破镜谋杀案2

时间：2025-10-20 07:48:16

（单词翻译:单击）

One
I
Miss Jane Marple was sitting by her window. The window looked over her
garden, once a source of pride to her. That was no longer so. Nowadays
she looked out of the window and winced1. Active gardening had been for-
bidden her for some time now. No stooping, no digging, no planting—at
most a little light pruning2. Old Laycock who came three times a week, did
his best, no doubt. But his best, such as it was (which was not much) was
only the best according to his lights, and not according to those of his em-
ployer. Miss Marple knew exactly what she wanted done, and when she
wanted it done, and instructed him duly. Old Laycock then displayed his
particular genius which was that of enthusiastic agreement and subse-
quent lack of performance.
“That’s right, missus. We’ll have them mecosoapies there and the Can-
terburys along the wall and as you say it ought to be got on with first thing
next week.”
Laycock’s excuses were always reasonable, and strongly resembled
those of Captain George’s in Three Men in a Boat for avoiding going to sea.
In the captain’s case the wind was always wrong, either blowing off shore
or in shore, or coming from the unreliable west, or the even more treach-
erous east. Laycock’s was the weather. Too dry—too wet—waterlogged—a
nip of frost in the air. Or else something of great importance had to come
first (usually to do with cabbages or brussels sprouts3 of which he liked to
grow inordinate4 quantities). Laycock’s own principles of gardening were
simple and no employer, however knowledgeable5, could wean him from
them.
They consisted of a great many cups of tea, sweet and strong, as an en-
couragement to effort, a good deal of sweeping6 up of leaves in the autumn,
and a certain amount of bedding out of his own favourite plants, mainly
asters and salvias—to “make a nice show,” as he put it, in summer. He was
all in favour of syringeing roses for green-fly, but was slow to get around
to it, and a demand for deep trenching for sweet peas was usually
countered by the remark that you ought to see his own sweet peas! A
proper treat last year, and no fancy stuff done beforehand.
To be fair, he was attached to his employers, humoured their fancies in
horticulture (so far as no actual hard work was involved) but vegetables
he knew to be the real stuff of life; a nice Savoy, or a bit of curly kale;
flowers were fancy stuff such as ladies liked to go in for, having nothing
better to do with their time. He showed his affection by producing
presents of the aforementioned asters, salvias, lobelia edging, and summer
chrysanthemums7.
“Been doing some work at them new houses over at the Development.
Want their gardens laid out nice, they do. More plants than they needed so
I brought along a few, and I’ve put ’em in where them old-fashioned roses
ain’t looking so well.”
Thinking of these things, Miss Marple averted8 her eyes from the garden,
and picked up her knitting.
One had to face the fact: St. Mary Mead9 was not the place it had been. In
a sense, of course, nothing was what it had been. You could blame the war
(both the wars) or the younger generation, or women going out to work,
or the atom bomb, or just the Government—but what one really meant
was the simple fact that one was growing old. Miss Marple, who was a
very sensible lady, knew that quite well. It was just that, in a queer way,
she felt it more in St. Mary Mead, because it had been her home for so
long.
St. Mary Mead, the old world core of it, was still there. The Blue Boar
was there, and the church and the vicarage and the little nest of Queen
Anne and Georgian houses, of which hers was one. Miss Hartnell’s house
was still there, and also Miss Hartnell, fighting progress to the last gasp10.
Miss Wetherby had passed on and her house was now inhabited by the
bank manager and his family, having been given a face-lift by the painting
of doors and windows a bright royal blue. There were new people in most
of the other old houses, but the houses themselves were little changed in
appearances since the people who had bought them had done so because
they liked what the house agent called “old world charm.” They just added
another bathroom, and spent a good deal of money on plumbing11, electric
cookers, and dishwashers.
But though the houses looked much as before, the same could hardly be
said of the village street. When shops changed hands there, it was with a
view to immediate12 and intemperate13 modernization14. The fishmonger was
unrecognizable with new super windows behind which the refrigerated
fish gleamed. The butcher had remained conservative—good meat is good
meat, if you have the money to pay for it. If not, you take the cheaper cuts
and the tough joints15 and like it! Barnes, the grocer, was still there, un-
changed, for which Miss Hartnell and Miss Marple and others daily
thanked Heaven. So obliging, comfortable chairs to sit in by the counter,
and cosy16 discussions as to cuts of bacon, and varieties of cheese. At the
end of the street, however, where Mr. Toms had once had his basket shop
stood a glittering new supermarket—anathema to the elderly ladies of St.
Mary Mead.
“Packets of things one’s never even heard of,” exclaimed Miss Hartnell.
“All these great packets of breakfast cereal instead of cooking a child a
proper breakfast of bacon and eggs. And you’re expected to take a basket
yourself and go round looking for things—it takes a quarter of an hour
sometimes to find all one wants—and usually made up in inconvenient17
sizes, too much or too little. And then a long queue waiting to pay as you
go out. Most tiring. Of course it’s all very well for the people from the De-
velopment—”
At this point she stopped.
Because, as was now usual, the sentence came to an end there. The De-
velopment, Period, as they would say in modern terms. It had an entity18 of
its own, and a capital letter.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 winced 7be9a27cb0995f7f6019956af354c6e4     
赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
  • He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。
2 pruning 6e4e50e38fdf94b800891c532bf2f5e7     
n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分
参考例句：
  • In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
3 sprouts 7250d0f3accee8359a172a38c37bd325     
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
参考例句：
  • The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 inordinate c6txn     
adj.无节制的；过度的
参考例句：
  • The idea of this gave me inordinate pleasure.我想到这一点感到非常高兴。
  • James hints that his heroine's demands on life are inordinate.詹姆斯暗示他的女主人公对于人生过于苛求。
5 knowledgeable m2Yxg     
adj.知识渊博的；有见识的
参考例句：
  • He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
  • He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。
6 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？
7 chrysanthemums 1ded1ec345ac322f70619ba28233b570     
n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The cold weather had most deleterious consequences among the chrysanthemums. 寒冷的天气对菊花产生了极有害的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The chrysanthemums are in bloom; some are red and some yellow. 菊花开了， 有红的，有黄的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 averted 35a87fab0bbc43636fcac41969ed458a     
防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移
参考例句：
  • A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
  • Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。
9 mead BotzAK     
n.蜂蜜酒
参考例句：
  • He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
  • He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。
10 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。
11 plumbing klaz0A     
n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究
参考例句：
  • She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
  • They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的
参考例句：
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
13 intemperate ibDzU     
adj.无节制的，放纵的
参考例句：
  • Many people felt threatened by Arther's forceful,sometimes intemperate style.很多人都觉得阿瑟的强硬的、有时过激的作风咄咄逼人。
  • The style was hurried,the tone intemperate.匆促的笔调，放纵的语气。
14 modernization nEyxp     
n.现代化，现代化的事物
参考例句：
  • This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
  • The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。
15 joints d97dcffd67eca7255ca514e4084b746e     
接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）
参考例句：
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。
16 cosy dvnzc5     
adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的
参考例句：
  • We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
  • It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。
17 inconvenient m4hy5     
adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的
参考例句：
  • You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
  • Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？
18 entity vo8xl     
n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物
参考例句：
  • The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
  • As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

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