海德格医生的实验

那个十分古怪的老海德格医生，曾邀请四位德高望重的老朋友到他的书房聚会。

That very singular man, old Dr. Heidegger, once invited four venerable friends to meet him in his study.

客人中有三位白胡子绅士——梅德伯恩先生、基利格鲁上校和加斯科因先生；还有一位憔悴消瘦的贵妇人，名叫威彻利寡妇。

There were three white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, and a withered gentlewoman, whose name was the Widow Wycherly.

他们全都是郁郁寡欢的老家伙，一生历经坎坷，而最大的不幸莫过于他们没能在很久以前就躺进坟墓。

They were all melancholy old creatures, who had been unfortunate in life, and whose greatest misfortune it was that they were not long ago in their graves.

梅德伯恩先生在年富力强之时曾是位兴旺发达的商人，却因疯狂的投机输光了所有家当，如今落得个几近乞丐的境地。

Mr. Medbourne, in the vigor of his age, had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation, and was now little better than a mendicant.

基利格鲁上校在追求罪恶的享乐中虚度了大好年华，耗尽了健康与财富，落得一身病痛，例如痛风，以及肉体与灵魂上的诸般折磨。

Colonel Killigrew had wasted his best years, and his health and substance, in the pursuit of sinful pleasures, which had given birth to a brood of pains, such as the gout, and divers other torments of soul and body.

加斯科因先生是位身败名裂的政客，一个臭名昭著的人，或者至少曾是如此，直到岁月将他从当代人的记忆中抹去，使他变得默默无闻而非遗臭万年。

Mr. Gascoigne was a ruined politician, a man of evil fame, or at least had been so till time had buried him from the knowledge of the present generation, and made him obscure instead of infamous.

至于威彻利寡妇，传说她早年曾是一位绝代佳人；但在过去很长一段时间里，她一直深居简出，因为某些丑闻使镇上的上流人士对她产生了成见。

As for the Widow Wycherly, tradition tells us that she was a great beauty in her day; but, for a long while past, she had lived in deep seclusion, on account of certain scandalous stories which had prejudiced the gentry of the town against her.

值得一提的是，这三位老绅士——梅德伯恩先生、基利格鲁上校和加斯科因先生，早年都是威彻利寡妇的情人，甚至曾经为了她差点拔刀相向，割断彼此的喉咙。

It is a circumstance worth mentioning that each of these three old gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, were early lovers of the Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each other’s throats for her sake.

在进一步讲述之前，我只略微暗示一下：海德格医生和他所有的这四位客人，有时被认为有些神智恍惚——老年人无论为眼前的烦恼还是凄凉的往事所困扰时，这种情形往往并不罕见。

And, before proceeding further, I will merely hint that Dr. Heidegger and all his foul guests were sometimes thought to be a little beside themselves,—as is not unfrequently the case with old people, when worried either by present troubles or woful recollections.

“我亲爱的老朋友们，”海德格医生示意他们就坐，说道，“我想请你们协助我做一项小实验，平时我常在书房里以此自娱自乐。”

“My dear old friends,” said Dr. Heidegger, motioning them to be seated, “I am desirous of your assistance in one of those little experiments with which I amuse myself here in my study.”

如果所有的传言属实，海德格医生的书房一定是个非常奇特的地方。那是一间昏暗、陈旧的屋子，蛛网结彩，落满了古老的尘埃。

If all stories were true, Dr. Heidegger’s study must have been a very curious place. It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust.

沿墙立着几只橡木书架，下层书架排满了厚重的大对开本和哥特体黑体字四开本，上层则摆放着羊皮纸装订的轻巧十二开本。

Around the walls stood several oaken bookcases, the lower shelves of which were filled with rows of gigantic folios and black-letter quartos, and the upper with little parchment-covered duodecimos.

正中的书架上方立着一尊希波克拉底的青铜胸像；据某些权威说法，海德格医生在行医过程中遇到所有疑难杂症时，素来习惯向这尊胸像请教咨询。

Over the central bookcase was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which, according to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations in all difficult cases of his practice.

在房间最阴暗的角落里，立着一个又高又窄的橡木壁橱，柜门半掩，隐约可见里面立着一副骷髅骨架。

In the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet, with its door ajar, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton.