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The Tragedy Of Birlstone
伯尔斯通的悲剧
Now for a moment I will ask leave to remove my own insignificant personality
现在我把无关紧要的人物暂时放在一边，
and to describe events which occurred before we arrived upon the scene by the light of knowledge which came to us afterwards.
先描述一下在我们到达发案地点以前所发生的事情，这是我们后来才知道的。
Only in this way can I make the reader appreciate the people concerned and the strange setting in which their fate was cast.
只有这样，我才能使读者了解有关人物以及决定他们命运的奇特背景。
The village of Birlstone is a small and very ancient cluster of halftimbered cottages on the northern border of the county of Sussex.
伯尔斯通是一个小村落，在苏塞克斯郡北部边缘地区，有一片古老的半砖半木的房屋。
For centuries it had remained unchanged;
几百年来一成不变，
but within the last few years its picturesque appearance and situation have attracted a number of well-todo residents, whose villas peep out from the woods around.
但近年来由于风景优美、位置优越，有些富户移居此地，他们的别墅在四周丛林中隐约可见。
These woods are locally supposed to be the extreme fringe of the great Weald forest, which thins away until it reaches the northern chalk downs.
当地认为这些丛林是维尔德大森林的边缘，大森林伸展到北部白垩丘陵地，变得越来越稀疏了。
A number of small shops have come into being to meet the wants of the increased population;
由于人口日益增长，一些小商店也就应需开设起来，
so there seems some prospect that Birlstone may soon grow from an ancient village into a modern town.
因此，它的远景已经显然可见，伯尔斯通会很快从一个古老的小村落发展成一个现代化城镇。
It is the centre for a considerable area of country,
伯尔斯通是一个相当大的农村地区的中心，
since Tunbridge Wells, the nearest place of importance, is ten or twelve miles to the eastward, over the borders of Kent.
因为离这里十或十二英里远近，向东延伸到肯特郡的边区，有一个离这里最近的重要城镇滕布里奇韦尔斯市。
About half a mile from the town, standing in an old park famous for its huge beech trees, is the ancient Manor House of Birlstone.
离村镇半英里左右，有一座古老园林，以其高大的山毛榉树而闻名，这就是古旧的伯尔斯通庄园。
Part of this venerable building dates back to the time of the first crusade,
这个历史悠久的建筑物的一部分兴建于第一次十字军东征时代，
when Hugo de Capus built a fortalice in the centre of the estate, which had been granted to him by the Red King.
当时休戈·戴·坎普司在英王赐给他的这个庄园中心建立起一座小型城堡。
This was destroyed by fire in 1543,
这座城堡在一五四三年毁于火灾，
and some of its smoke-blackened corner stones were used when, in Jacobean times, a brick country house rose upon the ruins of the feudal castle.
直到詹姆士一世时代，一座砖瓦房又在这座封建城堡的废墟上修建起来，原来那座城堡四角所用的已被熏黑了的基石，也被利用上了。
The Manor House, with its many gables and its small diamond-paned windows, was still much as the builder had left it in the early seventeenth century.
庄园的建筑有许多山墙和菱形小格玻璃窗，仍像十七世纪初它的建造者所遗留下来的那种样子。
Of the double moats which had guarded its more warlike predecessor, the outer had been allowed to dry up, and served the humble function of a kitchen garden.
原来用于卫护其富于尚武精神的先辈的两道护城河，外河已经干涸，被辟作菜园。
The inner one was still there, and lay forty feet in breadth, though now only a few feet in depth, round the whole house.
那道内河依然存在，虽然现在只剩下几英尺深了，但宽度却还有四十英尺，环绕着整个庄园。
A small stream fed it and continued beyond it, so that the sheet of water, though turbid, was never ditchlike or unhealthy.
有一条小河流经这里，蜿蜒不绝，因此，水流尽管浑浊，却从不像壕沟死水那样不卫生。
The ground floor windows were within a foot of the surface of the water.
庄园大楼底层的窗户离水面不到一英尺。
The only approach to the house was over a drawbridge, the chains and windlass of which had long been rusted and broken.
进入庄园必须通过一座吊桥，吊桥的铁链和绞盘早已生锈、毁坏。
The latest tenants of the Manor House had, however, with characteristic energy, set this right,
然而，这座庄园的新住户具有独特的精力，竟把它修复起来，
and the drawbridge was not only capable of being raised, but actually was raised every evening and lowered every morning.
这座吊桥不但可以吊起，而且实际上每天晚上都吊起来，早晨放下去。
By thus renewing thecustom of the old feudal days the Manor House was converted into an island during the night
这样就恢复了旧日封建时代的习俗，一到晚上，庄园就变成了一座孤岛，
a fact which had a very direct bearing upon the mystery which was soon to engage the attention of all England.
这一事实是和即将轰动整个英国的这一案件有直接关系的。
