豪奢的代价：《尼罗河上的惨案》选读

商务印书馆英语编辑室 2022-06-09

新版《尼罗河上的惨案》海报

2020年还有一个多月就要过去了，对于侦探迷们来说，没什么比年底上映的新版《尼罗河上的惨案》更加值得期待了。然而就在两周前，这部电影被官宣撤档了。不过，不必焦虑，新片撤档，读物在线。

大侦探Poirot来开罗度假，在一艘船上遇到了他的好友Race上校。这段豪华而浪漫的旅程却被一连串扑朔迷离的连环凶杀案打破了。是连环杀手还是多人作案，真凶到底是谁？

Chapter 11

The next morning, Hercule Poirot was washing his face when Colonel Race entered his cabin.

‘Linnet Doyle’s dead – shot through the head last night,’ said the Colonel. Poirot was silent, thinking about everything that had happened. He did not, however, look shocked.

They’ve put me in charge,’ continued Race. ‘The boat will be stopped for now. There’s a possibility, of course, that the murderer was not a passenger on the boat with us.’

Poirot shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘It is definitely one of the passengers.’

‘You’ re probably correct. Well, this has to be your case, Poirot.’

‘I am very happy to help,’ said Poirot.

There were four cabins with private bathrooms on the boat. The first on the port side was Dr Bessner’s, and the other was Andrew Pennington’s. On the starboard side, the first was Miss Van Schuyler’s, and the one next to it was Linnet Doyle’s. A crew member opened Mrs Doyle’s cabin door for them. Dr Bessner was already there.

新版《尼罗河上的惨案》预告片

‘What can you tell us, Doctor?’

‘Well, she was shot just above the ear. A little bullet^① from a small gun, I think. The gun was held against her head – the skin is burnt. She didn’t know anything about it. The murderer entered in the dark and shot her when she was sleeping.’

① bullet n. 子弹

Poirot thought this explanation was very unlikely. Jacqueline de Bellefort coming into a dark cabin, with her gun in her hand? No, she would never behave like that.

Looking around the room, Poirot saw that on the white wall in front of him someone had drawn very badly a big letter J in red.

Poirot gently picked up the dead girl’s right hand. One finger had red on it.

‘Mmm – so, Madame Doyle is dying; she writes with her finger, in her own blood, the first letter of her murderer’s name. Oh, yes, it has been done so often – in crime stories!’

Bessner cried: ‘The poor lady died immediately. To put her finger in the blood (and there is hardly any) and write the letter J on the wall? Oh no, it isn’t possible!’

‘Why “J”?’ Race asked.

‘Jacqueline de Bellefort,’ explained Poirot. ‘A young lady who told me that she wanted “to put my little gun against her head and then just press...”’

There was a silence. Then Race said: ‘What about time of death?’

Bessner thought for a moment.

‘She has been dead certainly six hours, probably not longer than eight.’

‘So she was shot between midnight and 2 am. What about her husband? Does he sleep in the cabin next door?’

‘Yes, but at the moment he’s asleep in my cabin,’ explained the doctor. ‘Mr Doyle was also shot last night, in the observation room.’

‘Shot? Who by?’ asked Poirot and Race, shocked.

‘By Jacqueline de Bellefort.’

'Is he badly hurt?’ asked Poirot.

‘Yes, I’m afraid he is,’ replied Bessner.

新版《尼罗河上的惨案》预告片

Race said: ‘Let’s go somewhere private. There’s a smoking room on the deck below.’

In the smoking room they discussed the murder further. ‘It’s very clear what happened,’ said Race. ‘The girl shot Mr Doyle. Then she went along to Linnet Doyle’s cabin and shot her as well.’

‘No, no. It’s impossible that Miss de Bellefort shot Mrs Doyle.’ The doctor was certain.

Bessner explained that Miss Bowers was with Jacqueline.

‘And I’m sure that Miss Bowers stayed with her all night.’

Poirot asked: ‘Who found Linnet Doyle?’

‘Her maid, Louise Bourget, when she went to wake her as usual,’ said Race.

He continued: ‘Well, I don’t think we need to keep you here any longer, doctor,’ and Bessner left.

‘Well, Poirot?’ Race asked. ‘What shall we do next?’

‘First of all, we must question Mr Fanthorp and Miss Robson. The missing gun is important.’

Race sent a crew member to get them. While they waited, Poirot shook his head.

‘This is bad.’

‘You think that this girl Jacqucline does not have the ability to plan a cold-blooded^①murder,’ guessed Race.

‘She has the brains,’ said Poirot, thinking, ‘but I am not sure that she could actually do it.’

The door opened and Fanthorp and Cornelia came in. They explained what they had seen. Poirot said: ‘So Mademoisclle de Bellefort has an alibi^②– she had no opportunity to go and get her gun. Monsieur Fanthorp, what time was it when you went to look for it?’

① cold-blooded adj. 冷血的

② alibi n. 不在犯罪现场证明

‘Just before half past twelve.’

‘And how long was it from the time you and Dr Bessner carried Monsieur Doyle out of the observation room until you returned for the gun?’

‘Five minutes, or perhaps a little more.’

‘So, the person who removed the gun was probably Madame Doyle’s murderer. That person had heard or seen the events that took place with Monsieur Doyle and Mademoiselle de Bellefort. The gun was hidden under the sofa, so it is clear that it was taken by someone who knew it was there.’

Jim Fanthorp shook his head.

‘I didn’t see anyone when I went out onto the deck just before the gun was fired. No one was watching from the deck.’

‘Yes, but you went out onto the starboard side. You would not have seen anybody at the port door looking through the window.

‘Before you go, Monsicur Fanthorp,’ continued Poirot, ‘please tell me – why are you visiting Egypt?’

Fanthorp paused, then said: ‘Er – for pleasure.’

‘Ah!’ said Poirot. ‘And one more question. Did you hear anything – anything at all – after you went to your cabin?’

‘Actually, I think I heard a splash^③just as I was falling asleep. At about one o’clock.’

Fanthorp left and Poirot turned to Cornelia.

‘Mademoiselle Robson, your cabin is on the other side of the boat.’

‘Yes, next door to Miss de Bellefort.’

③ splash n. 落水声

‘Did you hear a splash?’

‘No, but I wouldn’t, because the boat’s against the jetty on my side.’

‘Thank you. Now please ask Mademoiselle Bowers to come here.’

* * *

Miss Bowers gave her name, address, and qualifications.

‘Is Mademoiselle Van Schuyler’s health very bad?’ asked Poirot.

‘Oh, no. She just likes plenty of attention, and she’s happy to pay for it.’

Poirot said: ‘Please can you tell me exactly what happened last night?’

‘Well, Miss de Bellefort was very shocked. I gave her some pills, she fell asleep and I sat with her until this morning. ‘Jacqucline de Bellefort was definitely not the murderer.

Who, then, had shot Linnet Doyle?

新版《尼罗河上的惨案》角色

文化注释

Maids

In England at this time, the upper classes employed servants. Ladies usually had a personal servant called a maid, such as Louise Bourget, whose main job was to keep the lady's clothes and accessories clean and ready to wear. They also helped their mistresses get dressed, change clothes for meals or activities and to get ready for bed at night. However, by the end of the Second World War,this situation was starting to change.

女仆

在当时的英国，上层阶级拥有仆人。女主人一般都有一个私人女仆，叫作 maid，例如 Louise Bourget就是女仆，她的主要工作是让女主人的衣物首饰保持整洁，可以随时穿戴。女仆还帮女主人穿衣服、换衣服，以便用餐或参加活动，或者在晚上准备睡觉。但是，二战结束时这种情况开始发生变化。

Touring in Egypt in 1937When Death on the Nile was first published in 1937, only the very rich could afford to travel abroad for pleasure. They would arrive in the capital city of Cairo and be led by a guide to a number of places, from the Pyramids just near to Cairo, then down the River Nile to explore the city of Aswan, Elephantine Island and some of the most beautiful temples built by the Ancient Egyptians like the rock temples at Abu Simbel. They would also visit natural wonders such as the First and Second Cataracts, areas of the Nile where the water is not deep enough for a boat and there are lots of large rocks.

Rich tourists in Egypt would travel in luxury, on large steam-boats where they had a cabin each and a formal dinner every evening.

1937 年在埃及旅行
《尼罗河上的惨案》1937 年首次出版时，只有非常富裕的人才能负担得起到国外旅行。他们会先到首都开罗，然后由导游带着去不同的地方，先是开罗附近的金字塔，然后沿着尼罗河顺流而下去阿斯旺、象岛和古埃及人建造的一些最美的寺庙，例如阿布辛贝的石窟庙。他们还会参观自然景观，例如第一和第二瀑布，还有尼罗河上水深不足以行船且有很多大石头的地方等。

富有的游人在埃及的旅行非常豪华，他们乘坐大型蒸汽船，每个人拥有一个客舱，每天晚上都有正式晚宴。

( 以上内容节选自《尼罗河上的惨案》，图片来自网络)

《尼罗河上的惨案》是“阿加莎·克里斯蒂经典侦探作品集”丛书之一。

阿加莎·克里斯蒂：100年前的英伦传奇

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