وصية عائلة موسغريف

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes #6

by Arthur Conan Doyle, سالي أحمد حمدي (ترجمة)

In the story, Holmes recounts to Watson the events arising after a visit from a university acquaintance, Reginald Musgrave. Musgrave visits Holmes after the disappearance of two of his domestic staff, Rachel Howells, a maid, and Richard Brunton, the longtime butler. The pair vanished after Musgrave had dismissed Brunton for secretly reading a family document, the Musgrave Ritual.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Detective

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1893

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nachdem mich mein letzter Sherlock Holmes -Fall eher enttäuscht hat ("Der Mann mit der Narbe"), konnte mich diese Geschichte nun wieder überzeugen! Es geht um einen alten Butler, der verschwunden ist, und um ein Familiengeheimnis.
Familiengeheimnisse und Rätsel mag ich sehr, vermutlich hat mich daher dieser Fall angesprochen. Und natürlich Holmes Kombinationsgabe; die ist hier auch wieder unübertroffen :)

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. I read an abridged copy of this story as a child and for years I struggled to enjoy this story as much as the other Sherlock stories simply because of the memory of how much it haunted me as a child. (Don’t read Sherlock at night all alone in a dark basement if you’re sensitive, kids.) However, it’s not by any means a bad story! To start off, the beginning is hilarious and SO GOOD. Then, it’s very interesting to see more of Sherlock before Watson’s time—in fact, ‘it is to the interest which was aroused by that singular chain of events, and the large issues which proved to be at stake, that I trace my first stride towards the position which I now hold.’ The deductions are simply brilliant and the story is fascinating, although pretty saddening, and it would have been fun if Reginald Musgrave showed up again. For Sherlock fans, this is not a story to pass up, and for those who enjoy studying humanity, this story holds a lot to think about.

Content: smoking; murder; short but gruesome description of a body. Violence/Disturbance Level: 3/5 (medium)

Favourite Humorous Quote: ”But with [my untidiness] there is a limit, and when I find a man who keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humors, would sit in an arm-chair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V.R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.”

[Jaksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better of the Sherlock Holmes stories, though with a major loophole/plot hole in it. This time I didn't care.

Sherlock describes a case (to Watson) which happened early in his adult life. Asked to look into the disappearance of an old college friend's family butler, Holmes finds not one puzzle - the missing man - but two. There's also a strange and enigmatic 'ritual' the friend must repeat in order to fully inherit the family estate.

It seems the friend, Reginald Musgrave, had come upon the butler snooping through the family's personal library late at night. Without good explanation for such behavior, Musgrave dismisses the man, allowing him a one week reprieve as he's worked for the family so long. Yet only a few days later the butler is gone, leaving all his personal effects behind. A few days after that, the family maid 'goes mad' and she runs off, too. All is tres weird and inexplicable...

As for the 'ritual:' it's a series of statements and responses that each new Musgrave heir must repeat when he comes into his inheritance. It's nothing important, young Musgrave tells Holmes. Not so, says the nascent detective, and so...

Well, I was kind of caught up in this one: disappearing butler, then maid; a strange 'ritual,' or is it a mysterious cipher?

This is a very good tale, even with the plot hole which many and sundry critics have pointed out. Yes, and I saw it, too, even before reading the critical analysis of the story.

Still enjoyed it. Very much.

Four stars.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, although I was hoping for the ritual itself to be something crazier.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 3 out of 5]

La verdad es que me esperé algo diferente dado el título de este relato. Me imaginé que sería algo relacionado con fantasmas o algo misterioso a lo que luego Holmes le daría una explicación racional, pero no. En realidad no se trata de nada paranormal, sino que es una historia llena de acertijos y no me encantó. Sin embargo, la resolución estuvo interesante porque involucraba a monarquías, reyes del pasado y también a los Estuardo... y si me conocen saben que estoy obsesionada con su historia porque se relacionan con Escocia.

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adv...
SYNOPSIS: "Unlike the majority of Holmes stories, the main narrator is not Doctor Watson, but Sherlock Holmes himself. With Watson providing an introduction, the story within a story is a classic example of a frame tale. It is one of the earliest recorded cases investigated by Holmes, and establishes his problem solving skills.
.........
In the story, Holmes recounts to Watson the events arising after a visit from a university acquaintance, Reginald Musgrave. Musgrave visits Holmes after the disappearance of two of his domestic staff, Rachel Howells, a maid, and Richard Brunton, the longtime butler. The pair vanished after Musgrave had dismissed Brunton for secretly reading a family document, the Musgrave Ritual. The Ritual, which dates from the 17th century, is a riddle set in question/response form."

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special. If you ask me, it looks more than a story by Robert Louis Stevenson.
So we have a riddle involving a map, an ancient treasure, two disappearances and a lot of mystery. The old scheme, let everything be complicated, instead of loud and clear...

[Yousra · Rating 5 out of 5]

بهذه المغامرة القصيرة جدا أكون قد أنهيت العدد الرابع مما توفر لدي من مغامرات شيرلوك هولمز الممتعة ، وأتفهم ولع القراء بها واجبارهم كاتبها لكتابة المزيد من تلك السلسلة - وربما هو نفس ولعنا بأساطير رفعت إسماعيل - فقد أحببت جو هذه المغامرات وأتمنى الحصول على المزيد من أعداد تلك السلسلة التي رشحها أصدقاء الجودريدز الأعزاء مع سلسلة قصص الكاتبة أجاثا كريستي البوليسية دون تفضيل

واللطيف في الأمر أن الترشيح لم يكن لي بل لأبناء أختي اللذين - لظروف تتعلق بالدراسة - لم يتسلما ما اشتريته لهما ثم نسيا الأمر، ثم قررت ابنة اختى أن تقرأ كتبا بالإنجليزية لا العربية ، وهكذا فقد ظلت المجموعتين لدي في منزلي

وكنت مع حيرتي بسبب عدم تفضيل مجموعة معينة قد كتبت لصاحب مكتبتي المفضلة، وسبب حلمي بإنشاء مكتبة مماثله هنا في القاهرة لا بهدف المنافسة بل بسبب الإعجاب والرغبة في تكرار التجربة، كتبت اسأله ما الحل واهتدينا إلى أن يرشح لي ٤ أعداد من كل سلسلة مع تلميح لا أعلم إن كان عن عدم تصديق لي أم أنه كان اقتراحا صادقا أن "حتى الكبار بيقروها ... عادي :)" ... صدقت، فها أنا قد قرأت واعجبت بأول سلسلة ... عادي :)) ... وسعيدة بذلك

أعجبتني تلك المغامرة جدا على الرغم من قصرها واستمتعت بها جدا ففيها مقومات المغامرة كما أفضلها
قصر قديم لأسرة عريقة
خدم
مؤامرة
سر
كنز
اختفاء بشر
كل أسباب الإستمتاع بالمغامرة بالنسبة لي

وهكذا فأنا غالبا سأقتني باقي الأعداد وسأعرض ما قرأت على أبناء أختي لعل وعسى يحبا القراءة فيصيرا أكثر تميزا في دراستهما بالانفتاح على القراءة خارج إطار المناهج الدراسية

شكرا مكتبة روايات الشباب على تواجدك وأتمنى أن أقوم بزيارة قريبة مع أولادي لكِ

[Jim Ef · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.4/10
When Sherlock Holmes offers to tell you about a case from his past, it's very hard to refuse. Even if conveniently he does so, when he was supposed to tidy up. So sit back and along Watson find out about the case of the Musgrave ritual.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. This one comes with a warning. Have you read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado?" That's a Spanish sherry often stored in basement vaults for decades. First published in 1846. One of the great horror short stories of all time. Doyle's "The Musgrave Ritual" debuted 47 years later. You can be assured its author had read Poe's earlier work. Do you know the term, immurement? To be entombed alive. A human fear that crosses all cultures. One shakes at the thought. Back to "Musgrave." It's another early adventure of Sherlock Holmes. He and Watson are discussing Watson's efforts to write-up Holmes' many interesting cases, and some of the ones not yet committed to paper. Holmes had distantly known Reginald Musgrave in college. Four years later, the son of the Musgraves of Sussex came to see him. Now as head of the family. He tells Holmes that at Hurlstone manor they have a dozen or more staff including Brunton the butler. Musgrave describes Brunton as a paragon but with one fault; he's a Don Juan when it comes to women. Apparently, he has disappeared. In strange circumstances. And a maid too. Can Holmes help? You've been warned. (April 2022)

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 Words: Perfect length for a cuppa.

