福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第7章Part2
"you.know my methods of work, Mr. Mac. But I will hold it back for the shortest time possible. I only wish to verify my details in one way, which can very readily be done, and then I make my bow and return to London, leaving my results entirely at your service. I owe you too much to act otherwise; for in all my experience I cannot recall any more singular and interesting study."
"This is clean beyond me, Mr. Holmes. We saw you when we returned from Tunbridge Wells last night, and you were in general agreement with our results. What has happened since then to give you a completely new idea of the case?"
"Well, since you ask me, I spent, as I told you that I would, some hours last night at the Manor House."
"Well, what happened?"
"Ah, I can only give you a very general answer to that for the moment. By the way, I have been reading a short but clear and interesting account of the old building, purchasable at the modest sum of one penny from the local tobacconist."Here Holmes drew a small tract, embellished with a rude engraving of the ancient Manor House, from his waistcoat pocket.
"It immensely adds to the zest of an investigation, my dear Mr. Mac, when one is in conscious sympathy with the historical atmosphere of one's surroundings. Don't look so impatient; for I assure you that even so bald an account as this raises some sort of picture of the past in one's mind. Permit me to give you a sample. 'Erected in the fifth year of the reign of James I, and standing upon the site of a much older building, the Manor House of Birlstone presents one of the finest surviving examples of the moated Jacobean residence--'"
"You are making fools of us, Mr. Holmes!"
"Tut, tut, Mr. Mac!--the first sign of temper I have detected in you. Well, I won't read it verbatim, since you feel so strongly upon the subject. But when I tell you that there is some account of the taking of the place by a parliamentary colonel in 1644, of the concealment of Charles for several days in the course of the Civil War, and finally of a visit there by the second George, you will admit that there are various associations of interest connected with this ancient house."
"I don't doubt it, Mr. Holmes; but that is no business of ours."
“麥克先生，你是知道我的工作方法的。但是我要在儘可能短的時間裏保一下密，我只不過希望設法證實一下我想到的一切細節，這很容易做到。然後我就和你們告別，回倫敦，並把我的成果完全留下爲你們效勞。不這樣做，我就太對不起你們了。因爲在我的全部經歷中，我還想不起來哪件案子比這件更新奇、更有趣。”
“我簡直無法理解，福爾摩斯先生。昨晚我們從滕布里奇韋爾斯市回來看到你的時候，你大體上還同意我們的判斷。後來發生了什麼事，使你對本案的看法又截然不同了呢？”
“好，既然你們問我，我不妨告訴你們。正如我對你們說過的，我昨夜在莊園裏消磨了幾個小時。”
“那麼，發生了什麼事？”
“啊！現在我權且給你們一個非常一般的回答。順便說一下，我曾經讀過一篇介紹資料，它簡明而又有趣，是關於這座古老莊園的。這份資料只要花一個便士就可以在本地菸酒店買到，"福爾摩斯從背心口袋裏掏出一本小冊子，書皮上印有這座古老莊園的粗糙的版畫。
他又說道：“我親愛的麥克先生，當一個人在周圍古老環境氣氛中深受感染的時候，這本小冊子對調查是很能增加情趣的。你們不要不耐煩，因爲我可以向你們保證，即使象這樣一篇簡短的介紹資料，也可以使人在頭腦中浮現出這座古廈的昔日情景。請允許我給你們讀上一段吧。'伯爾斯通莊園是在詹姆士一世登基後第五年，在一些古建築物的遺址上建造的，它是殘留的詹姆士一世時代有護城河的宅邸最完美的典型……'”
“福爾摩斯先生，你別捉弄我們了。”
“嘖！嘖！麥克先生！我已經看出你們有些不耐煩了。好，既然你們對這個問題不太感興趣，我就不再逐字地念了。不過我告訴你們，這裏有一些描寫，談到一六四四年反對查理一世的議會黨人中的一個上校取得了這塊宅基；談到在英國內戰期間，查理一世本人曾在這裏藏了幾天；最後談到喬治二世也到過這裏；你們會承認這裏面有許多問題都與這座古老別墅有種種的關係。”
“我不懷疑這一點，福爾摩斯先生，不過這與我們的事毫無關係啊。”
