福尔摩斯和公爵的儿子(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：（英）柯南道尔

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

福尔摩斯和公爵的儿子试读：

内容简介

是不是所有的自行车轮胎都一样？有多少种不同的自行车轮胎？当有人骑过松软潮湿的地面，轮胎会在地面上留下车辙——但是有一只轮胎会留下更深的车辙。这是前轮的轮胎还是后轮的轮胎？

当公爵的儿子被从赫克斯特伯博士的学校绑架的时候，了解这些问题的答案意义重大。歇洛克·福尔摩斯和他的老朋友华生大夫花了数小时查看低峡谷沼泽里的泥土。他们发现了自行车轮胎的车辙、羊和牛的蹄印——他们还发现了一具尸体。现在有了更多的问题，而且华生大夫认为不可能找到答案。“得啦，得啦，华生，”福尔摩斯说，“每个秘密都有它的答案。”

但是甚至连歇洛克·福尔摩斯对这起神秘事件的答案也大感意外……

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DUKE'S SON

Are all bicycle tyres the same? How many different kinds of bicycle tyre are there? When someone cycles over soft wet ground, the tyres leave tracks on the ground—but one tyre makes a deeper track. Is it the tyre on the front wheel or the back wheel?

When the Duke's son is kidnapped from Dr Huxtable's school, it is important to know the answers to questions like these. Sherlock Holmes, and his old friend Dr Watson, spend many hours looking at the mud on Lower Gill Moor. They find the tracks of bicycle tyres, the tracks of sheep and of cows—and they also find a body. Now there are even more questions, and Dr Watson thinks it is not possible to find the answers. 'Come, come, Watson,' says Holmes. 'Every mystery has an answer.'

But even Sherlock Holmes is surprised by the answer to this mystery...

1. Sherlock Holmes has a visitor

He was a large man, tall, well-dressed, and important-looking. He came into the room, walked to one of the big chairs, and suddenly fell into it. He sat there, with his eyes closed, looking white and ill.

I ran to get some water for him. Then I got my doctor's bag, and looked at him carefully.

'What is it, Watson? ' said Holmes.

'He's all right, I think,' I said. 'He's just very, very tired—and probably hungry too.'

Holmes looked in the man's pockets—and found a train ticket from Mackleton, in the north of England.

'Mackleton—that's a long way,' said Holmes. 'It's not twelve o'clock yet, so he probably left home before five o'clock this morning.'

After a minute or two the man began to move, and his eyes opened. A second later he got quickly to his feet. His face was now red and unhappy.

'Mr Holmes, I am so sorry! I forgot to eat or drink anything this morning—that's why I felt ill.'

'When you feel better—' I began.

'I'm better now, thank you,' said our visitor. 'And I want very much to talk to Mr Holmes—to ask him something. Please, Mr Holmes, come back to Mackleton with me by the next train.'

'I'm sorry, that's not possible,' said Holmes. 'I'm working on two important cases—the Ferrers case and the Abergavenny case. I cannot leave London at the moment.'

'Important cases!' our visitor cried. 'But this case is very important too. You know about the kidnapping of the son of the Duke of Holdernesse three days ago...'

'What! The Government Minister?'

'Yes, that's him. So you didn't know... It's not in the newspapers yet, that's true. But Sherlock Holmes always hears news before other people, I thought.'

Holmes went to get one of his books, and began to read the page about the Duke of Holdernesse.

'Holdernesse, sixth Duke. Wife: Edith, daughter of Lord Grey. One child, Lord Arthur Saltire. Houses in London, Lancashire, and Wales. Government Minister for this...for that...for the other... Well, well,' said Holmes. 'He's one of the greatest men in the country.'

'One of the greatest, and one of the richest,' said Dr Huxtable. 'I know, Mr Holmes, that you don't work for money, but I must tell you this. The Duke is offering five thousand pounds for news of his son, and another one thousand pounds for the name of his kidnapper.'

'That,' said Holmes, 'is a most interesting offer.' He looked at me. 'Watson, I think we are going with Dr Huxtable back to the north of England this afternoon.'

