2 TEN QUESTIONS
2 十个问题
On the paper was written:
这张纸上写着：
THINGS NEEDING EXPLANATION
需要解释的事情
1. The handkerchief marked with the initial H. Whose is it?
一、编有姓名缩写H字母的手帕，是谁的？
2. The pipe-cleaner. Was it dropped by Colonel Arbuthnot? Or by someone else?
二、那根烟斗捻子。是阿伯斯诺上校丢落的？还是另有人丢的？
3. Who wore the scarlet kimono?
三、穿鲜红睡袍的是谁？
4. Who was the man or woman masquerading in Wagon Lit uniform?
四、冒穿卧车列车长制服的那个男人或女人是谁？
5. Why do the hands of the watch point to 1.15?
五、为什么手表的时针指在凌晨一时一刻？
6. Was the murder committed at that time?
六、命案是否就发生在那个时刻？
7. Was it earlier?
七、是否更早？
8. Was it later?
八、还是稍晚？
9. Can we be sure that Ratchett was stabbed by more than one person?
九、我们能肯定刺杀罗嘉德的不止一人吗？
10.What other explanation of his wounds can there be?
十、死者身中多处刀伤是否另有其他的解释？
“Well, let us see what we can do,” said M. Bouc, brightening a little at this challenge to his wits. The handkerchief, to begin with. Let us by all means be orderly and methodical.”
“现在看看我们该怎样办，”波克先生面对这些对自己机智挑战的问题，似乎奋发了起来。“我们先来探讨这块手帕。我们无论如何要按部就班，有条不紊。”
“Assuredly,” said Poirot, nodding his head in a satisfied fashion.
“那当然，”白罗说，颇表满意地点了点头。
M. Bouc continued somewhat didactically. The initial H is connected with three people—Mrs. Hubbard, Miss Debenham, whose second name is Hermione, and the maid Hildegarde Schmidt.”
波克先生一副谆谆教诲的神气，继续说：“H这个姓名缩写字母与三个人有关——侯伯太太；戴本瀚小姐，她另一个名字是贺妙妮；还有女仆希尔格·施密德，三人姓或名中，头一个字母都是H。”
“Ah! And of those three?”
“喔！那么这三人中又是谁呢？”
“It is difficult to say. But I think I should vote for Miss Debenham. For all one knows she may be called by her second name and not her first. Also there is already some suspicion attaching to her. That conversation you overheard, mon cher, was certainly a little curious, and so is her refusal to explain it.”
“虽然很难说，但是我想该是戴本瀚小姐。谁知道也许她常用的名字不是玛丽，而是另一个名字贺妙妮呢。再说，她已经有了可疑之处了。老兄，你听见的他们那段谈话，的确令人起疑，何况她又拒绝说明真相。”
“As for me, I plump for the American,” said Dr. Constantine. “It is a very expensive handkerchief, that; and Americans, as all the world knows, do not care what they pay.”
“至于我，我比较倾向那个美国太太，”康斯丹丁医师说：“那块手帕很名贵，我们都晓得，美国人是最不在乎花钱的。”
“So you both eliminate the maid?” asked Poirot.
这么说，你们两人都把那个女仆淘汰啦？“白罗问。
“Yes. As she herself said, it is the handkerchief of a member of the upper classes.”
“是的。她自己也说过，那种手帕是上流名媛所用的。”
And the second question—the pipe-cleaner. Did Colonel Arbuthnot drop it, or somebody else?”
“第二个问题——烟斗捻子。是阿伯斯诺上校还是另有人丢的？”
“That is more difficult. The English, they do not stab. You are right there. I incline to the view that someone else dropped the pipe-cleaner—and did so to incriminate the long-legged Englishman.”
“这就更难说，英国人是不兴刺人的。你这个看法有道理。我比较认为是另有人扔的那根捻子——目的在栽赃给那位长腿英国上校。”
“As you said, M. Poirot,” put in the doctor, “two clues is too much carelessness. I agree with M. Bouc. The handkerchief was a genuine oversight—hence none of the women will admit that it is hers. The pipe-cleaner is a faked clue. In support of that theory, you notice that Colonel Arbuthnot shows no embarrassment and admits freely to smoking a pipe and using that type of cleaner.”
“你也说过，白罗先生，”医师也应和着说：“两个线索也未免太大意了，我同意波克先生的看法，那块手帕的确是疏忽中遣落的——因为至今没有一名女客承认手帕是她们的。而那根烟斗捻子就是假作的线索。如果你留意到：阿伯斯诺上校并未感到窘困，且很自然地承认自己抽烟斗、用的也是那种捻子，就更可以支持我这个理论了。”
“You reason well,” said Poirot.
“你的立论挺不错。”白罗说。
“Question No. 3—Who wore the scarlet kimono!” went on M. Bouc. “As to that, I will confess I have not the slightest idea. Have you any views on the subject, Dr. Constantine?”
“第三个问题——穿鲜红睡袍的是谁？”波克先生又说：“这点，我不能不承认：我是一点头绪也没有。关于这点，你有什么高见吗，康斯丹丁医师？”
“None.”
“没有。”
“Then we confess ourselves beaten there. The next question has, at any rate, possibilities. Who was the man or the woman masquerading in Wagon Lit uniform? Well, one can list with certainty a number of people that it could not have been. Hardman, Colonel Arbuthnot, Foscarelli, Count Andrenyi and Hector MacQueen are all too tall. Mrs. Hubbard, Hildegarde Schmidt and Greta Ohlsson are too broad. That leaves the valet, Miss Debenham, Princess Dragomiroff and Countess Andrenyi—and none of them sounds likely! Greta Ohlsson in one case, and Antonio Foscarelli in the other, both swear that Miss Debenham and the valet never left their compartments. Hildegarde Schmidt swears that the Princess was in hers, and Count Andrenyi has told us that his wife took a sleeping draught. Therefore it seems impossible that it can be anybody—which is absurd!”
“那么我们只好坦认，在这个问题上，我们是吃瘪了。下面一个问题嘛，无论如何倒是有些可能性。冒穿列车长制服的男人或女人是谁？这个，我们至少可以列出几个人，但绝对是不可能的。哈德曼、阿伯斯诺上校、佛斯卡瑞里、安君业伯爵与海洛特·麦昆身材都太高。侯伯太太，希尔格·施密德与葛丽泰·奥尔森，块头又嫌大。剩下的，就只有那名男仆、戴本瀚小姐、德瑞格米罗夫郡主与安君业伯爵夫人了——然而这几个人又都不太可能。戴本瀚小姐与那名男仆，分别有同室的葛丽泰·奥尔森与安东尼奥·佛斯卡瑞里作证这两人都没开过房间。希尔格·施密德也发誓说郡主也呆在自己房间里的，而安君业伯爵告诉过我们他夫人是服过安眠药的。因此，简直不可能是任何一名旅客了——这简直是不可思义嘛！”
“As our old friend Euclid says,” murmured Poirot.
“我们老朋友欧几里德真是有先见之明。”白罗咕噜了一句。
“It must be one of those four,” said Dr. Constantine. “Unless it is someone from outside who has found a hiding-place—and that we agreed was impossible.”
“一定是这四人之中的一个了，”康斯丹丁医师说：“除非有人从外头上来，躲在车上什么场所——但是这点我们都同意是不可能的。”
M. Bouc had passed on to the next question on the list. “No. 5—Why do the hands of the broken watch point to 1.15? I can see two explanations of that. Either it was done by the murderer to establish an alibi, and afterwards, when he meant to leave the compartment, he was prevented by hearing people moving about; or else—wait—I have an idea coming—”
波克先生开始讨论车子上的下一个问题了。“第五——为什么砸破的手表上的时针指的是一点一刻钟？这，我有两个解释。不是凶手故作的以便留下不在现场的证据，后来他要离开房间时，又听见过道上有人走动；要不然就是——等等，我想起来了……”
The other two waited respectfully while M. Bouc struggled in mental agony.
另两人恭敬从命地观看波克先生如何自陷迷阵。
“I have it,” he said at last. “It was not the Wagon Lit murderer who tampered with the watch! It was the person we have called the Second Murderer—the lefthanded person—in other words the woman in the scarlet kimono. She arrives later and moves back the hands of the watch in order to make an alibi for herself.”
“有了，”他终于开了腔：“不是那穿列车长制服的凶手在表上动的手脚！是我们称之为‘第二名凶手’——那名左撇子——，也就是穿鲜红睡袍的那个女人弄的。她为了给自己留下不在现场的证据，稍晚来到房间里，把时针往后拨了拨。”
“Bravo said Dr. Constantine. “It is well imagined, that.”
“好极了，”康斯丹丁医师说：“你的想象力真强。”
“In fact,” said Poirot, “she stabbed him in the dark, not realizing that he was dead already, but somehow deduced that he had a watch in his pyjama pocket, took it out, put back the hands blindly, and gave it the requisite dent.”
“事实上，”白罗说：“大概她该是在漆黑中刺了他，根本不知道他早就死了；但不知怎地，推想他睡衣口袋里一定有只手表，拿了出来，摸瞎地把时针拨了回去，然后给了它致命的一砸。”
M. Bouc looked at him coldly. “Have you anything better to suggest, yourself?” he asked.
波克先生冷涩地看着他问：“你自己呢？你有更好的解释吗？”
“At the moment—no,” admitted Poirot. “All the same,” he went on, “I do not think you have either of you appreciated the most interesting point about that watch.”
“此刻——还没有，”白罗承认：“反正，我认为你们两位都没有抓住有关这只手表最微妙的重点。”
“Does question No. 6 deal with it?” asked the doctor. “To that question—Was the murder committed at that time, 1.15?—I answer No.”
“与第六个问题有关吗？”医师问：“关于这个问题——命案是否发生在一点一刻？——我的回答是：不是。”
“I agree,” said M. Bouc. “’Was it earlier?’ is the next question. I say—Yes! You, too, doctor?”
“我也同意，”波克先生说：“下面一个问题是：发生的时刻是否稍早？我的看法是——是的！你也同意吧，医师？”
The doctor nodded. “Yes, but the question ‘Was it later?’ can also be answered in the affirmative. I agree with your theory, M. Bouc, and so, I think, does M. Poirot, although he does not wish to commit himself. The First Murderer came earlier than 1. 15, but the Second Murderer came after 1.15. And as regards the question of left-handedness, ought we not to take steps to ascertain which of the passengers is left-handed?”
医师点了点头。“是的，不过，‘是否会稍晚？’的问题，同样可以有肯定的答案。我同意你的理论，波克先生，我也相信；纵令白罗先生没有表示意见，他心里也是赞同的。第一次刺杀是在一点一刻之前，而第二次刺杀则是在一点一刻之后发生的。至于左撇子的问题，我们还不该采取步骤弄清旅客中哪位是使用左手的吗？”
“I have not completely neglected that point,” said Poirot. “You may have noticed that I made each passenger write either a signature or an address. That is not conclusive, because some people do certain actions with the right hand and others with the left. Some write right-handed, but play golf left-handed. Still, it is something. Every person questioned took the pen in his or her right hand—with the exception of Princess Dragomiroff, who refused to write.”
“我并没有完全忽视这一点。”白罗说：“两位也许注意到，我曾要每位旅客签下名字或写下地址。这当然不能下定论，因为有人做某种事用右手，做别的事又用左手。有人用右手写字，打高尔夫球时却是左撇子。不过，多少还是可以看出点端倪。每一个应讯的旅客都是用右手拿笔的——只有德瑞格米罗夫郡主例外，她根本拒绝写。”
“Princess Dragomiroff—impossible,” said M. Bouc.
“德瑞格米罗夫郡主——不可能。”波克先生说。
“I doubt if she would have had the strength to inflict that left-handed blow,” said Dr. Constantine dubiously. ‘That particular wound had been inflicted with considerable force.”
“我怀疑她有那股力气刺下左撇子那一刀，”康斯丹丁医师不以为然地说：“那一处特别的刀伤，是下了相当大的力气刺下的。”
“More force than a woman could use?”
“要比女人用得大？”
“No, I would not say that. But I think more force than an elderly woman could display, and Princess Dragomiroff’s physique is particularly frail.”
“不，我并不是这个意思。但是要比一个年纪大的女人力气大才行，而德瑞格米罗夫郡主的体型是很孱弱的。”
“It might be a question of the influence of mind over body,” said Poirot. “Princess Dragomiroff has great personality and immense will-power. But let us pass from that for the moment.”
“这也说不定是意志影响体力的问题，”白罗说：“德瑞格米罗夫郡主的个性很强，意志力更是无比。不过，我们现在先不谈这个。”
“To questions Nos. 9 and 10? Can we be sure that Ratchett was stabbed by more than one person, and what other explanation of the wounds can there be? In my opinion, medically speaking, there can be no other explanation of those wounds. To suggest that one man struck first feebly and then with violence, first with the right hand and then with the left, and after an interval of perhaps half an hour inflicted fresh wounds on a dead body—well, it does not make sense.”
“第九与第十个问题，我们可否肯定：罗嘉德不止是被一个人刺死的，那么他的多处刀伤还有什么其它解释？按我自医学上的观点来看，这些刀伤是没有其他解释可以说明的。若说，一个人先轻轻地刺了刺，又狂猛地乱刺，先用右手，又用左手，又等了半小时之后，回头在尸体上加上几刀——这，简直是说不通嘛。”
“No,” said Poirot. “It does not make sense. And you think that two murderers do make sense?”
“的确，”白罗说：“实在没道理，那么，你认为两名凶手的理论是可以成立了？”
“As you yourself have said, what other explanation can there be?”
“你自己也说过，还有别的什么解释吗？”
Poirot stared straight ahead of him. “That is what I ask myself,” he said. “That is what I never cease to ask myself.”
白罗眼睛远远地往前直视。“我也这么问自己，”他说：“我无时无刻不在问自己这个问题。”
He leaned back in his seat.
他将身子往椅背靠了过去。
“From now on, it is all here.” He tapped himself on the forehead. “We have thrashed it all out. The facts are all in front of us—neatly arranged with order and method. The passengers have sat here, one by one, giving their evidence. We know all that can be known—from outside ...
“从现在起，就全靠这儿了，”他敲了敲额头：“我们一切都反复探讨过了。事实都摆在我们眼前了——清清楚楚、有条不紊地都理出来了。旅客们曾一个一个地，坐在这里给我们写了证词。我们能知道的也全都知道了——这是指的从外表来看……”
He gave M. Bouc an affectionate smile.
他们亲切地朝波克先生笑了笑。
“It has been a little joke between us, has it not—this business of sitting back and thinking out the truth? Well, I am about to put my theory into practice—here before your eyes. You two must do the same. Let us all three close our eyes and think. ...
“我们今天坐在这儿，把真相思考了一番，倒也给我们带来不少乐趣，两位说是不是？呃，我本人嘛，可要把我的理论应用到实际上去了——也要请两位指教。你们二位也应该这么做。让我们三人都把眼睛闭上，好好地思考……”
“One or more of those passengers killed Ratchett. Which of them?”
“一名或一名以上的旅客刺杀了罗嘉德，但却是哪一个呢？”