‘If I die，or if I disappear for more than three months，’thewill began，‘I wish to leave everything I own to my dearfriend Edward Hyde．’
This will had both worried and annoyed Mr Utterson． To alawyer it was an unusual and dangerous kind of will． It wasbad enough when Edward Hyde was only an unknown name，but now that the lawyer knew something about Hyde， the willworried him more than ever． It had seemed like madness before；now it began to seem shameful． With a heavy heart MrUtterson replaced the envelope in the cupboard，put on hiscoat and went to see his old friend Doctor Lanyon．
Doctor Lanyon was enjoying his after-dinner coffee．‘Comein，old friend！’ he cried． The two men had known each othersince their school days．They sat for several minutes，drinkingcoffee and talking companionably of this and that． At last MrUtterson mentioned the thoughts that were worrying him．
‘I suppose，Lanyon，’he said，‘that you and I are HenryJekyll's oldest friends？’
‘I suppose so，’said Doctor Lanyon，‘but I don't often seehim now．’
‘Really？’ said Mr Utterson in surprise．‘I thought you andhe were interested in the same things．’
‘We were at one time，’said Doctor Lanyon．‘But morethan ten years ago Henry Jekyll became too—well，imaginativefor me． He developed some strange，wild， unscientific ideas． Itold him so，and I've seen very little of him since then．’
Mr Utterson looked at his friend's red， angry face．‘Only adisagreement about some scientific question，’he thought．‘It's nothing worse than that．’ Calmly he continued，‘Didyou ever meet a friend of Jekyll's a man called Hyde？’
‘Hyde？’repeated Lanyon．‘No， never．’
Soon the lawyer said goodnight and went home to bed，where he lay awake for a long time thinking about Enfield's description of Hyde，and Doctor Jekyll's will．When at last hefell asleep，he was troubled by dreams． In his mind's eye hesaw a faceless man marching over the child's body．Then hesaw his old friend Jekyll in bed，while the same faceless figurestood over him．The facelessness of that figure worried himdeeply．
‘Very well，Mr Hyde，’said the lawyer to himself，‘I willfind you，and I will see your face for myself．’
During the next few weeks Mr Utterson spent many hoursin the narrow street where Enfield had seen Hyde．He waitedpatiently near the mysterious door， hoping for a sight of MrHyde—and one dry， clear winter night he was successful．The street was empty and silent and small sounds carried along way．The lawyer heard footsteps． He stepped back intothe shadows and waited．A short figure turned the corner andwalked towards the mysterious door． Although Mr Uttersoncould not see his face， he felt a strong， almost violent， dislikefor 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．