Holmes then looked at Dr Huxtable. 'Now, sir, tell me everything. What happened? When did it happen? How did it happen? And why does Dr Thorneycroft Huxtable come to ask for my help three days later?'

Our visitor drank some water, and began his story.

surprising adj. causing surprise. 令人惊奇的，出人意外的。

well-dressed adj. clothe oneself up in a good, right manner. 穿着考究的。

important-looking adj. (of a person) having great influence or authority. 气宇轩昂的，像重要人物的。

probably adv. almost certainly. 可能。

case n. matter that is being officially investigated, esp. by the police. 案件。

kidnap v. steal sb. away by force and illegally, esp. in order to obtain money or other demands．绑架。

government n. body of persons governing a state. 政府。

minister n. person at the head of a government department or a main branch of one (and often a member of the) Cabinet. 部长，大臣。

offer v. present. 提供。

pound n. unit of British money. 英镑。

1．有客人拜访歇洛克·福尔摩斯

当客人们来到贝克大街找歇洛克·福尔摩斯的时候，他们的举止经常是怪异的。他们有时抱着头痛哭，有时滔滔不绝地说个不停，有时只是一言不发地坐着。但是没有人比桑尼克罗夫特·赫克斯特伯博士的举止更怪异了。

他又高又胖，衣着考究，气宇轩昂。他走进房间，朝其中一把大椅子走去，突然瘫倒在椅子里。他坐在那里，双目紧闭，脸色苍白，像生病了一样。

我连忙跑去为他倒水。然后我拿来医药包，仔细地给他作检查。“怎么回事，华生？”福尔摩斯说。“我觉得他没事，”我说，“他只是非常非常疲劳——而且也可能是饿了。”

福尔摩斯检查了那男人的口袋——发现了一张从英国北部城市麦克尔顿出发的火车票。“麦克尔顿——那个地方很远，”福尔摩斯说，“现在还不到12点，所以他可能是在今天凌晨5点之前离开家的。”

过了一两分钟，这个男人动了动，并且睁开了眼睛。一秒钟之后他迅速地站了起来。此刻，他的脸色变红了，露出一丝悲伤的神情。“福尔摩斯先生，非常抱歉！今天早上我忘记吃点儿或喝点儿什么了——所以我感到不舒服。”“等你感觉好些的时候——”我说。“现在我好多了，谢谢，”这位来访者说，“我非常想和福尔摩斯先生谈谈——想问他一些事情。求你了，福尔摩斯先生，跟我坐下一趟火车回麦克尔顿。”“对不起，那不可能，”福尔摩斯说，“我正在处理两桩重大的案件——费勒案和阿伯加文尼案，这个时候我不能离开伦敦。”“重大案件！”我们的客人喊道，“但是这个案子也很重大。要知道三天前霍尔德内斯公爵的儿子被绑架了……”“什么！那个内阁部长吗？”“是的，就是他。这么说你不知道……到目前为止报纸上确实还没刊登此消息。但是我以为歇洛克·福尔摩斯总是比别人消息灵通的。”

福尔摩斯走过去从他的一堆书里拿出了一本，开始读介绍霍尔德内斯公爵的那一页。“霍尔德内斯，第六世公爵。夫人：伊迪丝，格雷勋爵的女儿。有一个独生子，阿瑟·索尔特勋爵。在伦敦、兰开夏和威尔士都有房产。负责这个……，那个……等等……的内阁部长，啊，啊，”福尔摩斯说，“他是这个国家地位最显赫的人物之一。”“最显赫，也是最富有的人之一，”赫克斯特伯博士说，“福尔摩斯先生，我知道你并不是为了钱工作，但是我必须告诉你这一点。公爵开价5,000英镑，奖励提供他儿子的消息的人，开价1,000英镑，奖励提供绑架者名字的人。”“那个，”福尔摩斯说，“是非常吸引人的开价。”他看着我，“华生，我想今天下午我们要和赫克斯特伯博士一起回英国的北部去。”

