A horse called Silver Blaze赛马“银光”

Arthur Conan Doyle

作者簡介：

阿瑟·柯南·道尔（1859年5月22日—1930年7月7日），英国著名侦探小说家、剧作家，因成功塑造了侦探人物——夏洛克·福尔摩斯而成为侦探小说历史上最重要的作家之一，其代表作有《福尔摩斯探案集》和《失落的世界》。

作品简介：

侦探必须眼观六路，耳听八方，还得记住与案件相关的所有细节。他们必须通晓人情世故，对狗、羊和马都得有所知。甚至，他们还必须了解赛马这项帝王的娱乐运动……

一匹著名赛马——“银光”——失踪了，夏洛克·福尔摩斯和华生医生来到了位于达特穆尔的马厩。“银光”是一周后的一场大赛的热门夺冠选手，它的主人罗斯先生对它满怀信心，觉得自己能赢得这场比赛。但他首先得找到自己的马……本文节选自《福尔摩斯与赛马》（Sherlock Holmes and the Sport of Kings）第一章，节选时有删改。

“I must go down there，Watson. I must，” said SherlockHolmes at the breakfast table onThursday morning.

“Go？ Go where？” I asked.

“To Dartmoor —to KingsPyland.”

“Ah！ So thats it，” I said.“Well， everybody in the country is talkingabout the case at Kings Pyland.”

I always know when Holmes is interested in a case. He reads allthe newspapers， walks up anddown， up and down the room，and does not speak for hours.

He did all those thingsyesterday. He did not answerany of my questions， but I knewthat it was the mystery at KingsPyland.

The morning newspapers were on thebreakfast table. “What is happening atKings Pyland？ Where is Silver Blaze？”they asked. “Who killed John Straker？What are the police doing？ Can they findthe horse before the big race next week？”

Silver Blaze was a famous racehorse，and John Straker was his trainer. One ofthe biggest horse races of the year —theWessex Cup—was next week， and SilverBlaze was the favourite to win. But onMonday night at Kings Pyland， two thingshappened. Someone killed John Straker，and Silver Blaze disappeared.

I was interested in this case too.“ Doyou need my help， Holmes？” I asked. “Iwould very much like to come with you.”

“My dear Watson，” said Holmes，“ ofcourse you must come with me. We cancatch the twelve oclock from Paddington，and talk about the case on the train.”

Two hours later we were on the trainto Tavistock. We read all the midday newspapers，but there was nothing new in them.

“So， Watson， what do you think about this case？”

“Well， the newspapers say...”

“Ah， yes. The newspapers understandnothing. One day they say one thing; thenext day they say another. But we mustlook at the case more carefully. What happenedon Monday night at Kings Pyland？And what did not happen？ Thats an importantquestion too.”

“Do the police have any answers？” I asked.

“No，”said Holmes. “On Wednesdaymorning I had two letters. One was from MrRoss， the owner of the horse， and the otherwas from the Dartmoor police—InspectorGregory. They ask for my help.”

“Wednesday morning！” I cried.“ Butthis is Thursday morning. Why didnt yougo down yesterday？”

“Because it was an easy case. Youcant hide a famous horse for long， Ithought. Where can you hide a horse onDartmoor？ There are no buildings， notrees... But I was wrong， Watson. The caseis now two days old， and nobody can findthe horse—or Strakers killer. So here weare， on the train to Tavistock.”

“And what do you think about it all？”I said.“

“Well， Watson， lets look at the case.First， we have a racehorse， Silver Blaze—only five years old， but already a winner inmany big races. His owner， Mr Ross， is ahappy man—and rich. The racegoers arehappy too. Silver Blaze nearly always winshis races， and so people put big bets onhim to win. And when the favourite wins the race， a lot of people make money ontheir bets. But what happens when the favouritedoesnt win， Watson？ What then？”

“A lot of people lose their money， ofcourse，” I said.“ And people with big betson a different horse can make much moremoney， when that other horse wins.”

“Right， Watson！ So perhaps somepeople are very interested in Silver Blazenot running in the Wessex Cup. Of course，Mr Ross and his trainer， John Straker，know that， and they watch the horse verycarefully.”

“Now， lets look at the people and theplace. The trainer， John Straker —a goodman—worked for Mr Ross for twelve years.There are four horses in the trainingstables， and three boys working for Straker.One of them sits up all night with thehorses， and the other two sleep in a roomover the stables. We know nothing badabout any of the boys.”

“Straker has a wife and no children，and lives—I mean， lived in a house abouttwo hundred metres from the stables. Thetown of Tavistock is two kilometres to thewest， and about two kilometres to the eastthere is Capleton， another training stable.The owner there is Lord Backwater， andthe trainer is Silas Brown. There are noother houses—just the hills of Dartmoor.”

I listened carefully. I wanted to rememberit all because Holmes does notlike to say anything twice.

“Now，” he said， “what happened onMonday night？ These papers came withInspector Gregorys letter. The best thingfor you is to read them， Watson. Then tellme what you think.”

I took the papers from him， and began to read.

Reading Check

1. Who is the owner of Silver Blaze？

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2. What happened to Silver Blaze＇strainer？

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3. Why did Sherlock Holmes decideto go to Dartmoor？

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4. What was Dr Watson＇s reaction tothe case at King＇s Pyland？

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