11 THE EVIDENCE OF MISS DEBENHAM
11 玛丽·戴本瀚小姐的证词
When Mary Debenham entered the dining-car she confirmed Poirot’s previous estimate of her.
玛丽·戴本瀚踏进餐车时，立即印证了白罗稍早对她持有的印象。
She was very neatly dressed in a little black suit with a French grey shirt, and the smooth waves of her dark head were neat and unruffled. Her manner was as calm and unruffled as her hair.
她身着一袭爽眼的黑色套装，灰色法国衬衫，黑润的发卷也梳理得柔顺不紊。她的神情就像她那头柔发般的稳重大方。
She sat down opposite Poirot and M. Bouc and looked at them inquiringly.
她在白罗与波克先生两人对面坐下，质询式地注视着他们。
“Your name is Mary Hermione Debenham and you are twenty-six years of age?” began Poirot.
“你是玛丽·贺妙妮·戴本瀚，今年廿六岁，是吗？”白罗开始问。
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“English?”
“英国籍”？
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“Will you be so kind, Mademoiselle, as to write down your permanent address on this piece of paper?”
“小姐，请把你的永久地址写在这张纸上，好吗？”
She complied. Her writing was clear and legible.
她写了下来。笔迹整洁清晰。
“And now, Mademoiselle, what have you to tell us of the affair last night?”
“现在，小姐，可否请你把昨晚的情形给我们叙述一下？”
“I am afraid I have nothing to tell you. I went to bed and slept.”
“恐怕没什么可奉告的。我回房安歇了。”
“Does it distress you very much, Mademoiselle, that a crime has been committed on this train?”
“我们车上发生了凶案，你觉得难过不安吗？”
The question was clearly unexpected. Her grey eyes widened a little.
显然，她不曾料到这样的问题，灰色的眼睛睁大了少许。
“I don’t quite understand you?”
“我不太懂你的问题。”
“It was a perfectly simple question that I asked you, Mademoiselle. I will repeat it. Are you very much distressed that a crime should have been committed on this train?”
“我问的问题很简单，小姐，容我重复一次：我们火车上发生了这样的凶案，你觉得很难过不安吗？”
“I have not really thought about it from that point of view. No, I cannot say that I am at all distressed.”
“我未曾从这个角度去着想过。抱歉，我不能说我感到有什么难过。”
“A crime—it is all in the day’s work to you, eh?”
“这种罪案——你觉得很稀松平常吗？呃？”
“It is naturally an unpleasant thing to have happen,” said Mary Debenham quietly.
“当然不是什么令人愉快的事。”玛丽·戴本瀚平静地说。
“You are very Anglo-Saxon, Mademoiselle. Vous n’éprouvez pas d’émotion.”
“你真是道地的英国人，小姐。不容易激动的。”
She smiled a little. “I am afraid I cannot have hysterics to prove my sensibility. After all, people die every day.”
她嫣然一笑，说：“抱歉，我是不会哭天嚎地来证实我确有情感；再说，每天都有人死的。”
“They die, yes. But murder is a little more rare.”
“不错，天天有人死，但是谋杀却未必时常发生。”
“Oh! certainly.”
“喔！那当然。”
“You were not acquainted with the dead man?”
“你不认识死者？”
“I saw him for the first time when lunching here yesterday.”
“昨天午餐时，才第一次见到。”
“And how did he strike you?”
“你认为他是怎样的人？”
“I hardly noticed him.”
“根本没注意。”
“He did not impress you as an evil personality?”
“你不觉得他长相很凶恶吗？”
She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “Really, I cannot say I thought about it.”
她轻轻耸了耸肩头：“没有想过。”
Poirot looked at her keenly.
白罗全神注视着她。
“You are, I think, a little bit contemptuous of the way I prosecute my inquiries,” he said with a twinkle. “Not so, you think, would an English inquiry be conducted. There everything would be cut and dried—it would be all kept to the facts—a wellordered business. But I, Mademoiselle, have my little originalities. I look first at my witness, I sum up his or her character, and I frame my questions accordingly. just a little minute ago I am asking questions of a gentleman who wants to tell me all his ideas on every subject. Well, him I keep strictly to the point. I want him to answer yes or no. This or that. And then you come. I see at once that you will be orderly and methodical. You will confine yourself to the matter in hand. Your answers will be brief and to the point. And because, Mademoiselle, human nature is perverse, I ask of you quite different questions. I ask what you feel, what you think. It does not please you, this method?”
“我想，我如此讯问你，你可能有些不以为然吧？”他挤了一下眼睛，又说：“你一定在想，在英国就不会是这种问法。在贵国，一切公事公办，实事求是，简明扼要。不过，小姐，我有我自己的一套做法。我先研究一下讯问对象的性格，然后选择合适的问题。我刚问过一位先生，他对什么事物都要表示意见。我就只好问他斩钉截铁的问题。我只叫他回答是，或不是，这个或那个。而你却是个极有分寸、讲求层次的人，你的回答简单而具重点。小姐，人性是很古怪的，因此，我就得问你与众不同的问题。我要知道你心头的感触，脑里的想法。这种问讯方式，你不认为满意吗？”
“If you will forgive my saying so, it seems somewhat of a waste of time. Whether or not I liked Mr. Ratchett’s face does not seem likely to be helpful in finding out who killed him.”
“如果你不介意，我认为这完全是浪费时间。我不喜欢罗嘉德这个人的面貌，对你们寻找凶手似乎并没什么助益。”
“Do you know who the man Ratchett really was, Mademoiselle?”
“你知道罗嘉德先生究竟是谁吧，小姐？“
She nodded. “Mrs. Hubbard has been telling everyone.”
她点了点头。“侯伯太太已经嚷嚷了好半天了。”
“And what do you think of the Armstrong affair?”
“你对阿姆斯壮绑票案有什么看法？”
“It was quite abominable,” said the girl crisply.
“非常卑鄙。”她极干脆地说。
Poirot looked at her thoughtfully.
白罗沉思地看了她一眼。
“You are travelling from Baghdad, I believe, Miss Debenham?”
“戴本瀚小姐，你是自巴格达上车的吧？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“To London?”
“前往伦敦？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“What have you been doing in Baghdad?”
“你在巴格达从事什么工作？”
“I have been acting as governess to two children.”
“担任两个小孩子的家庭教师。”
“Are you returning to your post after your holiday?”
“销假之后，是否仍回去工作？”
“I am not sure.”
“还不一定。”
“Why is that?”
“什么原因？”
“Baghdad is rather out of things. I think I should prefer a post in London if I can hear of a suitable one.”
“巴格达太偏僻了。如果有合适的工作，我希望留在伦敦。”
“I see. I thought, perhaps, you might be going to be married.”
“喔，是这样的。我还以为，也许你要结婚了呢？”
Miss Debenham did not reply. She raised her eyes and looked Poirot full in the face. The glance said plainly: “You are impertinent.”
戴本瀚小姐没有作答，只抬起眼睛狠狠地在白罗脸上瞪了一眼，那眼光犹似在说：“你这人简直卤莽无礼！”
“What is your opinion of the lady who shares your compartment—Miss Ohlsson?”
“你对与你同房的女士奥尔森小姐，有什么看法？”
“She seems a pleasant, simple creature.”
“她像是个善良而平凡的女人。”
“What colour is her dressing-gown?”
“她的睡袍是什么颜色的？”
Mary Debenham stared. “A kind of brownish colour—natural wool.”
玛丽·戴本瀚小姐瞪了他一眼，说“一种褐色的——纯毛的。”
“Ah! I may mention without indiscretion, I hope, that I noticed the colour of your dressing-gown on the way from Aleppo to Stamboul. A pale mauve, I believe.”