2 寻找海德先生
那天晚上，吃了饭，厄特森先生走进自己的办公室，打开柜橱上的锁，拿出一个信封，里面装的是亨利·杰基尔博士的遗嘱，是立书人亲笔写的。
“如果我死了，或者三个月不见踪影，”遗嘱上写道，“我希望把所有一切留给我亲爱的朋友——爱德华·海德。”
这份遗嘱让厄特森先生坐立不安。作为一名律师，他觉得这样的遗嘱既少见又危险。直到今天以前，他对这个爱德华·海德一无所知，这就够糟的了。可现在知道了一些有关海德的事情，遗嘱就更让他生气了。如果说以前这一切看起来是疯狂的，那么现在这个名字就是令人发指的。厄特森先生心事重重地把文件放进柜子里，穿上大衣，去找他的老朋友兰宁医生。
兰宁医生正在品着饭后的咖啡。“哈！老朋友，快进来！”他大声嚷着。他们俩从上学的时候起就认识。俩人坐在一起，一边喝咖啡，一边闲扯着，最后厄特森先生谈起了自己心中的不安。
“我想，兰宁，”他说，“你我应该是亨利·杰基尔最老的朋友了吧？”
“我想是吧，”兰宁医生说，“不过，我最近不常见他了。”
“哦，是吗？”厄特森有些吃惊地问道，“我还以为你和他兴趣相投呢！”
“曾经有过，”医生接着说，“不过，那是十多年前了。那以后，亨利·杰基尔变得——嗯，对我来讲太不可思议了。他脑子里装了一些奇怪、荒唐、不科学的想法，我就是这么和他说的，从那以后，我就很少见到他了。”
厄特森先生看着朋友气呼呼、涨红的脸，心想：“只不过是科学见解上的分歧，并没有什么大不了的。”他不动声色地又问：“你有没有见过杰基尔的一个朋友——一个叫海德的朋友？”
“海德？”医生重复道，“没有，从来没有。”
不一会儿，律师道了晚安，回家睡觉，可他躺在床上好长时间还想着恩菲尔德说的海德的样子，还有杰基尔博士的遗嘱。好不容易睡着了，可是一个梦接着一个梦，让他心绪不宁。梦里仿佛看见一个没有脸的人重重踩过孩子的身体，又看见老朋友杰基尔躺在床上，那个没有脸的人站在他身上。那个没有脸的人着实让他担心。
“走着瞧，海德先生，”律师自言自语地说，“我一定要找到你，亲眼看看你的模样。”
以后的好几个星期，厄特森先生在恩菲尔德看见海德的那条背街上徘徊了好久。他在那扇神秘的门旁耐心等着，希望能发现海德先生的踪迹。终于，一个清冷的冬夜他遇上了海德。那天晚上，街道空荡荡的，寂静无声，一点响动声都能传出去好远，律师突然听见了脚步声。他躲在阴暗处，等着。一个小个子男人转过街角，朝那扇神秘的门走去。虽然看不见陌生人的脸，但厄特森先生还是强烈地感到一种憎恨。
厄特森先生紧走几步，轻轻拍了拍那人的肩膀：“是海德先生吧？”
“正是，”陌生人冷冰冰地说，“你想怎么样？”
“我看见您正要进门。我是杰基尔博士的好朋友，叫厄特森，您一定听他提过我，我能和您一起进去吗？”
“杰基尔博士这会儿不在家，”海德回答说。突然他机容地问道：“你怎么知道我的名字？”
“先让我看看您的脸再说，”律师回答道。
海德犹豫了一下，接着站到路灯下，律师看清了他的脸，说：“谢谢您，我有幸认识您了，这也许会有用的。”
“不错，”海德说，“确实会有用的。喏，还有我的地址，说不定有一天您用得着。”他说了自己的住处，在伦敦的一个贫民区。
“天哪！”律师想，“海德一定知道杰基尔的遗嘱吧？他打的就是这个主意吧？”但律师没说出来。
“那么，”海德问，“你怎么会知道我呢？”
“听人跟我讲起过您。”
“谁说的？”
“咱们都认识的，”律师说。
“是谁？”海德厉声问道。
“譬如说，杰基尔博士，”律师答道。
“他决不会和你说的！”海德突然生气地吼了起来，“别想骗我了！”还没等律师答话，他掏出钥匙开了门，消失在屋里。
厄特森先生盯着紧闭的大门，自言自语道：“我怎么那么不喜欢他呢？恩菲尔德说得对，这个人骨子里有股邪气。可怜的亨利·杰基尔，真让人为你担心，你这个新朋友会给你惹麻烦的。”
在小街的拐弯处有一个广场，里面的建筑都是些富丽堂皇的老房子，其中有一幢是杰基尔博士的。厄特森先生敲响了前门，仆人开了门，告诉他博士这会儿不在家。
“我看见海德先生从屋子后面的街上，从实验室的门进来了，”律师说。
“是的，厄特森先生，”仆人回答说，“海德先生自己有钥匙，想来就来，想走就走，主人吩咐过我们要服从他。”
厄特森先生回家时，心里更担心了。
两个星期后，杰基尔博士请老朋友上他家吃饭，厄特森先生也去了，而且一直呆到别人都告辞了。
“杰基尔，我一直想和你谈谈，”律师说，“是你那个遗嘱的事。”
杰基尔博士五十开外，高高的个子，身材匀称，总是一副安详、和善的表情。“我可怜的朋友，”他说，“真没必要担什么心，就和那个可怜的兰宁医生一样，我把自己的想法告诉他，他却说是‘幻想的垃圾’，他真让我失望。”
律师并不想谈兰宁医生，他接着说：“你明白，我从来就没同意过你那个遗嘱！”
“你早告诉过我好几回了！”博士的话有点刺耳。
“那就好。不过我最近听到一些有关你的朋友海德的事，”律师继续说。
博士那英俊、红润的脸庞一下子变得灰白。“我不想再听了，”他说，“你不明白，我现在的处境有多困难，多痛苦。”
“把一切都告诉我，”厄特森先生说，“我会尽力帮你的。”
“你待我真好，可这是我个人的事。我只能告诉你一件事——只要我愿意，随时可以摆脱这个海德先生。但有一点希望你能理解，我对可怜的海德也极为关注。我知道你见过他——他告诉我了，我担心他对你有所冲撞，但我确实很关心他，要是我出了什么不测，你一定要保证让他继承我的财产。”
“我没法假装自己喜欢他，”律师说。
“我并不要求你喜欢他，”他的朋友说，“我只要你帮助他，要是我不在了。”
“好吧，我答应你，”厄特森先生忧郁地说。
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |