雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：5.出色的偵探小說家

5.A good detective-story writer

5．出色的偵探小說家

Agatha's first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published in 1920. But before this, she began writing another book.

1920年，阿加莎的第一本書《斯泰爾斯的神秘案件》出版了。但在此之前，她已經(jīng)著手寫另一本書了。

It was Archie's idea.

這是阿奇的主意。

'Mother is finding it difficult to pay all the bills at Ashfield,' Agatha told him.

“媽媽覺得越來越難對付阿什菲爾德的一大堆賬單了。”阿加莎對他說。

'Why doesn't she sell Ashfield?' Archie said to Agatha. 'The house is too big for just one person. Then she can buy something smaller.'

“她為什么不把阿什菲爾德賣掉呢？”阿奇對阿加莎說，“那所房子只住一個(gè)人未免顯得太空蕩了些。她可以買一所小點(diǎn)的房子。”

'Sell Ashfield?' said Agatha. 'Oh, no! She can't! I love it—and it's our family home.'

“賣掉阿什菲爾德？”阿加莎說，“哦，不行！她可不能那么做！我愛它——那是我們家族的房子。”

'Then why don't you do something about it?' said Archie.

“那你為什么不為它做點(diǎn)什么呢？”阿奇說。

'Do something? What do you mean?'

“做點(diǎn)什么？你指的是什么？”

'Why don't you write another book?' said Archie. 'Perhaps it will make a lot of money.'

“你為什么不再寫一本書呢？”阿奇說，“這可能會賺一大筆錢。”

Agatha thought about it. Ashfield was her family home, and it must stay in the family. Could she do anything to help?

阿加莎考慮了一下。阿什菲爾德是她家族的房子，必須留下來。她能幫上什么忙呢？

'Perhaps I could write another book,' she thought. 'But what can it be about?'

“或許我可以再寫一本書。”她想，“但寫什么好呢？”

The answer came one day when she was having tea in a tea-shop. Two people were talking at a table near her. Agatha heard a name—and began to listen. They were talking about somebody called Jane Fish.

一天在茶館喝茶時(shí)她突然有了靈感。有兩個(gè)人坐在鄰桌聊天。阿加莎無意中聽見了一個(gè)名字——便開始聽了下去。他們在聊一個(gè)叫做簡·菲什的人。

'What a strange name,' thought Agatha. 'But what a good beginning for a story! Somebody hears a strange name in a tea-shop. And then...? Wait, perhaps "Jane Finn" will be better. Yes! Now, let me think...'

“好奇怪的名字啊，”阿加莎想，“但作為故事的開端多好！某個(gè)人在茶館無意間聽到一個(gè)很奇怪的名字。然后……？等等，可能‘簡·芬恩’更好一些。對！現(xiàn)在讓我想想……”

And before Agatha left the tea-shop, an idea for a story was running around inside her head. She went home and began it immediately.

在阿加莎離開茶館之前，關(guān)于故事的構(gòu)思已經(jīng)在她的頭腦中迅速地成形了。她回到家立刻動手寫了起來。

She called it The Secret Adversary, and the book was published in 1922.

她把它叫做《神秘對手》，這本書于1922年出版。

The story did not have the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in it, but her next book, Murder on the Links , did. Readers loved Poirot. He was a very short, tidy little man, with green eyes, black hair, and a beautiful black moustache. And, like another famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, he was very, very clever. He was not shy about this, and was always telling other characters in the story just how clever he was.

這個(gè)故事里沒有比利時(shí)偵探赫爾克里·波洛，可他在她的下一本書《高爾夫球場命案》中又出現(xiàn)了。讀者們喜歡波洛。他身材矮小，穿著整潔，有著綠色的眼睛，黑色的頭發(fā)和漂亮的黑胡子，并且就像另外一個(gè)著名偵探舍洛克·福爾摩斯一樣，他聰明至極。對這一點(diǎn)他并沒有感到不好意思，反而總是告訴故事里其他的人物他有多么聰明。

Other books followed, some with Poirot, some without—The Man in the Brown Suit, Poirot Investigates, and The Secret of Chimneys.

