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After his nephew had gone to bed, the Marquis went to his room. The castle was surrounded with darkness. In the villages nearby the hungry people dreamt of a better life, with enough good food to eat, and time to rest from their work.
在他侄兒上床后，侯爵進了自己的房間。城堡被夜色包圍。附近村子里饑餓的人們在夢想著過上好一點的生活，以便有足夠的好食物吃。還可以工作后有時間休息。
Early in the morning the dreamers awoke and started their day's hard work. The people in the castle did not get up until later, but when they did, why did the great bell start ringing? Why did people ride out of the castle to the village as fast as they could?
一大早人們便從睡夢中醒來開始他們一天的辛勤勞作。城堡里的人很晚才會起床的。可等到他們起床時，為什么那個大鐘開始響了起來呢?人們為什么騎著馬拼命地從城堡往村子里跑呢?
The answer lay in the bed of the Marquis. He lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper with the words：
答案就在侯爵的床上。侯爵像一塊石頭僵躺在床上。一把尖刀插進了他的心臟，在他的胸前放著一張紙條。上面寫著：
"Drive him fast to his grave. This is from JACQUES."
“快把他送進他的墳墓。這是雅克干的。”
創作歷程：
我同我的孩子們和朋友們演出威爾基·柯林斯先生的戲劇《冰海深處》的時候，第一次構思了這部小說的主要想法。那時候，我產生了一種強烈的愿望，想親自把這種想法體現出來；于是我馳騁想象，刻意精心而且興趣盎然的追蹤一個敏銳細致的旁觀者非表現出來不可的那種心情感受。
