said he.
“It is easy for me to do so, for I remember every event of that time. The house is, as I have already said, very old, and only the bedrooms are on the ground floor. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott’s, the second is my sister’s, and the third is my own. There are no doors between them, but they all open out into the same corridor.
“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the park. That fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he had not gone to bed, for my sister was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which he smoked. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time, talking about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door and looked back.
“ ‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard anyone whistle at night?’
“ ‘Never. But why?’ said I.
“ ‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I cannot tell where it came from – perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the park. I thought that I would ask you whether you had heard it.’
‘No, I have not. It must be those gypsies in the park[10].’
“ ‘Very likely. And if it were in the park, it is strange that you did not hear it also.’
“ ‘Ah, but I do not hear anything when I am asleep.’
She smiled back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.”
“Did you always lock yourselves in at night?” asked Holmes.
“Always.”
“And why?”
“I think that I said that the doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon. We had no feeling of security if our doors were not locked.”
“I see. But forgive me for interrupting you. Please continue your story.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What did you learn about the Roylotts of Stoke Moran?
2. Why did Dr. Roylott return to England from India a gloomy and disappointed man?
3. How did it happen that Dr. Roylott lived in Stoke Moran with his two stepdaughters?
4. Who else lived in the house?
5. What were the relations between Dr. Roylott and other people in the village?
6. Why weren’t Julia and Helen happy?
7. How did it happen that Julia became engaged to be married?
8. What did you learn about the house where Julia’s tragic death occurred?
9. What did the sisters speak about before Julia’s death?
10. Why did the sisters lock their bedrooms?
Think and say
1. Was Dr. Roylott a good doctor? Would you like him to be your family doctor? Why do you think so?
2. Was it easy for the sisters to marry? Why do you think so?
2. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.
1. to be left
2. to leave smth to smb
3. to make friends with smb
4. to be / become engaged to smb
engagement (to smb)
5. to open out on / upon / into
3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above.
1. Tony is a very sociable boy, he can become the friend of anybody.
2. How long before the wedding did they agree to get married?
3. It was only after his aunt’s death that Robert learned he would get her house after her death.
4. After he paid all his debts, no more money remained.
5. Their room faces the park, so they have a very nice view.
6. Have you heard that John has broken off his agreement to marry June? – I didn’t even know that they agreed to marry.
7. After Miss Stoner’s sister died, she remained alone with her stepfather.
4. Complete the sentences with phrases above in the correct form.
1. Susan doesn’t want her bedroom… the sea. She says the noise of the sea won’t let her sleep.
2. There were a lot of shops in the street a few years ago. But only two… The others have been closed.
3. I didn’t know that Alex and Anne… to be married.
4. When Bob came to a new school, he wanted… his new classmates.
5. Peter’s father… him his gold watch, and Peter always wears it.
6. Walter gave Alice an… ring. They are to be married next month.
7. After her children married, Mrs Sykes… alone in her big house.
III
“I could not sleep that night. I had a vague feeling that something bad was coming. It was a wild night. The wind was very strong outside, and the rain was beating against the windows. Suddenly, there was a wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I got out of my bed, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a strange sound, as if metal had fallen. As I ran down the corridor, my sister’s door was unlocked, and opened slowly. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear in the doorway, her face pale with terror, she could hardly stand. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment she fell to the ground. She seemed to be in terrible pain. As I bent over her she suddenly cried out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was something else which she wanted to say, and she pointed her finger at the door of the doctor’s room, but she could not speak. I called loudly for my stepfather, and I saw him running from his room. When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious, and though he sent for a doctor from the village, she died without having recovered her consciousness[11].”
“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound?”
“That
It must be those gypsies in the park. – Должно быть, это свистели цыгане в парке.
she died without having recovered her consciousness – она умерла? не приходя в сознание
