赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩42

时间：2024-12-31 11:22:54

（单词翻译:单击）

VI
In the big bedroom with the heavy Elizabethan, oak furniture, Hercule Poirot sat and waited.
There was nothing to do but wait. All his arrangements were made.
It was towards early morning that the summons came.
At the sound of footsteps outside, Poirot drew back the bolt and opened the door. There were
two men in the passage outside—two middle-aged1 men who looked older than their years. The
Admiral was stern-faced and grim, Colonel Frobisher twitched2 and trembled.
Chandler said simply:
“Will you come with us, M. Poirot?”
There was a huddled3 figure lying outside Diana Maberly’s bedroom door. The light fell on a
rumpled4, tawny5 head. Hugh Chandler lay there breathing stertorously6. He was in his dressing7
gown and slippers8. In his right hand was a sharply curved, shining knife. Not all of it was shining
—here and there it was obscured by red glistening9 patches.
Hercule Poirot exclaimed softly:
“Mon Dieu!”
Frobisher said sharply:
“She’s all right. He hasn’t touched her.” He raised his voice and called: “Diana! It’s us! Let
us in!”
Poirot heard the Admiral groan10 and mutter under his breath:
“My boy. My poor boy.”
There was a sound of bolts being drawn11. The door opened and Diana stood there. Her face
was dead white.
She faltered12 out:
“What’s happened? There was someone—trying to get in—I heard them—feeling the door—
the handle—scratching on the panels—Oh! it was awful . . . like an animal. . . .”
Frobisher said sharply:
“Thank God your door was locked!”
“M. Poirot told me to lock it.”
Poirot said:
“Lift him up and bring him inside.”
The two men stooped and raised the unconscious man. Diana caught her breath with a little
gasp13 as they passed her.
“Hugh? Is it Hugh? What’s that—on his hands?”
Hugh Chandler’s hands were sticky and wet with a brownish, red stain.
Diana breathed: “Is that blood?”
Poirot looked inquiringly at the two men. The Admiral nodded. He said:
“Not human, thank God! A cat! I found it downstairs in the hall. Throat cut. Afterwards he
must have come up here—”
“Here?” Diana’s voice was low with horror. “To me?”
The man on the chair stirred—muttered. They watched him, fascinated. Hugh Chandler sat
up. He blinked.
“Hallo,” his voice was dazed—hoarse. “What’s happened? Why am I—?”
He stopped. He was staring at the knife which he held still clasped in his hand.
He said in a slow, thick voice:
“What have I done?”
His eyes went from one to the other. They rested at last on Diana shrinking back against the
wall. He said quietly:
“Did I attack Diana?”
His father shook his head. Hugh said:
“Tell me what has happened? I’ve got to know!”
They told him—told him unwillingly—haltingly. His quiet perseverance14 drew it out of them.
Outside the window the sun was coming up. Hercule Poirot drew a curtain aside. The
radiance of the dawn came into the room.
Hugh Chandler’s face was composed, his voice was steady.
He said:
“I see.”
Then he got up. He smiled and stretched himself. His voice was quite natural as he said:
“Beautiful morning, what? Think I’ll go out in the woods and try to get a rabbit.”
He went out of the room and left them staring after him.
Then the Admiral started forward. Frobisher caught him by the arm.
“No, Charles, no. It’s the best way—for him, poor devil, if for nobody else.”
Diana had thrown herself sobbing15 on the bed.
Admiral Chandler said, his voice coming unevenly16:
“You’re right, George—you’re right, I know. The boy’s got guts17. . . .”
Frobisher said, and his voice, too, was broken:
“He’s a man . . .”
There was a moment’s silence and then Chandler said:
“Damn it, where’s that cursed foreigner?”
VII
In the gun room, Hugh Chandler had lifted his gun from the rack and was in the act of loading it
when Hercule Poirot’s hand fell on his shoulder.
Hercule Poirot’s voice said one word and said it with a strange authority. He said:
“No!”
Hugh Chandler stared at him. He said in a thick, angry voice: “Take your hands off me. Don’t
interfere18. There’s going to be an accident, I tell you. It’s the only way out.”
Again Hercule Poirot repeated that one word:
“No.”
“Don’t you realize that if it hadn’t been for the accident of her door being locked, I would
have cut Diana’s throat—Diana’s!—with that knife?”
“I realize nothing of the kind. You would not have killed Miss Maberly.”
“I killed that cat, didn’t I?”
“No, you did not kill the cat. You did not kill the parrot. You did not kill the sheep.”
Hugh stared at him. He demanded:
“Are you mad, or am I?”
Hercule Poirot replied:
“Neither of us is mad.”
It was at that moment that Admiral Chandler and Colonel Frobisher came in. Behind them
came Diana.
Hugh Chandler said in a weak, dazed voice:
“This chap says I’m not mad. . . .”
Hercule Poirot said:
“I am happy to tell you that you are entirely19 and completely sane20.”
Hugh laughed. It was a laugh such as a lunatic might popularly be supposed to give.
“That’s damned funny! It’s sane, is it, to cut the throats of sheep and other animals? I was
sane, was I, when I killed that parrot? And the cat tonight?”
“I tell you you did not kill the sheep—or the parrot—or the cat.”
“Then who did?”
“Someone who has had at heart the sole object of proving you insane. On each occasion you
were given a heavy soporific and a blood-stained knife or razor was planted by you. It was
someone else whose bloody21 hands were washed in your basin.”
“But why?”
“In order that you should do what you were just about to do when I stopped you.”
Hugh stared. Poirot turned to Colonel Frobisher.
“Colonel Frobisher, you lived for many years in India. Did you never come across cases
where persons were deliberately22 driven mad by the administration of drugs?”
Colonel Frobisher’s face lit up. He said:
“Never came across a case myself, but I’ve heard of them often enough. Datura poisoning. It
ends by driving a person insane.”
“Exactly. Well, the active principle of the datura is very closely allied23 to, if it is not actually,
the alkaloid atropine—which is also obtained from belladonna or deadly nightshade. Belladonna
preparations are fairly common and atropine sulphate itself is prescribed freely for eye treatments.
By duplicating a prescription24 and getting it made up in different places a large quantity of the
poison could be obtained without arousing suspicion. The alkaloid could be extracted from it and
then introduced into, say—a soothing25 shaving cream. Applied26 externally it would cause a rash,
this would soon lead to abrasions27 in shaving and thus the drug would be continually entering the
system. It would produce certain symptoms—dryness of the mouth and throat, difficulty in
swallowing, hallucinations, double vision—all the symptoms, in fact, which Mr. Chandler has
experienced.”
He turned to the young man.
“And to remove the last doubt from my mind, I will tell you that that is not a supposition but
a fact. Your shaving cream was heavily impregnated with atropine sulphate. I took a sample and
had it tested.”
White, shaking, Hugh asked:
“Who did it? Why?”
Hercule Poirot said:
“That is what I have been studying ever since I arrived here. I have been looking for a motive28
for murder. Diana Maberly gained financially by your death, but I did not consider her seriously
—”
Hugh Chandler flashed out:
“I should hope not!”
“I envisaged29 another possible motive. The eternal triangle; two men and a woman. Colonel
Frobisher had been in love with your mother, Admiral Chandler married her.”
Admiral Chandler cried out:
“George? George! I won’t believe it.”
Hugh said in an incredulous voice:
“Do you mean that hatred30 could go on—to a son?”
Hercule Poirot said:
“Under certain circumstances, yes.”
Frobisher cried out:
“It’s a damned lie! Don’t believe him, Charles.”
Chandler shrank away from him. He muttered to himself:
“The datura . . . India—yes, I see . . . And we’d never suspect poison—not with madness in
the family already. . . .”
“Mais oui!” Hercule Poirot’s voice rose high and shrill31. “Madness in the family. A madman—
bent32 on revenge—cunning—as madmen are, concealing33 his madness for years.” He whirled round
on Frobisher. “Mon Dieu, you must have known, you must have suspected, that Hugh was your
son? Why did you never tell him so?”
Frobisher stammered34, gulped35.
“I didn’t know. I couldn’t be sure . . . You see, Caroline came to me once—she was
frightened of something—in great trouble. I don’t know, I never have known, what it was all
about. She—I—we lost our heads. Afterwards I went away at once—it was the only thing to be
done, we both knew we’d got to play the game. I—well, I wondered, but I couldn’t be sure.
Caroline never said anything that led me to think Hugh was my son. And then when this—this
streak36 of madness appeared, it settled things definitely, I thought.”
Poirot said:
“Yes, it settled things! You could not see the way the boy has of thrusting out his face and
bringing down his brows—a trick he inherited from you. But Charles Chandler saw it. Saw it
years ago—and learnt the truth from his wife. I think she was afraid of him—he’d begun to show
her the mad streak—that was what drove her into your arms—you whom she had always loved.
Charles Chandler planned his revenge. His wife died in a boating accident. He and she were out in
the boat alone and he knows how that accident came about. Then he settled down to feed his
concentrated hatred against the boy who bore his name but who was not his son. Your Indian
stories put the idea of datura poisoning into his head. Hugh should be slowly driven mad. Driven
to the stage where he would take his own life in despair. The blood lust37 was Admiral Chandler’s,
not Hugh’s. It was Charles Chandler who was driven to cut the throats of sheep in lonely fields.
But it was Hugh who was to pay the penalty!
“Do you know when I suspected? When Admiral Chandler was so averse38 to his son seeing a
doctor. For Hugh to object was natural enough. But the father! There might be treatment which
would save his son—there were a hundred reasons why he should seek to have a doctor’s opinion.
But no, a doctor must not be allowed to see Hugh Chandler—in case a doctor should discover that
Hugh was sane!”
Hugh said very quietly:
“Sane . . . I am sane?”
He took a step towards Diana. Frobisher said in a gruff voice:
“You’re sane enough. There’s no taint39 in our family.”
Diana said:
“Hugh . . .”
Admiral Chandler picked up Hugh’s gun. He said:
“All a lot of nonsense! Think I’ll go and see if I can get a rabbit—”
Frobisher started forward, but the hand of Hercule Poirot restrained him. Poirot said:
“You said yourself—just now—that it was the best way. . . .”
Hugh and Diana had gone from the room.
The two men, the Englishman and the Belgian, watched the last of the Chandlers cross the
Park and go up into the woods.
Presently, they heard a shot. . . .

