Agatha Christie - Английский язык с Агатой Кристи. Убийства по алфавиту

wherefore [ˈwɛǝfɔ:], vexing [ˈveksɪŋ], speculation [ˌspekju:ˈleɪʃ(ǝ)n]

"True enough as far as the public is concerned. The man is in prison and will eventually, no doubt, go to Broadmoor. There will be no more murders. Exit! Finis! R.I.P."

"But not for me. I know nothing — nothing at all! Neither the why nor the wherefore."

"And there is one small vexing fact. The man Cust has an alibi for the night of the Bexhill crime."

"That's been worrying me all along," said Franklin Clarke.

"Yes. It worried me. For the alibi, it has the air of being genuine. But it cannot be genuine unless — and now we come to two very interesting speculations."

"Supposing (предположим), my friends (друзья мои), that while Cust committed three of the crimes (что, хотя Каст совершил три преступления; while — пока; хотя) — the A (/под буквой/ «эй»), C (/под буквой/ «си») and D crimes (и /под буквой/ «ди» преступления) — he did not commit the B crime (он не совершил преступления /под буквой/ «би»)."

"M. Poirot (мсье Пуаро). It isn't (это не) — "

Poirot silenced Megan Barnard with a look (Пуаро усмирил Меган Барнард взглядом; to silence — заставить замолчать; усмирять). "Be quiet, mademoiselle (спокойно: «будьте тихой», мадемуазель). I am for the truth (я /выступаю/ за правду), I am (я)! I have done with lies (я покончил с ложью = мне надоела ложь). Supposing (предположим), I say (я скажу), that A.B.C. did not commit the second crime (что Эй-би-си не совершал второго преступления). It took place (оно произошло), remember (помните), in the early hours of the 25th (в ранний час двадцать пятого) — the day he had arrived for the crime (в день, когда он прибыл для /совершения/ преступления). Supposing (предположим) someone had forestalled him (что кто-то опередил его)? What in those circumstances would he do (что в тех обстоятельствах он бы сделал)? Commit a second murder (совершит второе убийство), or lie low (или заляжет /низко/) and accept the first (и примет первое /преступление/) as a kind of macabre present (в качестве жуткого подарка; macabre — относящийся к смерти; страшный)?"

while [waɪl], forestall [fɔ:ˈstɔ:l], macabre [mǝˈkɑ:br]

"Supposing, my friends, that while Cust committed three of the crimes — the A, C and D crimes — he did not commit the B crime."

"M. Poirot. It isn't — "

Poirot silenced Megan Barnard with a look. "Be quiet, mademoiselle. I am for the truth, I am! I have done with lies. Supposing, I say, that A.B.C. did not commit the second crime. It took place, remember, in the early hours of the 25th — the day he had arrived for the crime. Supposing someone had forestalled him? What in those circumstances would he do? Commit a second murder, or lie low and accept the first as a kind of macabre present?"

"M. Poirot!" said Megan. "That's a fantastic thought (это абсурдная: «фантастическая» мысль)! All the crimes must have been committed by the same person (все преступления должны были быть совершены одним и тем же человеком)!"

He took no notice of her (он не обратил на нее никакого внимания) and went steadily on (и твердо продолжил): "Such a hypothesis had the merit of explaining one fact (такая гипотеза имела достоинство объяснить один факт) — the discrepancy between the personality of Alexander Bonaparte Cust (несоответствие между личностью Александра Бонапарта Каста) (who could never have made the click with any girl (который, возможно, никогда не имел успеха ни у одной девушки; to make a click with — быть популярным, иметь успех)) and the personality of Betty Barnard's murderer (и личностью убийцы Бетти Барнард). And it has been known (а было известно), before now (раньше; before now — до сих пор, раньше), that would-be murderers have taken advantage of the crimes (что предполагаемые убийцы извлекали для себя выгоду из преступлений; would-be — предполагаемый) committed by other people (совершенных другими людьми). Not all the crimes of Jack the Ripper were committed by Jack the Ripper (не все убийства Джека Потрошителя были совершены Джеком Потрошителем), for instance (например). So far, so good (пока все идет нормально: «так = настолько далеко, так хорошо»)."

discrepancy [dɪˈskrep(ǝ)nsɪ], would-be [ˈwʋdbi:], advantage [ǝdˈvɑ:ntɪʤ]

"M. Poirot!" said Megan. "That's a fantastic thought! All the crimes must have been committed by the same person!"

He took no notice of her and went steadily on: "Such a hypothesis had the merit of explaining one fact — the discrepancy between the personality of Alexander Bonaparte Cust (who could never have made the click with any girl) and the personality of Betty Barnard's murderer. And it has been known, before now, that would-be murderers have taken advantage of the crimes committed by other people. Not all the crimes of Jack the Ripper were committed by Jack the Ripper, for instance. So far, so good."

"But then I came up against a definite difficulty (но затем я столкнулся с определенной сложностью; to come up against — столкнуться с чем-либо)."

"Up to the time of the Barnard murder (до времени убийства Барнард), no facts about the A.B.C. murders had been made public (никакие факты об убийствах Эй-би-си не стали публичными = не стали достоянием публики). The Andover murder had created little interest (эндоверское убийство породило мало интереса; to create — творить, создавать). The incident of the open railway guide had not even been mentioned in the press (случай с открытым железнодорожным справочником даже не был упомянут в прессе). It therefore followed (поэтому следует) that whoever killed Betty Barnard must have had access to facts known only to certain persons (что кто бы ни убил Бетти Барнард, он должен был иметь доступ к фактам, известным только определенным людям) — myself (мне /самому/), the police (полиции), and certain relations and neighbours of Mrs. Ascher (и некоторым родственникам и соседям миссис Эшер)."

"That line of research seemed to lead me up against a blank wall (эта линия расследования, казалось, привела меня к белой/пустой стене; blank — белый; пустой)."

The faces (лица) that looked at him (которые смотрели на него) were blank too (были пустыми тоже). Blank (сбитыми с толку; blank — озадаченный, смущенный) and puzzled (и озадаченными).

Donald Fraser said thoughtfully (Дональд Фрейзер сказал задумчиво): "The police (полицейские), after all (в конце концов), are human beings (человеческие существа). And they're good-looking men (и они симпатичные мужчины) — "

He stopped (он остановился), looking at Poirot inquiringly (глядя вопросительно на Пуаро).

access [ˈækses], blank [blæŋk], whoever [hu(:)ˈevǝ]

"But then I came up against a definite difficulty."

"Up to the time of the Barnard murder, no facts about the A.B.C. murders had been made public. The Andover murder had created little interest. The incident of the open railway guide had not even been mentioned in the press. It therefore followed that whoever killed Betty Barnard must have had access to facts known only to certain persons — myself, the police, and certain relations and neighbours of Mrs. Ascher."

"That line of research seemed to lead me up against a blank wall."

The faces that looked at him were blank too. Blank and puzzled.

Donald Fraser said thoughtfully: "The police, after all, are human beings. And they're good-looking men — "

He stopped, looking at Poirot inquiringly.

Poirot shook his head gently (Пуаро мягко покачал головой). "No — it is simpler than that (это проще, чем это). I told you (я сказал вам) that there was a second speculation (что было второе предположение; to speculate — обдумывать; полагать, предполагать)."

"Supposing (предположим) that Cust was not responsible for the killing of Betty Barnard (что Каст не был ответственен за убийство Бетти Барнард)? Supposing (предположим) that someone else killed her (что кто-то другой убил ее). Could that someone else have been responsible for the other murders too (мог /ли/ этот кто-то другой быть ответственен за два других убийства тоже)?"

"But that doesn't make sense!" cried Clarke (но это не имеет смысла, — воскликнул Кларк).

"Doesn't it (неужели)? I did then (я сделал тогда) what I ought to have done at first (что мне следовало сделать сначала). I examined the letters (я изучил письма) I had received (которые я получил) from a totally different point of view (с совершенно отличной = иной точки зрения; total). I had felt from the beginning (я чувствовал с самого начала) that there was something wrong with them (что с ними было что-то не так: «что там было что-то неправильное с ними») — just as a picture expert knows (именно подобно тому, как эксперт по живописи знает: «как раз как картинный эксперт знает») a picture is wrong (что картина фальшива) … "

simple [sɪmpl], totally [ˈtǝʋt(ǝ)lɪ], expert [ˈekspǝ:t]

Poirot shook his head gently. "No — it is simpler than that. I told you that there was a second speculation."

"Supposing that Cust was not responsible for the killing of Betty Barnard? Supposing that someone else killed her. Could that someone else have been responsible for the other murders too?"

"But that doesn't make sense!" cried Clarke.

"Doesn't it? I did then what I ought to have done at first. I examined the letters I had received from a totally different point of view. I had felt from the beginning that there was something wrong with them — just as a picture expert knows a picture is wrong … "

"I had assumed (я допустил), without pausing to consider (не переставая раздумывать), that what was wrong with them (что то, что было неправильно с ними) was the fact (был тот факт) that they were written by a madman (что они были написаны сумасшедшим)."

"Now I examined them again (и вот я изучил их снова) — and this time I came to a totally different conclusion (и на этот раз пришел к совершенно отличному выводу). What was wrong with them (то, что было в них не так) was the fact (был тот факт) that they were written by a sane man (что они были написаны здравым человеком)!"

"What?" I cried (что? — воскликнул я).

"But yes (ну да) — just that precisely (именно так: «как раз это точно»)! They were wrong (они были неправильными) as a picture is wrong (как картина неправильна) — because they were a fake (потому что они были подделкой). They pretended to be the letters of a madman (они претендовали /на то, чтобы/ быть письмами сумасшедшего = выдавали себя за…) — of a homicidal lunatic (помешанного убийцы: «убийственного лунатика»), but in reality they were nothing of the kind (но в реальности они не были ничем подобным = не были таковыми)."