赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩17
时间：2024-12-31 10:20:48
（单词翻译:单击）
Three
THE ARCADIAN DEER
melted and dripped from the corners of his moustache.
There was a knock at the door and a chambermaid appeared. She was a slow-breathing
thickset country girl and she stared with a good deal of curiosity at Hercule Poirot. It was possible
that she had not seen anything quite like him before.
She asked: “Did you ring?”
“I did. Will you be so good as to light a fire?”
She went out and came back again immediately with paper and sticks. She knelt down in
front of the big Victorian grate and began to lay a fire.
Hercule Poirot continued to stamp his feet, swing his arms and blow on his fingers.
He was annoyed. His car—an expensive Messarro Gratz—had not behaved with that
handsome salary, had not succeeded in putting things right. The car had staged a final refusal in a
secondary road a mile and a half from anywhere with a fall of snow beginning. Hercule Poirot,
wearing his usual smart patent leather shoes, had been forced to walk that mile and a half to reach
dismay at the arrival of a guest. The landlord had been almost eloquent6 as he pointed7 out that the
local garage could supply a car in which the gentleman could continue his journey.
already had a car—a large car—an expensive car. In that car and no other he proposed to continue
his journey back to town. And in any case, even if repairs to it could be quickly effected, he was
not going on in this snow until next morning. He demanded a room, a fire and a meal. Sighing, the
landlord showed him to the room, sent the maid to supply the fire and then retired10 to discuss with
his wife the problem of the meal.
An hour later, his feet stretched out towards the comforting blaze, Hercule Poirot reflected
leniently11 on the dinner he had just eaten. True, the steak had been both tough and full of gristle,
the brussels sprouts12 had been large, pale, and definitely watery13, the potatoes had had hearts of
followed. The cheese had been hard, and the biscuits soft. Nevertheless, thought Hercule Poirot,
euphemistically called coffee, it was better to be full than empty, and after tramping snowbound
lanes in patent leather shoes, to sit in front of a fire was Paradise!
There was a knock on the door and the chambermaid appeared.
“Please, sir, the man from the garage is here and would like to see you.”
“Let him mount.”
would provide entertainment for many winter days to come.
There was another knock—a different knock—and Poirot called:
“Come in.”
He looked up with approval at the young man who entered and stood there looking ill at ease,
twisting his cap in his hands.
The young man said in a low husky voice:
“About the car, sir, we’ve brought it in. And we’ve got at the trouble. It’s a matter of an
hour’s work or so.”
Poirot said:
“What is wrong with it?”
was not listening. Perfect physique was a thing he admired greatly. There were, he considered, too
many rats in spectacles about. He said to himself approvingly: “Yes, a Greek god—a young
shepherd in Arcady.”
for a second. His first reaction had been æsthetic, his second mental. His eyes narrowed
He said:
“I comprehend. Yes, I comprehend.” He paused and then added: “My chauffeur, he has
already told me that which you have just said.”
“Yes—er—yes, sir. I know.”
“But you thought that you would also come and tell me yourself?”
“Er—yes, sir, I thought I’d better.”
“That,” said Hercule Poirot, “was very conscientious27 of you. Thank you.”
There was a faint but unmistakable note of dismissal in the last words but he did not expect
the other to go and he was right. The young man did not move.
His fingers moved convulsively, crushing the tweed cap, and he said in a still lower
embarrassed voice:
“Er—excuse me, sir—but it’s true, isn’t it, that you’re the detective gentleman—you’re
Mr. Hercules Pwarrit?” He said the name very carefully.
Poirot said: “That is so.”
Red crept up the young man’s face. He said:
“I read a piece about you in the paper.”
“Yes?”
came to his aid. He said gently:
“Yes? What is it you want to ask me?”
The words came with a rush now.
“I’m afraid you may think it’s awful cheek of me, sir. But your coming here by chance like
this—well, it’s too good to be missed. Having read about you and the clever things you’ve done.
Anyway, I said as after all I might as well ask you. There’s no harm in asking, is there?”
Hercule Poirot shook his head. He said:
“You want my help in some way?”
The other nodded. He said, his voice husky and embarrassed:
“It’s—it’s about a young lady. If—if you could find her for me.”
“Find her? Has she disappeared, then?”
“That’s right, sir.”
Hercule Poirot sat up in his chair. He said sharply:
“I could help you, perhaps, yes. But the proper people for you to go to are the police. It is
their job and they have far more resources at their disposal than I have.”
Hercule Poirot stared at him. Then he indicated a chair.
“Eh bien, then, sit down—what is your name?”
“Sit down, Ted. And tell me all about it.”
“Thank you sir.” He drew forward the chair and sat down carefully on the edge of it. His eyes
had still that appealing doglike look.
Hercule Poirot said gently:
“Tell me.”
Ted Williamson drew a deep breath.
