【英文听力原声】夏洛克福尔摩斯：四签名 Chapter 5 第五章

Day 5

Finally we stopped outside the third house in an ugly street of new buildings. The other houses were all in darkness, but in this house there was a light at the kitchen window. Our driver got down from his seat and opened the door of the cab. We followed him to the door of the house. He knocked loudly and the door was immediately opened. An Indian servant stood in front of us.

'Mr Sholto is waiting for you,' he said.

Suddenly we heard a strange, high voice from inside the house.

'Bring them to me!' it said. 'Bring them to me now!'

We followed the Indian along a dark, dirty passage and came to a big wooden door. The servant opened it and we looked into a brightly lit room. A small, bald man stood in front of us in the strange, yellow light. He was a very ugly little man with bad teeth and thin lips. He looked about thirty years old.

'I am your servant, Miss Morstan,' he said again and again in his strange, high voice. 'Please come in. My house, I hope, is a special place among these poor streets of south London.'

It was true that we were all surprised by the room. While everything in the rest of the house looked old and broken, everything here was expensive and beautiful. The curtains were heavy and lovely to look at, and the carpet was thick under our feet. Everywhere there were valuable paintings and vases. A beautiful lamp burned in the middle of the room and gave out a sweet smell.

'My name is Thaddeus Sholto, Mr Thaddeus Sholto,' the man went on. He smiled as he spoke and he moved his hands, which were held closely together, all the time. 'You are Miss Morstan, of course, and these gentlemen?'

'This is Mr Sherlock Holmes,' replied Miss Morstan, 'and this is Dr Watson.'

'A doctor!' cried Sholto in excitement.' Dr Watson, could you please listen to my heart? I really feel quite ill. I'm a little worried.'

I listened to his heart, but I could find no problem with it, although he was shaking with fear.

'You seem to be in good health.' I informed him. 'There's no reason to be worried.'

'Thank you, doctor,' he said. 'I've worried about my heart for a long time. I'm sorry that your father didn't take more care of his heart, Miss Morstan. With more care, perhaps he would still be alive and with us today.'

His careless words made me angry. Miss Morstan's face went very white, and she sat down.

'So he's dead,' she said. 'I knew it.'

'I can tell you everything,' Sholto went on, 'and I will tell you everything, although my brother Bartholomew won't be happy. I'm pleased that you've brought your friends with you because that means there are four of us against my brother. But it's very important that no one else knows about this.'

'Don't worry,' said Holmes, 'I won't tell anyone about this and I'm sure Dr Watson and Miss Morstan will say nothing.'

We said nothing but both nodded our heads to show that we agreed.

'Excellent!' he replied. 'Excellent! Would you like a glass of wine, Miss Morstan? No? I hope that it won't trouble you if I smoke. I feel a little nervous.'