雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：6.阿加莎失蹤了

6.Agatha disappears

6．阿加莎失蹤了

On the morning of Friday, the 3rd of December, 1926, Archie left Styles and went to stay with some friends for the weekend. Nancy Neele was also staying at this house for the weekend. Perhaps Agatha knew this, perhaps she didn't—we can't be sure.

1926年12月3日，星期五，阿奇在上午離開了斯泰爾斯，去和一些朋友過周末。南希·內(nèi)萊也在那里。阿加莎或許知道這些，或許不知道——我們不得而知。

Nobody knows what Agatha was thinking, late that dark winter evening. Rosalind, now seven years old, was in bed. The Christies' two housemaids were in the kitchen. But we know this. At about eleven o'clock that evening, Agatha went out and drove away in her car.

沒人知道在那個漆黑的冬夜阿加莎在想些什么。七歲的羅莎琳德已經(jīng)睡了?？死锼沟偌业膬蓚€女傭在廚房里。但我們所知道的是，那天晚上大概11點鐘，阿加莎走出房門，駕車離去。

She did not return home that night.

那晚她沒有回家。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

On Saturday morning, a woman arrived by taxi at the Hydro Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire. The Hydro was one of Harrogate's biggest and best hotels, near the centre of the town.

星期六早晨，一個女人乘坐出租車來到位于約克郡哈羅蓋特的海卓旅館。海卓是哈羅蓋特最大、最好的旅館，在鎮(zhèn)中心附近。

'Can I have a room, please?' the woman asked. She was carrying a small suitcase, and she looked very tired.

“請給我開個房間好嗎？”那個女人說。她帶著一個小小的衣箱，看上去非常疲憊。

'Yes, of course,' said the man behind the hotel desk. 'There's a nice room on the first floor—room number five. It has hot and cold water, and the cost is seven pounds for a week.'

“好，當然可以，”賓館前臺后面的服務員說，“二樓有一個很好的房間——五號房。冷熱水都有，每星期七英鎊。”

'Thank you, that will be all right,' said the woman.

“謝謝你，這就可以了。”那女人說。

'What name, please?' asked the man.

“請問您的名字？”服務員問。

'Mrs Teresa Neele,' said the woman with the suitcase.

“特里薩·內(nèi)萊夫人。”帶著衣箱的女人答道。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

Also on that cold Saturday morning in December, a fifteen-year-old boy was walking beside a lake called the Silent Pool. This was at a place called Newlands Corner, about fourteen miles from Sunningdale. The boy's name was George Best.

同樣是在那個12月寒氣襲人的星期六早晨，一個15歲的男孩兒正沿著一個叫靜塘的湖走著。這個地方名叫紐蘭茲·科納，離森尼達爾14英里。男孩兒名叫喬治·貝斯特。

Suddenly, George saw a car. It was off the road, down by the lake, but the lights were on.

突然，喬治看見了一輛汽車。它停在路邊，車頭傾向湖邊，但車燈依然亮著。

'That's strange,' he thought. 'Why is that car down there, and why are the lights on?' And he went to have a better look.

“真奇怪，”他想，“這輛車為什么停在那兒，車燈怎么還亮著呢？”他走過去想看個仔細。

The car was empty, but the driver's door was open. George looked inside. He saw a coat, and an open suitcase. Half-out of the suitcase were three dresses, some shoes—and some papers with the name 'Mrs Agatha Christie' on them.

車里沒人，駕駛員那邊的車門敞開著。喬治向里瞧了瞧，看見一件大衣和一個打開了的衣箱。箱子內(nèi)外散落著三件連衣裙，幾只鞋——還有幾張寫著“阿加莎·克里斯蒂夫人”的紙。

George quickly went to find a policeman.

喬治飛快地跑去叫警察。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

The newspapers were soon full of the story, and Agatha's picture was on the front pages. Where was the detective-story writer? Was she dead? Was she murdered? Did she kill herself?

很快報紙上滿篇都是這件事的報道，頭版上還有阿加莎的照片。這個偵探小說家在哪里？她死了嗎？被謀殺了嗎？還是自殺了？

The Daily News wanted answers to these questions, and said, on December the 7th, that it would give ￡100 to the first person with the answers. By the next weekend, hundreds of policemen and thousands of people were looking for her.

《每日新聞》想找到這些問題的答案，12月7日，它聲稱誰先找到答案誰就可以贏得100英鎊。到了下一個周末的時候，成百上千的警察和成千上萬的人都在尋找她。

'Did your wife ever talk about disappearing?' a Daily Mail reporter asked Archie.

“你的妻子有沒有提起過失蹤？”《每日郵報》的記者問阿奇。

'Yes,' said Archie. 'She once told her sister, "I could disappear any time I wanted to. I would plan it carefully, and nobody would find me." Perhaps this happened. Or perhaps she's ill and can't remember who she is.'

“提起過，”阿奇說，“她曾經(jīng)對她姐姐說：'我什么時候想失蹤就會失蹤。我會有很周密的計劃，沒人找得到我。'可能這真的發(fā)生了。或者她可能是病了，記不得自己是誰了。”

The police asked Archie lots of questions, watched his house, and followed him to his office.

警方問了阿奇很多問題，監(jiān)視他的房子，并跟蹤他到辦公室。

'They think I've murdered Agatha,' he told a friend.

“他們認為是我謀殺了阿加莎。”他對一個朋友說。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

The woman at the Hydro Hotel had breakfast in her room each morning, and sat quietly reading in the hotel sitting-room in the afternoons. She said 'Good morning' and 'Good afternoon' to other people in the hotel, and seemed worried because there were no letters for her.

住在海卓旅館的那個女人每天在她的房間里用早餐，下午坐在旅館大廳里靜靜地看書。她對旅館里的其他人都說“早上好”和“下午好”，因為沒有收到來信而顯得有些焦慮。

But one of the chambermaids went to see Mrs Taylor, the wife of the hotel manager.

旅館的一個女服務員找到旅館經(jīng)理的妻子泰勒夫人。

'Mrs Neele looks like the woman in the Daily Mail picture,' said the chambermaid. 'You know the one—Agatha Christie!'

“內(nèi)萊夫人看起來很像是《每日郵報》照片上的那個女人，”這個女服務員說，“您知道的——阿加莎·克里斯蒂！”

Mrs Taylor spoke to her husband about it, but they decided to say nothing. They did not want any trouble at the hotel.

泰勒夫人和丈夫說了這件事，為了不給旅館帶來麻煩，他們決定暫不聲張。

But two more people at the Hydro Hotel were also looking carefully at 'Mrs Teresa Neele'.

但是在海卓旅館里還有兩個人在仔細打量著這位“特里薩·內(nèi)萊夫人”。

Bob Tappin and Bob Leeming played music in the hotel each evening, and both of them watched the quiet woman in the corner of the room—and began to think.

鮑勃·塔平和鮑勃·利明每晚都在旅館里演奏音樂，他們都看見了那個安安靜靜坐在屋子角落里的女人——并開始琢磨。

'I'm sure that Neele woman is Agatha Christie,' Bob Tappin said to his friend one evening.

“我肯定那個叫內(nèi)萊的女人是阿加莎·克里斯蒂，”一天晚上鮑勃·塔平對他的伙伴說。

'I think you're right,' Bob Leeming agreed. 'What shall we do about it?'

“我想你是對的，”鮑勃·利明表示贊同，“我們該怎么辦呢？”

And the next day they went to the police.

第二天他們?nèi)チ司炀帧?/p>

The police immediately told Agatha's husband, and Archie Christie arrived at the Hydro Hotel at 6.45pm on Tuesday, the 14th of December. When his wife walked out of the sitting-room, Archie saw her and went up to her.

警方立即通知了阿加莎的丈夫，阿奇·克里斯蒂在12月14日星期二的下午6:45趕到了海卓旅館。當他的妻子走出大廳時，阿奇看到了她并迎上前去。

'Hello, Agatha,' he said.

“你好，阿加莎。”他說。

She looked at him carefully, but did not seem sure who he was. 'Hello,' she said.

她認真地打量著他，卻不敢肯定這是誰。“你好。”她說。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

The hotel was soon full of newspaper reporters.

旅館里很快就擠滿了報社記者。

Archie told them later, 'I don't think that my wife knows who she is. She doesn't know me, and she doesn't know where she is.'

后來阿奇對他們說：“我想我妻子不知道自己是誰。她不認得我，也不知道自己身在何處。”

He and Agatha left the hotel the next day. There were reporters everywhere. They followed the Christies to the railway station, trying to get pictures of the frightened Agatha, who was hiding her face behind her hands. She looked thin and her face was white.

第二天他和阿加莎離開了旅館。到處都是記者，他們跟隨克里斯蒂夫婦到了火車站，想拍下阿加莎受驚嚇的照片，阿加莎只好用手捂住自己的臉。她看上去很消瘦，臉色蒼白。

And in London, hundreds of people were waiting at King's Cross Station for the train from Harrogate. Everyone wanted to see the 'woman of mystery' and her husband. Their lives now seemed to be like something out of one of her detective stories.

在倫敦，有成百上千個人在金斯克羅斯火車站等待從哈羅蓋特開來的火車。大家都想目睹一下這位“神秘女人”和她丈夫的風采。他們的生活現(xiàn)在看起來就像她的偵探小說里的某些情節(jié)。

Archie helped the silent, frightened Agatha through the crowd. Reporters shouted questions at them and took pictures, but neither Archie nor Agatha said a word.

阿奇保護著沉默驚恐的阿加莎穿過人群。記者們邊沖他們大聲地提問邊拍攝照片，阿奇和阿加莎均保持緘默。

And for the rest of her life, Agatha never again spoke about Harrogate, the Hydro Hotel, or 'Teresa Neele'. But what really happened that night after she left Styles? Why did she leave her car? How did she get to Harrogate? It was always a mystery.

阿加莎有生之年再也沒有談起過哈羅蓋特、海卓旅館或是特里薩·內(nèi)萊。在她離開斯泰爾斯的那天晚上究竟發(fā)生了什么事？她為什么丟下了汽車？她又是如何到的哈羅蓋特？這些都將永遠成為不解之謎。

It still is.

至今如此。

* * *

housemaid n. woman servant in a house, esp. one who cleans rooms, etc. （尤指清掃房間等的）女仆，女傭人。

suitcase n. case with flat sides, used for carrying clothes, etc. when travelling. 手提衣箱；小提箱。

be full of be filled with. 滿的，充滿……的。

look for search for or try to find sb./sth. 尋找或?qū)で竽橙耍澄铮?/p>

reporter n. person who reports news for the media. 記者；新聞通訊員。

chambermaid n. woman whose job is cleaning and tidying bedrooms, usu. in a hotel. 以打掃和整理臥室為工作的婦女（通常指旅館中的）；女服務員；女侍。

in the corner of the room 在屋角。

crowd n. huge number of people gathered together in the open. 人群。