然后，福尔摩斯看着赫克斯特伯博士。“先生，现在告诉我一切。发生了什么事？什么时候发生的？怎么发生的？为什么桑尼克罗夫特·赫克斯特伯博士三天之后才来寻求我的帮助？”

我们的客人喝了几口水，开始述说他的故事。

2. Dr Huxtable's story

'On the 1st of May young Lord Saltire arrived. He's a nice boy, and he soon began to like school life and to make friends. His life at home, you see, was not very happy—we all know about the Duke and his wife. The Duchess, of course, now lives in the south of France. She left the Duke about three months ago, I think. But the boy loved his mother, and was very unhappy when she left. Because of this, the Duke sent him to my school. And after two weeks with us, he was much happier.

'Then, on the night of the 13th of May, he disappeared. The way to his bedroom is through another, larger room. Two older boys sleep there. One of them never sleeps very well, and he heard and saw nothing that night. So young Arthur did not go out through that room. His window was open, and there is ivy all up the wall of the house. It is easy to get out of the window and down the ivy to the ground. So we think that he went out that way.

'He was in his usual school things, we think—a short black coat and dark blue trousers. We looked all through his room very carefully, but we found nothing strange, nothing unusual.

'When I learnt the news at seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, I called everybody into the big schoolroom. Then we learnt more bad news—Heidegger, the German teacher, was missing too. His room is not far from Arthur's room. Heidegger went down the ivy—we know this because we found his footprints on the ground under the window. We know, too, that he was only in his coat, trousers, and shoes, because we found his shirt and his socks on the floor of his room. And he took his bicycle with him.

'Heidegger came to the school a year ago. He's a good teacher, but the boys don't like him because he isn't very friendly.

'So, Mr Holmes, we have two missing people. It's now Thursday, and there's still no news of them.'

Holmes took out a little notebook, and began to write things down.

'The boy didn't go home, of course,' he said.

'No, no. We asked at Holdernesse Hall at once,' said Dr Huxtable. 'The Duke is very afraid for his son—and I am the unhappiest man in England. Mr Holmes, you are a famous detective—please help me!'

'You make things very difficult for me,' Holmes said. 'How can I find marks in the ivy or on the ground after three days? Why didn't you come to me at once?'

'Because of the Duke,' Dr Huxtable said. 'He doesn't like people talking about his unhappy family life.'

'And what are the police doing?'

'Well, they heard about a boy and a young man at the station early on Tuesday. They looked for them, and last night they found them in Liverpool—but it was a man and his son going to visit a friend. We lost three days because of that. And last night I couldn't sleep, so I took the first train down to London this morning.'

'Well, Dr Huxtable, some more questions,' said Holmes. 'Did the boy take German lessons?'

'No.'

'So he didn't know the German teacher well, then.'

'He probably never spoke to him,' said Dr Huxtable.

'Mmm,' said Holmes. 'Does the boy have a bicycle?'

'No.'

'Was any other bicycle missing?'

'No.'

'So. Did the German teacher ride away on his bicycle in the night, with the boy on his back? I don't think so. But what happened to the bicycle? Now, what about visitors? Did the boy have any visitors the day before?'

'No.'

'Did he get any letters?'

'Yes, one letter. From his father.'

'Do you open the boys' letters, Dr Huxtable?'

'No.'

'Then how do you know that the letter was from the father?'

'I know the Duke's handwriting. And he says that he wrote a letter to his son.'

'Did the boy get any letters from France?'

'No, I never saw any.'

'Do you understand me, Dr Huxtable?' Holmes said. 'Did someone take the boy away, or did the boy go freely? —because he had a letter from France perhaps.'

'I don't know,' said Dr Huxtable. 'He only had letters from his father, I think.'

'Were father and son very friendly?'

'The Duke is not... er... not a very friendly man, Mr Holmes. He's not a bad father, but he is a Government Minister and has a lot of things to do.'

'So the boy felt more friendly to his mother?'

'Yes.'

'Did he say that?'

'No.'

'Did the Duke tell you, then?'

'Oh no ! The Duke never talks about things like that.'

'So how do you know?'

'Mr James Wilder, the Duke's secretary, told me.'

