赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩32

时间：2024-12-31 11:19:28

（单词翻译:单击）

XI
Edward Ferrier grasped Poirot warmly by the hand.
He said:
“I thank you, M. Poirot, a thousand times. Well, that finishes the X-ray News. Dirty little rag.
They’re wiped out completely. Serves them right for cooking up such a scurrilous1 plot. Against
Dagmar, too, the kindliest creature in the world. Thank goodness you managed to expose the
whole thing for the wicked ramp2 it was . . . What put you on to the idea that they might be using a
double?”
“It is not a new idea,” Poirot reminded him. “It was employed successfully in the case of
Jeanne de la Motte when she impersonated Marie Antoinette.”
“I know. I must re-read The Queen’s Necklace. But how did you actually find the woman
they were employing?”
“I looked for her in Denmark, and I found her there.”
“But why Denmark?”
“Because Mrs. Ferrier’s grandmother was a Dane, and she herself is a markedly Danish type.
And there were other reasons.”
“The resemblance is certainly striking. What a devilish idea! I wonder how the little rat came
to think of it?”
Poirot smiled.
“But he did not.”
He tapped himself on the chest.
“I thought of it!”
Edward Ferrier stared.
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
Poirot said:
“We must go back to an older story than that of The Queen’s Necklace—to the cleansing3 of
the Augean Stables. What Hercules used was a river—that is to say one of the great forces of
Nature. Modernize4 that! What is a great force of Nature? Sex, is it not? It is the sex angle that sells
stories, that makes news. Give people scandal allied5 to sex and it appeals far more than any mere6
political chicanery7 or fraud.
“Eh bien, that was my task! First to put my own hands in the mud like Hercules to build up a
dam that should turn the course of that river. A journalistic friend of mine aided me. He searched
Denmark until he found a suitable person to attempt the impersonation. He approached her,
casually8 mentioned the X-ray News to her, hoping she would remember it. She did.
“And so, what happened? Mud—a great deal of mud! Cæsar’s wife is bespattered with it. Far
more interesting to everybody than any political scandal. And the result—the “dénouement? Why,
Reaction! Virtue9 vindicated10! The pure woman cleared! A great tide of Romance and Sentiment
sweeping11 through the Augean Stables.
“If all the newspapers in the country publish the news of John Hammett’s defalcations now,
no one will believe it. It will be put down as another political plot to discredit12 the Government.”
Edward Ferrier took a deep breath. For a moment Hercule Poirot came nearer to being
physically13 assaulted than at any other time in his career.
“My wife! You dared to use her—”
Fortunately, perhaps, Mrs. Ferrier herself entered the room at this moment.
“Well,” she said. “That went off very well.”
“Dagmar, did you—know all along?”
“Of course, dear,” said Dagmar Ferrier.
And she smiled, the gentle, maternal14 smile of a devoted15 wife.
“And you never told me!”
“But, Edward, you would never have let M. Poirot do it.”
“Indeed I would not!”
Dagmar smiled.
“That’s what we thought.”
“We?”
“I and M. Poirot.”
She smiled at Hercule Poirot and at her husband.
She added:
“I had a very restful time with the dear Bishop—I feel full of energy now. They want me to
christen the new battleship at Liverpool next month—I think it would be a popular thing to do.”

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1 scurrilous CDdz2     
adj.下流的，恶意诽谤的
参考例句：
  • Scurrilous and untrue stories were being invented.有人正在捏造虚假诽谤的故事。
  • She was often quite scurrilous in her references to me.她一提起我,常常骂骂咧咧的。
2 ramp QTgxf     
n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速
参考例句：
  • That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
  • The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。
3 cleansing cleansing     
n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词
参考例句：
  • medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
  • Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。
4 modernize SEixp     
vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要
参考例句：
  • It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
  • There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。
5 allied iLtys     
adj.协约国的；同盟国的
参考例句：
  • Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
  • Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。
6 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
7 chicanery 5rIzP     
n.欺诈，欺骗
参考例句：
  • We will continue to see such chicanery in the future.在往后的日子我们仍将看到这样的骗局持续上演。
  • Why do you give me so much chicanery as a explanation?你为什么给我那么多狡辩的解释？
8 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地
参考例句：
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
9 virtue BpqyH     
n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力
参考例句：
  • He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
  • You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。
10 vindicated e1cc348063d17c5a30190771ac141bed     
v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护
参考例句：
  • I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated. 我完全相信这一决定的正确性将得到充分证明。
  • Subsequent events vindicated the policy. 后来的事实证明那政策是对的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的
参考例句：
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？
12 discredit fu3xX     
vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑
参考例句：
  • Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
  • They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。
13 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律
参考例句：
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
14 maternal 57Azi     
adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的
参考例句：
  • He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
  • The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。
15 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。

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