Артур Дойл - Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник) Страница 3

It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned home. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, covered with notes.

“I have seen the will of Miss Stoner’s mother,” said he. “The income is now not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can have an income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is clear, therefore, that if both girls had married, our pleasant visitor would have had very little left, even one marriage would take a lot of money from him. He has the strongest motives for preventing his stepdaughters’ marriage. And now, Watson, this is very serious and we must hurry, as the old man knows of our interest in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. And remember to take your revolver with you. It is a good argument with gentlemen who can bend pokers.”

At Waterloo we took a train for Leatherhead, the station nearest to Stoke Moran, where we got into a cab and drove for four or five miles to our client’s house. It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few clouds in the sky. The trees were just throwing out their first green leaves, and the air was full of the pleasant smell. To me there was a strange contrast between the beautiful spring day and the tragic event we had arrived to investigate. My companion sat in the cab, his hat pulled down over his eyes, lost in the deepest thought[18]. Suddenly, however, he pointed to the left.

“Look there!” said he.

I saw a park with a very old house in it.

“Stoke Moran?” said he.

“Yes, sir, that is the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” answered the driver.

“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to some houses to the left; “but if you want to get to the house, you’ll find a road over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.”

“And the lady, I believe, is Miss Stoner,” said Holmes.

We got off and the cab drove back to Leatherhead.

Exercises

1. Answer the questions:

1. Did Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson come to any conclusion about the case?

2. Who suddenly came into the room?

3. What did Dr. Roylott look like?

4. How did he learn about Miss Stoner’s visit to Sherlock Holmes?

5. Why did Dr. Roylott come to Sherlock Holmes?

6. What did Sherlock Holmes find out about Dr. Roylott’s financial position?

7. How did Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson reach Stoke Moran?

Think and say

1. How did Sherlock Holmes’ and Dr. Roylott’s behaviour characterize them?

2. Why did Sherlock Holmes think that they had to hurry?

2. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.

1. from the outside

ant. from the inside

2. there is no doubt (about smth / that…)

3. in a low voice

4. to follow smb

3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above.

1. The actors spoke very quietly and we couldn’t hear anything.

2. When Steven arrived home he found the house locked by somebody who was in it. Steven rang the bell and knocked on the door but without any result.

3. Alex was a private detective and very often his job was to watch people and write reports about their actions for his clients.

4. After the doctor examined the dead man, the cause of his death was quite clear.

5. We are absolutely sure that the window was broken by somebody who was not in the house.

6. The cat watched every movement of the mouse.

7. I am sure the police are after us.

4. Complete the sentences with the phrases above in the correct form.

1. Please speak…, the children are asleep.

2… he is seriously ill. He is very pale. He looks as if he is in pain.

3. Sue and Sam tried… the unknown woman, but her car was much faster than theirs, and they soon lost her.

4. Sherlock Holmes came to the conclusion that no one could get into Julia’s room…

5. He said it in such… that nobody understood him.

6. A crowd gathered around a house on fire. They heard cries…, but no one went into the fire.

7. If anyone can do the work…, it’s him. Let him be responsible for it.

V

Our client had hurried forward to meet us with joy. “I have been waiting for you,” she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. “Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is not likely that he will be back before evening.”

“We have had the pleasure of making the doctor’s acquaintance[19],” said Holmes, and in a few words he told her what had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white as she listened.

“Good heavens!”[20] she cried, “he has followed me, then.”

“So it seems.”

“What will he say when he returns?”

“You must lock yourself up from him to-night. If he does anything to you, we shall take you away to your aunt. Now, you must take us at once to the rooms which we have come to examine.”

The building was gray. Most part of it was a ruin. Holmes examined with great attention the outsides of the windows.

“Is this the window of the room in which you used to sleep[21], the central one of your sister’s, and the next of Dr. Roylott’s room?”

“Yes. But I am now sleeping in the middle room.”

“There are some repairs, as I understand. By the way, I cannot see any very pressing need for repairs in this part of the house.”

“You are right. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.”

“Ah! that is interesting. These three rooms open into a corridor. There are windows in it, of course?”

“Yes, but very small ones. Too small for anyone to get in.”

“As you both locked your doors at night, no one could get into your rooms from that side. Now, go into your room and shut your window.”

Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination, attempted in every way to force the window open, but without any result. “Hum!” said he, “No one could get into the room from here. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter.”

We went to the corridor from which the three bedrooms opened. We passed at once to the second room, in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met her end. It was a little room, with a low ceiling and a big fireplace, like in many old country-houses. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round the room.

“Where does that bell go to?” he asked at last, pointing to a bell-rope which hung down beside the bed.

“It goes to the housekeeper’s room.”

“It looks newer than the other things.”

“Yes, it was only put there two years ago.”

“Your sister asked for it?”

“No, she never used it. We always got what we wanted ourselves.”

“It seemed unnecessary to put a bell-rope there. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I examine this floor.” He examined carefully the floor with his lens in his hand, then he did the same with the walls. Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time looking at it and at the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and pulled it.

“It won’t ring[22],” said he. “It is not connected to anything. This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened above a little opening for the ventilator.”

“How very strange! I never noticed that before.”

“Very strange!” answered Holmes, pulling at the rope. “There are one or two very unusual things about this room. For example, the ventilator opens into another room, when it might have opened on the outside![23]”

“That is also quite modern,” said the lady.

“Was it done about the same time as the bell-rope?” asked Holmes.

“Yes, there were several little changes done at that time.”

“They seem to be very interesting – bells that do not ring and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now continue our investigation in the next room.”

Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s room was larger than that of his stepdaughter. A camp-bed, a small shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an armchair beside the bed, a chair against the wall, a round table, and a large safe were the principal things in the room. Holmes walked slowly round and examined all of them with interest.

“What’s in here?” he asked, pointing to the safe.

“My stepfather’s business papers.”

“Oh! you have seen inside, then?”

“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.”

“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?”

“No. What a strange idea!”

“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.

“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.”

“Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk will not satisfy its wants. There is one thing which I should like to see for myself.” He bent over the chair and examined it with the greatest attention.

“Thank you. That is quite clear,” said he, putting his lens in his pocket. “Hello! Here is something interesting!”

He pointed to a small dog lash that hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was tied into a loop.

“What do you think of that, Watson?”

“It’s a common lash. But I don’t know why it is tied.”

“That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, it’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime[24] it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall go outside.”

I had never seen my friend’s face so gloomy.

Exercises

1. Answer the questions:

1. Who met Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on the road leading to Stoke Moran?

2. What did the house look like?

3. What did Sherlock Holmes and Miss Stoner think about the repairs in the house?

4. Why did Sherlock Holmes examine the window of Miss Stoner’s room? What did he find?

5. What did Miss Stoner’s room look like?

6. What did Sherlock Holmes find out about the bell and the ventilator in the room?

7. What was Dr. Roylott’s room like?

8. What seemed unusual to Sherlock Holmes in Dr. Roylott’s room?

9. What did Sherlock Holmes say after he examined Dr. Roylott’s room?

Think and say

1. Why was Miss Stoner frightened when she learned of Dr. Roylott’s visit to Sherlock Holmes?

2. What does the look of the house and the rooms tell you about the people who lived in Stoke Moran?

2. Find the following words and phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.

1. an excuse to do smth

2. to throw light on / upon smth

3. crime

to commit a crime

3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above and from the previous parts.

1. The French window led to a verandah.

2. Dr. Roylott started repairs to explain why his stepdaughter should move to another room.

3. The death certificate said that it was a heart attack that caused the death but the family didn’t believe it and asked the detective to look into it.

4. His mother’s illness was only something he mentioned to leave the party early. It was clear from the beginning he didn’t like it there.

5. A detective has sometimes to become the friend of people to get information he needs.

6. When Bob was on the way to the birthday party, he had a sudden idea that he didn’t have a birthday present.

7. Many years ago, when he was a young man, Dan’s uncle broke the law, but his family can’t forgive him even now.

4. Complete the sentences with the words and phrases above and from the previous parts in the correct form.

1. A few strange deaths… in the town before the police started investigation.

2. Sherlock Holmes was able… even the darkest and tragic cases.

3. Alice’s mother always used the girl’s poor health as… not to let the girl go out with her friends.

4. Tom didn’t want… his cousin to a discotheque because he didn’t… dancing. He could even say he hated dancing.

5. Has it ever… to you that your mum needs your help in housework?

6. Most people think it is not polite… other people without a telephone call before it.

7. The book… unknown facts of the great scientist’s life.

8. If you are interested in… books, go over to those shelves. We have all kinds of books – classical detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, hard-boiled detective novels by Raymond Chandler and others, modern police novels.

VI

“It is very important, Miss Stoner,” said he, as we have already left the house and were standing in the park, “that you should absolutely follow my advice in every detail.”

“I shall certainly do so. I am in your hands.”

“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.”

Both Miss Stoner and I looked at him in surprise.

“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that there is a hotel in the village over there?”

“Yes, the Crown.”

“Very good. Your windows can be seen from there?”

“Certainly.”

“You must go to your room, saying you have a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when he goes to his room, you must open your window, and put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then go quietly into the room where you slept before. I have no doubt that you can sleep there for one night.”

“Oh, yes, easily. But what will you do?”

“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which you heard.”

“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already come to some conclusion,” said Miss Stoner.

“Perhaps I have.”

“Then, tell me what was the cause of my sister’s death.”