《福尔摩斯探案集·斑点带子案》第8节
“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master. “You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has.” “Your sister is dead, then?”
注释摘要
海伦·斯托纳在这里为自己的继父勾勒了一幅魔鬼般的素描，而这个素描恰恰是福尔摩斯和华生——以及作为读者的我们——尚未踏足斯托克莫兰之前，所能获得的全部人物情报。她用了三个具体的事例，每一件事都像一层越来越浓的阴影。 上一周他把当地铁匠扔过矮墙摔进河里，是纯粹的暴力。海伦补了一句关键的话：她掏空了自己能攒到的所有钱，才避免了又一次当众出丑。维多利亚时代的治安法…