'I see,' said Holmes. 'That last letter of the Duke's—where is it now?'

'The boy took it with him,' Dr Huxtable said. 'It's not in his room. Mr Holmes—our train leaves in half an hour.'

'Right,' said Holmes. He looked at me. 'Watson, let's get ready and go off to the north with Dr Huxtable. Perhaps we can find some answers to this mystery.'

secretary n. employee in an office, usu. working for another person, dealing with letters, typing, filing, etc. and making appointments and arrangements. 秘书。

disappear v. no longer be visible; vanish. 消失，不见。

ivy n. any of various types of climbing evergreen plant, esp. one with dark shiny five-pointed leaves. 常青藤。

ground n. solid surface of the earth. 地面。

strange adj. not previously known, seen, felt, heard of, etc. not familiar or of one's own. 陌生的；生疏的；不熟悉的。

unusual adj. rare or exceptional. 不寻常的；奇异的。

detective n. person, esp. police officer, whose job is to investigate and solve crimes. 侦探。

mark n. stain, spot, line, etc., esp. one that spoils the appearance of sth. 痕迹，污点。

station n. similar place where buses and coaches stop. 车站。

early adv. near to the beginning of a period of time. 早，初。

never adv. at no time, not ever. 从未，未曾。

take...away remove sb. or sth. 拿走，带走。

freely adv. without any obstruction; in an uncontrolled manner. 自由地，不受阻挡地。

see v. perceive (sth.) with the mind, understand. 领会，明白。

mystery n. thing of which the cause or origin is hidden or impossible to explain. 神秘事物，秘密。

2. 赫克斯特伯博士的故事

福尔摩斯拿出一个小笔记本，开始在上面记着什么。“那男孩儿当然没有回家。”他说。“不，没有。我们当时马上询问了霍尔德内斯府上，”赫克斯特伯博士说，“公爵很为自己的儿子担心——而我是英国最不幸的人了。福尔摩斯先生，你是一个著名的侦探——请帮帮我！”“你让事情变得对我来说很棘手，”福尔摩斯说，“事情发生三天了，我怎么能够在常青藤和地上发现痕迹呢？你当时为什么不立刻来找我呢？”“是因为公爵，”赫克斯特伯博士说，“他不喜欢别人谈论他不幸的家庭生活。”“警察现在在做什么？”“唉，他们星期二一早听说车站有一个小孩儿和一个年轻人。他们就去寻找这两个人，昨天晚上在利物浦找到了——但他们是一对去看望朋友的父子。为此我们浪费了三天时间。昨天晚上我无法入眠，于是我乘坐今天早上的第一趟火车赶到伦敦。”“那么，赫克斯特伯博士，再问你几个问题，”福尔摩斯说，“那个男孩儿选修德语课了吗？”“没有。”“这么说，他和那个德语老师不怎么熟悉了。”“他可能从来都没有跟他说过话。”赫克斯特伯博士说。“嗯，”福尔摩斯说，“那男孩儿有自行车吗？”“没有。”“还有其他的自行车丢失吗？”“没有。”“嗯。是德语老师那天晚上骑自行车离开，后面带着那个男孩儿吗？我不这么认为。但是那辆自行车怎么了？那么，有客人来访过没有？事发之前有谁来看过那个男孩儿吗？”“没有。”“他收到过什么信件没有？”“是的，有一封。是他父亲写来的。”“你拆看孩子们的信吗，赫克斯特伯博士？”“不。”“那么你怎么知道那封信是他父亲写来的？”“我认识公爵的笔迹，而且他说他给儿子写了一封信。”“那男孩儿收到过从法国来的信吗？”“没有，我从来没有见过。”“你明白我的意思吗，赫克斯特伯博士？”福尔摩斯说，“是有人把男孩儿带走了，还是男孩儿自己走的？——因为他有可能收到过来自法国的信。”“我不知道，”赫克斯特伯博士说，“我想他只收到过他父亲的来信。”“他们父子俩的关系融洽吗？”“公爵不是……呃……不是一个和善的人，福尔摩斯先生。他是个不错的父亲，但他是内阁部长，有许多事情要做。”“这么说男孩儿和他母亲的关系更为融洽了？”“是的。”“他自己那么说的吗？”“没有。”“那么是公爵告诉你的？”“哦，不！公爵从来不说这种事。”“那你是怎么知道的？”“是公爵的秘书詹姆斯·怀尔德先生告诉我的。”“我明白了，”福尔摩斯说，“公爵的最后一封信——现在在哪里？”“被那男孩儿带走了，”赫克斯特伯博士说，“信不在他的房间里。福尔摩斯先生——半小时后我们那趟火车就要开了。”“好的，”福尔摩斯说。他看着我，“华生，我们准备一下，跟赫克斯特伯博士到北部去。也许我们能给这个神秘事件找到一些答案。”