I quite enjoyed this one, and what an interesting outcome too.

The more I read these stories the more predictable they're becoming, but they're still entertaining and I love the narrative style and the slight variances depending on who's telling.

[Crime Addict Sifat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual generally observes Holmes looking it to the vanishing of two workers, however more excitingly, investigating the significance of the Musgrave Ritual; the Musgrave Ritual being a presentation of apparently negligible expressions.

The custom obviously ends up being bearings for a fortune chase, and maybe it is on account of practically everybody appreciates the idea a fortune chase that sees The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual continually evaluated among the best Holmes stories. To be sure, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1927 would rate the story among his 12 best.

In the first couple of Sherlock Holmes stories, Conan Doyle had begun to rehash a few components of the investigator's cases, yet despite the fact that The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual is told from the point of view of Holmes, similarly as The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott' had, the story itself is new and extraordinary, reviving the standard.

[Dhia Nouioui · Rating 1 out of 5]

Putting this away because I really can't get into it. I'm just not a fan of Doyle's writing and Holmes' pretentiousness in the stories.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick but fascinating journey through the secrets of an old manor and family.

[Mitch Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Sherlock bloke sure loves to yap

[Rahaf İbrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

"ففي أعماق قلبي كنت أؤمن أنني استطيع النجاح حيث فشل الآخرون"
نعم هذا هو شرلوك♡

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A search for buried treasure! Another of Holmes' old cases and another chum from university. Musgrave's father has passed so the younger Musgrave has taken over the estate. There has been some trouble in the household that he is hoping his old friend Holmes can sort out. The butler was caught in the library in the middle of the night by Musgrave where he was reviewing old family papers. Musgrave was outraged and demanded that he leave within the week. The papers contained an old family oath that each male Musgrave took in a ritual upon reaching adulthood. Three days later the butler went missing and the housemaid, who was his former fiancé, took to her bed with hysteria. A few days later, she too went missing. Her footsteps ended at the pond, which they dredged and only turned up a bag containing old, rusted metal trinkets and little pebbles.
Holmes, upon reviewing the oath, saw at once that it was a treasure map that counted out the paced steps from the oak and elm trees in front of the estate, taking them to the infrequently used cellar in the old wing of the house. Here they found a secret vault and behind the heavy stone they found the dead butler and an empty lock box. Holmes figured out that the butler intended to take the buried treasure but couldn't move the stone by himself so he asked the maid for help. Once he handed her the items from the safe, she took her revenge and sealed him in. However, in the light of day, she regretted her decision and threw the evidence in the pond and fled. The items were the old royal crown of Charles I, with the metal tarnished and misshapen and the gems soiled with pond muck. Not sure why a lowly maid would willingly part with gems though...

[RM Subramanian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astonishing narrative right from Sherlock and brilliant riddle.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this tale as it provides insights on Holmes himself, and his quirks. An enjoyable early story told in the first person by Holmes to Watson.

In the story, Holmes recounts to Watson the events arising after a visit from a university acquaintance, Reginald Musgrave. Musgrave visits Holmes after the disappearance of two of his domestic staff, Rachel Howells, a maid, and Richard Brunton, the longtime butler. The pair vanished after Musgrave had dismissed Brunton for secretly reading a family document, the Musgrave Ritual. The Ritual, which dates from the 17th century, is a riddle set in question/response form. It reads:

Whose was it?'
'His who is gone.'
'Who shall have it?'
'He who will come.'
('What was the month?'
'The sixth from the first.')
'Where was the sun?'
'Over the oak.'
'Where was the shadow?'
'Under the elm.'
'How was it stepped?'
'North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under.'
'What shall we give for it?'
'All that is ours.'
'Why should we give it?'
'For the sake of the trust.

