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化身博士-第2章

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kefor the stranger.

Mr Utterson stepped forward and touched him on the shoulder.‘Mr Hyde?’

‘Yes,that's my name,’said the stranger coolly.‘ What doyou want?’

‘I see that you're going in.I'm an old friend of DoctorJekyll's.My name is Utterson.You must have heard myname—may I come in with you?’

‘Doctor Jekyll is not at home,’replied Mr Hyde.‘How didyou know me?’he added sharply.

‘First let me see your face,’replied the lawyer.

Mr Hyde hesitated for a moment, then he stood under thestreet light and the lawyer saw his face.‘Thank you,’ saidMr Utterson.‘Now I shall know you again. It may beuseful.’

‘Yes,’said Mr Hyde,‘it may indeed be useful.Here,too,is my address.You may need it one day.’He gave the lawyerhis address,which was in a poor part of London.

‘Good God!’thought the lawyer,‘does Hyde know aboutJekyll's will?Is that what he's thinking of?’But he saidnothing.

‘And now,’said Mr Hyde,‘How did you know me?’

‘You were described to me.’

‘Who did that?’

‘I know people who know you.’

‘Who?’ asked Mr Hyde sharply.

‘Doctor Jekyll,for example,’said the lawyer.

‘He never told you!’cried Mr Hyde in sudden anger.‘Don't lie to me!’And before the lawyer could answer, heturned the key in the lock and disappeared into the house.

Mr Utterson stared at the closed door.‘Why do I dislikehim so much?’he said to himself.‘Enfield was right—thereis something evil about the man.Poor Henry Jekyll,I'm worried about you. Your new friend will mean trouble for you.’

Round the corner from the narrow street there was a squareof handsome old houses.One of these was Doctor.Jekyll's house,and Mr Utterson knocked at the front door. The servant answered and told him that Doctor Jekyll was not athome.

‘I saw Mr Hyde go in by the laboratory door in the street atthe back of the house, said the lawyer.

‘That's right,Mr Utterson,’replied the servant. ‘MrHyde has his own key, and comes and goes when he likes. Wehave orders from Doctor Jekyll to obey him.’

Mr Utterson walked home more worried than ever.

A fortnight later Doctor Jekyll gave a dinner party for a fewold friends.Mr Utterson was among them and he remained after the others had left.

‘I've been wanting to speak to you for some time,Jekyll,’said the lawyer,‘about your will.’

Doctor Jekyll was a tall, well-made man of fifty with asmooth, kindly face.‘My poor friend,’he said,‘you doworry unnecessarily, you know. Like poor Lanyon when Itold him about my new ideas.“Imaginative rubbish”he calledthem… I'm very disappointed in Lanyon.’

But the lawyer did not want to talk about Doctor Lanyon.‘You know I've never agreed with your will,’he continued.‘You've told me often enough,’said his friend sharply.

‘Well,I've learnt something about your friend Hyde,’continued the lawyer.

The colour of the doctor's handsome face changed from pinkto greyish…white.‘I don't want to hear any more,’he said.‘You don't understand. I'm in a very difficult,painful situation.

‘Tell me everything,’said Mr Utterson,‘and I'll do mybest to help you.’

‘You're very kind,but this is a private matter.I'll tell youone thing—I can get rid of Mr Hyde any time I want. Youmust understand,however, that I take a great interest in poorHyde.I know you've seen him—he told me, and I'm afraidhe wasn't very polite to you. But I really do care about him.And if anything happens to me,I want you to promise tomake sure that he inherits my money.’

‘I cannot pretend that I shall ever like him,’ said thelawyer.

‘I'm not asking you to like him,’said his friend.‘I onlyask you to help him,when I'm gone.’

‘I promise,’said Mr Utterson sadly.

  



 


3  The Carew murder

  

One night in London,nearly a year later, a servant girlwas sitting at her bedroom window, looking out at themoonlit street. She saw a tall, handsome old man with whitehair coming along the street,and a shorter,younger manwalkingtowardshim.The old man spoke politely to theyounger one. He seemed, the girl said later, to be asking hisway. Then the girl looked more closely at the younger manand recognized him.

‘It was Mr Hyde, ’she said later.‘He once visited my master.’

Mr Hyde, the girl said, was carrying a heavy stick. He wasplaying with it impatiently as he listened to the old man. Thensuddenly he seemed to explode with anger.