3. Holmes and Watson go north

He looked very surprised. 'The Duke is here,' he told us. 'The Duke and Mr Wilder, his secretary, are in my office. Come and meet them.'

The Government Minister was a tall man with a long, thin face. He had red hair, and a great red beard. He looked at us, and did not smile. Next to him stood Mr Wilder, a very young man. He was small, with blue eyes, and a watchful face. He spoke first.

'The Duke is surprised, Dr Huxtable, to see Mr Sherlock Holmes here. He doesn't want people to know about this. You know that, so why didn't you speak to the Duke before you went to London?'

'But we need help,' said Dr Huxtable. 'And I—'

'Well,' said the Duke. 'Mr Holmes is here now, and perhaps he can help us.' He looked at Holmes. 'I'd like you to come and stay at Holdernesse Hall, Mr Holmes.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Holmes. 'But I would like to stay near to the mystery, here at the school. Can I ask you one or two questions, perhaps?'

'Of course,' said the Duke.

'My questions are about the Duchess, and about money,' said Holmes.

'The Duchess knows nothing about this,' said the Duke, 'and nobody is asking me for money.'

'I see,' said Holmes. 'You wrote a letter to your son before he disappeared. When did you post it?'

'Post it?' said Mr Wilder angrily. 'The Duke does not post letters. I put the letter into the postbag, with all the other letters that day.'

A minute or two later the Duke and Mr Wilder left. Holmes then began at once to work on the case. We looked carefully all through the boy's bedroom, and the German teacher's room. We looked at the ivy on the wall, and we saw the footprints under the German teacher's window. But we learnt nothing new. Holmes then left the house, and only came back after eleven o'clock.

He had with him a large map. He brought it into my room and put it on the bed.

'This case is beginning to get interesting, Watson,' he said. 'Look at this map. Here is the school, you see, and here is the road. So, did the boy and the teacher go along the road when they left? No, Watson, they did not!'

'How do you know that, Holmes?' I asked.

'Because there was a policeman here—look. He was there from midnight to six in the morning, and he saw nobody on the road. I spoke to him this evening. And here at the other end, you see, is the White Horse Inn. A woman there was ill, and the family watched the road all night, waiting for the doctor. The doctor didn't come until the morning, and the family saw nobody on the road. So the boy and the teacher did not go by road.'

'But, Holmes, what about the bicycle?' I asked.

'Yes, Watson, we must remember the bicycle, of course. But first, let's look to the south and the north. To the south we have a big river—no bicycles there, then. And to the north we have the trees, called Ragged Shaw, and then a great moor, the Lower Gill Moor. And here is Holdernesse Hall, sixteen kilometres from the school by road, but only nine kilometres across the moor. No other houses, until the Green Man Inn, along the Chesterfield road.'

'But the bicycle?' I said again.

'Yes, yes, Watson!' Holmes said. 'It is possible to ride a bicycle across the moor—difficult, but possible.'

Just then Dr Huxtable came quickly into the room. 'News, Mr Holmes!' he said excitedly. 'I bring news!' In his hands was a blue school hat. 'Look—this is the boy's hat. One of my gardeners found it this evening.'

'Where, man, where?' asked Holmes.

'Just north of Ragged Shaw,' said Dr Huxtable.

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