雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：7.年輕的考古學家

7.A young archaeologist

7．年輕的考古學家

During the first weeks of 1927, Agatha went to stay with Madge and her husband in Cheadle, near Manchester. Archie stayed at Styles, but he wanted to marry Nancy Neele, and he asked Agatha for a divorce. At first she would not agree, but at last she said yes, and they were divorced in April 1928. Rosalind lived with Agatha.

1927年最初的幾個星期，阿加莎和馬奇以及她的丈夫一起住在曼徹斯特附近的奇德爾，阿奇則住在斯泰爾斯，但他想和南希·內萊結婚，并向阿加莎提出離婚。起初她并不同意，不過后來還是同意了，于是1928年4月他們離婚了。羅莎琳德與阿加莎住在一起。

'I don't want to use the name "Christie" again,' Agatha told her publishers. 'I will think of another name to use.'

“我不想再用'克里斯蒂'這個名字了。”阿加莎告訴她的出版商們，“我要另換一個。”

'But you can't change it now,' they said. 'Your readers know "Agatha Christie"—that's why they buy your books. If you change your name, nobody will know who you are!'

“但是現在你不能改，”他們說，“你的讀者們知道'阿加莎·克里斯蒂'，所以才會買你的書。如果你改了名字，沒人會知道你是誰！”

In the end, Agatha agreed to keep the name Christie, but she was not happy about it. But William Collins was right. Thousands of people in England (and America) were reading Agatha's books now.

阿加莎最終同意繼續(xù)使用克里斯蒂這個名字，但是她很不高興。不過威廉·柯林斯公司是對的，因為此時英國（和美國）有成千上萬的人在讀阿加莎的書。

Then, in the autumn of 1928, Agatha decided to visit the West Indies. Rosalind was at school, and Agatha wanted a holiday in the sun, so she got tickets for a ship to Jamaica.

1928年秋天，阿加莎決定去西印度群島旅行。羅莎琳德住在學校，并且阿加莎想要度一個陽光絢爛的假期，于是她買了去牙買加的船票。

Two days before she left England, Agatha went to dinner with some friends. During the evening, she talked to some people who were just back from Baghdad, in Iraq. Their names were Commander and Mrs Howe.

還有兩天就要離開倫敦的時候，阿加莎和一些朋友吃晚飯。整個晚上她都在和兩個剛剛從伊拉克的巴格達歸來的人聊天，他們是豪司令及夫人。

'People always say that Baghdad is a terrible place,' said Mrs Howe. 'But we loved it.'

“人們總是說巴格達是個恐怖的地方。”豪夫人說，“可我們很喜歡那兒。”

She went on talking about the city, and Agatha listened with great interest. She soon decided that she wanted to see Baghdad for herself.

她繼續(xù)聊著那座城市，阿加莎饒有興致地聽著。很快她便決定要去親眼看一看巴格達。

'How do you get there?' she said. 'By sea?'

“您怎么到那兒去呢？”她問，“乘船嗎？”

'You can go by train,' said Mrs Howe. 'On the Orient Express.'

“您可以坐火車去，”豪夫人回答，“坐東方快車。”

'The Orient Express!' said Agatha. 'I've always wanted to ride on that famous train. I'll go to Baghdad, not the West Indies!'

“東方快車！”阿加莎說，“我一直想乘一次那列有名的火車。我要去巴格達，不去西印度群島了！”

The Howes were very helpful and wrote down the names of interesting places for Agatha to visit. 'And you must go to Ur,' Commander Howe said.

豪夫婦很熱心地給阿加莎寫下了那些要參觀的名勝古跡的名字。“您一定要去烏爾。”豪司令說。

Next day, Agatha changed her tickets for the West Indies for tickets to Istanbul by the Orient Express, and then on across the desert to Baghdad.

第二天，阿加莎把去西印度群島的船票換成了乘東方快車去伊斯坦布爾的車票，然后從那里穿越沙漠到達巴格達。

It was an exciting journey for her, travelling alone for the first time. And later it gave her the idea for another of her most famous books—Murder on the Orient Express.

對她而言，這是一次很讓人興奮的旅行，因為這是她首次獨自出行。后來這次旅行賦予了她寫出她另外一部名作的靈感——《東方快車謀殺案》。

While she was staying in Baghdad, she remembered Commander Howe's words, 'You must go to Ur.'

在巴格達逗留期間，她想起了豪司令說過的話：“您一定要去烏爾。”

Archaeology was something that interested Agatha very much, and Leonard Woolley, the archaeologist, and his wife were working at Ur.

阿加莎對考古學極其感興趣，而且當時考古學家倫納德·伍利和他的妻子正在烏爾工作。

Katherine Woolley was very happy to meet Agatha.

凱瑟琳·伍利非常高興能見到阿加莎。

'I love your books!' she told Agatha. 'I've just finished reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It was wonderful!'

“我很喜歡您的書！”她告訴阿加莎。“我剛剛讀完《羅杰·阿克羅伊德命案》，寫得棒極了！”

Agatha became the Woolleys' special visitor. She loved Ur, and she loved watching the archaeologists. It was slow, tiring work, and they had to dig very carefully. Sometimes they found nothing for hours, and sometimes they found old pots or knives. It was always exciting when one of the workers found something that was thousands of years old.

阿加莎成了伍利夫婦的貴賓。她喜歡烏爾，也喜歡看考古學家們工作。這種工作緩慢而辛苦，并且他們挖掘時必須非常小心。有時候一連幾個小時他們一無所獲，有時候他們則可以發(fā)現一些舊鍋或刀子。而某個考古工作者發(fā)現了有幾千年歷史的東西的時候，總是很讓人興奮的時刻。

'You must come back again another year,' Katherine Woolley said.

“以后你一定要再來。”凱瑟琳·伍利說。

So Agatha did. She went out in March 1930, the week before the Woolleys planned to come back to England. The plan was that Agatha could travel back with them through Syria and Greece.

阿加莎做到了。她于1930年3月出發(fā)，也就是伍利夫婦準備回英國前的一個星期。之所以這樣安排，為的是阿加莎能夠和他們一同途經敘利亞和希臘返回。

A young archaeologist called Max Mallowan was working with the Woolleys. He was twenty-five years old, and a quiet young man.

和伍利夫婦一起工作的有一個名叫馬克斯·馬洛溫的年輕考古學家。他25歲，是個性格溫和的年輕人。

'I've told Max to show you Nejef and Kerbala,' Katherine Woolley told Agatha. 'Nejef is the holy city of the dead, and Kerbala has a wonderful mosque. When we leave here and go to Baghdad, he'll take you there. You can see Nippur on the way.'

“我已經告訴馬克斯讓他帶你去奈寨和克爾巴拉，”凱瑟琳·伍利對阿加莎說，“奈寨是亡靈的圣地，而在克爾巴拉有一個很漂亮的清真寺。他會在我們動身去巴格達的時候帶你去那兒。路上你還可以順便去尼普爾。”

'Oh, but doesn't Max want to go to Baghdad with you?' said Agatha. 'He will have friends to see there before he goes home to England.'

“哦，可是難道馬克斯不想和你們一起去巴格達嗎？”阿加莎問道，“回英國之前他肯定要去那兒看望朋友。”

'Oh no,' said Katherine. 'Max will be pleased to take you.'

“哦，不，”凱瑟琳說，“馬克斯會很高興帶你去的。”

The young archaeologist was pleased to take Agatha. He liked her immediately, and Agatha liked him. They talked and laughed and enjoyed every minute of their time together.

那個年輕的考古學家的確很高興帶阿加莎去玩。他立刻喜歡上了她，而且阿加莎也喜歡他。他們又說又笑，在一起的每分每秒都很快樂。

They met the Woolleys in Baghdad, and the four of them travelled to Greece together. But when they got to their hotel in Athens, there were seven telegrams waiting for Agatha. They all said the same thing. Rosalind was ill. Agatha must come home quickly.

