ritual You can imagine, Watson, how eagerly I listened to this extraordinary story, and how I tried to piece all these strange events together to find some rational explanation. The butler was gone. The maid was gone. The maid had loved the butler, but then had good reason to hate him. She'd been strangely excited after his disappearance and had flung into the lake a bag containing some curious objects. All these facts dangled before me like links on a chain, but where did this chain of events begin? My hunch was that they began with the Musgrave Ritual.

你可以想象得到，华生，我多么急切地听着这个离奇的故事，多么努力地把这些奇怪的事件拼凑起来，以求找到某种合理的解释。 管家走了。女仆走了。 女仆曾经爱过男管家，但后来有充分的理由恨他。 他失踪后，她异常兴奋，把一个袋子扔进湖里，袋子里装着一些奇怪的东西。 所有这些事实像链条上的链环一样在我面前晃来晃去，但是这一连串的事件是从哪里开始的呢？ 我的直觉是他们是从马斯格雷夫仪式开始的。

"I must see that document," I said to my friend. "I'm talking about the document this butler of yours decided he had to take a look at, even at the risk of losing his job." "I thought you might," said Musgrave, "so I brought a copy." He handed me a sheet of paper —the very same one I have here, Watson. "It's a pretty absurd ritual," he said, sounding almost embarrassed. "My ancestors must have been a strange bunch, that's all I can say." The paper contained a list of questions and answers, as follows: Whose was it? His who is gone.

“我一定要看看那份文件，”我对我的朋友说。 “我说的是你的管家决定看一看的文件，即使冒着丢掉工作的风险。” “我想你可能会，”马斯格雷夫说，“所以我带了一份。” 他递给我一张纸——就是我这儿的那张，华生。 “这是一个相当荒谬的仪式，”他说，听起来几乎有些尴尬。 “我的祖先一定是一群奇怪的人，这就是我能说的。” 这张纸上有一系列的问题和答案，如下：是谁的？ 他的人走了。

Who shall have it? He who will come. Where was the Sun? Over the oak. Where was the shadow? Under the elm. How was it stepped? North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under. What shall we give for it? All that is ours. Why should we give it? For the sake of the trust. "Do you know when this was written?" I asked Musgrave. "The original isn't dated, but we think it was probably written around the middle of the seventeenth century. I'm afraid it's not going to be much help in solving our mystery."

它归谁呢？他要来。 太阳在哪里？越过橡树。 影子在哪里？榆树下。 它是怎么走的？往北乘十乘十，往东乘五乘五，往南乘二乘二，往西乘一乘一，以此类推。 我们给它多少钱呢？ 这一切都是我们的。我们为什么要给它？ 为了信任。 “你知道这是什么时候写的吗？”我问马斯格雷夫。 “原稿没有日期，但我们认为它可能写于17世纪中期左右。 恐怕这对解开我们的谜团没有多大帮助。”

"But it presents us with another mystery," I replied, "and by solving this one, we may find the solution to the other. I'm sorry to say this, Musgrave, but your butler seems to have been a great deal cleverer than ten generations of his masters." "What on earth do you mean?" said Musgrave. "He found meaning where you Musgraves merely found ritual." "But the words are simply nonsense, aren't they?"

“但是，这又给我们提出了一个谜，”我回答，“解决了这个谜，我们就可以找到另一个谜的答案。 我很抱歉这么说，马斯格雷夫，但你的管家似乎比他的十代主人聪明得多。” “你到底是什么意思？”马斯格雷夫说。 “他找到了意义，而你们马斯格雷夫斯只找到了仪式。” “但这些话简直是胡说八道，不是吗？”

"On the contrary," I said. "I think they make a great deal of sense, and I'm sure Brunton thought so, too. You said he had a map with him, which he was comparing to the document, and which he stuffed into his pocket when you appeared?" "That's right, but what could that have to do with our family ritual?" "I'm sure I could answer that and all the other questions relating to this mystery," I said, "but I'll need to visit your house to do so. Would that be all right?" "Absolutely!" said Musgrave, sounding delighted. "We can go right away, if you're ready." And so it was that I found myself that same afternoon at Hurlstone. It's a rather gloomy old

“恰恰相反，”我说。 “我认为它们很有道理，我相信布伦顿也这么认为。 你说他带着一张地图，他正在拿地图和那份文件作比较，当你出现时，他把地图塞进了口袋？”“没错，但这和我们的家庭仪式有什么关系呢？”“我相信我能回答这个问题，以及所有与这个谜团有关的其他问题，”我说，“但我需要去你家才能回答。 这样行吗？”“当然！”马斯格雷夫说，听起来很高兴。 “如果你准备好了，我们可以马上出发。” 就在那天下午，我发现自己在赫尔斯通。 这是一个相当阴暗的地方

manor house of thick stone walls and mullioned windows set in a splendid park. The house is built in the shape of an L. The long arm is the modern part, and the shorter one is the original building, which dates back to the sixteenth century. I was already convinced that there were not three separate mysteries to be solved here, but one. If I could only work out the true meaning of the Musgrave Ritual, it would tell me what happened to both the butler and the maid. Why had Brunton been so interested in this ancient list of questions and answers? He must have seen something in it that had escaped the attention of all those generations of Musgraves— something that could benefit him in some way. It seemed clear to me that the ritual referred to a particular place, and my first task was to find that place. There were two clues in the text pointing to where it might be: an oak and an elm. The location of the first of these was obvious as soon as we arrived: a magnificent old oak tree stood in front of the house on the left-hand side of the drive.

庄园的房子有厚厚的石墙和直棂窗，坐落在一个美丽的公园里。 这房子是按L形建造的。 长臂是现代的部分，短臂是原来的建筑，可以追溯到16世纪。 我已经确信这里不是有三个独立的谜团需要解开，而是一个。 如果我能弄清楚马斯格雷夫仪式的真正含义，它就能告诉我男管家和女仆发生了什么事。 为什么布伦顿对这张古老的问答表如此感兴趣？ 他一定看到了那几代马斯格雷夫斯没有注意到的东西——某种对他有好处的东西。 在我看来，这个仪式显然指向一个特定的地方，我的首要任务就是找到那个地方。 文字中有两条线索指向它可能在哪里：一棵橡树和一棵榆树。 我们一到那里，第一棵树的位置就很明显了：在车道的左手边，一棵雄伟的老橡树矗立在房子前面。