赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩03

时间：2024-12-31 10:15:49

（单词翻译:单击）

II
In a large, hot, ornately furnished drawing room two women were sitting.
As Sir Joseph and Hercule Poirot entered, a small Pekinese dog rushed forward, barking
furiously, and circling dangerously round Poirot’s ankles.
“Shan—Shan, come here. Come here to mother, lovey—Pick him up, Miss Carnaby.”
The second woman hurried forward and Hercule Poirot murmured:
“A veritable lion, indeed.”
Rather breathlessly Shan Tung’s captor agreed.
“Yes, indeed, he’s such a good watch dog. He’s not frightened of anything or any one.
There’s a lovely boy, then.”
Having performed the necessary introduction, Sir Joseph said:
“Well, Mr. Poirot, I’ll leave you to get on with it,” and with a short nod he left the room.
Lady Hoggin was a stout1, petulant-looking woman with dyed henna red hair. Her companion,
the fluttering Miss Carnaby, was a plump, amiable-looking creature between forty and fifty. She
treated Lady Hoggin with great deference2 and was clearly frightened to death of her.
Poirot said:
“Now tell me, Lady Hoggin, the full circumstances of this abominable3 crime.”
Lady Hoggin flushed.
“I’m very glad to hear you say that, Mr. Poirot. For it was a crime. Pekinese are terribly
sensitive—just as sensitive as children. Poor Shan Tung might have died of fright if of nothing
else.”
Miss Carnaby chimed in breathlessly:
“Yes, it was wicked—wicked!”
“Please tell me the facts.”
“Well, it was like this. Shan Tung was out for his walk in the Park with Miss Carnaby—”
“Oh dear me, yes, it was all my fault,” chimed in the companion. “How could I have been so
stupid—so careless—”
Lady Hoggin said acidly:
“I don’t want to reproach you, Miss Carnaby, but I do think you might have been more
alert.”
Poirot transferred his gaze to the companion.
“What happened?”
Miss Carnaby burst into voluble and slightly flustered4 speech.
“Well, it was the most extraordinary thing! We had just been along the flower walk—Shan
Tung was on the lead, of course—he’d had his little run on the grass—and I was just about to turn
and go home when my attention was caught by a baby in a pram—such a lovely baby—it smiled
at me—lovely rosy5 cheeks and such curls. I couldn’t just resist speaking to the nurse in charge and
asking how old it was—seventeen months, she said—and I’m sure I was only speaking to her for
about a minute or two, and then suddenly I looked down and Shan wasn’t there any more. The
lead had been cut right through—”
Lady Hoggin said:
“If you’d been paying proper attention to your duties, nobody could have sneaked6 up and cut
that lead.”
Miss Carnaby seemed inclined to burst into tears. Poirot said hastily:
“And what happened next?”
“Well, of course I looked everywhere. And called! And I asked the Park attendant if he’d
seen a man carrying a Pekinese dog but he hadn’t noticed anything of the kind—and I didn’t know
what to do—and I went on searching, but at last, of course, I had to come home—”
Miss Carnaby stopped dead. Poirot could imagine the scene that followed well enough. He
asked:
“And then you received a letter?”
Lady Hoggin took up the tale.
“By the first post the following morning. It said that if I wanted to see Shan Tung alive I was
to send £200 in one pound notes in an unregistered packet to Captain Curtis, 38 Bloomsbury Road
Square. It said that if the money were marked or the police informed then—then—Shan Tung’s
ears and tail would be—cut off!”
Miss Carnaby began to sniff7.
“So awful,” she murmured. “How people can be such fiends!”
Lady Hoggin went on:
“It said that if I sent the money at once, Shan Tung would be returned the same evening alive
and well, but that if—if afterwards I went to the police, it would be Shan Tung who would suffer
for it—”
Miss Carnaby murmured tearfully:
“Oh dear, I’m so afraid that even now—of course, M. Poirot isn’t exactly the police—”
Lady Hoggin said anxiously:
“So you see, Mr. Poirot, you will have to be very careful.”
Hercule Poirot was quick to allay8 her anxiety.
“But I, I am not of the police. My inquiries9, they will be conducted very discreetly10, very
quietly. You can be assured, Lady Hoggin, that Shan Tung will be perfectly11 safe. That I will
guarantee.”
Both ladies seemed relieved by the magic word. Poirot went on: “You have here the letter?”
Lady Hoggin shook her head.
“No, I was instructed to enclose it with the money.”
“And you did so?”
“Yes.”
“H’m, that is a pity.”
Miss Carnaby said brightly:
“But I have the dog lead still. Shall I get it?”
She left the room. Hercule Poirot profited by her absence to ask a few pertinent12 questions.
“Amy Carnaby? Oh! she’s quite all right. A good soul, though foolish, of course. I have had
several companions and they have all been complete fools. But Amy was devoted13 to Shan Tung
and she was terribly upset over the whole thing—as well she might be—hanging over
perambulators and neglecting my little sweetheart! These old maids are all the same, idiotic14 over
babies! No, I’m quite sure she had nothing whatever to do with it.”
“It does not seem likely,” Poirot agreed. “But as the dog disappeared when in her charge one
must make quite certain of her honesty. She has been with you long?”
“Nearly a year. I had excellent references with her. She was with old Lady Hartingfield until
she died—ten years, I believe. After that she looked after an invalid15 sister for a while. She really is
an excellent creature—but a complete fool, as I said.”
Amy Carnaby returned at this minute, slightly more out of breath, and produced the cut dog
lead which she handed to Poirot with the utmost solemnity, looking at him with hopeful
expectancy16.
Poirot surveyed it carefully.
“Mais oui,” he said. “This has undoubtedly17 been cut.”
The two women waited expectantly. He said:
“I will keep this.”
Solemnly he put it in his pocket. The two women breathed a sigh of relief. He had clearly
done what was expected of him.

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1 stout PGuzF     
adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的
参考例句：
  • He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
  • The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。
2 deference mmKzz     
n.尊重，顺从；敬意
参考例句：
  • Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
  • The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。
3 abominable PN5zs     
adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的
参考例句：
  • Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。
  • The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。
4 flustered b7071533c424b7fbe8eb745856b8c537     
adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
  • The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句
5 rosy kDAy9     
adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的
参考例句：
  • She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
  • She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。
6 sneaked fcb2f62c486b1c2ed19664da4b5204be     
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状
参考例句：
  • I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
  • She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。
7 sniff PF7zs     
vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视
参考例句：
  • The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
  • When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
8 allay zxIzJ     
v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)
参考例句：
  • The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
  • They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。
9 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听
参考例句：
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
10 discreetly nuwz8C     
ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地
参考例句：
  • He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇，一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
  • Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么，有意避开了。
11 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
12 pertinent 53ozF     
adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的
参考例句：
  • The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
  • These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。
13 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
14 idiotic wcFzd     
adj.白痴的
参考例句：
  • It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
  • The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。
15 invalid V4Oxh     
n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的
参考例句：
  • He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
  • A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。
16 expectancy tlMys     
n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额
参考例句：
  • Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
  • The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。
17 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地，无疑地
参考例句：
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

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