4.奧古斯特·杜邦造訪莫爾格街
Dupin read all this with great interest, and was the first to open the evening newspaper when it arrived.
杜邦對(duì)這些新聞很感興趣,晚報(bào)一到他就搶先打開(kāi)看起來(lái)。
He read silently, and then said, 'There is nothing new about the murders, but the police have arrested Adolphe Le Bon. Why, I don't know.' He looked at me. 'Well, my friend, what do you think about these murders?'
他靜靜地看了一會(huì)兒。然后說(shuō)道:“這樁兇殺案沒(méi)什么新進(jìn)展,可是警方已經(jīng)逮捕了阿道夫·勒邦。不知道是什么原因。”他看了看我,“哎,我的朋友,你怎么看待這樁兇殺案?”
'It's a great mystery,' I said. 'It will be impossible, surely, ever to find this murderer.'
“一個(gè)難解之謎,”我說(shuō),“兇手肯定永遠(yuǎn)不可能找到了。”
'We must not say "impossible" just because the police have done nothing,' said Dupin. 'The Parisian police do find the answers sometimes, but that is usually because of hard work, not because they are clever. Very often, you see, they don't think clearly. They look very hard at one or two things, but they don't see everything. You remember the saying, "They can't see the wood for the trees"? Well, sometimes it's important to stand back and look at the whole wood, and forget about the trees. Now, why don't we do a little detective work ourselves, and go round to the Rue Morgue? Adolphe Le Bon was once very helpful to me, and I would like to help him if I can. I know the police inspector, and I'm sure he will say that we can look round the house. So, shall we go?'
“我們不能因?yàn)榫綗o(wú)所作為就說(shuō)‘不可能’,”杜邦說(shuō),“巴黎警方有時(shí)確實(shí)能夠揭開(kāi)謎底,可那通常是靠他們的努力而并非智慧。你知道很多時(shí)候他們并沒(méi)有清晰的思路。他們只盯著一兩件東西,而看不到全部。‘見(jiàn)樹(shù)不見(jiàn)林’,你記得這句諺語(yǔ)吧?嗯,有時(shí)候站得遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn),看到整個(gè)樹(shù)林而忽略單個(gè)的樹(shù)是很重要的?,F(xiàn)在我們何不親自干點(diǎn)偵探的活兒,去莫爾格街轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)呢?阿道夫·勒邦曾經(jīng)給過(guò)我很多幫助,我也要盡可能地幫助他。我認(rèn)識(shí)那里的巡官,他肯定會(huì)讓我們看看那所房子的。那么,我們出發(fā)吧?”
We went that same afternoon. We found the house easily because there were still people in the street looking up at the closed shutters. It was the usual kind of Parisian house, with nothing surprising about it. Before we went in, we walked up the street, turned down a narrow side street, and turned again to walk past the back of the building. Dupin looked at everything—the ground, the walls, the windows, the shutters—but I did not know what he was looking for.
當(dāng)天下午我們就去了。我們很容易便找到了那所房子,因?yàn)榻稚先杂腥嗽谘鲋^看那些緊閉的窗板。這房子是在巴黎街頭最常見(jiàn)的一種,并無(wú)新奇之處。我們沒(méi)進(jìn)房子之前,先是沿著街道向前走去,拐進(jìn)一條狹窄的小巷,而后又轉(zhuǎn)彎走到了房子的后面。杜邦仔細(xì)地查看了每件東西——地面、墻壁、窗戶、窗板——可我不明白他在找什么。
Then we went inside, and a policeman took us up to the fourth floor. The two dead bodies still lay there, with the broken chairs and tables all around them. Again, Dupin looked at everything—the room and the bodies—very carefully. Then we went down into the yard at the back. It was dark when we left the Rue Morgue, and on our way home Dupin went in for a moment to the office of one of the daily newspapers.
