阳光下的罪恶

您知道的
You know that.
我是在您精心表演以后知道的
I only know that because you took good care to stage an incident
表演了您有头晕病
showing me that you suffer from vertigo.
那是前天 在露台上
The day before yesterday, on the terrace.
当时我们在散步 我指给您看那底下
As we were having a stroll and I was drawing your attention
享受日光浴的那些人 您忽然靠着我
to the sunbathing figures on the beach below us, you suddenly fell against me
退后一步说您有头晕病
and stepped back, saying you suffered from vertigo.
她有这病 波洛 一向有这病
But she does have it, Poirot. She’s always had it.
不是这样的 先生
That is not the case, monsieur.
您妻子是装作有这病
Your wife only pretended to have it
好证明她不能从梯子上爬下去
in order to prove that she could not have climbed down the ladder.
昨天下午
But, yesterday afternoon,
我自己站在俯瞰海鸥湾的悬崖上
I myself stood on the cliff overlooking Gull Cove
我忽然有了一个新发现
and I discovered something rather interesting.
要是真想看到在底下游泳的琳达 再跟她招手
In order to have seen Linda in the water below and to wave to her,
人就得站在悬崖最靠外的边边上了
you would have had to stand right on the very edge.
虽然我没有头晕病
Although I do not suffer from vertigo,
可我当时也有点头晕
I myself was quite dizzy.
夫人要真有头晕病 您就不可能站在那儿
For you, madame, had you suffered from vertigo, it would have been impossible.
让我继续讲下去 您爬梯子的时候
Let us now resume the story from the point at which you descended the ladder.
阿琳娜夫人为了避免跟您正面冲突
Madame Arlena decided to avoid a confrontation
正预备离开海滩
and was about to leave the beach
她发现了崖底下有一个小山洞
when she noticed a small grotto at the base of a cliff.
你们也许要问 这我怎么知道
You may well ask how I knew she had been in there.
昨天下午我不仅发现了霍勒斯爵士
Yesterday afternoon, not only did I discover the false diamond
还给她的那颗假钻石
that Horace Blatt had returned to her,
我善于品酒香的鼻子闻到了
but my excellent wine taster’s nose
不是卡梭夫人您说的那种臭味
had detected, not as you put it, Madame Castle, a pong,
而是”海风”海洋的气息
but Souffle de Mer, “the breath of the sea”,
马歇尔先生 您知道这是阿琳娜夫人最爱用的香水
which, as you know, Monsieur Marshall, was her favourite perfume.
我扯得太远了
But I am digressing.
等您到了海滩 阿琳娜夫人已经不见了
You ran down on to the beach, but Madame Arlena had disappeared.
阿琳娜 你在哪儿
Arlena! Where are you?
你别躲着了 我有话跟你说
I know you’re here. I want to talk to you!
我这就来了
Be with you in a minute.
你有什么事
Well, what is it?
行了 波洛 您不要说得天花乱坠了
Look here, Poirot. Haven’t we heard enough of this blarney?
阿琳娜不是给东西砸死的 而是掐死的
Arlena was not murdered with a blunt instrument, she was strangled.
请用您的比利时小眼睛看一看
And if you would care to bend those beady Belgian eyes of yours
克里斯蒂娜的手 她这双小手是谁也掐不死的
on Christine’s hands, you’ll see they are too small to have strangled anyone.
对 我同意 当时在我分♥析♥的时候也遇到这问题
Yes, I quite agree. In fact that was a major stumbling block to my theory.
雷德芬说得对 您的分♥析♥完全不能成立 波洛先生
Redfern’s right, this knocks your theory out of court. Monsieur Poirot
奥德尔你别说了 当时你不在场 可我在场
Odell, please, you weren’t even there, and I was.
我亲眼看见是掐死的
Remember, I saw her lying there strangled.
这克里斯蒂娜干不了
Christine couldn’t have done it.
我完全同意您的看法 夫人 的确不是她干的
I am absolutely of your opinion, madame. In fact, she did not do it.
这个杀人凶手是她丈夫 帕特里克·雷德芬
The murder was committed by her husband, Patrick Redfern.
您真是越说越神了
Now you really are talking out of the top of your hat!
哦 帕特里克和他妻子一样怎么可能是凶手呢
Oh, for God’s sakes. Patrick couldn’t have done it, any more than his wife.
别忘了 我一直在他身边 从11点半到12点之间
Don’t forget I was with him the whole time between 11:30 and 12:00
一起来到海湾 阿琳娜就躺在那儿了
when we came into the bay and saw her lying there.
说得对极了 夫人
That is the whole point, madame.
身材差不多的年轻女人是很相像的
One moderately well-made young woman is very much like another.
棕色的臂膀 棕色的腿
Two brown arms, two brown legs
身上裹着一件紧身的游泳衣
and a little piece of bathing suit in between.
您坐在船上究竟看到了什么 加德纳夫人
What exactly did you see from your place in the boat, Madame Gardener?
您看到情人雷德芬先生
The ardent young lover, M Redfern,
蹲在一个被太阳晒黑了的女人身旁
bending over the body with suntanned limbs
穿着阿琳娜的白色游泳衣 还有一顶中国式的红帽子
wearing Arlena’s white bathing costume and a red Chinese hat.
就像前几天我就说过那样
As I pointed out a couple of days ago,
躺在海滩上的人都一样
all bodies lying on the beach are alike.
我说他们分不出
“They are not men and women,” I said.
是男的是女的 都一个样
“There is nothing personal about them,” I said.
他们像一块块牛羊肉在太阳底下烤
“They are like rows of butcher’s meat grilling in the sun,” I said.