‘He was like a madman,’the servant girl said.‘ He shookhis stick at the old man,who stepped back in surprise. Thenhe hit the old man violently with the stick and knocked him tothe ground. He beat the helpless body again and again. I couldhear the bones breaking… It was so terrible that I began tofeel ill.Then everything went black and I don't remember anymore.’

It was two o’clock in the morning before she was consciousagain, and able to call the police. The murderer had disappeared,but the dead man was still lying on the ground withthe murder weapon beside him.The stick had broken in themiddle, and one half still lay beside the murdered man. Thepolice decided that the murderer had carried away the otherhalf.A gold watch and a purse were found in the dead man’spockets, but no cards or papers— except a letter addressed toMr Utterson.

A policeman brought this letter to the lawyer the nextmorning.Together they drove to the police station where thebody had been taken.

A police inspector showed him the body.

‘Yes,I recognize him,’said Mr Utterson heavily.‘He isSir Danvers Carew.’

‘Thank you, sir,’said the inspector.‘And do you recognizethis?’ He showed Mr Utterson the broken stick and told himthe servant girl’s story.

Mr Utterson knew the stick at once.‘That’s HenryJekyll’s stick!’he said to himself.‘I gave it to him long ago.’

‘Is this Hyde a short, evil-looking man?’he asked.

‘That’s how the servant girl described him, sir,’agreed theinspector.

‘Come with me,’said Mr Utterson to the inspector.‘Ithink I know where he lives.’

Mr Utterson led him to the address on Mr Hyde’ s visitingcard.It was in a poor part of London,in a dirty street full ofcheap bars and eating-houses. This was the home of HenryJekyll’s favourite friend—the man who would inherit Jekyll’squarter of a million pounds.

An old servant opened the door.Under her silvery hair wasa smooth face with a false smile and evil eyes, but she was polite enough.

‘Yes,’she said,‘Mr Hyde lives here.But he’s not athome. My master came in very late last night.He left againafter only an hour.’

‘Was that unusual?’asked the inspector.

‘Not at all,’replied the servant.‘He’s often away,andfrequently stays away for months at a time.’

‘We would like to see his flat,’said Mr Utterson.

‘Oh,I can't do that,sir—’began the servant.

‘This gentleman is a police inspector,’said Mr Utterson.

‘Ah!’ said the servant,looking unnaturally pleased aboutit,‘ Mr Hyde’s in trouble!What’s he done?’

Mr Utterson and the inspector looked at each other.‘Hedoesn't seem a very popular person,’said the inspector.Heturned to the servant.‘Now please let us in and we'll have alook around.’

Mr Hyde had only two rooms in the house.These were extremely comfortable and in excellent taste,with beautiful pictures on the walls and rich carpets on the floor.Everythingwas wildly untidy,however,and the fireplace was full of halfburnt papers. Among these the detective found part of acheque book.He also found the other half of the murderweapon.

‘Excellent!’he said.‘Now let’s visit the bank and see ifthey recognize this cheque book.’

Sure enough, the bank held several thousand pounds in anaccount in the name of Edward Hyde.

‘We've got him now, sir,’said the inspector.‘We've gotthe murder weapon,and we've got his cheque book. Now weonly need his description on the“Wanted”notices.’

This was not so easy. There were no photographs of thewanted man and no two people could agree about his appearance.They all agreed on one thing, however.‘An evil man,sir,’the servant girl said.‘You could see it in his face.’

  
4  Doctor Jekyll receives a letter

  

Later that same afternoon Mr Utterson found his way toDoctor Jekyll’s house.Jekyll’s servant, Poole, let himin at once and took him through the kitchen and across theback garden to the laboratory behind the house.It was thefirst time that Mr Utterson had seen his friend’s laboratory,and he looked around curiously.

The old servant led Mr Utterson through the laboratory andup some stairs to the doctor’s private study above.This was alarge room with tall, glass-fronted cupboards, a large mirrorand a big,businesslike table.A good fire burned in the fireplace and beside it sat Doctor Jekyll, looking white and ill. Ina thin, tired voice he welcomed his friend.

‘Have you heard the news?’said Mr Utterson after the oldservant had left.

‘The newsboys were shouting about it in the street,’DoctorJekyll said.‘A terrible b
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