人性的贪欲：《书房命案》选读

一具尸体惊现于上校Bantry的藏书室，人们认为死者是舞女Ruby。在查案过程中，采石场又出现了一具烧焦的尸体，根据现场的痕迹指向童子军成员Pamela。最后，经过Marple小姐的断案，真相水落石出。究竟是谁痛下杀手？

说这部书名为《书房命案》，或许有人并不熟悉。可是如果说这部书名为《藏书室女尸之谜》，大家应该想到就是阿婆的那本The Body in the Library。该作品自1942年首次出版以来，曾四度被搬上银幕成为改编剧作。它们分别是：

1984，英国BBC制作播出的电视电影

The Body in the Library

2004，ITV电视台制作播出的系列剧

Agatha Christie's Marple（第1季第1集）

2009，法国二台制作播出的系列剧

Les petits meurtres d’Agatha Christie 

（第1季第9集）

2018，韩国SBS电视台制作播出的系列剧

《马小姐：复仇的女神》（第27-28集）

1984年英国BBC改编电影

现在，来看一下商务印书馆2020年出版的这本《书房命案》吧。

Chapter 15 

Mrs Bantry hurried to the front door, opened it quickly, and greeted Miss Marple with a very worried look on her face.

‘I’ve been calling everywhere looking for you. People are beginning to avoid Arthur. We must do something, Jane!’

Colonel Bantry appeared.

‘Ah, Miss Marple. Good morning. I’m glad you’ve come. My wife’s been ringing you like a mad woman.’

Miss Marple smiled.

‘I wanted to bring you the news myself,’ she said. ‘Basil Blake has just been arrested for the murder of Ruby Keene.’

‘Oh!’ Mrs Bantry was surprised. ‘Are you saying that he strangled that girl and then brought her here and put her in our library?

‘He put her in your library, but he didn’t kill her. He found her dead in his cottage.’

‘Oh, I don’t believe that,’ said the Colonel. ‘If you find a body, you ring the police – if you’re an honest man.’ 

2004年英国ITV改编剧

‘Ah,’ said Miss Marple, ‘but we’re not all as calm and sensible as you are, Colonel Bantry. Young people are different. Some of them have had a difficult time. Did you know that Basil did ARP work when he was only eighteen? He went into a burning house and brought out four children. Then he went back in for their dog, although they told him it wasn’t safe. The building fell on him. They got him out, but he was in hospital for nearly a year and was ill for a long time after that. That’s when he became interested in films.’

‘Oh! I – I never knew that,’ said the Colonel quietly.

‘He doesn’t talk about it,’ said Miss Marple.

‘He’s a stronger man than I thought,’ continued Colonel Bantry. ‘Ⅰ always thought he’d avoided the war, you know.’

Colonel Bantry looked ashamed.

‘But why did he try to make it look as if I was the murderer?’

‘I think he thought it was a joke.’

‘Oh, I see.’ He looked at Miss Marple. ‘But you don’t think he murdered her? And you think you know who did?’

Miss Marple nodded her head.

Mrs Bantry said happily to her husband: ‘Isn’t she wonderful?’

‘Well, who was it?’ continued the Colonel.

Miss Marple said:‘I need the Superintendent’s help before I can tell you that...’

2009年法国改编剧

文化注释

The structure of the police in England

The Metropolitan Police was created in London in 1829. The ranks, starting at the lowest, are Police Constable, Sergeant, Inspector, Chief Inspector, Superintendent, Chief Superintendent and then Commissioner. The Commissioner is the highest-ranking police officer in the United Kingdom. So in The Body in the Library, Sir Henry Clithering was once the highest police officer in the UK. He no longer works because he is too old.

Each English county has its own police force. Each one has a Chief Constable in charge. The Chief Constable does not usually participate in investigations – he is a manager who makes important decisions. In this story, however, the Chief Constable, Colonel Melchett, becomes involved because he is a friend of Colonel Bantry.

Police forces from different counties work together when a case affects both counties.

英国的警察体系

大伦敦警察局于 1829 年在伦敦成立，警衔从低到高依次是警员（Police Constable）、巡佐（Sergeant）、巡官（Inspector）、总巡官（Chief Inspector）、警司（Superintendent）、总警司（Chief Supintendent）和总监（Commissioner）。总监是英国警衔最高的警察，所以本书中 Henry Clithering 爵士曾经是英国警衔最高的警察。他现在因为年龄太大，已经退休了。

英国每一个郡都有自己的警察局，每个警察局都有一名地区局长（Chief Constable）。局长通常不参与调查，他是做重要决定的管理者。但是本书中的警察局长 Melchett 上校参与了案件的调查，因为他是 Bantry 上校的朋友。

如果一个案件涉及两个郡，则两个郡的警察局会合作办案。

ARP

In 1937, the British government created the Air Raid Wardens’ Service. The Service was to protect people from air raids if there was a war. An air raid was when enemy planes flew over the country and dropped bombs on towns and cities.The volunteers who worked in the Service were called ARP warden. When the Second World War started in 1939, ARP wardens walked the streets at night and made sure you couldn’t see any lights from houses or other buildings. If there were lights, it helped the enemy bomber planes to see where the towns and cities were. When planes were flying over the town or city, ARP wardens would try and get people into the underground shelters for safety. ARP wardens were usually part-time volunteers who had full-time day jobs, so it was tiring work, and very dangers – almost 7,000 ARP wardens were killed doing it.

 防空预警部队（ARP）

1937年，英国政府设立了防空预警部队，以在战时保护人们免受空袭。空袭是指敌方飞机飞过国家上空，向城镇扔下炸弹。

预警部队的志愿者叫做防空预警部队（ARP）队员。1939年二战开始时，防空预警部队队员夜间在街上巡逻，确保人们不会看到从房子或其他建筑物透出来的光。如果有光，就会帮敌人的轰炸机确定城镇的位置。飞机飞过城镇时，队员会帮人们转移到安全的地下防空洞。防空预警部队队员大多都是兼职志愿者，他们白天还有全职的工作，所以他们的工作非累，也非常危险，近 7000 名防空预警部队队员牺牲了。

2018年韩国SBS改编剧

以上内容节选自《书房命案》，图片来自网络



《书房命案》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
用中国人看得懂的英语带您进入阿加莎·克里斯蒂的世界

• 语言：英语专家精心改写，适合中高级英语学习者阅读
• 文化：人物表和历史文化背景注释
• 词汇：难词注释帮助学习和阅读
• 听力：优美英音全文朗读（附二维码音频下载和点读功能）

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丛书目录（点击蓝色书名，可跳转到试听页面）
《斯泰尔斯庄园奇案》（The Mysterious Affair at Styles）《鸽群中的猫》（Cat among the Pigeons）《云中奇案》（Death in the Cloud）《命案目睹记》（4.50 from Paddington）《死亡约会》（Appointment with Death）《国际学舍谋杀案》（Hickory Dickory Dock）《古屋疑云》（Peril at End House）《罗杰疑案》（The Murder of Roger Ackroyd）《东方快车谋杀案》（Murder on the Orient Express）《控方证人及其他》（The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories）《尼罗河上的惨案》（Death on the Nile）《穿棕色套装的人》（The Man in the Brown Suit）《黑麦奇案》（A Pocket Full of Rye）《悬崖上的谋杀》（Why Didn't They Ask Evans）《弄假成真》（Dead Man's Folly）《书房命案》（The Body in the Library）《怪屋》（Crooked House）《密码》（N or M？）《魔手》（The Moving Finger）《地狱之旅》（Destination Unknown）《借镜杀人》（They Do It with Mirrors）《寓所谜案》（The Murder at the Vicarage）《葬礼之后》（After the Funeral）《闪光的氰化物》（Sparkling Cyanide）

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