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WILKIE COLLINS
THE MOONSTONE
Москва, 2018
ÓÄÊ 82-3
ÁÁÊ 84
Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone / W. Collins. – Ì. : T8RUGRAM /
Original, 2018. – 684 ñ.
ISBN 978-5-521-06180-8
The Moonstone, generally recognized as the first
detective novel is not only a work of historical importance but also a work that transcends the genre it
created, in the artfulness of its plotting, in its compassionate depiction of servants, and in its enlightened
resolution of the theme of the British Empire, its
crimes and their consequences. Hinging on the theft of
an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian
shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative
Sergeant Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel
Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious
band of Indian jugglers.
© T8RUGRAM, оформление, 2018
ISBN 978-5-521-06180-8 © Original, 2018
ÓÄÊ 82-3
ÁÁÊ 84
BIC FC
BISAC FIC004000
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
FIRST PERIOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CHAPTER I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CHAPTER II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
CHAPTER III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CHAPTER IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CHAPTER V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
CHAPTER VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
CHAPTER VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
CHAPTER VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
CHAPTER IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
CHAPTER X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
CHAPTER XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
CHAPTER XII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
CHAPTER XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
CHAPTER XIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
CHAPTER XV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
CHAPTER XVI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
CHAPTER XVII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
CHAPTER XVIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
CHAPTER XIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
CHAPTER XX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
CHAPTER XXI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234
CHAPTER XXII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
CHAPTER XXIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259
SECOND PERIOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
FIRST NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
CHAPTER I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277
CHAPTER II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292
CHAPTER III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
CHAPTER IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320
CHAPTER V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
CHAPTER VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343
CHAPTER VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346
CHAPTER VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360
SECOND NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
CHAPTER I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381
CHAPTER II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396
CHAPTER III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
THIRD NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .417
CHAPTER I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419
CHAPTER II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426
CHAPTER III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
CHAPTER IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .447
CHAPTER V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
CHAPTER VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .478
CHAPTER VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491
CHAPTER VIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .509
CHAPTER IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .527
CHAPTER X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .547
FOURTH NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .567
FIFTH NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .617
SIXTH NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .643
SEVENTH NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
EIGHTH NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .667
EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673
PROLOGUE
THE STORMING
OF SERINGAPATAM (1799)
Extracted from a Family Paper
I address these lines – written in India – to my relatives
inEngland.
My object is to explain the motive which has induced
me torefuse the right hand of friendship to my cousin, John
Herncastle.The reserve which I have hitherto maintained in
this matter hasbeen misinterpreted by members of my family whose good opinion Icannot consent to forfeit. I request
them to suspend their decisionuntil they have read my narrative. And I declare, on my word ofhonour, that what I am now
about to write is, strictly andliterally, the truth.
The private difference between my cousin and me took its
rise ina great public event in which we were both concerned
– the stormingof Seringapatam, under General Baird, on the
4th of May, 1799.
In order that the circumstances may be clearly understood,
Imust revert for a moment to the period before the assault, and
tothe stories current in our camp of the treasure in jewels and
goldstored up in the Palace of Seringapatam.
II
One of the wildest of these stories related to a YellowDiamond – a famous gem in the native annals of India.
5
WILKIE COLLINS
The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having
beenset in the forehead of the four-handed Indian god who
typifi es theMoon. Partly from its peculiar colour, partly from
a superstitionwhich represented it as feeling the infl uence of
the deity whom itadorned, and growing and lessening in lustre with the waxing andwaning of the moon, it fi rst gained the
name by which it continuesto be known in India to this day
– the name of THE MOONSTONE. Asimilar superstition was
once prevalent, as I have heard, inancient Greece and Rome;
not applying, however (as in India), to adiamond devoted to
the service of a god, but to a semi-transparentstone of the inferior order of gems, supposed to be affected by thelunar infl uences – the moon, in this latter case also, giving thename by
which the stone is still known to collectors in our owntime.
The adventures of the Yellow Diamond begin with the
eleventhcentury of the Christian era.
At that date, the Mohammedan conqueror, Mahmoud of
Ghizni,crossed India; seized on the holy city of Somnauth; and
stripped ofi ts treasures the famous temple, which had stood
for centuries – theshrine of Hindoo pilgrimage, and the wonder of the Easternworld.
Of all the deities worshipped in the temple, the moon-god
aloneescaped the rapacity of the conquering Mohammedans.
Preserved bythree Brahmins, the inviolate deity, bearing the
Yellow Diamond inits forehead, was removed by night, and
was transported to thesecond of the sacred cities of India – the
city of Benares.
Here, in a new shrine – in a hall inlaid with precious
stones,under a roof supported by pillars of gold – the moongod was set upand worshipped. Here, on the night when the
6
THE MOONSTONE
shrine was completed,Vishnu the Preserver appeared to the
three Brahmins in a dream.
The deity breathed the breath of his divinity on the Diamond inthe forehead of the god. And the Brahmins knelt and
hid their facesin their robes. The deity commanded that the
Moonstone should bewatched, from that time forth, by three
priests in turn, night andday, to the end of the generations of
men. And the Brahmins heard,and bowed before his will. The
deity predicted certain disaster tothe presumptuous mortal who
laid hands on the sacred gem, and toall of his house and name
who received it after him. And theBrahmins caused the prophecy to be written over the gates of theshrine in letters of gold.
