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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
→Странная история доктора Джекила и мистера Хайда

Robert Louis Stevenson

- I -

Mr Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable.
→Мистер Аттерсон, нотариус, чье суровое лицо никогда не освещала улыбка, был замкнутым человеком, немногословным и неловким в обществе, сухопарым, пыльным, скучным — и все‑таки очень симпатичным.

At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself;
→В кругу друзей и особенно когда вино ему нравилось, в его глазах начинал теплиться огонек мягкой человечности, которая не находила доступа в его речь; зато она говорила не только в этих безмолвных средоточиях послеобеденного благодушия, но и в его делах, причем куда чаще и громче.

drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theatre, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years.
→Он был строг с собой: когда обедал в одиночестве, то, укрощая вожделение к тонким винам, пил джин и, горячо любя драматическое искусство, более двадцати лет не переступал порога театра.

But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove.
→Однако к слабостям ближних он проявлял достохвальную снисходительность, порой с легкой завистью дивился буйному жизнелюбию, крывшемуся в их грехах, а когда для них наступал час расплаты, предпочитал помогать, а не порицать.

‘I incline to Cain’s heresy,’¹ he used to say quaintly:
→ — Я склонен к каиновой ереси, — говаривал он со скрытой усмешкой.

‘I let my brother go to the devil in his own way.’
→ — Я не мешаю брату моему искать погибели, которая ему по вкусу.

In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of down-going men.
→А потому судьба часто судила ему быть последним порядочным знакомым многих опустившихся людей и последним добрым влиянием в их жизни.

And to such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.
→ И когда они к нему приходили, он держался с ними точно так же, как прежде.

No doubt the feat was easy to Mr Utterson; for he was undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendships seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature.
→Без сомнения, мистеру Аттерсону это давалось легко, так как он всегда был весьма сдержан, и даже дружба его, казалось, проистекала все из той же вселенской благожелательности.

It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer’s way.
→Скромным натурам свойственно принимать свой дружеский круг уже готовым из рук случая; этому правилу следовал и наш нотариус.

His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest;
→Он дружил либо с родственниками, либо с давними знакомыми;

его привязанность, подобно плющу, питалась временем и ничего не говорила о достоинствах того, кому она принадлежала.
→his affections, like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object.

Именно такого рода, вероятно, были и те узы дружбы, которые связывали нотариуса с его дальним родственником мистером Ричардом Энфилдом, известным лондонским бонвиваном.
→Hence, no doubt, the bond that united him to Mr Richard Enfield, his distant kinsman, the well-known man about town.

It was a nut to crack for many, what these two could see in each other or what subject they could find in common.
→Немало людей ломало голову над тем, что эти двое находят друг в друге привлекательного и какие у них могут быть общие интересы.

It was reported by those who encountered them in their Sunday walks, that they said nothing, looked singularly dull, and would hail with obvious relief the appearance of a friend.
→Те, кто встречался с ними во время их воскресных прогулок, рассказывали, что шли они молча, на лицах их была написана скука и при появлении общего знакомого оба как будто испытывали значительное облегчение.

For all that, the two men put the greatest store by these excursions, counted them the chief jewel of each week, and not only set aside occasions of pleasure, but even resisted the calls of business, that they might enjoy them uninterrupted.
→Тем не менее и тот и другой очень любили эти прогулки, считали их лучшим украшением всей недели и ради них не только жертвовали другими развлечениями, но и откладывали дела.

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a bystreet in a busy quarter of London.
→И вот как-то раз в такое воскресенье случай привел их в некую улочку одного из деловых кварталов Лондона.

The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays.
→Улочка эта была небольшой и, что называется, тихой, хотя в будние дни там шла бойкая торговля.

The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their gains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen.
→Ее обитатели, повидимому, преуспевали, и все они ревниво надеялись преуспеть еще больше, а избытки прибылей употребляли на прихорашивание; поэтому витрины по обеим ее сторонам источали приветливость, словно два ряда улыбающихся продавщиц.

Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest;
→ Даже в воскресенье, когда улочка прятала наиболее пышные свои прелести и была пустынна, все же по сравнению с окружающим убожеством она сияла, точно костер в лесу,

and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.
→— аккуратно выкрашенные ставни, до блеска начищенные дверные ручки и общий дух чистоты и веселости сразу привлекали и радовали взгляд случайного прохожего.

Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street.
→Через две двери от угла, по левой стороне, если идти к востоку, линия домов нарушалась входом во двор, и как раз там высилось массивное здание.

It was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper;
→Оно было двухатажным, без единого окна — только дверь внизу да слепой лоб грязной стены над ней

and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence.
→— и каждая его черта свидетельствовала о длительном и равнодушном небрежении.

The door which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained.
→На облупившейся, в темных разводах двери не было ни звонка, ни молотка.

Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps;
→ Бродяги устраивались отдохнуть в ее нише и зажигали спички о ее панели, дети играли «в магазин» на ступеньках крыльца,

the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.
→школьник испробовал остроту своего ножика на резных завитушках, и уже много лет никто не прогонял этих случайных гостей и не старался уничтожить следы их бесчинств.

Mr Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the bystreet;
→Мистер Энфилд и нотариус шли по другой стороне улочки, но,

but when they came abreast of the entry, the former lifted up his cane and pointed.
→ когда они поравнялись с этим зданием, первый поднял трость и указал на него.

‘Did you ever remark that door?’ he asked; and when his companion had replied in the affirmative,
→— Вы когда‑нибудь обращали внимание на эту дверь? — спросил он, а когда его спутник ответил утвердительно, добавил:

‘it is connected in my mind,’ added he, ‘with a very odd story.’
→— С ней связана для меня одна очень странная история.

‘Indeed?’ said Mr Utterson, with a slight change of voice, — Неужели? — спросил мистер Аттерсон слегка изменившимся голосом.

‘and what was that?’ ‘Well, it was this way,’ returned Mr Enfield:
→— Какая же? — Дело было так, — начал мистер Энфилд.

‘I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps.
→ — Я возвращался домой откуда‑то с края света часа в три позимнему темной ночи, и путь мой вел через кварталы, где буквально ничего не было видно, кроме фонарей.

Street after street, and all the folks asleep – street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church
→Улица за улицей, где все спят, улица за улицей, освещенные, словно для какого‑нибудь торжества, и опустелые, как церковь,

– till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman.
→так что в конце концов я впал в то состояние, когда человек тревожно вслушивается в тишину и начинает мечтать о встрече с полицейским.

All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk,
→И вдруг я увидел целых две человеческие фигуры: в восточном направлении быстрой походкой шел какой-то невысокий мужчина,

and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street.
→а по поперечной улице опрометью бежала девочка лет девяти.

Well, sir, the two ran into one another at the corner; На углу они, как и можно было ожидать, столкнулись,

and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground.
→и вот тут‑то произошло нечто непередаваемо мерзкое: мужчина хладнокровно наступил на упавшую девочку и даже не обернулся на ее громкие стоны.

It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see.
→Рассказ об этом может и не произвести большого впечатления, но видеть это было непереносимо.

It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.
→Передо мной был не человек, а какой‑то адский Джаггернаут.

I gave a view halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child.
→ Я закричал, бросился вперед, схватил молодчика за ворот и потащил назад, туда, где вокруг стонущей девочки уже собрались люди. He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running.
→Он нисколько не смутился и не пробовал сопротивляться, но бросил на меня такой злобный взгляд, что я весь покрылся испариной, точно после долгого бега.

The people who had turned out were the girl’s own family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance.
→Оказалось, что люди, толпившиеся возле девочки, — ее родные, а вскоре к ним присоединился и врач, которого она бегала позвать к больному.

Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the Sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it.
→Он объявил, что с девочкой не случилось ничего серьезного, что она только перепугалась.Тут, казалось бы, мы могли спокойно разойтись, но этому воспрепятствовало одно странное обстоятельство.

But there was one curious circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child’s family, which was only natural.
→Я сразу же проникся к этому молодчику ненавистью и омерзением. И родные девочки тоже, что, конечно, было только естественно.

But the doctor’s case was what struck me.
→Однако меня поразил врач.

He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent, and about as emotional as a bagpipe.
→Это был самый обыкновенный лекарь, бесцветный, не молодой и не старый, говорил он с сильным эдинбургским акцентом, и чувствительности в нем было не больше, чем в волынке.

Well, sir, he was like the rest of us;
→Так вот, сэр.

every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him. I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best.
→С ним случилось то же, что и со всеми нами, — стоило ему взглянуть на моего пленника, как он даже бледнел от желания убить его тут же на месте. Я догадывался, что чувствует он, а он догадывался, что чувствую я, и, хотя убить негодяя, к сожалению, все‑таки было нельзя, мы все же постарались его наказать.

We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this, as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other.
→Мы сказали ему, что можем ославить его на весь Лондон, — и ославим.

If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them.
→Если у него есть друзья или доброе имя, мы позаботимся о том, чтобы он их лишился.

And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could, for they were as wild as harpies.
→И все это время мы с трудом удерживали женщин, которые готовы были растерзать его, точно фурии.

I never saw a circle of such hateful faces;
→Мне никогда еще не приходилось видеть такой ненависти, написанной на стольких лицах,

and there was the man in the middle, with a kind of black, sneering coolness – frightened too, I could see that
→а негодяй стоял в самой середине этого кольца, сохраняя злобную и презрительную невозмутимость, — я видел, что он испуган,

– but carrying it off, sir, really like Satan.
→но держался он хладнокровно, будто сам Сатана.

‘‘If you choose to make capital out of this accident,’’ said he, ‘‘I am naturally helpless.
→ «Если вы решили нажиться на этой случайности, — заявил он, — то я, к сожалению, бессилен.

No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,’’ says he. ‘‘Name your figure.’’
→Джентльмен, разумеется, всегда предпочтет избежать скандала. Сколько вы требуете?»

Well, we screwed him up to a hundred pounds for the child’s family;
→В конце концов мы выжали из него сто фунтов для родных девочки;

he would have clearly liked to stick out; but there was something about the lot of us that meant mischief, and at last he struck.
→он попробовал было упереться, но понял, что может быть хуже, и пошел на попятный.

The next thing was to get the money; and where do you think he carried us but to that place with the door?
→Теперь оставалось только получить деньги, и знаете, куда он нас привел? К этой самой двери!

– whipped out a key, went in, and presently came back with the matter of ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance on Coutts’s, drawn payable to bearer
→Достал ключ, отпер ее, вошел и через несколько минут вынес десять гиней и чек на банк Куттса, выданный на предъявителя и подписанный фамилией,

and signed with a name that can’t mention, though it’s one of the points of my story, but it was a name at least very well known and often printed.
→которую я не стану называть, хотя в нейто и заключена главная соль моей истории; скажу только, что фамилия эта очень известна и ее нередко можно встретить на страницах газет.

The figure was stiff; but the signature was good for more than that, if it was only genuine.
→Сумма была немалая, но подпись гарантировала бы и не такие деньги при условии, конечно, что была подлинной.

I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal,⁷ and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out of it with another man’s cheque for close upon a hundred pounds.
→Я не постеснялся сказать молодчику, насколько подозрительным все это выглядит: только в романах человек в четыре часа утра входит в подвальную дверь, а потом выносит чужой чек почти на сто фунтов.

But he was quite easy and sneering.
→Но он и бровью не повел.

‘‘Set your mind at rest,’’ says he, ‘‘I will stay with you till the banks open and cash the cheque myself.’’
→«Не беспокойтесь, — заявил он презрительно. — Я останусь с вами, пока не откроются банки, и сам получу по чеку».

So we all set off, the doctor, and the child’s father, and our friend and myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; the next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to the bank.
→После чего мы все — врач, отец девочки, наш приятель и я — отправились ко мне и просидели у меня до утра, а после завтрака всей компанией пошли в банк.

I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery. Not a bit of it. The cheque was genuine.’
→Чек кассиру отдал я и сказал, что у меня есть основания считать его фальшивым. Ничуть не бывало! Подпись оказалась подлинной.

‘Tut-tut,’ said Mr Utterson.
→— Так‑так! — заметил мистер Аттерсон.

‘I see you feel as I do,’ said Mr Enfield. ‘Yes, it’s a bad story.
→— Я вижу, вы разделяете мой взгляд, — сказал мистер Энфилд. — Да, история скверная.

For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good.
→Ведь этот молодчик был, несомненно, отпетый негодяй, а человек, подписавший чек, — воплощение самой высокой порядочности, пользуется большой известностью и (что только ухудшает дело) принадлежит к так называемым филантропам.

Blackmail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth.
→По-моему, тут кроется шантаж: честный человек платит огромные деньги, чтобы какие-то его юношеские шалости не стали достоянием гласности.

Blackmail House is what I call that place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all,’ he added, and with the words fell into a vein of musing.
→«Дом шантажиста» — вот как я называю теперь этот дом с дверью. Но даже и это, конечно, объясняет далеко не все!

From this he was recalled by Mr Utterson asking rather suddenly: ‘And you don’t know if the drawer of the cheque lives there?’
→ — Мистер Энфилд погрузился в задумчивость, из которой его вывел мистер Аттерсон, неожиданно спросив: — Но вам неизвестно, там ли живет человек, подписавший чек?

‘A likely place isn’t it?’ returned Mr Enfield. ‘But I happen to have noticed his address; he lives in some square or other.’
→— В таком-то доме? — возразил мистер Энфилд. — К тому же я прочел на чеке — его адрес — какая-то площадь.

‘And you never asked about – the place with the door?’ said Mr Utterson. ‘No, sir: I had a delicacy,’ was the reply.
→— И вы не наводили справок… о доме с дверью? — осведомился мистер Аттерсон. — Нет. На мой взгляд, это было бы непорядочным.

‘I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone.
→Я терпеть не могу расспросов: в наведении справок есть какой-то привкус Судного дня. Задать вопрос — это словно столкнуть камень с горы:

You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stones goes, starting others; and presently some bland old bird (the last you would have thought of ) is knocked on the head in his own back garden and the family have to change their name.
→вы сидите себе спокойненько на ее вершине, а камень катится вниз, увлекает за собой другие камни; какой-нибудь безобидный старикашка, которого у вас и в мыслях не было, копается у себя в садике, и все это обрушивается на него, а семье приходится менять фамилию.

No, sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.’
→Нет, сэр, у меня твердое правило: чем подозрительнее выглядит дело, тем меньше я задаю вопросов.

‘A very good rule, too,’ said the lawyer.
→— Превосходное правило, — согласился нотариус.

‘But I have studied the place for myself,’ continued Mr Enfield.
→— Однако я занялся наблюдением за этим зданием, — продолжал мистер Энфилд.

‘It seems scarcely a house. There is no other door, and nobody goes in or out of that one but, once in a great while, the gentleman of my adventure.
→ — Собственно говоря, его нельзя назвать жилым домом. Других дверей в нем нет, а этой, да и то лишь изредка, пользуется только наш молодчик.

There are three windows looking on the court on the first floor; none below. The windows are always shut but they’re clean.
→Во двор выходят три окна, но они расположены на втором этаже, а на первом этаже окон нет вовсе; окна эти всегда закрыты, но стекло в них протерто.

And then there is a chimney which is generally smoking; so somebody must live there.
→Из трубы довольно часто идет дым, следовательно, в доме все-таки кто-то живет.

→And yet it’s not so sure; for the buildings are so packed together about that court, that it’s hard to say where one ends and another begins.’
→Впрочем, подобное свидетельство нельзя считать неопровержимым, так как дома тут стоят столь тесно, что трудно сказать, где кончается одно здание и начинается другое.

The pair walked on again for a while in silence; and then ‘Enfield,’ said Mr Utterson, ‘that’s a good rule of yours.’
→Некоторое время друзья шли молча. Первым заговорил мистер Аттерсон. — Энфилд, — сказал он, — это ваше правило превосходно.

→‘Yes, I think it is,’ returned Enfield. ‘And for all that,’ continued the lawyer, ‘there’s one point I want to ask:
→— Да, я и сам так считаю, — ответил Энфилд. — Тем не менее, — продолжал нотариус, — мне всетаки хотелось бы задать вам один вопрос.

I want to ask the name of that man who walked over the child.’
→Я хочу спросить, как звали человека, который наступил на упавшего ребенка.

‘Well,’ said Mr Enfield, ‘I can’t see what harm it would do. It was a man of the name of Hyde.’
→— Что же, — сказал мистер Энфилд, — не вижу причины, почему я должен это скрывать. Его фамилия Хайд.

‘Hm,’ said Mr Utterson. ‘What sort of a man is he to see?’
→— Гм! — отозвался мистер Аттерсон. — А как он выглядит?

‘He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.
→— Его наружность трудно описать. Что-то в ней есть странное… что-то неприятное… попросту отвратительное.

I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why.
→Ни один человек еще не вызывал у меня подобной гадливости, хотя я сам не понимаю, чем она объясняется.

He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.
→Наверное, в нем есть какое-то уродство, такое впечатление создается с первого же взгляда, хотя я не могу определить отчего.

He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way.
→У него необычная внешность, но необычность эта какая-то неуловимая.

No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him.
→Нет, сэр, у меня ничего не получается: я не могу описать, как он выглядит.

And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.’
→И не потому, что забыл: он так и стоит у меня перед глазами.

Mr Utterson again walked some way in silence and obviously under a weight of consideration.
→Мистер Аттерсон некоторое время шел молча, что-то старательно обдумывая.

‘You are sure he used a key?’ he inquired at last.
→— А вы уверены, что у него был собственный ключ? — спросил он наконец.

‘My dear sir . . .’ began Enfield, surprised out of himself.
→— Право же… — начал Энфилд, даже растерявшись от изумления.

‘Yes, I know,’ said Utterson; ‘I know it must seem strange.
→— Да, конечно, — перебил его Аттерсон. — Я понимаю, что выразился неудачно.

The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already.
→Видите ли, я не спросил вас об имени того, чья подпись стояла на чеке, только петому, что я его уже знаю.

You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in my point, you had better correct it.’
→Дело в том. Ричард, что ваши история в какой-то мере касается и меня. Постарайтесь вспомнить, не было ли в вашем рассказе каких-либо неточностей.

‘I think you might have warned me,’ returned the other with a touch of sullenness.
→— Вам следовало бы предупредить меня, — обиженно ответил мистер Энфилд, — но я был педантично точен.

‘But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it.
→— но я был педантично точен.

The fellow had a key; and what’s more, he has it still. I saw him use it, not a week ago.’
→У молодчика был ключ. Более того, у него и сейчас есть ключ: я видел, как он им воспользовался всего несколько дней назад.

Mr Utterson sighed deeply but said never a word; and the young man presently resumed.
→Мистер Аттерсон глубоко вздохнул, но ничего не ответил, и его спутник через мгновение прибавил:

‘Here is another lesson to say nothing,’ said he.
→— Вот еще один довод в пользу молчания.

‘I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again.’
→Мне стыдно, что я оказался таким болтуном. Обещаем друг другу никогда впредь не возвращаться к этой теме.

‘With all my heart,’ said the lawyer. ‘I shake hands on that, Richard.’
→— С величайшей охотой, — ответил нотариус. — Совершено с вами согласен, Ричард.

II.

→ПОИСКИ МИСТЕРА ХАЙДА

That evening, Mr Utterson came home to his bachelor house in sombre spirits and sat down to dinner without relish.
→В этот вечер мистер Аттерсон вернулся в свою холостяцкую обитель в тягостном настроении и сел обедать без всякого удовольствия.

It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed.
→После воскресного обеда он имел обыкновение располагаться у камина с каким-нибудь сухим богословским трактатом на пюпитре, за которым и коротал время, пока часы на соседней церкви не отбивали полночь, после чего он степенно и с чувством исполненного долга отправлялся на покой.

On this night, however, as soon as the cloth was taken away, he took up a candle and went into his business room.
→В этот вечер, Однако, едва скатерть была снята со стола, мистер Аттерсон взял свечу и отправился в кабинет.

There he opened his safe, took from the most private part of it a document endorsed on the envelope as Dr Jekyll’s Will,
→Там он отпер сейф, достал из тайника документ в конверте, на котором значилось: «Завещание д-ра Джекила»,

and sat down with a clouded brow to study its contents.
→и, нахмурившись, принялся его штудировать.

The will was holograph, for Mr Utterson, though he took charge of it now that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance in the making of it;
→Документ этот был написан завещателем собственноручно, так как мистер Аттерсон, хотя и хранил его у себя, в свое время наотрез отказался принять участие в его составлении;

it provided not only that, in case of the decease of Henry Jekyll, MD, DCL, LLD, FRS, &c.,¹ all his possessions were to pass into the hands of his ‘friend and benefactor Edward Hyde’
→ согласно воле завещателя, все имущество Генри Джекила, доктора медицины, доктора права, члена Королевского общества и т, д., переходило «его другу и благодетелю Эдварду Хайду»

, but that in case of Dr Jekyll’s ‘disappearance or unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months’, the said Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll’s shoes

without further delay and free from any burden or obligation, beyond the payment of a few small sums to the members of the doctor’s household.
→также должен был вступить во владение его имуществом без каких-либо дополнительных условий и ограничений, если не считать выплаты небольших сумм слугам доктора.

This document had long been the lawyer’s eyesore.
→Этот документ давно уже был источником мучений для нотариуса.

It offended him both as a lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful was the immodest.
→Он оскорблял его и как юриста и как приверженца из-давна сложившихся разумных традиций, для которого любое необъяснимое отклонение от общепринятых обычаев граничило с непристойностью.

And hitherto it was his ignorance of Mr Hyde that had swelled his indignation; now, by a sudden turn, it was his knowledge.
→До сих пор его негодование питалось тем, что он ничего не знал о мистере Хайде, теперь же оно обрело новую пищу в том, что он узнал о мистере Хайде.

It was already bad enough when the name was but a name of which he could learn no more.
→Пока имя Хайда оставалось для него только именем, положение было достаточно скверным.

It was worse when it began to be clothed upon with detestable attributes
→Однако оно стало еще хуже, когда это имя начало облекаться омерзительными качествами

and out of the shifting, insubstantial mists that had so long baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden, definite presentment of a fiend.
→ и из зыбкого смутного тумана, столь долго застилавшего его взор, внезапно возник сатанинский образ.

‘I thought it was madness,’ he said, as he replaced the obnoxious paper in the safe, ‘and now I begin to fear it is disgrace.’
→— Мне казалось, что это простое безумие, — пробормотал нотариус, убирая ненавистный документ в сейф. — Но я начинаю опасаться, что за этим кроется какая-то позорная тайна.

With that he blew out his candle, put on a great coat and set forth in the direction of Cavendish Square, that citadel of medicine, where his friend, the great Dr Lanyon, had his house and received his crowding patients.
→Мистер Аттерсон задул свечу, надел пальто и пошел по направлению к Кавендишсквер, к этому средоточию медицинских светил, где жил и принимал бесчисленных пациентов его друг знаменитый доктор Лэньон.

‘If anyone knows, it will be Lanyon,’ he had thought.
→«Если кто-нибудь и может пролить на это свет, то только Лэньон», — решил он.

The solemn butler knew and welcomed him; he was subjected to no stage of delay, but ushered direct from the door to the dining room where Dr Lanyon sat alone over his wine.
→Важный дворецкий почтительно поздоровался с мистером Аттерсоном и без промедления провел его в столовую, где доктор Лэньон в одиночестве допивал послеобеденное вино.

This was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white.
→Это был добродушный краснолицый щеголеватый здоровяк с гривой рано поседевших волос.

At sight of Mr Utterson, he sprang up from his chair and welcomed him with both hands.
→При виде мистера Аттерсона он вскочил с места и поспешил к нему навстречу, сердечно протягивая ему обе руки.

The geniality, as was the way of the man, was somewhat theatrical to the eye; but it reposed on genuine feeling.

For these two were old friends, old mates both at school and college, both thorough respecters of themselves and of each other, and, what does not always follow, men who thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
→доктор Лэньон и мистер Аттерсон были старыми друзьями, однокашниками по школе и университету, они питали глубокое взаимное уважение и к тому же (что далеко не всегда сопутствует подобному уважению у людей, также уважающих и самих себя) очень любили общество друг друга.

After a little rambling talk, the lawyer led up to the subject which so disagreeably preoccupied his mind.
→Несколько минут они беседовали о том о сем, а затем нотариус перевел разговор на предмет, столь его тревоживший.

‘I suppose, Lanyon,’ said he, ‘you and I must be the two oldest friends that Henry Jekyll has?’ ‘I wish the friends were younger,’ chuckled Dr Lanyon.
→— Пожалуй, Лэньон, — сказал он, — мы с вами самые старые друзья Генри Джекила? — Жаль, что не самые молодые! — рассмеялся доктор Лэньон.

‘But I suppose we are. And what of that? I see little of him now.’ ‘Indeed?’ said Utterson. ‘I thought you had a bond of common interest.’
→ — Но, наверное, так оно и есть. Почему вы об этом упомянули? Я с ним теперь редко вижусь. — Неужели? А я думал, что вас сближают общие интересы.

‘We had,’ was the reply. ‘But it is more than ten years since Henry Jekyll became too fanciful for me.
→— Так оно и было, — ответил доктор. — Но вот уже десять с лишним лет, как Генри Джекил занялся нелепыми фантазиями.

He began to go wrong, wrong in mind; and though of course I continue to take an interest in him for old sake’s sake as they say, I see and I have seen devilish little of the man.
→Он сбился с пути — я говорю о путях разума, — и, хотя я, разумеется, продолжаю интересоваться им, вот уже несколько лет я вижусь с ним чертовски редко.

Such unscientific balderdash,’ added the doctor, flushing suddenly purple, ‘would have estranged Damon and Pythias.’
→Подобный ненаучный вздор заставил бы даже Дамона отвернуться от Финтия, — заключил доктор, внезапно побагровев.

This little spirt of temper was somewhat of a relief to Mr Utterson.
→Эта вспышка несколько развеяла тревогу мистера Аттерсона.

‘They have only differed on some point of science,’ he thought; and being a man of no scientific passions (except in the matter of conveyancing) he even added: ‘It is nothing worse than that!’
→«Они поссорились из-за каких-то научных теорий, — подумал он, и, так как науки его нисколько не интересовали (если только речь не шла о теориях передачи права собственности), он даже с облегчением добавил про себя:

He gave his friend a few seconds to recover his composure, and then approached the question he had come to put.
→ — Ну, это пустяки!» Выждав несколько секунд, чтобы доктор успел успокоиться, мистер Аттерсон наконец задал вопрос, ради которого и пришел сюда:

‘Did you ever come across a protégé of his – one Hyde?’ he asked.
→— А вам знаком его протеже… некий Хайд?

‘Hyde?’ repeated Lanyon. ‘No. Never heard of him.
→— Хайд? — повторил Лэньон. — Нет. В первый раз слышу.

That was the amount of information that the lawyer carried back with him to the great, dark bed on which he tossed to and fro, until the small hours of the morning began to grow large.
→Это были единственные сведения, полученные нотариусом, и он мог сколько душе угодно размышлять над ними, ворочаясь на огромной темной кровати, пока поздняя ночь не превратилась в раннее утро.

It was a night of little ease to his toiling mind, toiling in mere darkness and besieged by questions.
→Это бдение не успокоило его лихорадочно работавшие мысли, которые блуждали по темному лабиринту неразрешимых вопросов.

Six o’clock struck on the bells of the church that was so conveniently near to Mr Utterson’s dwelling, and still he was digging at the problem.
→Часы на, церкви, расположенной в таком удобном соседстве с домом мистера Аттерсона, пробили шесть, а он все еще ломал голову над этой загадкой;

Hitherto it had touched him on the intellectual side alone; but now his imagination also was engaged or rather enslaved;
→ вначале она представляла для него только нтеллектуальный интерес, но теперь было уже затронуто, а вернее, порабощено, и его воображение.

and as he lay and tossed in the gross darkness of the night and the curtained room, Mr Enfield’s tale went by before his mind in a scroll of lighted pictures.
→Он беспокойно ворочался на постели в тяжкой тьме своей плотно занавешенной спальни, а в его сознании, точно свиток с огненными картинами, развертывалась история, услышанная от мистера Энфилда.

He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking swiftly;
→Он видел перед собой огромное поле фонарей ночного города, затем появлялась фигура торопливо шагающего мужчины,

then of a child running from the doctor’s; and then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams.
→затем — бегущая от врача девочка, они сталкивались. Джаггернаут в человеческом облике наступал на ребенка и спокойно шел дальше, не обращая внимания на стоны бедняжки.

Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams;
→ Потом перед его умственным взором возникала спальня в богатом доме, где в постели лежал его друг доктор Джекил, грезил во сне и улыбался,

and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo!
→но тут дверь спальни отворялась, занавески кровати откидывались, спящий просыпался,

there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding.
→услышав оклик, и у его изголовья вырастала фигура, облеченная таинственной властью, — даже в этот глухой час он вынужден был вставать и исполнять ее веления.

