And then on the following morning Samuel Griffiths, with his own son Gilbert standing1 by, in the large drawingroom of their Wykeagy Avenue mansion3, listening to Smillie's report of his conference with Clyde and Mason.
And Smillie reporting all he had heard and seen. And with Gilbert Griffiths, unbelievably shaken and infuriatedby all this, exclaiming at one point:
"Why, the little devil! The little beast! But what did I tell you, Dad? Didn't I warn you against bringing him on?"And Samuel Griffiths after meditating4 on this reference to his earlier sympathetic folly5 now giving Gilbert a mostsuggestive and intensely troubled look, which said: Are we here to discuss the folly of my original, if foolish,good intentions, or the present crisis? And Gilbert thinking: The murderer! And that wretched little show-off,Sondra Finchley, trying to make something of him in order to spite me, Gilbert, principally, and so gettingherself smirched. The little fool! But it served her right. She would get her share of this now. Only it would causehim and his father and all of them infinite trouble also. For was this not an ineradicable stain which was likely todefile all--himself, his fiancee, Bella, Myra, his parents--and perhaps cost them their position here in Lycurgussociety? The tragedy! Maybe an execution! And in this family!
Yet Samuel Griffiths, on his part, going back in his mind to all that had occurred since Clyde had arrived inLycurgus.
His being left to work in that basement at first and ignored by the family. Left to his own devices for fully6 eightmonths. Might not that have been at least a contributing cause to all this horror? And then being put over allthose girls! Was not that a mistake? He could see all this now clearly, although by no means condoning7 Clyde'sdeed in any way--far from it. The wretchedness of such a mind as that--the ungoverned and carnal desires! Theuncontrollable brutality8 of seducing9 that girl and then because of Sondra--the pleasant, agreeable little Sondra-plottingto get rid of her! And now in jail, and offering no better explanation of all the amazing circumstances, asreported by Smillie, than that he had not intended to kill her at all--had not even plotted to do so--that the windhad blown his hat off! How impossibly weak! And with no suitable explanation for the two hats, or the missingsuit, or of not going to the aid of the drowning girl. And those unexplained marks on her face. How strongly allthese things pointed10 to his guilt11.
"For God's sake," exclaimed Gilbert, "hasn't he anything better than that to offer, the little fool!" And Smilliereplied that that was all he could get him to say, and that Mr. Mason was absolutely and quite dispassionatelyconvinced of his guilt. "Dreadful! Dreadful!" put in Samuel. "I really can't grasp it yet. I can't! It doesn't seempossible that any one of my blood could be guilty of such a thing!" And then getting up and walking the floor inreal and crushing distress12 and fear. His family! Gilbert and his future! Bella, with all her ambitions and dreams!
And Sondra! And Finchley!
He clinched13 his hands. He knitted his brows and tightened14 his lips. He looked at Smillie, who, immaculate andsleek, showed nevertheless the immense strain that was on him, shaking his head dismally15 whenever Griffithslooked at him.
And then after nearly an hour and a half more of such questioning and requestioning as to the possibility of someother interpretation16 than the data furnished by Smillie would permit, Griffiths, senior, pausing and declaring:
"Well, it does look bad, I must say. Still, in the face of what you tell me, I can't find it in me to condemncompletely without more knowledge than we have here. There may be some other facts not as yet come to light-hewon't talk, you say, about most things--some little details we don't know about--some slight excuse of somekind--for without that this does appear to be a most atrocious crime. Has Mr. Brookhart got in from Boston?""Yes, sir, he's here," replied Gilbert. "He telephoned Mr. Smillie.""Well, have him come out here at two this afternoon to see me. I'm too tired to talk more about this right now.
Tell him all that you have told me, Smillie. And then come back here with him at two. It may be that he will havesome suggestion to make that will be of value to us, although just what I can't see. Only one thing I want to say-Ihope he isn't guilty. And I want every proper step taken to discover whether he is or not, and if not, to defendhim to the limit of the law. But no more than that. No trying to save anybody who is guilty of such a thing asthis--no, no, no!--not even if he is my nephew! Not me! I'm not that kind of a man! Trouble or no trouble-disgraceor no disgrace--I'll do what I can to help him if he's innocent--if there's even the faintest reason forbelieving so. But guilty? No! Never! If this boy is really guilty, he'll have to take the consequences. Not adollar--not a penny--of my money will I devote to any one who could be guilty of such a crime, even if he is mynephew!"And turning and slowly and heavily moving toward the rear staircase, while Smillie, wide-eyed, gazed after himin awe17. The power of him! The decision of him! The fairness of him in such a deadly crisis! And Gilbert equallyimpressed, also sitting and staring. His father was a man, really. He might be cruelly wounded and distressed,but, unlike himself, he was neither petty nor revengeful.
And next Mr. Darrah Brookhart, a large, well-dressed, well-fed, ponderous18 and cautious corporation lawyer, withone eye half concealed19 by a drooping20 lid and his stomach rather protuberant21, giving one the impression of beingmentally if not exactly physically22 suspended, balloon-wise, in some highly rarefied atmosphere where he wasmoved easily hither and yon by the lightest breath of previous legal interpretations23 or decisions of any kind. Inthe absence of additional facts, the guilt of Clyde (to him) seemed obvious. Or, waiving24 that, as he saw it aftercarefully listening to Smillie's recounting of all the suspicious and incriminating circumstances, he would think itvery difficult to construct an even partially25 satisfactory defense26, unless there were some facts favoring Clydewhich had not thus far appeared. Those two hats, that bag--his slipping away like that. Those letters. But hewould prefer to read them. For upon the face of the data so far, unquestionably public sentiment would be allagainst Clyde and in favor of the dead girl and her poverty and her class, a situation which made a favorableverdict in such a backwoods county seat as Bridgeburg almost impossible. For Clyde, although himself poor, wasthe nephew of a rich man and hitherto in good standing in Lycurgus society. That would most certainly tend toprejudice country-born people against him. It would probably be better to ask for a change of venue2 so as to nullify the force of such a prejudice.
On the other hand, without first sending a trained cross-examiner to Clyde--one, who being about to undertakethe defense should be able to extract the facts from him on the plea that on his truthful27 answers depended hislife--he would not be able to say whether there was any hope or not. In his office was a certain Mr. Catchuman, avery able man, who might be sent on such a mission and on whose final report one could base a reasonableopinion. However, there were now various other aspects of such a case as this which, in his estimation, needed tobe carefully looked into and decided28 upon. For, of course, as Mr. Griffiths and his son so well knew, in Utica,New York City, Albany (and now that he came to think of it, more particularly in Albany, where were twobrothers, Canavan & Canavan, most able if dubious29 individuals), there were criminal lawyers deeply versed30 inthe abstrusities and tricks of the criminal law. And any of them--no doubt--for a sufficient retainer, andirrespective of the primary look of a situation of this kind, might be induced to undertake such a defense. And, nodoubt, via change of venue, motions, appeals, etc., they might and no doubt would be able to delay andeventually effect an ultimate verdict of something less than death, if such were the wish of the head of this veryimportant family. On the other hand, there was the undeniable fact that such a hotly contested trial as this wouldmost assuredly prove to be would result in an enormous amount of publicity31, and did Mr. Samuel Griffiths wantthat? For again, under such circumstances, was it not likely to be said, if most unjustly, of course, that he wasusing his great wealth to frustrate32 justice? The public was so prejudiced against wealth in such cases. Yet, somesort of a defense on the part of the Griffiths would certainly be expected by the public, whether subsequently thesame necessity for such defense was criticized by them or not.
And in consequence, it was now necessary for Mr. Griffiths and his son to decide how they would prefer toproceed--whether with very distinguished33 criminal lawyers such as the two he had just named, or with lessforceful counsel, or none. For, of course, it would be possible, and that quite inconspicuously, to supply Clydewith a capable and yet thoroughly34 conservative trial lawyer--some one residing and practising in Bridgeburgpossibly--whose duty it would be to see that all blatant35 and unjustified reference to the family on the part of thenewspapers was minimized.
And so, after three more hours of conference, it was finally decided by Samuel himself that at once Mr.
Brookhart was to despatch36 his Mr. Catchuman to Bridgeburg to interview Clyde, and thereafter, whatever hisconclusions as to his guilt or innocence37, he was to select from the local array of legal talent--for the present,anyhow--such a lawyer as would best represent Clyde fairly. Yet with no assurances of means or encouragementto do more than extract from Clyde the true details of his relationship to this charge. And those once ascertainedto center upon such a defense as would most honestly tend to establish only such facts as were honestly favorableto Clyde--in short, in no way, either by legal chicane or casuistry or trickery of any kind, to seek to establish afalse innocence and so defeat the ends of justice.
转天早上，塞缪尔。格里菲思在威克吉大街府邸宽敞的客厅里，听取了斯米利有关他跟克莱德和梅森晤谈的汇报。他的儿子吉尔伯特也在场。斯米利就他的所见所闻通通作了报告。吉尔伯特。格里菲思听了这一切后感到无比惊怒，一下子就大声嚷嚷说:
"瞧，这小恶鬼!
这小畜生!
爸爸，过去我是怎么跟您说的?
我不是早就提醒过您不要叫他上这儿来吗?
"塞缪尔。格里菲思听他儿子提到自己当初出于同情结果做了傻事后，先是沉吟不语，稍后意味深长而又紧张不安地望了吉尔伯特一眼，仿佛在说:
现在我们到底是要讨论我当初……即使是愚不可及的……良好意愿呢，还是讨论目前的危机?
这时吉尔伯特心里正在琢磨:
这个杀人犯!
还有那个可怜的。卖弄小聪明的桑德拉。芬奇利，她原想利用他来气气我吉尔伯特，结果自己反而落得个身败名裂。这个小傻瓜!
不过，这也是她自己作的孽!
现在可真的叫她够呛呀!
但话又说回来，他。他父亲和他们一家人，同样也招来了无穷无尽的麻烦。因为那是怎么也洗刷不掉的一个污点，很可能他们一家人……他自己。他的未婚妻。贝拉。麦拉和他父母……都受到玷污，也许他们在莱柯格斯的社会地位也全给毁了，可不是吗?
这场悲剧!
也许被判处死刑!
而这偏偏是出在他们这个家族里!
不过，塞缪尔。格里菲思此时此刻心里正在回想克莱德来到莱柯格斯以后的全部经过。
开头让他到地下室干活，格里菲思一家人都不理睬他。整整八个月，对他完全不过问。也许这至少是造成这一切恐怖的一个原因，可不是吗?
稍后，让他去当那些年轻女工的头头!
难道说这不是一个错误吗?
现在塞缪尔对这一切全都明白了，尽管他，当然罗，决不会对克莱德的所作所为稍加宽恕……绝对不是这样。好一个卑鄙的家伙……放浪形骸，兽性大发，竟然诱奸了那个姑娘，随后由于桑德拉……这个可爱的。惹人欢喜的小桑德拉……就策划把她干掉!
现在他锒铛入狱了，据斯米利报告说，却对这一惊人的事态提不出更好的解释来，只好说他不想杀害她……甚至连想都没有想到这么干的……还说他的帽子是被风刮掉了!
编造这样的假话，该有多可怜!
而且，对那两顶帽子，或是丢失了的那套衣服，以及没有游过去搭救那个落水的姑娘，通通提不出任何令人信服的解释。此外，还有怎么也说不清楚的脸部伤痕。所有这一切，多么充分有力地证明他是犯了罪。
"我的天哪，"吉尔伯特大声嚷道，"难道他想不出比这些更好听的话吗?
这个小傻瓜!
"斯米利回答说，他自己能让克莱德说的就是这些了，还说梅森先生绝对铁面无情地坚信克莱德是犯了杀人罪。"多可怕啊!
多可怕啊!
"塞缪尔插嘴说。"说真的，我到现在还不明白。我就是不明白!
我简直不可想象，跟我有血亲的人竟会犯了这种罪!
"说罢，他站起身来，心中充满无比痛苦和恐惧，在客厅里来回踱步。他的家!
吉尔伯特和他的前途!
贝拉和她所有的抱负和梦想!
还有桑德拉!
还有芬奇利!
他捏紧拳头，眉宇紧锁，嘴唇紧闭，两眼直瞅着斯米利……此人尽管平素圆滑机灵，无懈可击，但在此刻却露出极端紧张的神态，每当格里菲思的目光一落到他身上，他照例都无可奈何地摇摇头。
老格里菲思差不多花了一个半钟头，反复询问除了斯米利提供的材料以外，是不是可能还有其他的解释，接着沉默半晌，最后才说:
"嗯，我不得不认为这事看来确实很糟。不过，根据你给我的汇报，我觉得，因为现有材料尚嫌不足，所以还不能对它断然作出结论。说不定还有别的一些什么事实，暂时没有完全露头……据你说，许多事情他还是不肯讲……有些具体细节我们还不知道……某些细微的辩解……要是连那种辩解都没有，那末，这确实象是一种极端残忍的罪行了。布鲁克哈特从波士顿回来了没有?
""回来了，爸爸，他在这里，"吉尔伯特回答说。"他给斯米利先生打过电话了。""好吧，让他下午两点来这儿看我。我太累，现在不想再谈这件事了。把你告诉我的话，全都转告他，斯米利。两点钟跟他一块再上这儿来。说不定他会提出一些对我们有相当价值的建议，虽然我简直想象不出究竟是什么样的建议。
我想说的只有一件事，就是:
我希望克莱德没有犯罪。而且，我要采取所有正当的步骤，来了解清楚他到底有没有犯罪;要是没有犯罪，就在法律许可的范围以内替他辩护。只要不超过这个范围就得了。不管是谁，只要犯了这种罪，我决不会营救他……不，不，不!
……即便他是我的亲侄子!
我也决不会的!
我可不是这样的人!
不管怎么样……麻烦不麻烦，丢脸不丢脸……我一定尽自己力量帮助他，只要他是无辜的……哪怕是只有一点儿理由相信他是无辜的。可是，倘若他真的犯了罪呢?
不!
决不会!
如果这小子果真犯了罪，那就理应由他自食其果。我决不会在犯了这种罪的人身上花掉我的一块钱……一分钱……哪怕他还是我的亲侄子!
"说罢，他侧转身去，拖着沉重。缓慢的脚步，朝客厅后头楼梯走去。斯米利睁大眼睛，必恭必敬地凝望着他的背影。他多么威风凛凛!
多么干脆利索!
处在这样的紧急关头，他表现得多么刚正不阿!
吉尔伯特也同样感到震惊，端坐在那里，两眼茫然直瞪着前方。是的，他父亲真是个男子汉大丈夫。尽管他父亲很可能感到创巨痛深，但跟他吉尔伯特不一样，既不小心眼儿，也不会伺机报复。
接下来是达拉。布鲁克哈特先生。此人是一个身材高大。穿着讲究。营养充足。谨慎稳重的公司法律顾问。他有一只眼睛被耷拉下来的眼皮遮住了一半。
他的肚子凸了出来，给人印象是:
布鲁克哈特先生……如果说他身子形状还不是挺象，那末在思想上……却活象一个汽球，悬浮在极其稀薄的大气层里，只要任何有过先例的法律诠释或决定轻轻地一吹，就可以使他忽东忽西，飘忽不定。
即便不再添加其他事实，克莱德犯罪一事(依他看)似乎也已是彰明昭著的了。哪怕撇开这一点不谈，他在仔细听过斯米利又缕述了克莱德所有可疑和被牵连的情况后认为，如果没有若干迄今未被发现的。有利于克莱德的事实根据，要进行即使是差强人意的辩护也是非常困难的。那两顶帽子。那只手提箱……他那样偷偷地溜之大吉。还有那些信。不过，那些信他倒是很乐意亲自过目一下。
因为，根据目前已知的情况来看，社会舆论毫无疑问全都反对克莱德，有利于死去的姑娘，以及她的贫困和她所隶属的那个阶级。因此，要在布里奇伯格这样一个地处荒僻的林区的县城，争取到一个有利的判决，几乎是不可能的。因为，克莱德自己虽然穷，可他毕竟是富翁的侄子，至今在莱柯格斯社会上很有地位。这就必然使当地人对他产生偏见。因此，也许最好请求变更审判地点，才能使这种偏见对判决不发生影响。
另一方面，首先要派出一名对反诘问(反诘问，指诉讼当事人的一方，向对方证人就其所提供的证词进行盘问，以便发现矛盾，推翻其证词。)有经验的律师去盘问克莱德……此人负责替他进行辩护，应该从他那里尽量榨取事实证据，只要推托说他这条性命能不能保得住，全看他能不能老老实实回答问题就得了……如果不派去这么一个律师，他布鲁克哈特还不能肯定说究竟有没有希望。
布鲁克哈特事务所里，有一个名叫卡奇曼先生的，此人非常能干，也许可以派他去执行这一任务，并且根据他的总结报告，才能对克莱德一案作出一个合理的结论来。不过，类似这样的案子，其中还会涉及到其他一些方面，据他估计，必须仔细加以研究和作出判断。因为，毫无疑问，正如格里菲思父子俩也很清楚，在尤蒂卡。纽约市。奥尔巴尼，确有一些律师对刑法中一些深奥诀窍特别精通(此刻他忽然特别想起了奥尔巴尼的卡纳万哥儿俩，这两个人挺有能耐，虽然不免有些令人可疑)。这些人里头不管是谁……当然罗……只要有一笔相当可观的预约辩护聘金，也不管这个案子开头看起来如何，都可以诱使他担任辩护。
而且，毫无疑问，他们可以通过变更审判地点。向法院提出各种申请。上诉等等办法，也许一定能够推迟审判，到头来争取到一个不给判处死刑的终审判决，如果这样的结果符合这个权势煊赫的格里菲思家族首脑的心意。另一方面，还有一个无可否认的事实，那就是:
作为这样一个争论热点的案子，必然会在报界引起巨大轰动。这是不是符合塞缪尔。格里菲思的愿望呢?
还有，在这种情况下，外界不是很可能会说……当然罗，尽管这种说法是极不公道的……他利用自己巨大的财富来阻挠法院审判吗?
象这一类案子，公众对富豪照例怀有极深的偏见。
不过，格里菲思家出面为克莱德进行辩护，这对公众来说，当然也是在预料之中，不管以后他们是不是会对这种辩护的必要性进行批评。
因此，现在格里菲思父子俩必须决定，究竟该采取哪种办法:
是延聘刚才他提到的那两位大名鼎鼎的刑法辩护律师呢，还是不那么得力的法律顾问，或者干脆一个都不请。当然罗，可以不引人注目地为克莱德延聘一位很能干。而又非常保守的律师……也许是某一位寓居布里奇伯格开业的律师……由此人负责密切注意:
各报公开刊登对于格里菲思家露骨的不公道的攻击必须尽可能地少。
经过二个钟头的商议，最后塞缪尔本人终于决定:
由布鲁克哈特先生立刻派他手下的卡奇曼先生去布里奇伯格跟克莱德谈话，随后，不管他的结论认为克莱德确实犯了罪，或者是无辜的，由他从当地杰出的法学界人士中……反正就目前来说……挑选一位最最公正地能代表克莱德的人作为辩护律师。可是，卡奇曼先生所应该做的仅仅是迫使克莱德交代他与这一指控有关的具体真相，而不可得到保证会有某种手段，不可得到鼓励去做超出这一任务之外的事。这些具体真相一旦了解清楚以后，重点就得放到类似这样的辩护上，那就是说，要极其认真地想方设法仅仅去证实一些有利于克莱德的事实……总而言之，绝不施用任何合法的诡辩或是花招等手段去试图虚假地证实他是无罪之人，从而宣告法院审判的结果无效。
收听单词发音 |
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standing
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venue
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| n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点 | |
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mansion
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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condoning
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| v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的现在分词 ) | |
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brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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seducing
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| 诱奸( seduce的现在分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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protuberant
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| adj.突出的，隆起的 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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waiving
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| v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等） | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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frustrate
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| v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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blatant
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| adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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