One age followed another – and still, generation after
generation,the successors of the three Brahmins watched their
pricelessMoonstone, night and day. One age followed another
until the fi rstyears of the eighteenth Christian century saw the
reign ofAurungzebe, Emperor of the Moguls. At his command
havoc and rapinewere let loose once more among the temples
of the worship ofBrahmah. The shrine of the four-handed god
was polluted by theslaughter of sacred animals; the images
of the deities were brokenin pieces; and the Moonstone was
seized by an offi cer of rank inthe army of Aurungzebe.
Powerless to recover their lost treasure by open force, thethree guardian priests followed and watched it in disguise.
Thegenerations succeeded each other; the warrior who had
committed thesacrilege perished miserably; the Moonstone
passed (carrying itscurse with it) from one lawless Mohammedan hand to another; andstill, through all chances and
changes, the successors of the threeguardian priests kept their
watch, waiting the day when the will ofVishnu the Preserver
should restore to them their sacred gem. Timerolled on from
7
WILKIE COLLINS
the fi rst to the last years of the eighteenthChristian century.
The Diamond fell into the possession of Tippoo,Sultan of
Seringapatam, who caused it to be placed as an ornamentin
the handle of a dagger, and who commanded it to be kept
amongthe choicest treasures of his armoury. Even then – in
the palace ofthe Sultan himself – the three guardian priests
still kept theirwatch in secret. There were three offi cers of
Tippoo’s household,strangers to the rest, who had won their
master’s confi dence byconforming, or appearing to conform,
to the Mussulman faith; and tothose three men report pointed
as the three priests indisguise.
III
So, as told in our camp, ran the fanciful story of theMoonstone. It made no serious impression on any of us except mycousin – whose love of the marvellous induced him to believe it. Onthe night before the assault on Seringapatam, he
was absurdly angrywith me, and with others, for treating the
whole thing as a fable.A foolish wrangle followed; and Herncastle’s unlucky temper got thebetter of him. He declared, in
his boastful way, that we should seethe Diamond on his fi nger,
if the English army took Seringapatam.The sally was saluted by
a roar of laughter, and there, as we allthought that night, the
thing ended.
Let me now take you on to the day of the assault. My cousin
andI were separated at the outset. I never saw him when we
forded theriver; when we planted the English fl ag in the fi rst
breach; whenwe crossed the ditch beyond; and, fi ghting every
inch of our way,entered the town. It was only at dusk, when
the place was ours, andafter General Baird himself had found
8
THE MOONSTONE
the dead body of Tippoo undera heap of the slain, that Herncastle and I met.
We were each attached to a party sent out by the
general’sorders to prevent the plunder and confusion which
followed ourconquest. The camp-followers committed deplorable excesses; and,worse still, the soldiers found their way,
by a guarded door, intothe treasury of the Palace, and loaded
themselves with gold andjewels. It was in the court outside
the treasury that my cousin andI met, to enforce the laws of
discipline on our own soldiers.Herncastle’s fi ery temper had
been, as I could plainly see,exasperated to a kind of frenzy by
the terrible slaughter throughwhich we had passed. He was
very unfi t, in my opinion, to performthe duty that had been
entrusted to him.
There was riot and confusion enough in the treasury, but
noviolence that I saw. The men (if I may use such an expression)disgraced themselves good-humouredly. All sorts of
rough jests andcatchwords were bandied about among them;
and the story of theDiamond turned up again unexpectedly,
in the form of a mischievousjoke. “Who’s got the Moonstone?”
was the rallying cry whichperpetually caused the plundering,
as soon as it was stopped in oneplace, to break out in another. While I was still vainly trying toestablish order, I heard a
frightful yelling on the other side ofthe courtyard, and at once
ran towards the cries, in dread offi nding some new outbreak of
the pillage in that direction.
I got to an open door, and saw the bodies of two Indians
(bytheir dress, as I guessed, offi cers of the palace) lying across
theentrance, dead.
A cry inside hurried me into a room, which appeared to
serve asan armoury. A third Indian, mortally wounded, was
9
WILKIE COLLINS
sinking at thefeet of a man whose back was towards me. The
man turned at theinstant when I came in, and I saw John
Herncastle, with a torch inone hand, and a dagger dripping
with blood in the other. A stone,set like a pommel, in the end
of the dagger’s handle, fl ashed inthe torchlight, as he turned
on me, like a gleam of fi re. The dyingIndian sank to his knees,
pointed to the dagger in Herncastle’shand, and said, in his native language – ”The Moonstone will have itsvengeance yet
on you and yours!” He spoke those words, and felldead on the
fl oor.
Before I could stir in the matter, the men who had followed
meacross the courtyard crowded in. My cousin rushed to meet
them,like a madman. “Clear the room!” he shouted to me, “and
set a guardon the door!” The men fell back as he threw himself
on them withhis torch and his dagger. I put two sentinels of my
own company, onwhom I could rely, to keep the door. Through
the remainder of thenight, I saw no more of my cousin.
Early in the morning, the plunder still going on, General
Bairdannounced publicly by beat of drum, that any thief detected in thefact, be he whom he might, should be hung. The
provost-marshal wasin attendance, to prove that the General
was in earnest; and in thethrong that followed the proclamation, Herncastle and I metagain.
He held out his hand, as usual, and said, “Good morning.”
I waited before I gave him my hand in return.
“Tell me fi rst,” I said, “how the Indian in the armoury met
hisdeath, and what those last words meant, when he pointed
to thedagger in your hand.”
“The Indian met his death, as I suppose, by a mortal
wound,”said Herncastle. “What his last words meant I know
no more than youdo.”
10
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