The figure in these two phases haunted the lawyer all night; and if at any time he dozed over, it was but to see it glide more stealthily through sleeping houses,
→Эта фигура в двух своих ипостасях преследовала нотариуса всю ночь напролет; если он ненадолго забывался сном, то лишь для того, чтобы вновь ее увидеть: она еще более беззвучно кралась по затихшим домам

or move the more swiftly and still the more swiftly, even to dizziness, through wider labyrinths of lamplighted city, and at every street corner crush a child and leave her screaming.
→ или еще быстрее, еще стремительнее — с головокружительной быстротой — мелькала в еще более запутанных лабиринтах освещенных фонарями улиц, на каждом углу топтала девочку и ускользала прочь, не слушая ее стонов.

And still the figure had no face by which he might know it; even in his dreams, it had no face, or one that baffled him and melted before his eyes;
→ И попрежнему у этой фигуры не было лица, по которому он мог бы ее опознать, — даже в его снах у нее либо вовсе не было лица, либо оно расплывалось и таяло перед его глазами прежде, чем он успевал рассмотреть хоть одну черту;

and thus it was that there sprang up and grew apace in the lawyer’s mind a singularly strong, almost an inordinate, curiosity to behold the features of the real Mr Hyde.
→в конце концов в душе нотариуса родилось и окрепло необыкновенно сильное, почти непреодолимое желание увидеть лицо настоящего мистера Хайда.

If he could but once set eyes on him, he thought the mystery would lighten and perhaps roll altogether away, as was the habit of mysterious things when well examined.
→Мистер Аттерсон не сомневался, что стоит ему только взглянуть на это лицо — и тайна рассеется, утратит свою загадочность, как обычно утрачивают загадочность таинственные предметы, если их хорошенько рассмотреть.

He might see a reason for his friend’s strange preference or bondage (call it which you please) and even for the startling clauses of the will.
→ Быть может, он найдет объяснение странной привязанности своего друга к этому Хайду или зависимости от него (называйте это как хотите), а быть может, поймет и причину столь необычного условия, оговоренного в завещании.

→And at least it would be a face worth seeing: the face of a man who was without bowels of mercy: a face which had but to show itself to raise up, in the mind of the unimpressionable Enfield, a spirit of enduring hatred.

From that time forward, Mr Utterson began to haunt the door in the bystreet of shops.
→С этих пор мистер Аттерсон начал вести наблюдение за дверью в торговой улочке.

In the morning before office hours, at noon when business was plenty and time scarce, at night under the face of the fogged city moon, by all lights and at all hours of solitude or concourse, the lawyer was to be found on his chosen post.
→Утром, до начала занятий в конторе, днем, когда дел было много, а времени — мало, вечером под туманным ликом городской луны, при свете солнца и при свете фонарей, в часы безмолвия и в часы шумной суеты нотариус являлся на выбранный и???м пост.

‘If he be Mr Hyde,’ he had thought, ‘I shall be Mr Seek.’

And at last his patience was rewarded. It was a fine dry night; frost in the air; the streets as clean as a ballroom floor; the lamps, unshaken by any wind, drawing a regular pattern of light and shadow.
→И наконец его терпение было вознаграждено. Был ясный, сухой вечер, холодный воздух чуть покусывал щеки, улицы были чисты, как бальные залы, фонари, застывшие в неподвижном воздухе, рисовали четкие узоры света и теней.

By ten o’clock, when the shops were closed, the bystreet was very solitary and, in spite of the low growl of London from all round, very silent.
→К десяти часам, когда закрылись магазины, улочка совсем опустела, и в ней воцарилась тишина, хотя вокруг все еще раздавалось глухое рычание Лондона.

Small sounds carried far; domestic sounds out of the houses were clearly audible on either side of the roadway; and the rumour of the approach of any passenger preceded him by a long time.
→ Даже негромкие звуки разносились очень далеко, на обоих тротуарах были ясно слышны отголоски вечерней жизни, которая текла своим чередом в стенах домов, а шарканье подошв возвещало появление прохожего задолго до того, как его можно было разглядеть.

Mr Utterson had been some minutes at his post, when he was aware of an odd, light footstep drawing near.
→Мистер Аттерсон провел на своем посту несколько минут, как вдруг раздались приближающиеся шаги, необычные и легкие.

In the course of his nightly patrols, he had long grown accustomed to the quaint effect with which the footfalls of a single person, while he is still a great way off, suddenly spring out distinct from the vast hum and clatter of the city.
→Он столько раз обходил довором эту улочку, что уже давно свыкся со странным впечатлением, которое производят шаги какого-то одного человека, когда они еще в отдалении внезапно возникают из общего могучего шума большого города.

Yet his attention had never before been so sharply and decisively arrested;
→Однако никогда еще ничьи шаги не привлекали его внимания так резко и властно,

and it was with a strong, superstitious prevision of success that he withdrew into the entry of the court.
→ и он скрылся под аркой ворот с суеверной уверенностью в успехе.

The steps drew swiftly nearer, and swelled out suddenly louder as they turned the end of the street.
→Шаги быстро приближались и сразу стали громче, когда прохожий свернул в улочку.

The lawyer, looking forth from the entry, could soon see what manner of man he had to deal with.
→Нотариус выглянул из ворот и увидел человека, с которым ему предстояло иметь дело.

He was small and very plainly dressed, and the look of him, even at that distance, went somehow strongly against the watcher’s inclination.
→Он был невысок, одет очень просто, но даже на таком расстоянии нотариус почувствовал в нем что‑то отталкивающее.

But he made straight for the door, crossing the roadway to save time; and as he came, he drew a key from his pocket like one approaching home.
→ Неизвестный направился прямо к двери, перешел мостовую наискосок, чтобы сберечь время, и на ходу вытащил из кармана ключ, как человек; возвращающийся домой.

Mr Utterson stepped out and touched him on the shoulder as he passed.
→Когда он поравнялся с воротами, мистер Аттерсон сделал шаг вперед и, коснувшись его плеча, сказал:

‘Mr Hyde, I think?’
→— Мистер Хайд, если не ошибаюсь?

Mr Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath.
→Мистер Хайд попятился и с шипением втянул в себя воздух.

But his search for mr hyde fear was only momentary; and though he did not look the lawyer in the face, he answered coolly enough: ‘That is my name.
→Однако — его испуг был мимолетен, и хотя он не смотрел нотариусу в лицо, но ответил довольно спокойно: — Да, меня зовут так.

What do you want?’
→Что вам нужно?

‘I see you are going in,’ returned the lawyer.
→— Я вижу, вы собираетесь войти сюда, — сказал нотариус.

‘I am an old friend of Dr Jekyll’s – Mr Utterson of Gaunt Street
→Я старый друг доктора Джекила, мистер Аттерсон с Гонтстрит.

– you must have heard my name; and meeting you so conveniently, I thought you might admit me.’
→Вы, вероятно, слышали мое имя, и, раз уж мы так удачно встретились, я подумал, что вы разрешите мне войти с вами.

‘You will not find Dr Jekyll; he is from home,’ replied Mr Hyde, blowing in the key. And then suddenly, but still without looking up, he asked.
→— Вам незачем заходить, доктора Джекила нет дома, — ответил мистер Хайд, продувая ключ, а потом, все еще не поднимая головы, внезапно спросил:

‘How did you know me?’ — А как вы меня узнали?

‘On your side,’ said Mr Utterson, ‘will you do me a favour?’
→— Прежде чем я отвечу, не окажете ли вы мне одну любезность? — сказал мистер Аттерсон.

‘With pleasure,’ replied the other. ‘What shall it be?’
→— Извольте. А какую?

‘Will you let me see your face?’ asked the lawyer.
→— Покажите мне свое лицо, — попросил нотариус.

Mr Hyde appeared to hesitate, and then, as if upon some sudden reflection, fronted about with an air of defiance; and the pair stared at each other pretty fixedly for a few seconds.
→Мистер Хайд, казалось, колебался, но потом, словно внезапно на что‑то решившись, с вызывающим видом поднял голову. Несколько секунд они смотрели друг на друга.

‘Now I shall know you again,’ said Mr Utterson. ‘It may be useful.’
→— Теперь я вас всегда узнаю, — заметил мистер Аттерсон. — Это может оказаться полезным.

‘Yes,’ returned Mr Hyde, ‘it is as well we have met; and à propos, you should have my address.’
→— Да, — ответил мистер Хайд, — пожалуй, хорошо, что мы встретились, и a propos мне следует дать вам мой адрес,

And he gave a number of a street in Soho.
→— и он назвал улицу в Сохо и номер дома.

‘Good God!’ thought Mr Utterson, ‘can he too have been thinking of the will?’
→«Боже великий! — ужаснулся мистер Аттерсон. — Неужели и он подумал о завещании?»

But he kept his feelings to himself and only grunted in acknowledgement of the address.
→— однако он сдержался и только невнятно поблагодарил за адрес.

‘And now,’ said the other, ‘how did you know me?’
→— Ну, а теперь скажите, как вы меня узнали? — потребовал мистер Хайд.

‘By description,’ was the reply.
→— По описанию.

‘Whose description?’ — А кто вам меня описал?

‘We have common friends,’ said Mr Utterson.
→— У нас есть общие друзья.

‘Common friends?’ echoed Mr Hyde, a little hoarsely.
→— Общие друзья? — сипло переспросил мистер Хайд. — Кто же это?

‘Who are they?’ ‘Jekyll, for instance,’ said the lawyer.
→— Кто же это? — Например, Джекил, — ответил нотариус.

‘He never told you,’ cried Mr Hyde, with a flush of anger. ‘I did not think you would have lied.’
→— Он вам ничего не говорил! — воскликнул мистер Хайд, гневно покраснев. — Я не ждал, что вы мне солжете.

‘Come,’ said Mr Utterson, ‘that is not fitting language.’
→— Пожалуйста, выбирайте выражения, — сказал мистер Аттерсон.

