Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник)
Шрифт:
With a serious face he lit the lamp and went down the corridor. Twice he struck at the door of Dr. Roylott’s room without any answer. Then he entered, I followed him, with the revolver in my hand.
On the table stood a lamp, throwing light upon the safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this table, on the chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott. In his hand he had the long lash which we had seen during the day. Round his head he had a yellow speckled band. As we entered he did not move.
“The band! the speckled band!” whispered Holmes.
I took a step forward. In a moment the strange band began to move, among his hair we saw the head of a snake.
“It is the deadliest snake in India!” cried Holmes; “He died ten seconds after he was bitten. The schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another [28] . Let us put it back into the safe, and we can then let the police know what has happened.”
As he spoke he drew lash from the dead man’s hand, and throwing the loop round the reptile’s head he drew it from Dr. Roylott’s head, threw it into the safe, and closed it.
28
The schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another –
Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary for me to tell how we accompanied the terrified girl to the morning train which took her to her aunt.
The police came to the conclusion that the doctor met his end while playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I did not know of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back next day.
“I came,” said he, “to an absolutely wrong conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how important it always is to have evidence. The gypsies in Stoke Moran, the word ‘band,’ which was used by the poor girl, put me upon an entirely wrong scent [29] . However, soon it became clear to me that danger could not come either from the window or the door. The ventilator and the bell-rope which hung down to the bed drew my attention. The discovery that the bell did not ring, and that the bed was fastened to the floor, gave me an idea that the rope was there as a bridge for something to pass through the opening and to come to the bed. The idea of a snake occurred to me at once, and when I recalled that the doctor kept animals from India, I felt that I was probably right. The idea of using poison which could not be discovered by any chemical test could occur to a clever man who had lived in India. Not every policeman could see the two little dark spots left by the snake’s teeth. Then I thought of the whistle. He had used it to call the snake back to him, he had, probably, trained the snake to go through the ventilator by the use of the milk which we saw, to go down the rope and onto the bed. It might or might not bite the girl, perhaps he did it every night for a week, but sooner or later the snake must bite the poor girl.
29
put me upon an entirely wrong scent – направили меня по совершенно ложному следу
“I had come to these conclusions before ever I entered his room. His chair showed me that he had been standing on it, which of course would be necessary to reach the ventilator. The safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of lash showed that I was right. The metallic sound heard by Miss Stoner was that of the closing door of the safe upon the snake. I came to the right conclusion, and you know what I did to finish the case. I heard the snake hiss as I have no doubt you did also, and I lit the light and attacked it.”
“And you drove it through the ventilator.”
“And it turned upon its master at the other side. The snake was angry, so it attacked the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that I am very sorry about it.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What did Holmes and Dr. Watson do after they got into the house?
2. How long did they have to wait for Dr. Roylott to start acting?
3. What did Dr. Watson hear and smell after a long wait?
4. What did Sherlock Holmes do after there was a hissing sound?
5. What did they see in Dr. Roylott’s room?
6. Did Sherlock Holmes come to the correct conclusion at once? What put him on a wrong scent at first?
7. When did the idea of a snake occur to the detective?
8. Was Sherlock Holmes sorry about his role in the affair?
Think and say
1. Why did Dr. Roylott’s pet bite him?
2. Why wasn’t Sherlock Holmes sorry that he was responsible for Dr.Roylott’s death?
2. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.
1. to follow smb / smth
2. it is for the best
3. to be ajar
4. to let smb know
3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above and from the previous parts.
1. My companions walked down the road and I walked after them.
2. It is very good that the exam is in a week, not in two days as we thought before. We’ll have more time to learn.
3. The commercials were shown before the film.
4. Lily could hear what her parents were talking about because the door was not quite closed.
5. The police told Robert they would tell him the cause of his brother’s death after some tests.
6. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson couldn’t speak even quietly. They waited in absolute darkness and silence.
7. Before her death Julia Stoner couldn’t speak because she was feeling terrible pain.
4. Complete the sentences with the words and phrases above and from the previous parts in the correct form.
1. The manager… Alice… that she would work at the weekend.
2… that the ambulance took him to hospital. He has been ill for months but refused to see a doctor. At last a doctor will examine him.
3. The front door… and it was quite cold in the hall.
4. Everyone likes to give advice but very few like…
5. Brian and Eve didn’t… anybody… about their… They wanted it to be a secret. They would tell everybody after their marriage.
6. Some cars have stickers on their window “… me”.