难怪您要上当 以为您看见的是
No wonder you were fooled into imagining that you had seen
马歇尔夫人的尸体
the corpse of Madame Marshall,
其实您看到的是
when what you had actually seen
大活人克里斯蒂娜·雷德芬太太
was the live body of Madame Christine Redfern.
那个凶手只好把那脸盖起来
That is why the murderer had to conceal the face,
因为躺在那儿的被害者是另一个人
because it was not the murder victim lying there, but somebody else.
谁肯帮雷德芬先生这个忙呢 当然是她的妻子
And who else would help Monsieur Redfern, but his own wife?
现在有意做给证人看的表演结束了
And now the performance for the benefit of the witness is over.
加德纳夫人坐船离开去找人了
Madame Gardener departs from the bay by boat to fetch help.
您想不想知道 加德纳夫人
And what do you think happened, Madame Gardener,
您走了以后的情况
as soon as you had disappeared?
那尸体活过来了
Why, the corpse leaps to her feet
她跑进山洞换下阿琳娜夫人的游泳衣
and runs into the grotto in order to remove Madame Arlena’s bathing costume,
她刚从那昏迷女人身上扒下来
which she had stripped off the unconscious woman
穿着它扮演尸体的
and worn to play her part as a corpse.
有一点 波洛 我可以把您驳得体无完肤
I’ve got a point, Poirot, which will scupper all your whole case.
克里斯蒂娜的皮肤白得像牛奶
Christine is as pale as pasteurised milk. Now the question is,
我说什么也不会把她的胳膊腿当成是阿琳娜的
how could I have possibly mistaken her arms and legs for Arlena’s?
这驳不倒我 夫人
This covers nothing at all, madame.
在回答之前 请您想一想
In answer to your question, I would ask you to consider
雷德芬太太的那一身古怪的衣着
the bizarre nature of Madame Redfern’s beach apparel.
我昨天早上在大厅遇见雷德芬太太
When I saw Madame Redfern in the lobby yesterday morning,
她穿了一身与众不同的衣服
she was wearing a totally exaggerated garment
把她的浑身上下都罩住了
which completely covered her from wrist to neck.
她绝不是怕太阳晒才穿这样一身衣服
No mere fear of the sun could have occasioned such a choice of dress.
她不得不蒙住身子 因为在衣服底下
She had to wear such an all-concealing outfit because underneath…
身上是棕色的
…she was brown as a nut
在山洞里等她换上了
In the grotto, after having climbed into the unconscious
昏迷的阿琳娜夫人的游泳衣以后
Madame Arlena’s swimming costume,
她就把手跟脖子涂上棕色
all she had to do was to stain her hands and neck,
这两处她不能事先涂好 为什么
something she could not have done earlier. Why?
怕引起琳达注意
Because Linda would have noticed.
她戴上了耳环 然后跑出了山洞
She puts on the earrings and then she runs out of the grotto
来到海滩上 赶紧躺在阿琳娜的浴巾上
and onto the beach, settles herself on Arlena’s towel
再用那顶中国式的帽子遮住脸
and puts her great big Chinese hat over her face
就躺在那儿等她的丈夫和您的来到
and lies still to await the arrival of her husband and yourself.
掐得真准 真行啊
Dead… on cue, as it were.
我得承认这出戏雷德芬排练得真是好
And this, I must admit, he stage-managed superbly,
他在梯子湾上场的时间不早也不晚
timing his appearance at Ladder Bay
恰好是放午炮的时候
exactly to coincide with the sound of the noonday gun.
戏唱完了剩下的好办了
The rest was easy.
雷德芬太太又换上自己原来的衣服
She now changed back into her original costume.
大概是12点过五分
It was about five past 12.
雷德芬太太就跟她的丈夫匆匆告别 时间紧迫
Madame Redfern bids her husband a hurried farewell. The clock is ticking.
她赶紧往回跑 跑上了那条从海鸥湾
She runs back across the island to rejoin the path
通向旅馆的小路
leading from Gull Bay to the hotel.
她还有一件事没办完
She has one more task to perform.
她应当销毁那瓶会连累她的棕色油
She must get rid of the incriminating bottle of suntan stain.
就是那没人承认扔过的瓶子
The bottle that no one would admit throwing.
她用力把瓶子扔下了悬崖
So she hurls it over the cliff.
可是她运气不好 这件事当场被布鲁斯特先生看见了
But has the bad luck to have the event witnessed by Monsieur Brewster,
瓶子差点砸他头上
whom it almost hit.
她赶到旅馆大概是12点一刻
She reaches the hotel, arriving there about 12:15.
我计算过这一程的时间
I myself timed the journey.
虽然我不可能像一位怀有鬼胎的姑娘跑得那样快
But then I was not running like a young gazelle, for obvious reasons.
雷德芬太太就赶紧洗澡 被加德纳先生听见了
Madame Redfern now takes the bath, heard by Monsieur Gardner,
可谁也不承认洗过澡 她洗去了棕色油
the bath no one would admit to taking, in order to wash off the suntan.
换上了运动服来到了网球场
She changes into tennis clothes and appears on the court
虽然晚了几分钟 可是不慌不忙
a few minutes late it is true, but unruffled and smiling,
一副天真的样子
a picture of innocence.
是的 雷德芬先生和太太
Yes, Monsieur and Madame Redfern,
这得怪我没有及早地识破你们的诡计
I blame myself for not having seen through your little charades earlier.
事实上 我赫尔克里·波洛也不是一个完人
But then, unfortunately, not even Hercule Poirot is perfect.
你们一到这儿就开始表演了
From the moment you arrived,
一系列精心设计的场面
you started playing out a series of carefully rehearsed scenes,
有意叫大家都听见看见
in such a manner that all might hear or see.