The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh; and the next moment, with extraordinary quickness, he had unlocked the door and disappeared into the house.
→Мистер Хайд издал свирепый смешок и через мгновение, с немыслимой быстротой отперев дверь, уже исчез за ней.

The lawyer stood awhile when Mr Hyde had left him, the picture of disquietude.
→Нотариус несколько минут продолжал стоять там, где его оставил мистер Хайд, и на лице его были написаны тревога и недоумение.

Then he began slowly to mount the street, pausing every step or two and putting his hand to his brow like a man in mental perplexity.
→Затем он повернулся и медленно побрел по улице, то и дело останавливаясь и потирая рукой лоб, точно человек, не знающий, как поступить.

The problem he was thus debating as he walked, was one of a class that is rarely solved.
→ Быть может, задача, которую он пытался решить, вообще не имела решения.

Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish,
→
→Мистер Хайд был бледен и приземист,

he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation,⁷ he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice;
→он производил впечатление урода, хотя никакого явного уродства в нем заметно не было, улыбался он крайне неприятно, держался с нотариусом как‑то противоестественно робко и в то же время нагло, а голос у него был сиплый, тихий и прерывистый

all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr Utterson regarded him.
→— все это говорило против него, но и все это, вместе взятое, не могло объяснить, почему мистер Аттерсон почувствовал дотоле ему неизвестное отвращение, гадливость и страх.

‘There must be something else,’ said the perplexed gentleman.
→— Тут кроется что‑то другое! — в растерянности твердил себе нотариус.

‘There is something more, if I could find a name for it.
→ — Что‑то совсем другое, но я не знаю, как это определить.

God bless me, the man seems hardly human!
→Боже мой, в нем нет ничего человеческого!

Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr Fell?
→
→Он более походит на троглодита. А может быть, это случай необъяснимой антипатии?

or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent?
→ Или все дело просто в том, что чернота души проглядывает сквозь тленную оболочку и страшно ее преображает?

The last, I think; for O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.’
→Пожалуй, именно так, да‑да, мой бедный, бедный Гарри Джекил, на лице твоего нового друга явственно видна печать Сатаны.

Round the corner from the bystreet, there was a square of ancient, handsome houses, now for the most part decayed from their high estate and let in flats and chambers to all sorts and conditions of men:
→За углом была площадь, окруженная старинными красивыми особняками, большинство которых, утратив былое величие, сдавалось поквартирно людям самых разных профессий и положений

map-engravers, architects, shady lawyers and the agents of obscure enterprises.
→ — граверам, архитекторам, адвокатам с сомнительной репутацией и темным дельцам.

One house, however, second from the corner, was still occupied entire;
→Но один из этих домов, второй от угла, попрежнему оставался особняком

and at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness except for the fanlight, Mr Utterson stopped and knocked.
→и дышал богатством и комфортом; перед ним‑то, хотя он был погружен во мрак, если не считать полукруглого окна над дверью, и остановился теперь мистер Аттерсон.

A well-dressed, elderly servant opened the door.
→Дверь открыл старый прекрасно одетый слуга. Он постучал.

‘Is Dr Jekyll at home, Poole?’ asked the lawyer.
→— Доктор Джекил дома, Пул? — осведомился нотариус.

‘I will see, Mr Utterson,’ said Poole,
→— Сейчас узнаю, мистер Аттерсон, — ответил Пул,

admitting the visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall, paved with flags, warmed (after the fashion of a country house) by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets of oak.
→впуская гостя в большую уютную прихожую с низким потолком и каменным полом, где (точно в помещичьем доме) пылал большой камин, а у стен стояли дорогие дубовые шкафы и горки.

‘Will you wait here by the fire, sir? or shall I give you a light in the dining room?’
→— Вы подождете тут у огонька, сэр, или зажечь лампу в столовой?

‘Here, thank you,’ said the lawyer, and he drew near and leaned on the tall fender.
→— Благодарю вас, я подожду тут, — ответил нотариус и оперся о высокую каминную решетку.

This hall, in which he was now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend the doctor’s;
→Прихожая, в которой он теперь остался один, была любимым детищем его друга, доктора Джекила,

and Utterson himself was wont to search for Mr Hyde speak of it as the pleasantest room in London.
→и сам Аттерсон не раз называл ее самой приятной комнатой в Лондоне.

But tonight there was a shudder in his blood; the face of Hyde sat heavy on his memory; he felt (what was rare with him) a nausea and distaste of life;
→Но в этот вечер по его жилам струился холод, повсюду ему чудилось лицо Хайда, он испытывал (большая для него редкость) гнетущее отвращение к жизни;

and in the gloom of his spirits, he seemed to read a menace in the flickering of the firelight on the polished cabinets and the uneasy starting of the shadow on the roof.
→его смятенному духу чудилась зловещая угроза в отблесках огня, игравших на полированных шкафах, в тревожном трепете теней на потолке.

He was ashamed of his relief, when Poole presently returned to announce that Dr Jekyll was gone out.
→Он со стыдом заметил, что испытал большое облегчение, когда в прихожую вернулся Пул. Дворецкий сообщил, что доктор Джекил куда‑то ушел.

‘I saw Mr Hyde go in by the old dissecting room door, Poole,’ he said. ‘Is that right, when Dr Jekyll is from home?’
→— Я видел, Пул, как мистер Хайд входил в дверь бывшей секционной, — сказал нотариус. — Это ничего? Раз доктора Джекила нет дома…

‘Quite right, Mr Utterson, sir,’ replied the servant. ‘Mr Hyde has a key.’
→— Это ничего, сэр, — ответил слуга. — У мистера Хайда есть свой ключ.

‘Your master seems to repose a great deal of trust in that young man, Poole,’ resumed the other musingly.
→— Ваш хозяин, по‑видимому, очень доверяет этому молодому человеку, Пул, — задумчиво продолжал нотариус.

‘Yes, sir, he do indeed,’ said Poole. ‘We have all orders to obey him.’
→— Да, сэр, очень, — ответил Пул. — Нам всем приказано исполнять его распоряжения.

‘I do not think I ever met Mr Hyde?’ asked Utterson.
→— Мне, кажется, не приходилось встречаться с мистером Хайдом здесь? — спросил Аттерсон.

‘O, dear no, sir. He never dines here,’ replied the butler.
→— Нет, нет, сэр. Он у нас никогда не обедает, — выразительно ответил дворецкий.

‘Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory.’
→— По правде говоря, в доме мы его почти не видим; он всегда приходит и уходит через лабораторию.

‘Well, good night, Poole.’ ‘Good night, Mr Utterson.’
→— Что же! Доброй ночи. Пул. — Доброй ночи, мистер Аттерсон.

And the lawyer set out homeward with a very heavy heart. ‘Poor Harry Jekyll,’ he thought,
→И нотариус с тяжелым сердцем побрел домой. «Бедный Гарри Джекил! — думал он.

‘my mind misgives me he is in deep waters! He was wild when he was young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God, there is no statute of limitations.
→ — Боюсь, над ним нависла беда! В молодости он вел бурную жизнь — конечно, это было давно, но божеские законы не имеют срока давности.

Ay, it must be that; the ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace:
→Да‑да, конечно, это так: тень какого‑то старинного греха, язва скрытого позора,

punishment coming, pede claudo, years after memory has forgotten and self-love condoned the fault.’
→ кара, настигшая его через много лет после того, как проступок изгладился из памяти, а любовь к себе нашла ему извинение».

And the lawyer, scared by the thought, brooded awhile on his own past, groping in all the corners of memory, lest by chance some Jack-in-the-Box of an old iniquity should leap to light there.
→Испугавшись этой мысли, нотариус задумался о собственным прошлым и начал рыться во всех уголках памяти, полный страха, что оттуда, точно чертик из коробочки, вдруг выпрыгнет какая‑нибудь бесчестная проделка.

His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done,
→Его прошлое было почти безупречно — немного нашлось бы людей, которые имели бы Право с большей уверенностью перечитать свиток своей жизни,

and raised up again into a sober and fearful gratitude by the many that he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
→и все же воспоминания о многих дурных поступках не раз и не два повергали его во прах, чтобы затем он мог воспрянуть,

And then by a return on his former subject, he conceived a spark of hope.
→Затем его мысли вновь обратились к прежнему предмету, и в сердце вспыхнула искра надежды.

‘This Master Hyde, if he were studied,’ thought he, ‘must have secrets of his own:
→«Этим молодчиком Хайдом следовало бы заняться: у него, несомненно, есть свои тайны

black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll’s worst would be like sunshine.
→— черные тайны, если судить по его виду, тайны, по сравнению с которыми худшие грехи бедняги Джекила покажутся солнечным светом.

Things cannot continue as they are.
→Так больше продолжаться не может.

It turns me cold to think of this creature stealing like a thief to Harry’s bedside;
→ Я холодею при одной мысли, что эта тварь воровато подкрадывается к постели Гарри.

poor Harry, what a wakening! And the danger of it;
→Бедный Гарри, какое пробуждение его ожидает!

for if this Hyde suspects the existence of the will, he may grow impatient to inherit.
→И какая опасность ему грозит — ведь если этот Хайд проведает про завещание, ему, быть может, захочется поскорее получить свое наследство!

Ay, I must put my shoulder to the wheel – if Jekyll will but let me,’ he added, ‘if Jekyll will only let me.’
→Да‑да, мне следует вмешаться… Только бы Джекил позволил мне вмешаться, — добавил он. — Только бы он позволил».

For once more he saw before his mind’s eye, as clear as a transparency, the strange clauses of the will.
→Ибо перед его умственным взором вновь, словно огненный транспарант, вспыхнули странные условия этого завещания.

-III-

A fortnight later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all intelligent, reputable men and all judges of good wine;
→По счастливому стечению обстоятельств две недели спустя доктор Джекил дал один из своих приятных обедов, на который пригласил человек шесть старых друзей — людей умных и почтенных, а к тому же тонких знатоков, и ценителей хороших вин.

and Mr Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after the others had departed.
→Когда гости начали расходиться, мистер Аттерсон под каким‑то предлогом задержался.

‘I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll,’ began the latter. ‘You know that will of yours?’
→— Мне давно уже хотелось поговорить с вами, Джекил, — сказал нотариус. — О вашем завещании.

A close observer might have gathered that the topic was distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily.
→Внимательный наблюдатель мог бы заметить, что тема эта доктору неприятна, однако он ответил нотариусу с веселой непринужденностью.

‘My poor Utterson,’ said he, ‘you are unfortunate in such a client.
→— Мой бедный Аттерсон! — воскликнул он. — На этот раз вам не повезло с клиентом.

I never saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; unless it were that hide-bound pedant,
→Мне не приходилось видеть, чтобы кто‑нибудь так расстраивался, как расстроились вы, когда прочли мое завещание. Если, конечно, не считать этого упрямого педанта Лэньона, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies.
→который не стерпел моей научной ереси, как он изволил выразиться.

O, I know he’s a good fellow – you needn’t frown – an excellent fellow, and I always mean to see more of him;
→О, я знаю, что он превосходный человек — не хмурьтесь, пожалуйста. Да, превосходный, и я все время думаю, что нам следовало бы видеться почаще;

but a hide-bound pedant for all that; an ignorant blatant pedant.
→но это не мешает ему быть упрямым педантом — невежественным, надутым педантом!

I was never more disappointed in any man than Lanyon.’
→Я ни в ком так не разочаровывался, как в Лэньоне.

‘You know I never approved of it,’ pursued Utterson, ruthlessly disregarding the fresh topic. ‘My will? Yes, certainly, I know that,’ said the doctor, a trifle sharply. ‘You have told me so.’
→— Вы знаете, что оно мне всегда казалось странным, — продолжал мистер Аттерсон, безжалостно игнорируя попытку доктора переменить разговор. — Мое завещание? Да, конечно, знаю, — ответил доктор с некоторой резкостью.

‘Well, I tell you so again,’ continued the lawyer. ‘I have been learning something of young Hyde.’
→— Вы мне это уже говорили. — Теперь я хотел бы повторить это вам еще раз, — продолжал нотариус.

The large handsome face of Dr Jekyll grew pale to the very lips, and there came a blackness about his eyes.
→По крупному красивому лицу доктора Джекила разлилась бледность, его глаза потемнели.

‘I do not care to hear more,’ said he. ‘This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop.’
→— Я не желаю больше ничего слушать, — сказал он. — Мне кажется, мы согласились не обсуждать этого вопроса.

‘What I heard was abominable,’ said Utterson. ‘It can make no change.
→— Но то, что я слышал, отвратительно. — Это ничего не меняет.

You do not understand my position,’
→Вы не понимаете, в каком я нахожусь положении, — сбивчиво ответил доктор.

returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency of manner. ‘I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very strange – a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.’
→— Оно крайне щекотливо, Аттерсон, крайне щекотливо и странно, очень странно. Это один из тех случаев, когда словами делу не поможешь.

‘Jekyll,’ said Utterson, ‘you know me: I am a man to be trusted.
→— Джекил, — сказал Аттерсон, — вы знаете меня. Знаете, что на меня можно положиться.

Make a clean breast of this in confidence; and I make no doubt I can get you out of it.’
→Доверьтесь мне, и я не сомневаюсь, что сумею вам помочь.

‘My good Utterson,’ said the doctor, ‘this is very good of you, this is downright good of you, and I cannot find words to thank you in.
→— Мой дорогой Аттерсон, — сказал доктор. — Вы очень добры, очень, и я не нахожу слов, чтобы выразить мою признательность.

I believe you fully; I would trust you before any man alive, ay, before myself, if I could make the choice;
→Я верю вам безусловно и полагаюсь на вас больше, чем на кого‑нибудь еще, больше, чем на себя, но у меня нет выбора.

but indeed it isn’t what you fancy; it is not so bad as that; and just to put your good heart at rest, I will tell you one thing:
→ Однако тут совсем не то, что вам кажется, и дело обстоит далеко не так плохо; и, чтобы успокоить ваше доброе сердце, я скажу вам одну вещь: стоит мне захотеть,

the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr Hyde. I give you my hand upon that; and I thank you again and again;
→и я легко и навсегда избавлюсь от мистера Хайда. Даю вам слово и еще раз от всей души благодарю вас.

and I will just add one little word, Utterson, that I’m sure you’ll take in good part: this is a private matter, and I beg of you to let it sleep.’
→ Но я должен сказать вам кое‑что, Аттерсон (и надеюсь, вы поймете меня правильно): это — мое частное дело, и я прошу вас не вмешиваться.

Utterson reflected a little looking in the fire. ‘I have no doubt you are perfectly right,’ he said at last, getting to his feet.
→Аттерсон некоторое время размышлял, глядя на огонь. — Разумеется, это ваше право, — наконец сказал он, вставая.

‘Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the last time I hope,’ continued the doctor, ‘there is one point I should like you to understand. I have really a very great interest in poor Hyde.
→— Ну, раз уж мы заговорили об этом, и, надеюсь, в последний раз, — сказал доктор, — мне хотелось бы, чтобы вы поняли одно. Я действительно принимаю большое участие в бедняге Хайде.

I know you have seen him; he told me so; and I fear he was rude.
→Я знаю, что вы его видели — он мне об этом рассказывал, — и боюсь, он был с вами груб.

But I do sincerely take a great, a very great interest in that young man; and if I am taken away, Utterson, I wish you to promise me that you will bear with him and get his rights for him.
→Однако я принимаю самое искреннее участие в этом молодом человеке; если меня не станет, то прошу вас, Аттерсон, обещайте мне, что вы будете к нему снисходительны и оградите его права.

I think you would, if you knew all; and it would be a weight off my mind if you would promise.’
→Я уверен, что вы согласились бы, знай вы все, а ваше обещание снимет камень с моей души.

‘I can’t pretend that I shall ever like him,’ said the lawyer.
→— Я не могу обещать, что когда‑нибудь стану питать к нему симпатию, — сказал Аттерсон.

‘I don’t ask that,’ pleaded Jekyll, laying his hand upon the other’s arm;
→— Об этом я не прошу, — грустно произнес Джекил, положив руку на плечо нотариуса.

‘I only ask for justice;
→— Я прошу только о справедливости;

I only ask you to help him for my sake, when I am no longer here.’
→я только прошу вас помочь ему, ради меня, когда меня не станет.

Utterson heaved an irrepressible sigh. ‘Well,’ said he. ‘I promise.’
→Аттерсон не мог удержаться от глубокого вздоха. — Хорошо, — сказал он. — Я обещаю.

-IV-

Nearly a year later, in the month of October 18.. , London was startled by a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high position of the victim.
→Одиннадцать месяцев спустя, в октябре 18.. . года, Лондон был потрясен неслыханно зверским преступлением, которое наделало особенно много шума, так как жертвой оказался человек, занимавший высокое положение.

The details were few and startling. A maidservant living alone in a house not far from the river, had gone upstairs to bed about eleven.
→Те немногие подробности, которые были известны, производили ошеломляющее впечатление. Служанка, остававшаяся одна в доме неподалеку от реки, поднялась в одиннадцатом часу к себе в комнату, намереваясь лечь спать.

Although a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon.
→Хотя под утро город окутал туман, вечер был ясным, и проулок, куда выходило окно ее комнаты, ярко освещала полная луна.

It seems she was romantically given for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately under the window, and fell into a dream of musing.
→По‑видимому, служанка была романтической натурой: во всяком случае, она села на свой сундучок, стоявший у самого окна, и предалась мечтам.

Never (she used to say, with streaming tears, when she narrated that experience) never had she felt more at peace with all men or thought more kindly of the world.
→Ни разу в жизни (со слезами повторяла она, когда рассказывала о случившемся), ни разу в жизни не испытывала она такого умиротворения, такой благожелательности ко всем людям и ко всему миру.

And as she so sat she became aware of an aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane;
→ Вскоре она заметила, что к их дому приближается пожилой и очень красивый джентльмен с белоснежными волосами,

and advancing to meet him, another and very small gentleman, to whom at first she paid less attention.
→а навстречу ему идет другой, низенький джентльмен, на которого она сперва не обратила никакого внимания.

When they had come within speech (which was just under the maid’s eyes) the older man bowed and accosted the other with a very pretty manner of politeness.
→Когда они встретились (это произошло почти под самым окном служанки), пожилой джентльмен поклонился и весьма учтиво обратился к другому прохожему.

It did not seem as if the subject of his address were of great importance; indeed, from his pointing, it sometimes appeared as if he were only inquiring his way;
→Видимо, речь шла о каком‑то пустяке — судя по его жесту, можно было заключить, что он просто спрашивает дорогу,

but the moon shone on his face as he spoke, and the girl was pleased to watch it, it seemed to breathe such an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition, yet with something high too, as of a well-founded self-content.
→однако, когда он заговорил, на его лицо упал лунный свет, и девушка залюбовалась им — такой чистой и старомодной добротой оно дышало, причем эта доброта сочеталась с чемто более высоким, говорившим о заслуженном душевном мире.

Presently her eye wandered to the other, and she was surprised to recognize in him a certain Mr Hyde, who had once visited her master and for whom she had conceived a dislike.
→Тут она взглянула на второго прохожего и, к своему удивлению, узнала в нем некоего мистера Хайда, который однажды приходил к ее хозяину и к которому она сразу же прониклась живейшей неприязнью.

He had in his hand a heavy cane, with which he was trifling; but he answered never a word, and seemed to listen with an ill-contained impatience.
→В руках он держал тяжелую трость, которой все время поигрывал; он не ответил ни слова и, казалось, слушал с плохо скрытым раздражением.

And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman.
→Внезапно он пришел в дикую ярость — затопал йогами, взмахнул тростью и вообще повел себя, по словам служанки, как буйнопомешанный.

The old gentleman took a step back, with the air of one very much surprised and a trifle hurt; and at that Mr Hyde broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth.
→Почтенный старец попятился с недоумевающим и несколько обиженным видом, а мистер Хайд, словно сорвавшись с цепи, свалил его на землю ударом трости.

And next moment, with ape-like fury, he was trampling his victim under foot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway.
→В следующий миг он с обезьяньей злобой примялся топтать свою жертву и осыпать ее градом ударов — служанка слышала, как хрустели кости, видела, как тело подпрыгивало на мостовой, и от ужаса лишилась чувств.

At the horror of these sights and sounds, the maid fainted.
→видела, как тело подпрыгивало на мостовой, и от ужаса лишилась чувств.

It was two o’clock when she came to herself and called for the police.
→Когда она пришла в себя и принялась звать полицию, было уже два часа ночи.

The murderer was gone long ago; but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled.
→Убийца давно скрылся, но невообразимо изуродованное тело его жертвы лежало на мостовой.

The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered half had rolled in the neighbouring gutter – the other, without doubt, had been carried away by the murderer.
→Трость, послужившая орудием преступления, хотя и была сделана из какого‑то редкостного, твердого и тяжелого дерева, переломилась пополам — с такой свирепой и неутолимой жестокостью наносились удары.

???

A purse and a gold watch were found upon the victim; but no cards or papers, except a sealed and stamped envelope, which he had been probably carrying to the post, and which bore the name and address of Mr Utterson. This was brought to the lawyer the next morning, before he was out of bed; and he had no sooner seen it, and been told the circumstances, than he shot out a solemn lip. ‘I shall say nothing till I have seen the body,’ said he; ‘this may be very serious. Have the kindness to wait while I dress.’ And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried. As soon as he came into the cell, he nodded. ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘I recognize him. I am sorry to say that this is Sir Danvers Carew.’ ‘Good God, sir,’ exclaimed the officer, ‘is it possible?’ And the next moment his eye lighted up with professional ambition. ‘This will make a deal of noise,’ he said. ‘And perhaps you can help us to the man.’ And he briefly narrated what the maid had seen, and showed the broken stick. Mr Utterson had already quailed at the name of Hyde; but when the stick was laid before him, he could doubt no longer: broken and battered as it was, he recognized it for one that he had himself presented many years before to Henry Jekyll. ‘Is this Mr Hyde a person of small stature?’ he inquired. the carew murder case  ‘Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking, is what the maid calls him,’ said the officer. Mr Utterson reflected; and then, raising his head, ‘If you will come with me in my cab,’ he said, ‘I think I can take you to his house.’ It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal quarter of Soho⁴ seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare. The thoughts of his mind, besides, were of the gloomiest dye; and when he glanced at the companion of his drive, he was conscious of some touch of that terror of the law and the law’s officers, which may at times assail the most honest. As the cab drew up before the address indicated, the fog lifted a little and showed him a dingy street, a gin palace, a low French eating house, a shop for the retail of penny numbers and twopenny salads, many ragged children huddled in the doorways, and many women of many different nationalities passing out, key in hand, to have a morning glass; and the next moment the fog settled down again upon that part, as brown as umber, and cut him off from his blackguardly surroundings. This was the home of Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling. An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent. Yes, she said, this was Mr Hyde’s, but he was not at home; he had been in that night very late, but had gone away again in less than an hour; there was nothing strange in that; his habits were very  dr jekyll and mr hyde irregular, and he was often absent; for instance, it was nearly two months since she had seen him till yesterday. ‘Very well then, we wish to see his rooms,’ said the lawyer; and when the woman began to declare it was impossible, ‘I had better tell you who this person is,’ he added. ‘This is Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard.’ A flash of odious joy appeared upon the woman’s face. ‘Ah!’ said she, ‘he is in trouble! What has he done?’ Mr Utterson and the inspector exchanged glances. ‘He don’t seem a very popular character,’ observed the latter. ‘And now, my good woman, just let me and this gentleman have a look about us.’ In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old woman remained otherwise empty, Mr Hyde had only used a couple of rooms; but these were furnished with luxury and good taste. A closet was filled with wine; the plate was of silver, the napery elegant; a good picture hung upon the walls, a gift (as Utterson supposed) from Henry Jekyll, who was much of a connoisseur; and the carpets were of many pi s and agreeable in colour. At this moment, however, the rooms bore every mark of having been recently and hurriedly ransacked; clothes lay about the floor, with their pockets inside out; lockfast drawers stood open; and on the hearth there lay a pile of grey ashes, as though many papers had been burned. From these embers the inspector disinterred the butt end of a green cheque book, which had resisted the action of the fire; the other half of the stick was found behind the door; and as this clinched his suspicions, the officer declared himself delighted. A visit to the bank, where several thousand pounds were found to be lying to the murderer’s credit, completed his gratification. ‘You may depend upon it, sir,’ he told Mr Utterson: ‘I have him in my hand. He must have lost his head, or he would never have left the stick or, above all, burned the cheque book. Why, money’s life to the man. We have nothing to do but wait for him at the bank, and get out the handbills.’ This last, however, was not so easy of accomplishment; for Mr Hyde had numbered few familiars – even the master of the servantmaid had only seen him twice; his family could nowhere be traced; he had never le the carew murder case  been photographed;⁵ and the few who could describe him differed widely, as common observers will. Only on one point, were they agreed; and that was the haunting sense of unexpressed deformity with which the fugitive impressed his beholders.      It was late in the afternoon, when Mr Utterson found his way to Dr Jekyll’s door, where he was at once admitted by Poole, and carried down by the kitchen offices and across a yard which had once been a garden, to the building which was indifferently known as the laboratory or the dissecting rooms.¹ The doctor had bought the house from the heirs of a celebrated surgeon; and his own tastes being rather chemical than anatomical, had changed the destination of the block at the bottom of the garden. It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend’s quarters; and he eyed the dingy windowless structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre, once crowded with eager students and now lying gaunt and silent, the tables laden with chemical apparatus, the floor strewn with crates and littered with packing straw, and the light falling dimly through the foggy cupola. At the further end, a flight of stairs mounted to a door covered with red baize; and through this, Mr Utterson was at last received into the doctor’s cabinet. It was a large room, fitted round with glass presses, furnished, among other things, with a cheval-glass and a business table, and looking out upon the court by three dusty windows barred with iron. The fire burned in the grate; a lamp was set lighted on the chimney shelf, for even in the houses the fog began to lie thickly; and there, close up to the warmth, sat Dr Jekyll, looking deadly sick. He did not rise to meet his visitor, but held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice. ‘And now,’ said Mr Utterson, as soon as Poole had left them, ‘you have heard the news?’ The doctor shuddered. ‘They were crying it in the square,’ he said. ‘I heard them in my dining room.’ ‘One word,’ said the lawyer. ‘Carew was my client, but so are you, and I want to know what I am doing. You have not been mad enough to hide this fellow?’ ‘Utterson, I swear to God,’ cried the doctor, ‘I swear to God I will incident of the letter  never set eyes on him again. I bind my honour to you that I am done with him in this world. It is all at an end. And indeed he does not want my help; you do not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; mark my words, he will never more be heard of.’ The lawyer listened gloomily; he did not like his friend’s feverish manner. ‘You seem pretty sure of him,’ said he; ‘and for your sake, I hope you may be right. If it came to a trial, your name might appear.’ ‘I am quite sure of him,’ replied Jekyll; ‘I have grounds for certainty that I cannot share with anyone. But there is one thing on which you may advise me. I have – I have received a letter; and I am at a loss whether I should show it to the police. I should like to leave it in your hands, Utterson; you would judge wisely I am sure; I have so great a trust in you.’ ‘You fear, I suppose, that it might lead to his detection?’ asked the lawyer. ‘No,’ said the other. ‘I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde; I am quite done with him. I was thinking of my own character, which this hateful business has rather exposed.’ Utterson ruminated awhile; he was surprised at his friend’s selfishness, and yet relieved by it. ‘Well,’ said he, at last, ‘let me see the letter.’ The letter was written in an odd, upright hand and signed ‘Edward Hyde’: and it signified, briefly enough, that the writer’s benefactor, Dr Jekyll, whom he had long so unworthily repaid for a thousand generosities, need labour under no alarm for his safety as he had means of escape on which he placed a sure dependence. The lawyer liked this letter well enough; it put a better colour on the intimacy than he had looked for; and he blamed himself for some of his past suspicions.² ‘Have you the envelope?’ he asked. ‘I burned it,’ replied Jekyll, ‘before I thought what I was about. But it bore no postmark. The note was handed in.’ ‘Shall I keep this and sleep upon it?’ asked Utterson. ‘I wish you to judge for me entirely,’ was the reply. ‘I have lost confidence in myself.’ ‘Well, I shall consider,’ returned the lawyer. ‘And now one word  dr jekyll and mr hyde more: it was Hyde who dictated the terms in your will about that disappearance?’ The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness; he shut his mouth tight and nodded. ‘I knew it,’ said Utterson. ‘He meant to murder you. You have had a fine escape.’ ‘I have had what is far more to the purpose,’ returned the doctor solemnly: ‘I have had a lesson – O God, Utterson, what a lesson I have had!’ And he covered his face for a moment with his hands. On his way out, the lawyer stopped and had a word or two with Poole. ‘By the by,’ said he, ‘there was a letter handed in today: what was the messenger like?’ But Poole was positive nothing had come except by post; ‘and only circulars by that,’ he added. This news sent off the visitor with his fears renewed. Plainly the letter had come by the laboratory door; possibly, indeed, it had been written in the cabinet; and if that were so, it must be differently judged, and handled with the more caution. The newsboys, as he went, were crying themselves hoarse along the footways: ‘Special edition. Shocking murder of an MP.’ That was the funeral oration of one friend and client; and he could not help a certain apprehension lest the good name of another should be sucked down in the eddy of the scandal. It was, at least, a ticklish decision that he had to make; and self-reliant as he was by habit, he began to cherish a longing for advice. It was not to be had directly; but perhaps, he thought, it might be fished for. Presently after, he sat on one side of his own hearth, with Mr Guest, his head clerk, upon the other, and midway between, at a nicely calculated distance from the fire, a bottle of a particular old wine that had long dwelt unsunned in the foundations of his house. The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles; and through the muffle and smother of these fallen clouds, the procession of the town’s life was still rolling in through the great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind. But the room was gay with firelight. In the bottle the acids were long ago resolved; the imperial dye had softened with time, as the colour grows richer in stained windows; and the glow of hot autumn afternoons on hillside incident of the letter  vineyards, was ready to be set free and to disperse the fogs of London. Insensibly the lawyer melted. There was no man from whom he kept fewer secrets than Mr Guest; and he was not always sure that he kept as many as he meant. Guest had often been on business to the doctor’s; he knew Poole; he could scarce have failed to hear of Mr Hyde’s familiarity about the house; he might draw conclusions: was it not as well, then, that he should see a letter which put that mystery to rights? and above all since Guest, being a great student and critic of handwriting, would consider the step natural and obliging? The clerk, besides, was a man of counsel; he would scarce read so strange a document without dropping a remark; and by that remark Mr Utterson might shape his future course. ‘This is a sad business about Sir Danvers,’ he said. ‘Yes, sir, indeed. It has elicited a great deal of public feeling,’ returned Guest. ‘The man, of course, was mad.’ ‘I should like to hear your views on that,’ replied Utterson. ‘I have a document here in his handwriting; it is between ourselves, for I scarce knew what to do about it; it is an ugly business at the best. But there it is; quite in your way: a murderer’s autograph.’ Guest’s eyes brightened, and he sat down at once and studied it with passion. ‘No, sir,’ he said; ‘not mad; but it is an odd hand.’ ‘And by all accounts a very odd writer,’ added the lawyer. Just then the servant entered with a note. ‘Is that from Doctor Jekyll, sir?’ inquired the clerk. ‘I thought I knew the writing. Anything private, Mr Utterson?’ ‘Only an invitation to dinner. Why? do you want to see it?’ ‘One moment. I thank you, sir;’ and the clerk laid the two sheets of paper alongside and sedulously compared their contents. ‘Thank you, sir,’ he said at last, returning both; ‘it’s a very interesting autograph.’ There was a pause, during which Mr Utterson struggled with himself. ‘Why did you compare them, Guest?’ he inquired suddenly. ‘Well, sir,’ returned the clerk, ‘there’s a rather singular resemblance; the two hands are in many points identical: only differently sloped.’ ‘Rather quaint,’ said Utterson. ‘It is, as you say, rather quaint,’ returned Guest. ‘I wouldn’t speak of this note, you know,’ said the master.  dr jekyll and mr hyde ‘No, sir,’ said the clerk. ‘I understand.’ But no sooner was Mr Utterson alone that night, than he locked the note into his safe where it reposed from that time forward. ‘What!’ he thought. ‘Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer!’ And his blood ran cold in his veins.       Time ran on; thousands of pounds were offered in reward, for the death of Sir Danvers was resented as a public injury; but Mr Hyde had disappeared out of the ken of the police as though he had never existed. Much of his past was unearthed, indeed, and all disreputable: tales came out of the man’s cruelty, at once so callous and violent, of his vile life, of his strange associates, of the hatred that seemed to have surrounded his career; but of his present whereabouts, not a whisper. From the time he had left the house in Soho on the morning of the murder, he was simply blotted out; and gradually, as time drew on, Mr Utterson began to recover from the hotness of his alarm, and to grow more at quiet with himself. The death of Sir Danvers was, to his way of thinking, more than paid for by the disappearance of Mr Hyde. Now that that evil influence had been withdrawn, a new life began for Dr Jekyll. He came out of his seclusion, renewed relations with his friends, became once more their familiar guest and entertainer; and whilst he had always been known for charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion. He was busy, he was much in the open air, he did good; his face seemed to open and brighten, as if with an inward consciousness of service; and for more than two months, the doctor was at peace. On the th of January Utterson had dined at the doctor’s with a small party; Lanyon had been there; and the face of the host had looked from one to the other as in the old days when the trio were inseparable friends. On the th, and again on the th, the door was shut against the lawyer. ‘The doctor was confined to the house,’ Poole said, ‘and saw no one.’ On the th, he tried again, and was again refused; and having now been used for the last two months to see his friend almost daily, he found this return of solitude to weigh upon his spirits. The fifth night, he had in Guest to dine with him; and the sixth he betook himself to Doctor Lanyon’s. There at least he was not denied admittance; but when he came in, he was shocked at the change which had taken place in the doctor’s  dr jekyll and mr hyde appearance. He had his death-warrant written legibly upon his face. The rosy man had grown pale; his flesh had fallen away; he was visibly balder and older; and yet it was not so much these tokens of a swift physical decay that arrested the lawyer’s notice, as a look in the eye and quality of manner that seemed to testify to some deep-seated terror of the mind. It was unlikely that the doctor should fear death; and yet that was what Utterson was tempted to suspect. ‘Yes,’ he thought; ‘he is a doctor, he must know his own state and that his days are counted; and the knowledge is more than he can bear.’ And yet when Utterson remarked on his ill-looks, it was with an air of great firmness that Lanyon declared himself a doomed man. ‘I have had a shock,’ he said, ‘and I shall never recover. It is a question of weeks. Well, life has been pleasant; I liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it. I sometimes think if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away.’ ‘Jekyll is ill, too,’ observed Utterson. ‘Have you seen him?’ But Lanyon’s face changed, and he held up a trembling hand. ‘I wish to see or hear no more of Doctor Jekyll,’ he said in a loud, unsteady voice. ‘I am quite done with that person; and I beg that you will spare me any allusion to one whom I regard as dead.’ ‘Tut-tut,’ said Mr Utterson; and then after a considerable pause, ‘Can’t I do anything?’ he inquired. ‘We are three very old friends, Lanyon; we shall not live to make others.’ ‘Nothing can be done,’ returned Lanyon; ‘ask himself.’ ‘He will not see me,’ said the lawyer. ‘I am not surprised at that,’ was the reply. ‘Some day, Utterson, after I am dead, you may perhaps come to learn the right and wrong of this. I cannot tell you. And in the meantime, if you can sit and talk with me of other things, for God’s sake, stay and do so; but if you cannot keep clear of this accursed topic, then, in God’s name, go, for I cannot bear it.’ As soon as he got home, Utterson sat down and wrote to Jekyll, complaining of his exclusion from the house, and asking the cause of this unhappy break with Lanyon; and the next day brought him a long answer, often very pathetically worded, and sometimes darkly mysterious in drift. The quarrel with Lanyon was incurable. ‘I do not remarkable incident of doctor lanyon  blame our old friend,’ Jekyll wrote, ‘but I share his view that we must never meet. I mean from henceforth to lead a life of extreme seclusion; you must not be surprised, nor must you doubt my friendship, if my door is often shut even to you. You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I cannot name.¹ If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also. I could not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning; and you can do but one thing, Utterson, to lighten this destiny, and that is to respect my silence.’ Utterson was amazed; the dark influence of Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor had returned to his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an honoured age; and now in a moment, friendship, and peace of mind and the whole tenor of his life were wrecked. So great and unprepared a change pointed to madness; but in view of Lanyon’s manner and words, there must lie for it some deeper ground. A week afterwards Dr Lanyon took to his bed, and in something less than a fortnight he was dead. The night after the funeral, at which he had been sadly affected, Utterson locked the door of his business room, and sitting there by the light of a melancholy candle, drew out and set before him an envelope addressed by the hand and sealed with the seal of his dear friend. ‘P: for the hands of J. G. Utterson  and in case of his predecease to be destroyed unread’, so it was emphatically superscribed; and the lawyer dreaded to behold the contents. ‘I have buried one friend today,’ he thought: ‘what if this should cost me another?’ And then he condemned the fear as a disloyalty, and broke the seal. Within there was another enclosure, likewise sealed, and marked upon the cover as ‘Not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr Henry Jekyll.’ Utterson could not trust his eyes. Yes, it was disappearance; here again, as in the mad will which he had long ago restored to its author, here again were the idea of a disappearance and the name of Henry Jekyll bracketed. But in the will, that idea had sprung from the sinister suggestion of the man Hyde; it was set there with a purpose all too plain and horrible. Written by the hand of Lanyon, what should it mean? A great curiosity came on the trustee, to disregard the prohibition and dive at once to  dr jekyll and mr hyde the bottom of these mysteries; but professional honour and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations; and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe. It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it; and it may be doubted if, from that day forth, Utterson desired the society of his surviving friend with the same eagerness. He thought of him kindly; but his thoughts were disquieted and fearful. He went to call indeed; but he was perhaps relieved to be denied admittance; perhaps, in his heart, he preferred to speak with Poole upon the doorstep and surrounded by the air and sounds of the open city, rather than to be admitted into that house of voluntary bondage, and to sit and speak with its inscrutable recluse. Poole had, indeed, no very pleasant news to communicate. The doctor, it appeared, now more than ever confined himself to the cabinet over the laboratory, where he would sometimes even sleep; he was out of spirits, he had grown very silent, he did not read; it seemed as if he had something on his mind. Utterson became so used to the unvarying character of these reports, that he fell off little by little in the frequency of his visits.     