他們與伍利夫婦在巴格達會合，然后四個人一起去了希臘。然而當他們到達在雅典的旅館時，已經有七封電報等著阿加莎了。電報都是同樣的內容——羅莎琳德病了，阿加莎必須盡快趕回去。

'I'll go with you, Agatha,' said Max.

“阿加莎，我陪你回去。”馬克斯說。

'Oh, thank you, Max,' said Agatha. 'But haven't you got plans to—?'

“哦，謝謝你，馬克斯，”阿加莎說，“可是你不是計劃去——？”

'I've changed my plans,' said Max, quietly. 'I'm coming with you, Agatha.'

“我已經改變了我的計劃，”馬克斯平靜地說，“阿加莎，我要和你一起回去。”

So they travelled home together. When they arrived, they found that Rosalind was much better, so that was one happy ending. Soon, there was another.

于是他們一起回了家。趕到家時，發(fā)現羅莎琳德已經好多了，那是一個圓滿結局。很快，又有了另外一個。

Agatha was fourteen years older than Max, but during the journey home Max decided to ask her an important question. And when they were back in England, he asked Agatha to marry him.

阿加莎比馬克斯大14歲，但在回英國的途中馬克斯決定問她一個很重要的問題。回到英國后，他便向阿加莎求婚了。

They were married on the 11th of September, 1930, in Edinburgh, in Scotland.

1930年9月11日，他們在蘇格蘭的愛丁堡結婚了。

*　　*　　*

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1930 was also the year when Agatha's other famous detective first appeared — in The Murder at the Vicarage. Her name was Miss Jane Marple—a little old woman who lived in the quiet English village of St Mary Mead. Miss Marple looked like somebody's grandmother, a nice kind woman who enjoyed cooking and gardening. But she also had very good eyes and ears. She saw, heard, and remembered everything—names, faces, the times of trains and buses, the colour of a shirt, the sound of a door shutting. And she always found out the name of the murderer before the police did.

也是在1930年，阿加莎的另一位名探在《牧師家的謀殺案》中首次登場了。她就是簡·馬普爾小姐——一位住在寧靜的英國鄉(xiāng)村圣·瑪麗米德的小個子老太太。馬普爾小姐看上去就像是誰的祖母，一個和藹可親、喜歡烹飪和園藝的老太太?？墒撬兄浅ｄJ利的眼睛和極其靈敏的聽覺。她能夠看見、聽到并且記住一切——姓名、面孔、火車和汽車的時間、襯衣的顏色、關門的聲音。她總是能在警方之前找出兇手。

Readers loved the Miss Marple stories, and she was soon as popular as Hercule Poirot. But was she a real person? Where did the idea for the character come from?

讀者們非常喜歡馬普爾小姐的故事，很快她便變得和赫爾克里·波洛一樣受歡迎了?？伤遣皇且粋€真實的人呢？這個人物的靈感又是從哪里得來的呢？

'Where? I can never remember,' Agatha always said.

“哪里？我記不得了。”阿加莎總是這么說。

* * *

archaeologist n. expert in the study of ancient civilizations by scientific analysis of physical remains found in the ground. 考古學家。

divorce n. legal ending of a marriage. 離婚；離異。

commander n. person who commands. 指揮官；司令；隊長。

orient n. countries of the East (e.g. Japan, China). 東方國家（如日本、中國）。

express n. fast train that stops at few stations. 快車。

across prep. from one side to the other side of (sth.). 從（某物）的一邊到另一邊；橫過（某物）。

pot n. round vessel made of earthenware, metal, etc. for cooking things in. （烹任用的）鍋。

holy adj. regarded as sacred; consecrated. 視為神圣的；神圣化的。

mosque n. building in which Muslims worship. 清真寺。

telegram n. message sent by telegraph and then delivered in written or printed form. 電報。

gardening n. cultivating of gardens. 園藝。