狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第25章Part 3

To convey to posterity any idea of the manner in which the Captain, after turning this letter over and over, and reading it a score of times, sat down in his chair, and held a court-martial on the subject in his own mind, would require the united genius of all the great men, who, discarding their own untoward days, have determined to go down to posterity, and have never got there. At first the Captain was too much confounded and distressed to think of anything but the letter itself; and even when his thoughts began to glance upon the various attendant facts, they might, perhaps, as well have occupied themselves with their former theme, for any light they reflected on them. In this state of mind, Captain Cuttle having the Grinder before the court, and no one else, found it a great relief to decide, generally, that he was an object of suspicion: which the Captain so clearly expressed in his visage, that Rob remonstrated.
'Oh, don't, Captain!' cried the Grinder. 'I wonder how you can! what have I done to be looked at, like that?'
'My lad,' said Captain Cuttle, 'don't you sing out afore you're hurt. And don't you commit yourself, whatever you do.'
'I haven't been and committed nothing, Captain!' answered Rob.
'Keep her free, then,' said the Captain, impressively, 'and ride easy.
With a deep sense of the responsibility imposed upon him' and the necessity of thoroughly fathoming this mysterious affair as became a man in his relations with the parties, Captain Cuttle resolved to go down and examine the premises, and to keep the Grinder with him. Considering that youth as under arrest at present, the Captain was in some doubt whether it might not be expedient to handcuff him, or tie his ankles together, or attach a weight to his legs; but not being clear as to the legality of such formalities, the Captain decided merely to hold him by the shoulder all the way, and knock him down if he made any objection.
However, he made none, and consequently got to the Instrument-maker's house without being placed under any more stringent restraint. As the shutters were not yet taken down, the Captain's first care was to have the shop opened; and when the daylight was freely admitted, he proceeded, with its aid, to further investigation.
The Captain's first care was to establish himself in a chair in the shop, as President of the solemn tribunal that was sitting within him; and to require Rob to lie down in his bed under the counter, show exactly where he discovered the keys and packet when he awoke, how he found the door when he went to try it, how he started off to Brig Place - cautiously preventing the latter imitation from being carried farther than the threshold - and so on to the end of the chapter. When all this had been done several times, the Captain shook his head and seemed to think the matter had a bad look.
Next, the Captain, with some indistinct idea of finding a body, instituted a strict search over the whole house; groping in the cellars with a lighted candle, thrusting his hook behind doors, bringing his head into violent contact with beams, and covering himself with cobwebs. Mounting up to the old man's bed-room, they found that he had not been in bed on the previous night, but had merely lain down on the coverlet, as was evident from the impression yet remaining there.
'And I think, Captain,' said Rob, looking round the room, 'that when Mr Gills was going in and out so often, these last few days, he was taking little things away, piecemeal, not to attract attention.'

船长把这封信翻来翻去，念了二十来次之后，坐到椅子里，在心中对这问题进行了一场军事审判；要把船长这时的神态描述出来，为后世所记忆，是需要一切厌弃不幸的当代、决心面向后世、但却未能如愿以偿的伟大天才人物的共同努力才能做到的。最初，船长因为过于惊慌失措和伤心苦恼，所以除了想到这封信之外，不能再想到别的事情了；甚至当他的思想开始转到各种伴随发生的事实时，他在脑子里也许还依旧盘旋着原先的主题，而很少考虑这些伴随发生的事实。卡特尔船长在这样一种心情下，只有磨工一人在他的法庭上，而没有其他任何人；当他决定把磨工作为怀疑对象来进行审判时，心中感到极大的安慰；他把他的这种想法在脸容上表露得清清楚楚，因此罗布就提出了抗议。
“啊，别这样，船长！”磨工喊道，“我真不明白，您怎么能这样！我做了什么事啦，您要这样看着我？”
“我的孩子，”卡特尔船长说道，“还没有伤害你什么，你就别吵吵嚷嚷，不论你做了什么，都别忙着表白自己！”
“我没有做什么，也没有表白什么，船长！”罗布回答道。
“那就从容自在，”船长给人以深刻印象地说道，“不必紧张。”
卡特尔船长深深感觉到自己所负的责任，也有必要把这桩神秘的事情彻底调查清楚；像他这样一个与当事人有关系的人本就应该这么做的，所以他就决定让磨工跟他在一起，深入到老人家里去考察一番。考虑到这个年轻人目前已处于被逮捕状态，船长犹豫不决，究竟把他戴上手铐，或者把他的踝骨捆绑起来，或者在他的腿上悬挂一个重物，是不是得当；但是船长不明白这样做在手续上是否合法，所以决定只是一路上抓住他的肩膀，如果他要有一点反抗，那么就把他打倒在地。
可是罗布没有任何反抗，因此对他没有施加其他严厉的紧急措施，就到达仪器制造商的家了。由于百叶窗还遮蔽着，船长首先关心的是让店铺开着；当阳光充分射进来以后，他就着手进一步的调查。
船长第一桩事是在店铺中的一张椅子里坐下，担任他心目中的庄严的法庭庭长，并要求罗布躺在柜台下面的床铺上，丝毫不差地指点出他醒来时在什么地方发现了钥匙和包包，他怎么发觉门没有闩上，他怎么出发到布里格广场——船长谨慎地禁止他在重现这最后一幕情景时跑出门槛之外——，等等。当所有这一切表演了好几次之后，船长摇摇头，似乎觉得这件事情状况不妙。
接着，船长不很肯定地想到可能找到尸体，就动手对整个住宅进行严密的搜查；他把钩子插在门后，拿着一支点着的蜡烛在地窖中摸索，这时他的头和梁木猛烈地碰撞，蜘蛛网缠绕住他的身子。他们从地窖中走上来，走进老人的卧室时，发现他昨天夜里没有上床睡觉，而仅仅在被单上面躺了一下，这从依旧留在那里的印痕中可以明显地看出。
“我想，船长，”罗布环视着房间，说道，“最近几天吉尔斯先生进进出出十分频繁，他把小件物品一件一件地拿出去，这样做是为了避免引起注意。”