“Well, you see, sir, it was like this. I never saw her but the once. And I don’t know her right
name nor anything. But it’s queer like, the whole thing, and my letter coming back and
everything.”
“Start,” said Hercule Poirot, “at the beginning. Do not hurry yourself. Just tell me everything
that occurred.”
“Yes, sir. Well, perhaps you know Grasslawn, sir, that big house down by the river past the
bridge?”
“I know nothing at all.”
“Belongs to Sir George Sanderfield, it does. He uses it in the summertime for weekends and
parties—rather a gay lot he has down as a rule. Actresses and that. Well, it was last June—and the
Poirot nodded.
“So I went along. The gentleman was out on the river with his guests and the cook was out
and his manservant had gone along to serve the drinks and all that on the launch. There was only
this girl in the house—she was the lady’s maid to one of the guests. She let me in and showed me
where the set was, and stayed there while I was working on it. And so we got to talking and all
that . . . Nita her name was, so she told me, and she was lady’s maid to a Russian dancer who was
staying there.”
“What nationality was she, English?”
right. She—she was friendly and after a bit I asked her if she could come out that night and go to
the pictures, but she said her lady would be needing her. But then she said as how she could get off
early in the afternoon because as how they wasn’t going to be back off the river till late. So the
long and the short of it was that I took the afternoon off without asking (and nearly got the sack for
it too) and we went for a walk along by the river.”
“And she was pretty, yes?”
“She was just the loveliest thing you ever saw. Her hair was like gold—it went up each side
like wings—and she had a gay kind of way of tripping along. I—I—well, I fell for her right away,
sir. I’m not pretending anything else.”
Poirot nodded. The young man went on:
meet again then.” He paused. “But she never came. I waited for her at the spot she’d said, but not a
sign of her, and at last I made bold to go up to the house and ask for her. The Russian lady was
staying there all right and her maid too, they said. Sent for her, they did, but when she came, why,
it wasn’t Nita at all! Just a dark catty-looking girl—a bold lot if there ever was one. Marie, they
called her. “You want to see me?” she says, simpering all over. She must have seen I was took
aback. I said was she the Russian lady’s maid and something about her not being the one I’d seen
before, and then she laughed and said that the last maid had been sent away sudden. “Sent away?”
know?” she said. “I was not
there.”
“Well, sir, it took me aback. At the moment I couldn’t think of anything to say. But
afterwards I plucked up the courage and I got to see this Marie again and asked her to get me
Nita’s address. I didn’t let on to her that I didn’t even know Nita’s last name. I promised her a
present if she did what I asked—she was the kind as wouldn’t do anything for you for nothing.
Well, she got it all right for me—an address in North London, it was, and I wrote to Nita there—
but the letter came back after a bit—sent back through the post office with no longer at this
Ted Williamson stopped. His eyes, those deep blue steady eyes, looked across at Poirot. He
said:
“You see how it is, sir? It’s not a case for the police. But I want to find her. And I don’t know
how to set about it. If—if you could find her for me.” His colour deepened. “I’ve—I’ve a bit put
by. I could manage five pounds—or even ten.”
Poirot said gently:
“We need not discuss the financial side for the moment. First reflect on this point—this girl,
this Nita—she knew your name and where you worked?”
“Oh yes, sir.”
“She could have communicated with you if she had wanted to?”
Ted said more slowly:
“Yes, sir.”
“Then do you not think—perhaps—”
Ted Williamson interrupted him.
“What you’re meaning, sir, is that I fell for her but she didn’t fall for me? Maybe that’s true
in a way . . . But she liked me—she did like me—it wasn’t just a bit of fun to her . . . And I’ve
been thinking, sir, as there might be a reason for all this. You see, sir, it was a funny crowd she
was mixed up in. She might be in a bit of trouble, if you know what I mean.”
“You mean she might have been going to have a child? Your child?”
“Not mine, sir.” Ted flushed. “There wasn’t nothing wrong between us.”
Poirot looked at him thoughtfully. He murmured:
“And if what you suggest is true—you still want to find her?”
The colour surged up in Ted Williamson’s face. He said:
“Yes, I do, and that’s flat! I want to marry her if she’ll have me. And that’s no matter what
kind of a jam she’s in! If you’ll only try and find her for me, sir?”
Hercule Poirot smiled. He said, murmuring to himself:
rightly, that happened in Arcady. . . .”
点击
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收听单词发音 |
1
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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ted
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| vt.翻晒，撒，撒开 | |
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3
chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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moribund
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| adj.即将结束的，垂死的 | |
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6
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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7
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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8
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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thrift
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| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
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10
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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11
leniently
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| 温和地，仁慈地 | |
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12
sprouts
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| n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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13
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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14
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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15
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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17
giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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19
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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21
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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22
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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23
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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24
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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25
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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27
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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28
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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29
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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30
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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32
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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33
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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34
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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36
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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37
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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