Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band · chapter 3 of 5
The Empty Room
空房间
Holmes searches the room where Julia died and finds a bed bolted down and a bell-rope tied to nothing. Then he explains what they will do tonight.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 中午，他们坐马车到了斯托克莫兰。罗伊洛特医生不在家，房子里很安静。
Zhōngwǔ, tāmen zuò mǎchē dào le Sītuōkèmòlán. Luóyīluòtè yīshēng bú zàijiā, fángzi lǐ hěn ānjìng.
At noon they reached Stoke Moran by carriage. Dr. Roylott was out, and the house was silent.
- Helen Stoner 就是这间。我姐姐死的时候，就睡在这张床上。
Jiùshì zhè jiān. Wǒ jiějie sǐ de shíhou, jiù shuì zài zhèzhāng chuángshàng.
This is the one. My sister was sleeping in this bed when she died.
- Helen Stoner 我常常觉得，这面墙的后面，有什么东西在看着我。
Wǒ chángcháng juéde, zhè miànqiáng de hòumiàn, yǒu shénme dōngxi zài kànzhe wǒ.
I often feel as if something behind this wall is watching me.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Sherlock Holmes 这张床很奇怪。华生，你推推看。
Zhè zhāngchuáng hěn qíguài. Huáshēng, nǐ tuītuī kàn.
This bed is odd. Watson, try pushing it.
- Dr. Watson 真的！它是固定在地上的！为什么要这样做？
Zhēnde! Tā shì gùdìng zài dìshàng de! Wèishénme yào zhèyàng zuò?
It really is fixed to the floor! Why would anyone do that?
- Sherlock Holmes 好问题。海伦小姐，床边这根绳子是做什么的？
Hǎo wèntí. Hǎilún xiǎojie, chuángbiān zhègēn shéngzi shì zuò shénme de?
A good question. Miss Helen, what is this rope beside the bed for?
- Helen Stoner 是铃绳。以前我们拉一下，楼下的女佣就会来。
Shì líng shéng. Yǐqián wǒmen lā yíxià, lóuxià de nǚyōng jiù huì lái.
It's a bell-rope. We used to pull it, and the maid downstairs would come.
- Sherlock Holmes 这根铃绳很怪。它没有接到任何铃上。
Zhègēn líng shéng hěn guài. Tā méiyǒu jiēdào rènhé língshàng.
This bell-rope is strange. It isn't connected to any bell.
- Dr. Watson 什么？它只是挂在那儿？
Shénme? Tā zhǐshì guà zài nàr?
What? It just hangs there?
- Sherlock Holmes 对。你看，它就挂在墙上那个小洞的下面。
Duì. Nǐ kàn, tā jiù guà zài qiángshàng nàge xiǎodòng de xiàmiàn.
Yes. See, it hangs right under that little hole in the wall.
- Helen Stoner 那是通风口。可是它不通向外面，它通向隔壁，就是继父的房间。
Nà shì tōngfēng kǒu. Kěshì tā bù tōngxiàng wàimiàn, tā tōngxiàng gébì, jiùshì jìfù de fángjiān.
That's a ventilator. But it doesn't open outside. It opens into the next room, my stepfather's.
- Sherlock Holmes 通向隔壁？这是我见过最奇怪的通风口。
Tōngxiàng gébì? Zhè shì wǒ jiàn guò zuì qíguài de tōngfēng kǒu.
Into the next room? That's the oddest ventilator I have ever seen.
- Dr. Watson 为什么一间房要通到另一间房？
Wèishénme yìjiān fángyào tōngdào lìng yìjiān fáng?
Why would one room open into another?
- Sherlock Holmes 也许是为了让什么东西从那边过来。
Yěxǔ shì wèile ràng shénme dōngxi cóng nàbiān guòlái.
Perhaps so that something could come over from there.
- Helen Stoner 您是说……有东西从那里过来？
Nín shì shuō… Yǒu dōngxi cóng nàlǐ guòlái?
You mean... something comes through from there?
- Sherlock Holmes 我还不能说。请你在花园里等一会儿，我们再看看他的房间。
Wǒ hái bùnéng shuō. Qǐng nǐ zài huāyuánlǐ děng yíhuìr, wǒmen zài kànkan tā de fángjiān.
I can't say yet. Please wait in the garden while we look at his room.
- Dr. Watson 这就是他的房间？里面有一个大铁箱。
Zhè jiùshì tā de fángjiān? Lǐmiàn yǒu yígè dà tiěxiāng.
So this is his room? There's a big iron safe in here.
- Sherlock Holmes 别碰那个铁箱。看，这里有一小碟牛奶。
Biépèng nàge tiěxiāng. Kàn, zhèlǐ yǒu yì xiǎodié niúnǎi.
Do not touch that safe. Look, there's a little saucer of milk here.
- Dr. Watson 牛奶？大概是给猫喝的吧。
Niúnǎi? Dàgài shì gěi māo hē de ba.
Milk? Probably for a cat.
- Sherlock Holmes 也许。可是这里还有一根细鞭子，头上有一个小圈。
Yěxǔ. Kěshì zhèlǐ háiyǒu yìgēn xì biānzi, tóushàng yǒu yígè xiǎoquān.
Perhaps. But here is also a thin whip with a little loop at its end.
- Dr. Watson 鞭子上为什么要打一个圈？
Biānzi shàng wèishénme yào dǎ yígèquān?
Why would a whip have a loop tied on it?
- Sherlock Holmes 牛奶，鞭子，通风口，铃绳……我开始明白了。
Niúnǎi, biānzi, tōngfēng kǒu, líng shéng… Wǒ kāishǐ míngbai le.
Milk, whip, ventilator, bell-rope... I'm beginning to understand.
- Dr. Watson 你明白什么？快告诉我！
Nǐ míngbai shénme? Kuài gàosu wǒ!
Understand what? Tell me quickly!
- Sherlock Holmes 现在还不能说。我们要先听一听。
Xiànzài hái bùnéng shuō. Wǒmen yào xiān tīng yi tīng.
I can't say yet. First we have to listen.
- Dr. Watson 我不喜欢这里。连墙都好像在看着我们。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan zhèlǐ. Liánqiáng dōu hǎoxiàng zài kànzhe wǒmen.
I do not like it here. Even the walls seem to be watching us.
- Sherlock Holmes 怕就对了，华生。怕的人会小心。
Pà jiù duì le, Huáshēng. Pà de rénhuì xiǎoxīn.
Good, Watson. A man who is afraid is a careful man.
- Sherlock Holmes 华生，我们出去吧。外面有脚步声。
Huáshēng, wǒmen chūqù ba. Wàimiàn yǒu jiǎobùshēng.
Watson, let us go outside. I hear footsteps.
- Sherlock Holmes 海伦小姐，我们今晚住在村里的旅店。你早点回房，就说你头痛。
Hǎilún xiǎojie, wǒmen jīnwǎn zhù zài cūnlǐ de lǚdiàn. Nǐ zǎodiǎn huífáng, jiù shuō nǐ tóutòng.
Miss Helen, we will stay at the village inn tonight. Go to your room early and say you have a headache.
- Sherlock Holmes 等继父关灯了，你把灯放在窗前。那是给我们的信号。
Děng jìfù guāndēng le, nǐ bǎ dēng fàngzài chuāngqián. Nà shì gěi wǒmen de xìnhào.
When your stepfather turns off his light, place your lamp in the window. That is our signal.
- Helen Stoner 然后呢？我睡在哪儿？
Ránhòu ne? Wǒ shuì zài nǎr?
And then? Where will I sleep?
- Sherlock Holmes 你睡在你原来的小房间。今晚，我们要用你现在的房间。
Nǐ shuì zài nǐ yuánlái de xiǎofángjiān. Jīnwǎn, wǒmen yàoyòng nǐ xiànzài de fángjiān.
You will sleep in your old room. Tonight we will use the room you have now.
- Dr. Watson 福尔摩斯，我们到底在等什么？
Fú'ěrmósī, wǒmen dàodǐ zài děng shénme?
Holmes, what exactly are we waiting for?
- Sherlock Holmes 等一位客人。他不走门，也不走窗，他从墙上下来。
Děng yíwèi kèrén. Tā bù zǒumén, yě bù zǒu chuāng, tā cóng qiángshàng xiàlái.
A guest. He doesn't use the door or the window. He comes down the wall.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What is strange about the bed?
“它是固定在地上的！”
- What is wrong with the bell-rope?
“它没有接到任何铃上。”
- Where does the ventilator lead?
“它通向隔壁，就是继父的房间。”
- What odd things does Holmes find in Roylott's room?
“这里有一小碟牛奶”…“一根细鞭子，头上有一个小圈”
- What is Helen's lamp signal for?
“等继父关灯了，你把灯放在窗前。那是给我们的信号。”