El sabueso de los Baskerville: el comienzo del libro en inglés con traducción al español

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.

El señor Sherlock Holmes, que por lo general se levantaba muy tarde por las mañanas, salvo en aquellas ocasiones no poco frecuentes en que se pasaba la noche en vela, estaba sentado a la mesa del desayuno. Yo permanecía de pie sobre la alfombra del hogar y recogí el bastón que nuestro visitante había dejado olvidado la noche anterior. Era una pieza de madera fina y gruesa, de cabeza bulbosa, de las que se conocen como bastón de abogado de Penang. Justo debajo del puño tenía una ancha banda de plata de casi una pulgada. Llevaba grabado: A James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., de sus amigos del C.C.H., con la fecha 1884. Era precisamente el tipo de bastón que solía llevar el viejo médico de familia, digno, macizo y tranquilizador.

“Well, Watson, what do you make of it?”

Bien, Watson, ¿qué opina usted de esto?

Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.

Holmes estaba sentado de espaldas a mí, y yo no le había dado señal alguna de lo que estaba haciendo.

“How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”

¿Cómo sabía lo que estaba haciendo? Creo que tiene ojos en la nuca.

“I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me,” said he. “But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor’s stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.”

Al menos tengo delante una cafetera de plata bien pulida, dijo él. Pero dígame, Watson, ¿qué opina del bastón de nuestro visitante? Ya que hemos tenido la desgracia de no encontrarlo y no tenemos idea de cuál era su encargo, este recuerdo accidental cobra importancia. Veamos cómo reconstruye usted al hombre examinándolo.

“I think,” said I, following as far as I could the methods of my companion, “that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man, well-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their appreciation.”

Creo, dije yo, siguiendo en lo posible los métodos de mi compañero, que el doctor Mortimer es un médico anciano y próspero, muy estimado, puesto que quienes lo conocen le han dado esta muestra de aprecio.

“Good!” said Holmes. “Excellent!”

¡Bien!, dijo Holmes. ¡Excelente!

“I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.”

También creo que es probable que se trate de un médico rural que hace gran parte de sus visitas a pie.

“Why so?”

¿Y por qué?

“Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it. The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it.”

Porque este bastón, aunque en un principio era muy elegante, ha recibido tantos golpes que difícilmente imagino a un médico de ciudad llevándolo. El casquillo de hierro grueso está desgastado, así que es evidente que ha caminado mucho con él.

“Perfectly sound!” said Holmes.

¡Perfectamente razonable!, dijo Holmes.

“And then again, there is the ‘friends of the C.C.H.’ I should guess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small presentation in return.”

Y además está lo de los amigos del C.C.H. Supongo que será la Sociedad de Caza, la caza local a cuyos miembros quizá ha prestado alguna asistencia quirúrgica, y que en agradecimiento le ha hecho un pequeño obsequio.

“Really, Watson, you excel yourself,” said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. “I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt.”

Realmente, Watson, se supera usted, dijo Holmes, apartando la silla y encendiendo un cigarrillo. Debo decir que en todos los relatos que usted ha tenido la bondad de hacer sobre mis pequeños logros, ha subestimado habitualmente sus propias capacidades. Puede que usted no sea luminoso por sí mismo, pero es un conductor de la luz. Algunas personas, sin poseer genio, tienen un poder notable para estimularlo. Confieso, querido amigo, que estoy muy en deuda con usted.

He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods. I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval. He now took the stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked eyes. Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette, and carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a convex lens.

Nunca había dicho tanto antes, y debo admitir que sus palabras me produjeron un vivo placer, pues a menudo me había molestado su indiferencia ante mi admiración y ante los intentos que yo había hecho de dar publicidad a sus métodos. También me sentí orgulloso al pensar que había llegado a dominar su sistema lo suficiente como para aplicarlo de un modo que mereciera su aprobación. Entonces tomó el bastón de mis manos y lo examinó durante unos minutos a simple vista. Luego, con una expresión de interés, dejó el cigarrillo, llevó el bastón hasta la ventana y volvió a mirarlo con una lente convexa.

“Interesting, though elementary,” said he as he returned to his favourite corner of the settee. “There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for several deductions.”

Interesante, aunque elemental, dijo al volver a su rincón favorito del sofá. Sin duda hay una o dos indicaciones en el bastón. Nos da la base para varias deducciones.