后來(lái)我們進(jìn)入了房子里,一個(gè)警察把我們帶到五樓。兩具尸體仍然放在那里,周圍全是殘桌破椅。杜邦還是查看了這里的一切——房間、尸體——看得很仔細(xì)。然后我們又去了后院。離開(kāi)莫爾格街時(shí)天已經(jīng)黑了,回去的路上杜邦去一家日?qǐng)?bào)社待了一會(huì)兒。
That evening my friend would not answer any of my questions. But the next day he suddenly asked me, 'Did you see anything peculiar in that house in the Rue Morgue?'
那晚我的朋友不愿意回答我的任何問(wèn)題??傻诙焖蝗粏?wèn)我,“你注意到莫爾格街那所房子有什么異常了嗎?”
I don't know why, but his question made me afraid. 'No, nothing peculiar,' I said. 'Well, nothing more peculiar than what we both knew from the Gazette.'
他的問(wèn)題使我莫名地害怕起來(lái)。“沒(méi)有,沒(méi)有什么異常啊,”我說(shuō),“唉,什么都比不上我們從《新聞傳播》上看到的異常。”
'Neither the Gazette nor the police,' said Dupin, 'understand much about these murders. The police are puzzled by all the questions which they cannot answer. What was the motive for the murders? Why were the murders so brutal? Whose were the voices? How could these people get out of the house when the neighbours were running up the stairs? Why was everything broken in the room? Why was the girl's body up the chimney? Why did the old lady have so many broken bones?
“《新聞傳播》和警方,”杜邦說(shuō),“都不十分清楚這樁兇殺案是怎么回事。警方被那些謎團(tuán)搞得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向。兇殺案的動(dòng)機(jī)是什么?為什么作案手段如此兇殘?是誰(shuí)在說(shuō)話?這些人又如何在鄰居們飛奔上樓時(shí)逃出房子?房間里為什么會(huì)一片狼藉?女孩的尸體為什么被豎著塞進(jìn)煙囪里?老太太又為何有如此多處的骨折呢?”
'I'm afraid the police are making the mistake that many people make. They think that because the crime is so unusual, they can never explain it. But they are wrong. It is more helpful to have an unusual crime, because that will make us think harder, and ask the right questions, and in the end find the answer. We must not ask the question, "What has happened?"; we must ask, "What has happened that has never happened before?" The answer to this mystery is not really difficult at all—I think I know it already.'
“恐怕警方犯了和許多人一樣的錯(cuò)誤。在他們看來(lái),這樁案子如此離奇,他們永遠(yuǎn)都偵破不了。可他們錯(cuò)了。一樁奇案對(duì)我們是大有幫助的,它會(huì)讓我們多動(dòng)腦子,問(wèn)最恰當(dāng)?shù)膯?wèn)題,并最終揭開(kāi)謎底。我們不該問(wèn)這樣的問(wèn)題:‘發(fā)生什么事了?’;我們必須問(wèn):‘有什么前所未有的事發(fā)生了?’這個(gè)迷案的謎底其實(shí)一點(diǎn)兒也不復(fù)雜——我想我已經(jīng)知道了。”
I looked at him, astonished, and could not say a word.
我吃驚地看著他,一句話也說(shuō)不出來(lái)。
'I am now waiting,' he went on, 'for a person who is probably not the murderer himself, but who certainly knows something about the murders. He will arrive here—in this room—at any moment. I hope, and think, he will. And if he does come, it will be necessary to stop him leaving. Here are four guns, two for you and two for me. We both know how to use them if we have to.'
“我在等,”他繼續(xù)說(shuō)道,“等一個(gè)人,他很可能不是兇手,卻肯定知道些兇殺案的情況。他會(huì)到這來(lái)——到這間屋子里——隨時(shí)都可能來(lái)。我希望他能來(lái),也覺(jué)得他會(huì)來(lái)。如果他真的來(lái)了,就必須留住他不讓他走。這里有四把手槍,你我各拿兩把。我們都清楚萬(wàn)不得已的時(shí)候該怎么用它。”