Musgrave caught Brunton in the library at two o'clock one morning. Not only had he unlocked a cabinet and taken out the document in question, but he also had what looked like a chart or map, which he promptly stuffed into a pocket upon seeing his employer watching him. Brunton besought Musgrave not to dishonour him by dismissing him, and asked for a month's time to invent some reason for leaving, making it seem as though he was leaving of his own accord. Musgrave granted him a week. The story later reveals that Brunton wanted the time for something else.

A few days later, Brunton disappeared, leaving behind most of his belongings. His bed had not been slept in. No sign could be found of him. The maid, Rachel Howells, who was also Brunton's former lover, had a hysterical fit when asked about Brunton's whereabouts, repeating over and over that he was gone. She was in such a state that another servant was posted to sit up with her at night. Eventually, however, the guarding servant nodded off one night, and the hysterical Rachel Howells escaped through a window. Her footprints led to the edge of the mere, and ended there. Musgrave had the mere dredged, but only a sack containing some rusty, mangled bits of metal, and some coloured stones or glass were found. Rachel Howells was never heard from again.

Holmes looked upon the case not as three mysteries, but as one. He considered the riddle of the ritual. It was a meaningless, absurd tradition to Musgrave, and apparently to all his ancestors going back more than two centuries, but Holmes – and Brunton, too, Holmes suspected – saw it as something very different. He quickly realized that it was a set of instructions for finding something. Ascertaining the height of the oak, which was still standing, and the position of the elm, which was now gone, Holmes performed a few calculations and paced out the route to whatever awaited him, with Musgrave now eagerly following him.

It was quite instructive to Holmes that Brunton had recently asked about the old elm tree's height as well, and that he was apparently quite intelligent.

The two men found themselves inside a doorway, momentarily disappointed, until they realized that there was the last instruction, "and so under". There was a cellar under where they were standing, as old as the house. Finding their way into it, they saw that the floor had been cleared to expose a stone slab with an iron ring on it. Holmes thought it wise to bring the police in at this point. He and a burly Sussex policeman managed to lift the slab off the little hole that it was covering, and inside, they found an empty, rotten chest, and Brunton, who had been dead for several days. There were no marks on him. He had likely suffocated.

Holmes then put everything together for his rather shocked client. Brunton had deduced the ritual's meaning, at least insofar as it led to something valuable. He had determined the elm tree's height by asking his master, had paced out the instructions – and Holmes had later even found a peg hole in the lawn made by Brunton – had found the hiding place in the old cellar, but then had found it impossible to lift the stone slab himself. So, he had been forced to draw someone else into his treasure hunt. He had unwisely chosen Rachel Howells, who hated him. The two of them could have lifted the slab up, but they would have needed to support it while Brunton climbed down to fetch the treasure. Based on Rachel's sudden flight and disappearance, Holmes wondered if she had deliberately kicked the supports away and left Brunton to die, or if the slab had fallen back into place by itself and caused her to panic.

As to the relics found in the bag retrieved from the mere, Holmes examined them and found that the metal parts were gold and the stones were gems. He believed that it was no less than King Charles I’s ("His who is gone") gold crown, being kept for his eventual successor – his son, Charles II ("He who will come"), who would not be crowned until 11 years after the execution of Charles I. The ritual had been a guide to retrieving this important symbol, and Reginald confirms that one of his ancestors, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a king's man. Holmes theorized that the original holder of the ritual had died before teaching his son about its significance. It had thus become nothing more than a quaint custom for more than 200 years.

[Jason Donoghue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like it at all, I couldn't even finish the story. I was just turning the pages and reading words I had no idea what it was about. ( still don't now )


Would not recommend

[wiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

ciekawy plottwist na końcu, kocham sherlocka

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

When butlers go bad. Can the cad trust a woman scorned to assist him with his devious designs?

