雷神橋迷案
? ? ? Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., Late Indian Army, painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr.Sherlock Holmes had at various times to examine. Some, and not the least interesting, were complete failures, and as such will hardly bear narrating, since no final explanation is forthcoming. A problem without a solution may interest the student, but can hardly fail to annoy the casual reader. Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world. No less remarkable is that of the cutter Alicia, which sailed one spring morning into a small patch of mist from where she never again emerged, nor was anything further ever heard of herself and her crew. A third case worthy of note is that of Isadora Persano, the well-known journalist and duellist, who was found stark staring mad with a match box in front of him which contained a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science. Apart from these unfathomed cases, there are some which involve the secrets of private families to an extent which would mean consternation in many exalted quarters if it were thought possible that they might find their way into print. I need not say that such a breach of confidence is unthinkable, and that these records will be separated and destroyed now that my friend has time to turn his energies to the matter. There remain a considerable residue of cases of greater or less interest which I might have edited before had I not feared to give the public a surfeit which might react upon the reputation of the man whom above all others I revere. In some I was myself concerned and can speak as an eyewitness, while in others I was either not present or played so small a part that they could only be told as by a third person. The following narrative is drawn from my own experience.
? ? ? It was a wild morning in October, and I observed as I was dressing how the last remaining leaves were being whirled from the solitary plane tree which graces the yard behind our house. I descended to breakfast prepared to find my companion in depressed spirits, for, like all great artists, he was easily impressed by his surroundings. On the contrary, I found that he had nearly finished his meal, and that his mood was particularly bright and joyous, with that somewhat sinister cheerfulness which was characteristic of his lighter moments.
? ? ? “You have a case, Holmes?” I remarked.
? ? ? “The faculty of deduction is certainly contagious, Watson,” he answered. “It has enabled you to probe my secret. Yes, I have a case. After a month of trivialities and stagnation the wheels move once more.”
? ? ? “Might I share it?”
? ? ? “There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favoured us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald which I observed yesterday upon the hall-table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is conscious of the passage of time and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical.”
? ? ? A quarter of an hour later the table had been cleared and we were face to face. He had drawn a letter from his pocket.
? ? ? “You have heard of Neil Gibson, the Gold King?” he said.
? ? ? “You mean the American Senator?”
? ? ? “Well, he was once Senator for some Western state, but is better known as the greatest gold-mining magnate in the world.”
? ? ? “Yes, I know of him. He has surely lived in England for some time. His name is very familiar.”
? ? ? “Yes, he bought a considerable estate in Hampshire some five years ago. Possibly you have already heard of the tragic end of his wife?”
? ? ? “Of course. I remember it now. That is why the name is familiar. But I really know nothing of the details.”
? ? ? ?Holmes waved his hand towards some papers on a chair. “I had no idea that the case was coming my way or I should have had my extracts ready,” said he. “The fact is that the problem, though exceedingly sensational, appeared to present no difficulty. The interesting personality of the accused does not obscure the clearness of the evidence. That was the view taken by the coroner’s jury and also in the police-court proceedings. It is now referred to the Assizes at Winchester. I fear it is a thankless business. I can discover facts, Watson, but I cannot change them. Unless some entirely new and unexpected ones come to light I do not see what my client can hope for.”
? ? ? “Your client?”
? ? ? “Ah, I forgot I had not told you. I am getting into your involved habit, Watson, of telling the story backward. You had best read this first.”
? ? ? ?The letter which he handed to me, written in a bold, masterful hand, ran as follows:
? ? ? Claridge’s Hotel,October 3rd.
? ? ? Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:
? ? ? I can’t see the best woman God ever made go to her death without doing all that is possible to save her. I can’t explain things—I can’t even try to explain them, but I know beyond all doubt that Miss Dunbar is innocent. You know the facts—who doesn’t? It has been the gossip of the country. And never a voice raised for her! It’s the damned injustice of it all that makes me crazy. That woman has a heart that wouldn’t let her kill a fly. Well, I’ll come at eleven tomorrow and see if you can get some ray of light in the dark. Maybe I have a clue and don’t know it. Anyhow, all I know and all I have and all I am are for your use if only you can save her. If ever in your life you showed your powers, put them now into this case.