更多的書陸續(xù)出版了，有些里面有波洛，有些則沒有——像《棕衣男子》、《波洛出擊》和《煙囪里的秘密》。

Hughes Massie, the agent, was helping Agatha now. 'You need another publisher,' he told her. 'A publisher who will pay you more than The Bodley Head. You're a good detective-story writer, Agatha, and your books are beginning to sell well.'

休斯·馬西現(xiàn)在是阿加莎的經(jīng)紀(jì)人。“你需要重新找一家出版社，”他告訴她，“一家比博德利·黑德付酬更高的出版社。阿加莎，你是一名出色的偵探小說家，你的書開始變得很暢銷了。”

So Massie sent Agatha's next book — The Murder of Roger Ackroyd — to William Collins' publishers. It was an important book for Agatha.

于是馬西把阿加莎的另一本書——《羅杰·阿克羅伊德命案》——送到了威廉·柯林斯出版社。這本書對阿加莎來說至關(guān)重要。

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd came out in the spring of 1926—and people began to talk about it immediately. What did they talk about? The big surprise at the end of the book!

《羅杰·阿克羅伊德命案》于1926年春天出版——書一出版，立刻便成為人們爭論的對象。他們在爭論什么呢？書中出乎意料的結(jié)局！

'That's cheating!' some people said, when they got to the end and found out the name of the murderer.

“這是欺騙！”一些人讀到書末發(fā)現(xiàn)兇手是誰后如是說。

'No, it's not,' said other readers. 'It's a very clever story.'

“不，這不是欺騙，”另外一些讀者說，“這個(gè)故事寫得極其高明。”

'What's the matter with everybody?' Agatha said to Archie. 'I didn't cheat. It's wrong to say that. People must read the story carefully.'

“大家這是怎么了？”阿加莎對阿奇說，“我沒有欺騙，這樣說是不對的。大家必須仔細(xì)讀故事才行。”

And she was right. All the clues were there in the story, and a very clever reader could guess the name of the murderer. But most people couldn't.

她是正確的。所有的線索都在故事中，一個(gè)極其聰明的讀者是能夠猜出兇手的名字的。可惜大多數(shù)人都沒能做到。

(So what was the surprise at the end, and who was the murderer? The only way to find out is to read the book!)

（所以這出人意料的故事結(jié)局是怎樣的？兇手到底是誰？只有讀了這本書才能知道！）

After The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published, more and more people began to buy Agatha's books, and Agatha had more money to spend.

《羅杰·阿克羅伊德命案》出版后，越來越多的人開始買阿加莎的書了，她的手頭變得寬綽起來。

The Christies bought a house at Sunningdale, about thirty miles from London.

克里斯蒂一家在離倫敦30英里的森尼達(dá)爾買了一所房子。

'What shall we call it?' said Agatha.

“我們叫它什么好呢？”阿加莎說。

'Styles,' said Archie, 'after your first book.'

“斯泰爾斯，”阿奇說，“以你的第一本書來命名。”

And they put a picture of the front cover of the book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, on the wall.

他們把一幅《斯泰爾斯的神秘案件》封面的照片掛在了墻上。

But not long after they moved to Sunningdale, something happened that put Agatha's name on the front pages of every newspaper in England.

然而就在他們移居森尼達(dá)爾不久，一件事情發(fā)生了，阿加莎的名字隨之出現(xiàn)在英國大大小小的報(bào)紙的頭版。

She disappeared.

她失蹤了。

People think that it happened because she was very unhappy at this time. First, her mother died. And then Agatha found out that Archie was in love with a young woman called Nancy Neele.

人們認(rèn)為她的失蹤源于她這段時(shí)間的不快。先是她母親的去世。然后是阿加莎發(fā)現(xiàn)阿奇竟然愛著一個(gè)叫南希·內(nèi)萊的年輕女人。

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bill n. written statement of money owed for goods or services supplied. 賬單。

tea-shop n. (usu. small) restaurant where tea and light meals are served. 茶館。

moustache n. hair allowed to grow on the upper lip. 髭，（嘴唇上面的）胡子。

pay vt. give money. 付錢。

cheat vi. act dishonestly or unfairly in order to win an advantage or profit. 欺騙。

clue n. fact or piece of evidence that helps to solve a problem or reveal the truth in an investigation. 線索；端倪。

after prep. in the style of; in imitation of. 依照；仿照。

front page 頭版。

disappear vi. no longer be visible; vanish. 消失；失蹤。