[Fay AlFalah · Rating 5 out of 5]

اسم الكتاب: وصيّة عائلة موسغريف - The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
اسم الكاتب: السير آرثر إغناتيوس كونان دويل - Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
عددالصفحات: 39 صفحة


~نبذة عن القصة،،
نشرت لأول مرة في مجلة الستراند بشكل منفرد في مايو 1893، قبل ان يعاد نشرها لاحقا مجمعة مع باقي قصص سلسلة مذكرات شرلوك هولمز. وعلى خلاف العديد من قصص هولمز، كان شرلوك هولمز هو الراوي الرئيسي للقصة وليس الدكتور واطسون و هي من أوائل القضايا التي قام هولمز بحلها.
~ مختصر القصة،،
ريجنالد موسغريف الأرستقراطي كان زميل هولمز في الكليّة والمنحدر من عائلة عريقة يسكن بقصر هورلستون يزور هولمز بعد 4 سنوات وبعد وفاة والده أصبح مشرفاً على الممتلكات هورلستون، فيخبره إنه حدثت أحداث غريبة وغير قابلة للتفسير و إن الشرطة أيضاً لم تستطع إفادته مما جعله يلجأ لمحققنا الشهير هولمز، الأقدم بين خدم الضيعة هو ريتشارد برونتون وهو ماهر جداً في عمله ويتحدث عدة لغات بالإضافة عزفه على أغلب الآلات الموسيقية وذكي جداً وجده موسغريف يعبثُ ليلاً في وثائق العائلة تعود للقرن السابع عشر مما يجعل موسغريف يطرده من العمل فوراً، ولكنه يرجوه أن يغادر في غضون شهر ليبدو الأمر كما لو كان استقال فهو لن يحتمل عار طرده، ولكن طلبه قوبل بالرفض فيتم إمهاله اسبوعاً وخلالها كان برونتون حريصاً على عمله و واجباته، ولكنه يختفي في اليوم الثالث وجميع ممتلكاته موجودة بالغرفة! وفي الليلة الثالثة من اختفاء كبير الخدم تختفي خطيبته المريضة راشيل هاولز!
فإلى أين ذهب كبير الخدم في أثناء الليل والخادمة راشيل؟ وماذا يمكن أن يكون قد حدث لهما؟
~مراجعتي،،
قصة مشوقة وسر عظيم خلف تلك الإختفاءات.
~اقتباسات،،
1- الرجال لا يدركون أنهم يفقدون حب المرأة إلى الأبد إذا ما عاملوها بسوء.

[Federico DN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

This was excellent, but not going to review it.

For the moment at least.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.

-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1893] [30p] [Crime] [4.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------

★★★★☆ 1. A Study in Scarlet [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Sign of Four [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [3.5] <--
★★★★☆ 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
★★★★☆ 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
★★★☆☆ 7. The Valley of Fear
★★★★☆ 8. His Last Bow [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 10. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

-----------------------------------------------

Excelente.

Esto estuvo excelente, pero no voy a reseñarlo.

Al menos por ahora.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1893] [30p] [Crimen] [4.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------

[midnightfaerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one really interesting. I couldn't get hardly any of the clues, of course my knowledge of history is quite limited (only hint you'll get), and particularly that specific bit of history. Other than that, perhaps it was the treasure aspect of the story, although I usually could care less about it, but the type of treasure and what it turned out being was neat, and I was pleasantly surprised with the conclusion. A fun story and highly recommended.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The straightforwardness of this story wont allow me to rate it any higher. Short but somewhat boring. The Gold Bug from Edgar Allan Poe has similar themes (ciphers, treasure hunting), but it is a much better read.

[إبراهيم · Rating 3 out of 5]

من القضايا المبكرة لشارلوك هولمز مع القصة السابقة قصة سفينة غلوريا سكوت ويبدو أن آرثر كونان دويل يقوم بسرد القضايا الأولى التي شارك فيها شارلوك

الوصية في هذه القصة واضحة جداً ولا أعلم ما هذا الغباء الذي تحمله هذه العائلة ، يبدو أن الجد كاتب الوصية يتحسر في قبره ندماً على غباء أحفاده

[Simone]

Read for school so no rating

A pretty simple story that I was kind of expecting more from. It was far too quick and definitely would've benefited from being longer. Nevertheless, the resolution was unexpected and satisfying.

[Muhtasim Khan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sherlock tells Watson about one of his solo mission in his early life.Not really a great adventure like other Sherlock stories I've read

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy s good story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle