赫尔克里·波洛的丰功伟绩61

时间：2024-12-31 11:30:05

（单词翻译:单击）

V
Sitting at his usual small table near the entrance on Thursday night Poirot studied his
surroundings. As usual Hell was going with a swing!
The Countess was even more flamboyantly1 made up than usual if that was possible. She was
being very Russian tonight, clapping her hands and screaming with laughter. Paul Varesco had
arrived. Sometimes he wore faultless evening dress, sometimes, as tonight, he chose to present
himself in a kind of apache getup, tightly-buttoned coat, scarf round the neck. He looked vicious
and attractive. Detaching himself from a stout2, middle-aged3 woman plastered with diamonds, he
leaned over Alice Cunningham who was sitting at a table writing busily in a little notebook and
asked her to dance. The stout woman scowled4 at Alice and looked at Varesco with adoring eyes.
There was no adoration5 in Miss Cunningham’s eyes. They gleamed with pure scientific
interest, and Poirot caught fragments of their conversation as they danced past him. She had
progressed beyond the nursery governess and was now seeking information about the matron at
Paul’s preparatory school.
When the music stopped, she sat down by Poirot looking happy and excited.
“Most interesting,” she said. “Varesco will be one of the most important cases in my book.
The symbolism is unmistakable. Trouble about the vests for instance—for vest read hair shirt with
all its associations—and the whole thing becomes quite plain. You may say that he’s a definitely
criminal type but a cure can be effected—”
“That she can reform a rake,” said Poirot, “has always been one of woman’s dearest
illusions!”
Alice Cunningham looked at him coldly.
“There is nothing personal about this, M. Poirot.”
“There never is,” said Poirot. “It is always pure disinterested6 altruism—but the object of it is
usually an attractive member of the opposite sex. Are you interested, for instance, in where I went
to school, or what was the attitude of the matron to me?”
“You are not a criminal type,” said Miss Cunningham.
“Do you know a criminal type when you see one?”
“Certainly I do.”
Professor Liskeard joined them. He sat down by Poirot.
“Are you talking about criminals? You should study the criminal code of Hammurabi, M.
Poirot. 1800 b.c. most interesting. The man who is caught stealing during a fire shall be thrown
into the fire.”
He stared pleasurably ahead of him towards the electric grill7.
“And there are older, Summerian laws. If a wife hateth her husband and saith unto him,
‘Thou art not my husband,’ they shall throw her into the river. Cheaper and easier than the divorce
court. But if a husband says that to his wife he only has to pay her a certain measure of silver.
Nobody throws him in the river.”
“The same old story,” said Alice Cunningham. “One law for the man and one for the
woman.”
“Women, of course, have a greater appreciation8 of monetary9 value,” said the Professor
thoughtfully. “You know,” he added, “I like this place. I come here most evenings. I don’t have to
pay. The Countess arranged that—very nice of her—in consideration of my having advised her
about the decorations, she says. Not that they’re anything to do with me really—I’d no idea what
she was asking me questions for—and naturally she and the artist have got everything quite
wrong. I hope nobody will ever know I had the remotest connection with the dreadful things. I
should never live it down. But she’s a wonderful woman—rather like a Babylonian, I always
think. The Babylonians were good women of business, you know—”
The Professor’s words were drowned in a sudden chorus. The word “Police” was heard—
women rose to their feet, there was a babel of sound. The lights went out and so did the electric
grill.
As an undertone to the turmoil10 the Professor’s voice went on tranquilly11 reciting various
excerpts12 from the laws of Hammurabi.
When the lights went on again Hercule Poirot was halfway13 up the wide, shallow steps. The
police officers by the door saluted14 him, and he passed out into the street and strolled to the corner.
Just round the corner, pressed against the wall was a small and odoriferous man with a red nose.
He spoke15 in an anxious, husky
whisper.
“I’m ’ere, guv’nor. Time for me to do my stuff?”
“Yes. Go on.”
“There’s a nawful lot of coppers16 about!”
“That is all right. They’ve been told about you.”
“I ’ope they won’t interfere17, that’s all?”
“They will not interfere. You’re sure you can accomplish what you have set out to do? The
animal in question is both large and fierce.”
“ ’E won’t be fierce to me,” said the little man confidently. “Not with what I’ve got ’ere! Any
dog’ll follow me to Hell for it!”
“In this case,” murmured Hercule Poirot, “he has to follow you out of Hell!”
 

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1 flamboyantly 1fce08d5e91b553ae486eb37a8d0e176     
adv.艳丽地、奢华地、绚丽地。
参考例句：
  • He dresses rather flamboyantly. 他衣着华丽。 来自互联网
  • The criticism of Mr Obama's handling of the oil spill has been especially and flamboyantly unreasonable. 对于奥巴马对漏油事件的处理，人们的批评尤其夸大得没有道理。 来自互联网
2 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。
3 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。
4 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
  • The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。
5 adoration wfhyD     
n.爱慕，崇拜
参考例句：
  • He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
  • The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
6 disinterested vu4z6s     
adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的
参考例句：
  • He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
  • He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。
7 grill wQ8zb     
n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问
参考例句：
  • Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
  • I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。
8 appreciation Pv9zs     
n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨
参考例句：
  • I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
  • I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。
9 monetary pEkxb     
adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的
参考例句：
  • The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
10 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱，混乱，动乱
参考例句：
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
11 tranquilly d9b4cfee69489dde2ee29b9be8b5fb9c     
adv. 宁静地
参考例句：
  • He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. 他拿起刷子，一声不响地干了起来。
  • The evening was closing down tranquilly. 暮色正在静悄悄地笼罩下来。
12 excerpts 2decb803173f2e91acdfb31c501d6725     
n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段
参考例句：
  • Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句
13 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途
参考例句：
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。
14 saluted 1a86aa8dabc06746471537634e1a215f     
v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂
参考例句：
  • The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
  • He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
16 coppers 3646702fee6ab6f4a49ba7aa30fb82d1     
铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币
参考例句：
  • I only paid a few coppers for it. 我只花了几个铜板买下这东西。
  • He had only a few coppers in his pocket. 他兜里仅有几个铜板。
17 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。

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