赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩41

时间：2024-12-31 11:22:36

（单词翻译:单击）

V
“Have you courage, Mademoiselle? Great courage? You will need it.”
Diana cried sharply:
“Then it’s true. It’s true? He is mad?”
Hercule Poirot said:
“I am not an alienist, Mademoiselle. It is not I who can say, ‘This man is mad. This man is
sane1.’ ”
She came closer to him.
“Admiral Chandler thinks Hugh is mad. George Frobisher thinks he is mad. Hugh himself
thinks he is mad—”
Poirot was watching her.
“And you, Mademoiselle?”
“I? I say he isn’t mad! That’s why—”
She stopped.
“That is why you came to me?”
“Yes. I couldn’t have had any other reason for coming to you, could I?”
“That,” said Hercule Poirot, “is exactly what I have been asking myself, Mademoiselle!”
“I don’t understand you.”
“Who is Stephen Graham?”
She stared.
“Stephen Graham? Oh, he’s—he’s just someone.”
She caught him by the arm.
“What’s in your mind? What are you thinking about? You just stand there—behind that great
moustache of yours—blinking your eyes in the sunlight, and you don’t tell me anything. You’re
making me afraid—horribly afraid. Why are you making me afraid?”
“Perhaps,” said Poirot, “because I am afraid myself.”
The deep grey eyes opened wide, stared up at him. She said in a whisper:
“What are you afraid of?”
Hercule Poirot sighed—a deep sigh. He said:
“It is much easier to catch a murderer than it is to prevent a murder.”
She cried out: “Murder? Don’t use that word.”
“Nevertheless,” said Hercule Poirot, “I do use it.”
He altered his tone, speaking quickly and authoritatively2.
“Mademoiselle, it is necessary that both you and I should pass the night at Lyde Manor3. I
look to you to arrange the matter. You can do that?”
“I—yes—I suppose so. But why—?”
“Because there is no time to lose. You have told me that you have courage. Prove that
courage now. Do what I ask and make no questions about it.”
She nodded without a word and turned away.
Poirot followed her into the house after the lapse4 of a moment or two. He heard her voice in
the library and the voices of three men. He passed up the broad staircase. There was no one on the
upper floor.
He found Hugh Chandler’s room easily enough. In the corner of the room was a fitted
washbasin with hot and cold water. Over it, on a glass shelf, were various tubes and pots and
bottles.
Hercule Poirot went quickly and dexterously5 to work. . . .
What he had to do did not take him long. He was downstairs again in the hall when Diana
came out of the library, looking flushed and rebellious6.
“It’s all right,” she said.
Admiral Chandler drew Poirot into the library and closed the door. He said: “Look here, M.
Poirot. I don’t like this.”
“What don’t you like, Admiral Chandler?”
“Diana has been insisting that you and she should both spend the night here. I don’t want to
be inhospitable—”
“It is not a question of hospitality.”
“As I say, I don’t like being inhospitable—but frankly7, I don’t like it, M. Poirot. I—I don’t
want it. And I don’t understand the reason for it. What good can it possibly do?”
“Shall we say that it is an experiment I am trying?”
“What kind of an experiment?”
“That, you will pardon me, is my business. . . .”
“Now look here, M. Poirot, I didn’t ask you to come here in the first place—”
Poirot interrupted.
“Believe me, Admiral Chandler, I quite understand and appreciate your point of view. I am
here simply and solely8 because of the obstinacy9 of a girl in love. You have told me certain things.
Colonel Frobisher has told me certain things. Hugh himself has told me certain things. Now—I
want to see for myself.”
“Yes, but see what? I tell you, there’s nothing to see! I lock Hugh into his room every night
and that’s that.”
“And yet—sometimes—he tells me that the door is not locked in the morning?”
“What’s that?”
“Have you not found the door unlocked yourself?”
Chandler was frowning.
“I always imagined George had unlocked—what do you mean?”
“Where do you leave the key—in the lock?”
“No, I lay it on the chest outside. I, or George, or Withers10, the valet, take it from there in the
morning. We’ve told Withers it’s because Hugh walks in his sleep . . . I daresay he knows more—
but he’s a faithful fellow, been with me for years.”
“Is there another key?”
“Not that I know of.”
“One could have been made.”
“But who—”
“Your son thinks that he himself has one hidden somewhere, although he is unaware11 of it in
his waking state.”
Colonel Frobisher, speaking from the far end of the room, said:
“I don’t like it, Charles . . . The girl—”
Admiral Chandler said quickly: “Just what I was thinking. The girl mustn’t come back with
you. Come back yourself, if you like.”
Poirot said: “Why don’t you want Miss Maberly here tonight?”
Frobisher said in a low voice:
“It’s too risky12. In these cases—”
He stopped.
Poirot said: “Hugh is devoted13 to her. . . .”
Chandler cried: “That’s just why! Damn it all, man, everything’s topsy-turvy where a
madman’s concerned. Hugh knows that himself. Diana mustn’t come here.”
“As to that,” said Poirot, “Diana must decide for herself.”
He went out of the library. Diana was waiting outside in the car. She called out, “We’ll get
what we want for the night and be back in time for dinner.”
As they drove down the long drive, Poirot repeated to her the conversation he had just held
with the Admiral and Colonel Frobisher. She laughed scornfully.
“Do they think Hugh would hurt me?”
By way of reply, Poirot asked her if she would mind stopping at the chemist’s in the village.
He had forgotten, he said, to pack a toothbrush.
The chemist’s shop was in the middle of the peaceful village street. Diana waited outside in
the car. It struck her that Hercule Poirot was a long time choosing a toothbrush. . . .

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1 sane 9YZxB     
adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的
参考例句：
  • He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
  • He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。
2 authoritatively 1e057dc7af003a31972dbde9874fe7ce     
命令式地，有权威地，可信地
参考例句：
  • "If somebody'll come here and sit with him," he snapped authoritatively. “来个人到这儿陪他坐着。”他用发号施令的口吻说。
  • To decide or settle(a dispute, for example) conclusively and authoritatively. 判定结论性、权威性地决定或解决（纠纷等）
3 manor d2Gy4     
n.庄园，领地
参考例句：
  • The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
  • I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。
4 lapse t2lxL     
n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效
参考例句：
  • The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
  • I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
5 dexterously 5c204a62264a953add0b63ea7a6481d1     
adv.巧妙地，敏捷地
参考例句：
  • He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句
6 rebellious CtbyI     
adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的
参考例句：
  • They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
  • Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。
7 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说
参考例句：
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
8 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅，唯一地
参考例句：
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
9 obstinacy C0qy7     
n.顽固；（病痛等）难治
参考例句：
  • It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
  • Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。
10 withers e30bf7b384bb09fe0dc96663bb9cde0b     
马肩隆
参考例句：
  • The girl's pitiful history would wring one's withers. 这女孩子的经历令人心碎。
  • "I will be there to show you," and so Mr. Withers withdrew. “我会等在那里，领你去看房间的，"威瑟斯先生这样说着，退了出去。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
11 unaware Pl6w0     
a.不知道的，未意识到的
参考例句：
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
12 risky IXVxe     
adj.有风险的，冒险的
参考例句：
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
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。

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