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句：
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
2 twitched bb3f705fc01629dc121d198d54fa0904     
vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
  • The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着，像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 huddled 39b87f9ca342d61fe478b5034beb4139     
挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
  • We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。
4 rumpled 86d497fd85370afd8a55db59ea16ef4a     
v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She rumpled his hair playfully. 她顽皮地弄乱他的头发。
  • The bed was rumpled and strewn with phonograph records. 那张床上凌乱不堪，散放着一些唱片。 来自辞典例句
5 tawny tIBzi     
adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色
参考例句：
  • Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
  • None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。
6 stertorously 4ceb1b9f4dc1b069d369261a36b3b2e1     
参考例句：
  • He was breathing stertorously. 他呼哧呼哧地喘着气。 来自互联网
7 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料
参考例句：
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
8 slippers oiPzHV     
n. 拖鞋
参考例句：
  • a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
  • He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。
9 glistening glistening     
adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
  • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》
10 groan LfXxU     
vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音
参考例句：
  • The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
  • The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。
11 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
12 faltered d034d50ce5a8004ff403ab402f79ec8d     
（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃
参考例句：
  • He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
  • "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”
13 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说
参考例句：
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
14 perseverance oMaxH     
n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠
参考例句：
  • It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
  • Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。
15 sobbing df75b14f92e64fc9e1d7eaf6dcfc083a     
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
参考例句：
  • I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
  • Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。
16 unevenly 9fZz51     
adv.不均匀的
参考例句：
  • Fuel resources are very unevenly distributed. 燃料资源分布很不均匀。
  • The cloth is dyed unevenly. 布染花了。
17 guts Yraziv     
v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠
参考例句：
  • I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
  • Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 interfere b5lx0     
v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰
参考例句：
  • If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
  • When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。
19 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
20 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。
21 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染
参考例句：
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
22 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
23 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。
24 prescription u1vzA     
n.处方，开药；指示，规定
参考例句：
  • The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
  • The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
25 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的
参考例句：
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
26 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
27 abrasions 0329fc10f2fbb8e9ac9a37abebc2f834     
n.磨损( abrasion的名词复数 )；擦伤处；摩擦；磨蚀（作用）
参考例句：
  • He suffered cuts and abrasions to the face. 他的脸上有许多划伤和擦伤。
  • The bacteria get into humans through abrasions in the skin. 细菌可以通过擦伤处进入人体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 motive GFzxz     
n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的
参考例句：
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
29 envisaged 40d5ad82152f6e596b8f8c766f0778db     
想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
  • Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。
30 hatred T5Gyg     
n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨
参考例句：
  • He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
  • The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。
31 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫
参考例句：
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
32 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
33 concealing 0522a013e14e769c5852093b349fdc9d     
v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产
34 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
35 gulped 4873fe497201edc23bc8dcb50aa6eb2c     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住
参考例句：
  • He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
  • She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
36 streak UGgzL     
n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动
参考例句：
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？
37 lust N8rz1     
n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望
参考例句：
  • He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
  • Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。
38 averse 6u0zk     
adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的
参考例句：
  • I don't smoke cigarettes,but I'm not averse to the occasional cigar.我不吸烟，但我不反对偶尔抽一支雪茄。
  • We are averse to such noisy surroundings.我们不喜欢这么吵闹的环境。
39 taint MIdzu     
n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染
参考例句：
  • Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
  • Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

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