雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：4.一部偵探小說

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4.A detective story

4．一部偵探小說

One day, some time before the war, Agatha was talking with her sister, Madge, about detective stories. They both enjoyed reading this kind of book very much.

戰(zhàn)前的某一天，阿加莎正和姐姐瑪奇討論偵探小說。兩人都十分喜愛這類小說。

'I'd like to try and write a detective story myself,' said Agatha.

“我想試著自己寫一部偵探小說。”阿加莎說。

'You couldn't do it,' said Madge. 'They're very difficult to do. I've thought about it.'

“你寫不了的，”瑪奇說，“這類小說很不好寫。我也已經(jīng)考慮過了。”

'Well, one day I'm going to try,' said Agatha.

“嗯，總有一天我要嘗試一下。”阿加莎說。

The idea stayed in Agatha's head, and she wanted to show Madge that she could do it. And when, years later, she went to work in the hospital dispensary, she again began to think about writing a detective story.

這種念頭在阿加莎的腦海中揮之不去，她要向瑪奇證明她能做到。幾年過去了，當(dāng)她到醫(yī)院藥房工作時，又有了一種寫偵探小說的沖動。

'There must be a murder in it, of course,' she thought. The questions ran busily around inside her head. 'But what kind of murder? A death by poisoning? Who will die? Who will the murderer be? When? How? Why? Where? And what about a detective?'

“小說里面肯定要有一樁謀殺案。”她想。她的腦子里縈繞著各種各樣的問題，“但是什么樣的謀殺案呢？施毒致死嗎？誰會死呢？誰又會是兇手？時間？手段？動機(jī)？地點？再有一個偵探如何？”

There were some Belgian people living in Torquay, who were there because of the war in Belgium. Clara, like everyone in the town, was very kind and helpful to them when they arrived. She gave them chairs and beds for their homes, and tried to make them feel happy and comfortable. Now, Agatha suddenly remembered them.

在托基住著一些因比利時發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭逃到此地來的比利時人。和小鎮(zhèn)上的其他人一樣，克拉拉在這些比利時人到來的時候給予了他們熱心的幫助。她給他們的家里送來椅子和床，盡量讓他們感到開心和舒適?，F(xiàn)在，阿加莎突然記起了他們。

'What about a Belgian detective?' she thought, and began to build the character in her head. 'He'll be a very clever, very tidy little man. But what shall I call him? I know, I'll call him Hercules!' She smiled. 'It's a good name for a small man. And his second name? Poirot. Hercules—no, Hercule Poirot! Yes, that's it.'

“一個比利時偵探如何呢？”她想，并開始在那腦子里勾勒這個人物的形象，“他是一個聰明至極、穿著非常整潔的矮小男人。可是我該叫他什么好呢？知道了，我要叫他赫爾克里士！”她笑了笑，“給一個身材矮小的男人起這樣的名字剛好。他的姓呢？波洛。赫爾克里士——不，赫爾克里·波洛！對，就是它了。”

Agatha thought about her detective story during every quiet minute in the dispensary. She knew a lot about poisons now. She knew which poisons worked quickly, and which worked slowly. She knew how much to give, and what different poisons smelt and tasted like. She knew how people died from poisons—did their faces turn blue? Did they die in their sleep, or die screaming in pain? A good detective—and a good writer of detective stories—must know these things. She began to write her story at home, and used Madge's old typewriter again.

藥房里只要一安靜下來，阿加莎就構(gòu)思她的偵探小說?，F(xiàn)在她對毒藥的藥性已經(jīng)了如指掌。她清楚哪些毒藥發(fā)作很快，哪些又很慢，該用多少劑量，各種毒藥的氣味和味道又是怎樣的。她知道人是怎樣中毒身亡的——他們會不會臉色發(fā)青？他們會在睡夢中死去，還是在痛苦的尖叫聲中死去呢？一名出色的偵探——以及一名出色的偵探小說家——必須熟知這些東西。她開始在家動手寫故事了，用的依然是瑪奇的舊打字機(jī)。

'What are you doing?' Clara asked her one day.

“你在干什么？”有一天克拉拉問她。

'I'm writing a detective novel,' said Agatha, 'I want to finish it, but it's very difficult.'

“我在寫一部偵探小說，”阿加莎回答，“我想寫完，可這真的不容易。”

'Why don't you finish it during your holiday?' said Clara. 'Go away somewhere nice and quiet, and take it with you. Where do you want to go? Dartmoor?'

“為什么不去休個假完成它呢？”克拉拉說，“帶著稿子去一個既美麗又安靜的地方。想去哪里呢？達(dá)特穆爾？”

'Yes!' said Agatha. 'Dartmoor!'

“對！”阿加莎說，“達(dá)特穆爾！”

Dartmoor was a beautiful, lonely moor in Devon. Agatha took Madge's typewriter with her and stayed at the Moorland Hotel at Hay Tor. It was a large hotel with a lot of rooms, but not many people were staying there. For two weeks she wrote in her room every morning, then went for long walks alone on the moor in the afternoons. Everything went well. The characters seemed to come alive inside her head, and during her walks she planned her writing for the next day.

達(dá)特穆爾是德文郡一片美麗卻人跡罕至的荒野。阿加莎帶著瑪奇的打字機(jī)住在了海伊托爾的穆爾蘭旅館。這是個很大的旅館，房間很多，卻沒有多少客人入住。在這兒的兩個星期里，她每天上午都在房間里寫作，下午則在荒野里獨自散步很長時間。一切進(jìn)展順利。在她的腦子里，小說中的人物似乎都活了起來，她邊散步邊構(gòu)思第二天的寫作。

She finished the last half of the book during her holiday, and soon after she sent it to a publisher. They returned it, but Agatha was not surprised. She sent it out again, but it came back once more. She sent it to a third publisher, but they returned it, too. Then she sent it to The Bodley Head publishing company—and forgot all about it.

在假期里她完成了小說后半部分的創(chuàng)作，并很快把它寄到一家出版社。他們把稿子退了回來，但阿加莎對退稿一點也不感到驚訝。她又把它寄了出去，但又被退了回來。她又把小說寄給另一家出版社，但也遭到了同樣的厄運。后來她把小說寄給了博德利·黑德出版公司——便把這件事情拋在腦后了。

Two years went by. Archie came back to work in London, the war ended, and Agatha had a baby—Rosalind. The three of them were living in a flat in London when a letter arrived one morning in 1919.

兩年過去了。戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束了，阿奇回到倫敦工作，阿加莎也有了一個孩子——羅莎琳德，一家三口住在倫敦的一間公寓里。1919年的一天早晨，來了一封信。

It was from The Bodley Head. Agatha quickly opened the letter, and saw the words:

是博德利·黑德公司寄來的。阿加莎趕快把信拆開，信上寫著：

...Will you call at our offices? ...we would like to talk about your book...

……您能來我們的辦公室嗎？……我們想和您商討一下關(guān)于您的書的問題……

'It's about my book—The Mysterious Affair at Styles,' she told Archie. 'I think they want to publish it!'

“是關(guān)于我的《斯泰爾斯的神秘案件》的，”她告訴阿奇，“我想他們要出版它了！”

'Then you must go and see them at once!' said Archie.

“那你就馬上動身去見他們吧！”阿奇說。

Agatha went to the publishers' office. She met John Lane, a small man with white hair.

阿加莎來到了出版社辦公室，見到了約翰·萊恩，一個白頭發(fā)的矮小男人。

'Do sit down,' he said. He had a kind voice, and blue eyes that looked carefully at Agatha. 'Some of my readers think that we could publish your book. But you will need to change the last chapter. And there are a few other small things...'

“請坐，”他說。他的聲音很親切，藍(lán)色的眼睛仔細(xì)地打量著阿加莎。“有些讀者認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該出版您的書。但是您需要修改一下最后一章。另外還有一些小問題……”

Agatha was too excited to listen. She was happy to do anything. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was her first detective story, and she wanted to see it in the bookshops. So she wrote a different ending for it and changed one or two more small things, and at last John Lane was pleased with it.

阿加莎興奮得幾乎聽不下去了。她愿意做任何事情?！端固査沟纳衩匕讣肥撬氖撞總商叫≌f，她想在書店里看到自己寫的書。于是她重寫了故事的結(jié)局，并改動了其他一兩個微不足道的地方，最后約翰·萊恩滿意地接受了。

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poison v. kill or harm sb./ sth. with poison. 用毒藥毒死或害死某人（某物）。

comfortable adj. allowing, producing or having pleasant bodily relaxation. 舒適的；安逸的；使人舒服的。

character n. person in a novel, play, etc. （小說、戲劇中的）人物。

scream vi. give a long piercing cry of fear, pain or excitement; cry in this way. （因恐懼、痛苦或興奮）尖聲喊叫；喊出。

moor n. open uncultivated high area of land, esp. one covered with heather. 漠澤，高沼，荒野，曠野（尤指石南叢生者）。

alive adj. living. 活著。

soon after a short time after. 之后不久。

go by (of time) pass. （指時間）過去。

mysterious adj. full of mystery; hard to understand or explain. 神秘的；不可思議的；難解的。

chapter n. division of a book. （書中的）章，篇，回。

bookshop n. shop which sells many books. 書店。

ending n. end, esp. of a story, film, play or word. 結(jié)尾，結(jié)局（尤指故事、電影、戲劇或詞語）。