雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：3.車站茗談

3.Tea at the railway station

3．車站茗談

On October the 12th, 1912, when Agatha was twenty-two, she went to a dance at the home of Lord and Lady Clifford. They lived near Chudleigh, twelve miles from Torquay, and there were many young people there for Agatha to talk to.

1912年10月12日，阿加莎22歲了，她去參加在克利福德勛爵夫婦家里舉辦的一場舞會。他們住在離托基12英里的查德利附近，在那兒阿加莎可以和許多年輕人聊天。

During the evening a young army officer came up to her.

晚上的時(shí)候一位年輕軍官走到她面前。

'Will you dance with me?' he asked Agatha.

“我可以請您跳舞嗎？”他問阿加莎。

'Me?' said Agatha. 'Oh, yes, all right.'

“我嗎？”阿加莎問，“哦，好，當(dāng)然可以。”

He was tall and good-looking, with friendly blue eyes, and his name was Archibald Christie. Agatha liked him immediately. They danced together many times that evening, and Archie told her his plans.

他高大英俊，藍(lán)色的眼睛透著和善，他的名字叫阿奇博爾德·克里斯蒂。阿加莎立刻就喜歡上了他。那晚他們跳了一支又一支舞，而且阿奇給她講了自己的計(jì)劃。

'I want to fly,' he said, 'and I'm trying to get into the Royal Flying Corps.'

“我想做一名飛行員，”他說，“我正努力進(jìn)入皇家航空隊(duì)。”

'How exciting!' said Agatha.

“多棒??！”阿加莎說。

A week later, she was having tea with some friends at a house opposite Ashfield, her home, when there was a telephone call for her. It was her mother.

一星期后，她正和幾個(gè)朋友在她的家——阿什菲爾德——對面的房子里喝茶，突然接到一個(gè)電話，是她母親打來的。

'Come home, will you, Agatha?' said Clara. 'There's a young man here. He's just arrived and I'm giving him tea. I don't know him, and I think he wants to see you.'

“阿加莎，回家來好嗎？”克拉拉說，“有一個(gè)年輕人正等著你。他剛到，我正給他沏茶。我不認(rèn)識他，我想他是想見你。”

Agatha had to leave her friends and hurry home, so she was not very pleased. But when she got home, she found Archie Christie waiting for her.

阿加莎只得告別朋友趕快回家，心里不太高興，但是到家后，她發(fā)現(xiàn)等著她的那個(gè)人是阿奇·克里斯蒂。

'Hello,' he said. 'I was in Torquay and—and I thought that perhaps it would be nice to see you.' His face was red and he looked at his shoes.

“您好。”他說，“我路過托基，所以——所以我想最好能見見您。”他的臉變得通紅，低頭看著自己的鞋。

Agatha smiled.

阿加莎笑了。

Archie stayed for the rest of the afternoon, and for supper that evening. When it was time for him to leave, he said, 'Will you come to a concert in Exeter with me, Agatha? We can go to the Redcliffe Hotel for tea after the concert.'

阿奇待了一個(gè)下午，還留下來吃了晚飯。臨走時(shí)，他說：“阿加莎，能和我一起參加埃克塞特的音樂會嗎？聽完音樂會后我們還可以到雷德克利夫旅館喝茶。”

'I'd love to,' said Agatha, then looked at Clara. 'Can I, mother?'

“好的。”阿加莎說，然后看看母親，“媽媽，我可以去嗎？”

'A concert, yes, Agatha,' said Clara. 'But tea at a hotel? No, I don't think so. Not a hotel.'

“阿加莎，你可以去聽音樂會，”克拉拉說，“但是在旅館喝茶？不行，我想不可以。旅館可不行。”

'Perhaps I could take Agatha to tea in—in the restaurant at Exeter railway station!' said Archie.

“或許我可以帶阿加莎去——去埃克塞特車站的一家餐館喝茶！”阿奇說。

Agatha tried not to smile, but her mother agreed. So Agatha and Archie went to the concert—and then had tea at Exeter railway station!

阿加莎強(qiáng)忍住笑，她母親最終還是同意了。于是阿加莎就和阿奇一起去聽了音樂會——然后在埃克塞特車站喝茶！

'There's a New Year's dance in Torquay on the second of January,' said Agatha, when Archie took her home later. 'Will you come?'

“1月2日托基有一場新年舞會。”在阿奇送她回家的路上阿加莎說，“你能來嗎？”

He smiled. 'Of course,' he said. 'I want to see you as often as I can.'

他笑了笑。“當(dāng)然可以，”他說，“我想盡可能多地見到你。”

But when Archie came to the New Year's dance he was very quiet and did not seem happy. He seemed to be worried about something, but Agatha said nothing. Two days later, on the 4th of January, 1913, they went to another concert together. Archie was still very quiet, and after the concert Agatha asked, 'What's wrong, Archie?'

可是阿奇來參加新年舞會的時(shí)候卻非常沉默，看起來很不開心，心事重重。阿加莎什么也沒問。兩天后，也就是1913年1月4日，他們一起去參加另一場音樂會，阿奇依然很沉默。音樂會后阿加莎問他：“阿奇，你怎么了？”

'The Royal Flying Corps have said "yes" to me,' said Archie. 'I have to leave Exeter in two days' time. I have to go to Salisbury.' He looked at her. 'Agatha, you've got to marry me! There will never be anyone for me, only you! I've known that since our first evening together, at the Cliffords' dance.'

“皇家航空隊(duì)已經(jīng)同意接收我了。”阿奇說，“兩天后我就必須離開?？巳?，去索爾茲伯里。”他望著她，“阿加莎，你必須嫁給我！除了你，我不會娶任何人！從我們在克利福德家的舞會上共度的第一晚我就知道了。”

Agatha was very surprised. 'But—but I can't marry you. I've already told Reggie that I'll marry him.' And then she told him about Reggie Lucy.

阿加莎驚訝萬分。“可是——可是我不能嫁給你。我已經(jīng)告訴雷吉要和他結(jié)婚的。”接著她向阿奇講了雷吉·盧西的事情。

'You didn't marry him before he went away,' said Archie. 'Why not? It's because you don't really love him!'

“在他走之前你沒有嫁給他，”阿奇說，“為什么沒有呢？因?yàn)槟悴⒉徽嬲龕鬯?rdquo;

'We thought it was better to wait—' began Agatha.

“我們想著最好是等——”阿加莎開始解釋。

'I won't wait,' said Archie. 'I want to marry you next month, or the month after.'

“我不要等，”阿奇說，“我想下個(gè)月就和你結(jié)婚，或是下下個(gè)月。”

'We can't!' said Agatha. 'We haven't got any money. How will we live?'

“不行！”阿加莎說，“我們一點(diǎn)錢也沒有，怎么生活呢？”

But she did want to marry Archie.

但她確實(shí)想和阿奇結(jié)婚。

'Archie has asked me to marry him, and I want to. I want to very much!' she told her mother.

“阿奇已經(jīng)向我求婚了，我想嫁給他。我真的很想嫁給他！”她告訴母親。

Clara was very surprised. 'You must wait,' she told them both. 'I like you, Archie, but you are only twenty-three years old, and neither of you has any money.'

克拉拉大吃一驚。“你們必須再等些時(shí)候，”她告訴他們兩個(gè)，“我很欣賞你，阿奇，可是你只有23歲，并且你們兩個(gè)都沒有錢。”

So Archie went to Salisbury, and he and Agatha waited. Agatha wrote to Reggie Lucy. It was a difficult letter to write, but Reggie wrote a very kind letter back to her. 'Don't worry about it,' he told her. 'I understand.'

于是阿奇去了索爾茲伯里，他和阿加莎都等待著。阿加莎給雷吉·盧西寫了一封信，這封信寫起來異常艱難，不過雷吉的回信卻非常善解人意。“不要擔(dān)心，”他告訴她，“我能理解。”

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In August 1914, England was suddenly at war with Germany. Archie went to France with the Royal Flying Corps, and Agatha went to work as a volunteer nurse at the Torbay Hospital in Torquay.

1914年8月，英國突然與德國開戰(zhàn)。阿奇隨皇家航空隊(duì)開赴法國，而阿加莎則在托基的托貝醫(yī)院做了一名志愿護(hù)士。

Archie came back to England for five days in December, and Agatha went up to London to meet him. Then the two of them went down to Bristol, where Archie's mother lived. They could not wait any longer. They wanted to get married.

12月，阿奇回到了倫敦，可只能停留五天，于是阿加莎北上倫敦與他相會。然后兩人又南下去了阿奇母親居住的布里斯托爾。他們再也不能等待下去了。他們要結(jié)婚。

Archie's mother was not happy about this, but Clara thought differently. 'Yes, get married now,' she said. 'There's a war on. Who knows what will happen? Be happy while you can.'

阿奇的母親并不是很贊成，不過克拉拉卻有不同想法。“好，現(xiàn)在就結(jié)婚吧，”她說，“戰(zhàn)爭正在進(jìn)行。誰能預(yù)知明天呢？及時(shí)行樂吧。”

So Agatha and Archie were married at last on the 24th of December, 1914. Two days later, Archie went back to the war, and Agatha did not see him again for six months.

于是1914年12月24日，阿加莎和阿奇終于結(jié)婚了。兩天后，阿奇返回了戰(zhàn)場，這一分離便是六個(gè)月。

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During the summer of 1915, Agatha was ill and could not do any nursing work at the hospital for three or four weeks. Then, when she returned, she went to work in the hospital dispensary. And here she learned something which was very useful for a writer of detective stories. She learned about poisons.

1915年夏天，阿加莎病倒了，有三四個(gè)星期不能做任何護(hù)理工作。病好后，她轉(zhuǎn)到了醫(yī)院藥房工作。在這里她學(xué)到了一些對成為一個(gè)偵探小說家大有益處的東西。她認(rèn)識了毒藥。

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immediately adv. at once; without delay. 立刻；馬上；當(dāng)即；毫不耽擱。

opposite prep. facing. 面對。

hurry v. do sth. or move quickly or too quickly; rush. 迅速的或倉促的做某事或移動；趕緊。

concert n. musical entertainment given in public by one or more per formers. 音樂會。

restaurant n. public place where meals can be bought and eaten. 餐館；飯店。

go away leave a place. 走開；離開。

worry about be anxious about. 擔(dān)憂；擔(dān)心；發(fā)愁。

be at war be in a state of war. 處于交戰(zhàn)狀態(tài)。

volunteer n. person who offers to do sth. without being compelled or paid. 自愿或無償?shù)匦诘娜?；志愿者?/p>

dispensary n. place in a hospital, school, etc. where medicines are given out. （醫(yī)院、學(xué)校等的）藥房。