Bedside Lamp English Learning Reader II: The Hound of the Baskervilles (English-Chinese Contrastive)

Author: (English) Arthur Conan Doyle
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: On a beautiful morning in September, the great detective Sherlock Holmes received a visit request from a doctor named James Mortimer. At half past ten in the morning, Dr. Mortimer arrived as scheduled, accompanied by a bundle of mysterious manuscripts from the late Lord Charles Baskerville. The letter told the story of how Hugo Baskerville, an ancestor of the Baskerville family, a century ago, had committed countless crimes and ultimately met his demise at the jaws of the legendary and ferocious Baskerville hound. Since then, the Baskerville family has been shrouded in the shadow of the crimes committed by their ancestors, and successive heirs to the family fortune have died in mysterious and terrifying ways. At first, Holmes was not particularly interested in Dr. Mortimer's story, dismissing it as just an interesting legend. However, as Dr. Mortimer gradually explained the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, Holmes decided to get involved in the case, realizing that it was not only about the true cause of death of the late Earl Charles but also about the life safety of the next heir to Baskerville Hall, Henry Baskerville. Under Holmes's clever arrangement, his loyal partner, Dr. Watson, accompanied Sir Henry back to Baskerville Hall. During their time at Baskerville Hall, Dr. Watson encountered a series of strange events one after another, such as the heartbreaking cries of a woman at midnight, the suspicious actions of the butler, Mr. Barrymore, at night, and later the fragment of a letter that Sir Charles had not completely burned before his death, and so on. All these mysteries left him lost in confusion. Just as he decided to delve deeper into the heart of the matter, he unexpectedly encountered Holmes, who had seemingly dropped from the sky. It turned out that Holmes had deliberately concealed himself to uncover the secret of the legendary terrifying hound and the tragedy that had occurred at Baskerville Hall. He had been hiding alone in the remote marshes, enduring storms, solitude, and the cold. Meanwhile, the cunning criminal could no longer restrain himself and began to surface. He impatiently and mistakenly killed the escaped convict Selden, who was dressed in Sir Henry's clothes. This further confirmed Holmes's suspicions. Determined, Holmes used Henry to lure out the true culprit—Stapleton. It turned out that Stapleton, who had just moved to Devonshire two years ago, was actually Roger Baskerville, the son of the late Earl Charles's younger brother. Many years ago, people had mistakenly believed that the fugitive Roger had died in South America, but in reality, he had not died and had even had a son named Roger, who was Stapleton. Stapleton knew that if both Charles and Henry were dead, he would inherit the vast wealth of the Baskerville family. Therefore, he used the legend of the Baskerville hound to kill his own relatives by any means necessary. He first used the vicious dog to scare to death the elderly and frail Sir Charles, and then attempted to have the dog attack and kill Sir Henry. However, Holmes ultimately exposed his schemes, and with the help of Watson and the police, they killed the terrifying hound. Stapleton, in his desperate escape at night, also perished in the marshes.