? ? ? Yours faithfully,J. Neil Gibson.

中文翻譯
? ? ? 查令十字科克斯銀行的保險(xiǎn)庫(kù)里有一個(gè)滿載風(fēng)塵、破舊不堪的馬口鐵公文箱，蓋子上寫著我的姓名：約翰?H. 華生，醫(yī)學(xué)博士，原屬印度軍團(tuán)。箱子里面塞滿了文件，絕大部分都是案卷，記錄著歇洛克?福爾摩斯先生在各個(gè)時(shí)期經(jīng)手的怪異問題。其中的一些案子雖然不乏趣味，結(jié)局卻是徹底的失敗，相關(guān)的事情既然永無(wú)定論，自然不適合形諸筆墨。沒有答案的問題或許能引起研究者的興趣，只可惜必然招致普通讀者的怨聲。有頭無(wú)尾的故事包括詹姆斯?菲利莫爾先生的遭遇，他走回自己家里去拿雨傘，就這樣從世上銷聲匿跡。獨(dú)桅帆船“艾麗西亞號(hào)”的遭遇同樣出奇，它在某個(gè)春日早晨駛?cè)肓艘恍F(tuán)霧氣，進(jìn)去就沒有出來(lái)，連同船上的人一起沒了下文。第三個(gè)值得一提的此類故事以伊莎多拉?珀薩諾為主角，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)這位著名的記者兼決斗好手徹徹底底地失去了神志，直勾勾地瞪著面前的一個(gè)火柴盒，盒子里裝的是一條古怪的蠕蟲，據(jù)說是科學(xué)界聞所未聞的東西。拋開這些未曾破解的謎案不談，還有些案子涉及極其重大的私家隱秘，竟至于達(dá)到了這樣一種程度，一旦覺得這些案子有可能變成鉛字，許多高高在上的處所就會(huì)出現(xiàn)惶惶不可終日的場(chǎng)面。不用說，像這種辜負(fù)他人信任的事情連想都不能想，眼下也已經(jīng)到了把這些案子的記錄挑出來(lái)銷毀的時(shí)候，原因是我朋友剛好有時(shí)間，可以動(dòng)手處理這件事情。剩下還有許多趣味或大或小的案子，我本來(lái)可以加工出來(lái)，可我又擔(dān)心公眾多食傷胃，由此損及我最為敬重的那個(gè)人的名望。有一些案子我曾經(jīng)親身參與，可以用目擊證人的口吻來(lái)講述，另一些則只能使用第三人稱，因?yàn)槲乙词俏丛鴧⑴c，要么就是參與的程度極為有限。以下這個(gè)故事則是我的親身經(jīng)歷。
? ? ? 十月里一個(gè)風(fēng)聲怒號(hào)的早晨，我一邊穿衣，一邊看狂風(fēng)吹襲后園那株孤零零的懸鈴木，卷走枝頭的最后一些葉子。這之后，我走到樓下去吃早餐，滿以為會(huì)看到我室友郁郁不樂的模樣，因?yàn)樗械乃囆g(shù)大師一樣，很容易受到環(huán)境的觸動(dòng)。完全出乎我意料的是，他幾乎已經(jīng)吃完了早餐，神情也格外地興高采烈，身上還帶著一種多少有點(diǎn)兒不懷好意的歡快勁頭，正是他輕松時(shí)刻的常態(tài)。
? ? ? “手頭有案子吧，福爾摩斯？”我如是說道。
? ? ? “演繹的本領(lǐng)顯然是具有傳染性啊，華生?！彼卮鸬馈！澳阋矊W(xué)會(huì)用演繹法來(lái)窺探我的秘密啦。沒錯(cuò)，我手頭有件案子。連著過了一個(gè)月瑣碎無(wú)聊、停滯不前的日子，輪子終于又轉(zhuǎn)了起來(lái)?！?br> ? ? ? “能給我講講嗎？”
? ? ? “可講的事情雖然不多，咱們倒不妨討論一下，不過你得先吃完那兩只雞蛋。那兩只雞蛋是咱們的新廚子賞給咱們的，煮得梆硬，它們的火候多半跟我昨天在門廳桌子上看到的那本《家庭信使》不無(wú)關(guān)系。即便是應(yīng)付煮雞蛋這樣的瑣碎事情，你也得拿出一種準(zhǔn)確把握時(shí)間的專注，與此同時(shí)，這樣的專注是跟那本絕妙期刊里的言情故事水火不容的?！?br> ? ? ? 一刻鐘之后，桌子已經(jīng)收拾干凈，我倆面對(duì)面地坐在了一起，他手里拿著從衣兜里掏出來(lái)的一封信。
? ? ? “你聽說過金礦大王尼爾?吉布森嗎？”他問道。
? ? ? “你是說那個(gè)美國(guó)參議員嗎？”
? ? ? “沒錯(cuò)，他一度是美國(guó)西部某個(gè)州的參議員，可他之所以出名，主要是因?yàn)樗鞘澜缟献畲蟮慕鸬V巨頭?！?br> ? ? ? “是的，我知道他。他來(lái)英國(guó)不是有些日子了嘛，他的名字我聽著非常耳熟。”
? ? ? “沒錯(cuò)，大概五年之前，他在漢普郡置下了一大片產(chǎn)業(yè)。他妻子慘遭橫禍，興許你已經(jīng)聽說了吧？”
? ? ? “那是當(dāng)然，你一說我就想起來(lái)了。就是因?yàn)檫@件事情，我才會(huì)覺得他的名字耳熟。不過，其中的細(xì)節(jié)我確實(shí)是一無(wú)所知?！?br> ? ? ? 福爾摩斯沖著椅子上的一堆報(bào)紙揮了揮手?！拔彝耆珱]想到這件案子會(huì)到我的手里，不然的話，我肯定是一早就把資料準(zhǔn)備好啦。”他說道。“事實(shí)上，這件案子雖然極其轟動(dòng)，看上去卻沒有什么疑難之處。被告的個(gè)性雖然迷人，終歸也不能抹殺確鑿的罪證。
? ? ? 驗(yàn)尸官陪審團(tuán)就是這種看法，地方法庭也是這種結(jié)論。到這會(huì)兒，案子已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)到了溫切斯特的巡回法庭 。照我看，這恐怕是一件費(fèi)力不討好的活計(jì)。我有本事發(fā)現(xiàn)事實(shí)，華生，可我沒本事改變事實(shí)。
? ? ? 除非是有了什么意想不到的全新發(fā)現(xiàn)，如其不然，我這個(gè)主顧是沒什么盼頭的?！?br> ? ? ? “你的主顧？”
? ? ? “哦，我倒是忘了，這件事情我還沒跟你說呢。華生啊，我也染上了你那種莫名其妙的怪毛病，學(xué)會(huì)把故事倒過來(lái)講啦。好了，你還是先讀一讀這個(gè)吧?！?br> ? ? ? 他把一封信遞給了我，信上的筆跡清晰醒目，咄咄逼人，全文如下：
? ? ? 克拉里奇酒店，十月三日
? ? ? 親愛的歇洛克?福爾摩斯先生：
? ? ? 我不能眼睜睜看著古往今來(lái)最好的女人走向死亡，一定要盡一切的努力來(lái)挽救她。我解釋不了這些事情，哪怕是試著解釋一下都做不到，可我確切無(wú)疑地知道，鄧巴小姐是無(wú)辜的。相關(guān)的事實(shí)您肯定已經(jīng)知道了——誰(shuí)不知道呢？這已經(jīng)成了舉國(guó)上下的談資?？墒牵瑳]有一個(gè)人站出來(lái)替她說話！就是這種全無(wú)公道的該死局面把我逼到了瘋狂的邊緣。這個(gè)女人心軟得連蒼蠅都不忍傷害啊。這樣吧，我明天十一點(diǎn)鐘過去找您，看您能不能從黑暗之中找出一點(diǎn)光明。說不定，我手里還有什么我自個(gè)兒都不知道的線索呢。不管怎么樣，我所知的一切、我所有的一切，再加上我整個(gè)兒的人，全部都聽您差遣，只要您能救她就行。如果您確實(shí)擁有那些神奇的本領(lǐng)，那就把它們?nèi)坑玫竭@件案子上吧。
? ? ? 您忠實(shí)的朋友 J. 尼爾?吉布森

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