福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第1章Part1
"I am inclined to think--" said I.
"I should do so," Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently.
I believe that I am one of the most long-suffering of mortals; but I'll admit that I was annoyed at the sardonic interruption. "Really, Holmes," said I severely, "you are a little trying at times."
He was too much absorbed with his own thoughts to give any immediate answer to my remonstrance. He leaned upon his hand, with his untasted breakfast before him, and he stared at the slip of paper which he had just drawn from its envelope. Then he took the envelope itself, held it up to the light, and very carefully studied both the exterior and the flap.
"It is Porlock's writing," said he thoughtfully. "I can hardly doubt that it is Porlock's writing, though I have seen it only twice before. The Greek e with the peculiar top flourish is distinctive. But if it is Porlock, then it must be something of the very first importance."
He was speaking to himself rather than to me; but my vexation disappeared in the interest which the words awakened.
"Who then is Porlock?" I asked.
"Porlock, Watson, is a nom-de-plume, a mere identification mark; but behind it lies a shifty and evasive personality. In a former letter he frankly informed me that the name was not his own, and defied me ever to trace him among the teeming millions of this great city. Porlock is important, not for himself, but for the great man with whom he is in touch. Picture to yourself the pilot fish with the shark, the jackal with the lion--anything that is insignificant in companionship with what is formidable: not only formidable, Watson, but sinister--in the highest degree sinister. That is where he comes within my purview. You have heard me speak of Professor Moriarty?"
"The famous scientific criminal, as famous among crooks as--"
"My blushes, Watson!" Holmes murmured in a deprecating voice.
"I was about to say, as he is unknown to the public."
"A touch! A distinct touch!" cried Holmes. "You are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humour, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself. But in calling Moriarty a criminal you are uttering libel in the eyes of the law--and there lie the glory and the wonder of it! The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations--that's the man! But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune from criticism, so admirable in his management and self-effacement, that for those very words that you have uttered he could hale you to a court and emerge with your year's pension as a solatium for his wounded character. Is he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it? Is this a man to traduce? Foul-mouthed doctor and slandered professor--such would be your respective roles! That's genius, Watson. But if I am spared by lesser men, our day will surely come."
"May I be there to see!" I exclaimed devoutly. "But you were speaking of this man Porlock."
"Ah, yes--the so-called Porlock is a link in the chain some little way from its great attachment. Porlock is not quite a sound link--between ourselves. He is the only flaw in that chain so far as I have been able to test it."
"But no chain is stronger than its weakest link."
"Exactly, my dear Watson! Hence the extreme importance of Porlock. Led on by some rudimentary aspirations towards right, and encouraged by the judicious stimulation of an occasional ten-pound note sent to him by devious methods, he has once or twice given me advance information which has been of value--that highest value which anticipates and prevents rather than avenges crime. I cannot doubt that, if we had the cipher, we should find that this communication is of the nature that I indicate."
Again Holmes flattened out the paper upon his unused plate. I rose and, leaning over him, stared down at the curious inscription, which ran as follows:
534 C2 13 127 36 31 4 17 21 41 DOUGLAS 109 293 5 37 BIRLSTONE 26 BIRLSTONE 9 47 171
“我倒以爲……"我說。
“我應當這樣做，"福爾摩斯急躁地說。
我自信是一個極有耐性的人；可是，我得承認，他這樣嘲笑地打斷我的話，的確使我有點不快。因此我嚴肅地說：“福爾摩斯，說真的，你有時真叫人有點難堪啊。”
他全神貫注地沉思，沒有即刻回答我的抗議。他一隻手支着頭，面前放着一口未嘗的早餐，兩眼凝視着剛從信封中抽出來的那張紙條，然後拿起信封 ，舉到燈前，非常仔細地研究它的外觀和封口。
“這是波爾洛克的筆跡，"他若有所思地說，“儘管我以前只見過兩次波爾洛克的筆跡，我也毫不懷疑這小條就是他寫的。希臘字母ε上端寫成花體，這就是它的特色。不過，這要真是波爾洛克寫的，那它就一定有極爲重要的事了。”
他是在自言自語，而不是對我說的，可是這番話卻引起了我的興趣，使我的不快爲之煙消雲散。
“那麼，波爾洛克是什麼人呢？”
“華生，波爾洛克是個假名，它不過是一個人的身分符號而已；可是在它背後卻是一個詭計多端、難以捉摸的人物。在前一封信裏，他直言不諱地告訴我，這不是他的名字，並且公然向我指出，要想在這大都會的茫茫人海中去追蹤他是徒勞無益的。波爾洛克之所以重要，並不在於他本身，而在於他所結交的那個大人物。你想想看，一條鯖魚和一條鯊魚，一隻豺狼和一頭獅子——總之，一個本身雖不是了不起的東西一旦和一個兇惡的怪物攜起手來，那會怎麼樣呢？那怪物不僅兇惡，而且陰險至極。華生，據我看來，他就是這樣一個怪物，你聽說過有個莫里亞蒂教授嗎？”
“那個著名的手段高超的罪犯，在賊黨中的名聲猶如……”
“別說外行話，華生，"福爾摩斯不贊成地嘟囔着。
“我是想說，猶如在公衆中一樣默默無聞。”
“妙！你真有過人的機靈！"福爾摩斯大聲說道，“真沒想到你說起話來也富有狡黠的幽默腔調呢。華生，這我可要小心提防着點呢。可是把莫里亞蒂叫做罪犯，從法律上講，你卻是公然誹謗——這正是奧妙之所在！他是古往今來最大的陰謀家，是一切惡行的總策劃人，是黑社會的首腦，一個足以左右民族命運的智囊！他就是這樣一個人。可是一般人對他卻毫無懷疑，他從未受到任何指摘，他的善於處世爲人和厭惡自我表現的風度又是那麼令人欽佩。因此，就憑你說的這幾句話，他就可以把你拖上法庭，罰你一年的年金去抵償他的名譽損失。他不就是《小行星力學》這部書的馳名作者麼？這部書上升到純數學罕有的高度，據說科學界沒有人能對它提出什麼批評。這樣的人，是可以中傷的麼？信口雌黃的醫生和受人誹謗的教授——這就是你們兩人將分別得到的頭銜！那可真是個天才呢，華生，可是，只要那些小爪牙弄不死我，我們就總有一天會得勝的。”
“但願能看到這一天！"我熱誠地歡呼道，“可是你剛纔提到波爾洛克……”
“噢，不錯，這個所謂的波爾洛克是整個鏈條中的一環，離它連接着的那個龐然大物並不遠。波爾洛克不是十分堅固的一環——這只是咱倆之間這樣說罷了。就我所能測到的來說，他是這個鏈條中唯一的薄弱環節。”
“可是一環薄弱，全局也不能堅固啊！”
“一點不錯！我親愛的華生。因此，波爾洛克就非常重要了。他還有點起碼的正義感，我又偶爾暗地裏送給他一張十鎊的鈔票，在這一點適當的鼓勵下，他已經有一兩次事先給我送來了有價值的消息，其所以很有價值，因爲它能使我預見並防止某一罪行，而不是讓我事後去懲辦罪犯。我毫不懷疑，如果手頭有密碼，我們就能發現這正是我上面說過的那種信。”
福爾摩斯又把那張紙平鋪在空盤子上，我站了起來，在他身後低頭注視着那些稀奇古怪的文字，文字排列如下：
534 C2 13 127 36 31 4 17 21 41 DOUGLAS 109 293 5 37 BIRLSTONE 26 BIRLSTONE 9 47 171
