《福尔摩斯探案集·蓝宝石案》第33节
“‘Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried. “‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’ “‘Which dealer’s?’ “‘Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’ “‘But was there another with a barred tail?’ I asked, ‘the same as the one I chose?’ “‘Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never tell them apart.’ “Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now—and now I am myself a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character. God help me! God help me!” He burst into convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes’ finger-tips upon the edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. “Get out!” said he.
注释摘要
这一节是詹姆斯·赖德自白的后半部分，也是整个故事在情感上最为紧绷的一段。赖德正站在贝克街221B的客厅里，面对福尔摩斯和华生，用近乎崩溃的声音讲述那个致命的夜晚。他在姐姐玛吉家的后院将蓝宝石塞进一只鹅的嗉囊，然后带着那只鹅去了基尔伯恩，找他的同伙莫兹利。剖开鹅之后，嗉囊里空空如也。他意识到自己慌乱中认错了鹅——他精心挑选的那只白鹅带着条形尾羽，但院子里有两…