“呵，请恕我冒昧，我好像在阿勒颇至伊斯坦堡途中，注意到你所穿睡袍的颜色，是浅紫色，对吧？”
“Yes, that is right.”
“是的，不错。”
“Have you any other dressing-gown, Mademoiselle? A scarlet dressing-gown, for example?”
“你没有别的颜色的睡袍吗？比方说，鲜红色的？”
“No, that is not mine.”
“没有，那不是我的。”
Poirot leant forward. He was like a cat pouncing on a mouse.
白罗像猫抓老鼠般地，突然往前扑了过来。
“Whose, then?’
“那么，是谁的？”
The girl drew back a little, startled. “I don’t know. What do you mean?”
这小姐吃了惊，怔住了。“我不知道。你这是什么意思？”
“You do not say, ‘No, I have no such thing.’ You say, ‘That is not mine.’ Meaning that such a thing does belong to someone else.”
“你没有说‘没有，我没有那种颜色的’，却说的是‘那不是我的’。言下之意是确知有人，的确有那种颜色的睡袍。”
She nodded.
“她点了点头。
“Somebody else on this train?”
“车上有人穿这种颜色的？”
‘Yes.”
“是的。”
“Whose is it?”
“是谁的？”
“I told you just now: I don’t know. I woke up this morning about five o’clock with the feeling that the train had been standing still for a long time. I opened the door and looked out into the corridor, thinking we might be at a station. I saw someone in a scarlet kimono some way down the corridor.”
“我刚告诉你我不知道。我今晨五时左右醒来，觉得火车好像停下很久了。我打开房门往过道上看看，心想也许到了站了。我看见过道那端有个穿红色睡袍的人。”
“And you don’t know who it was? Was she fair, or dark, or grey-haired?”
“你不认识是谁吗？她皮肤是深色？浅色？头发花白吗？”
“I can’t say. She had on a shingle cap and I only saw the back of her head.”
“说不上来，她戴了顶小帽子。我只看见她头部的背影。”
“And in build?”
“身材如何？”
“Tallish and slim, I should judge, but it’s difficult to say. The kimono was embroidered with dragons.”
“好像高高瘦瘦的，很难说。不过，睡袍上绣了有龙的。”
“Yes, yes, that is right—dragons.” He was silent a minute. He murmured to himself. “I cannot understand. I cannot understand. None of this makes sense.”
“对的，对的，是有龙的。”他沉默了片晌，又自言自语地说：“我不懂，简直想不通。这全说不出什么道理来嘛。”
Then, looking up, he said: “I need not keep you further, Mademoiselle.”
之后，他抬起头来，说：“小姐，我不多耽误你的时间了。”
“Oh!” She seemed rather taken aback but rose promptly.
“喔！”她似乎颇感意外，但立即站起身来。
In the doorway, however, she hesitated a minute and then came back.
到了餐车门口，她又停了下来，踌躇了半晌，又走了回来。
“The Swedish lady—Miss Ohlsson, is it?—seems rather worried. She says you told her she was the last person to see this man alive. She thinks, I believe, that you suspect her on that account. Can’t I tell her that she has made a mistake? Really, you know, she is the kind of creature who wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She smiled a little as she spoke.
“那位瑞典女士——奥尔森小姐，是吧？——她好像很焦虑。她说你告诉她，她是最后一名看见死者生存的旅客。我想，她大概认为你怀疑她。我可否跟她说，她想错了？说真的，她是那种连苍蝇都不忍碰的女人。“说着，现出一丝浅笑。
“What time was it that she went to fetch the aspirin from Mrs. Hubbard?”
“她去侯伯太太房里要阿司匹林，是什么时刻的事？”
“Just after half-past ten.”
“刚过十点半。”
“She was away—how long?”
“她去了多久？”
“About five minutes.”
“大约五分钟。”
“Did she leave the compartment again during the night?”
“夜间她又离开过房间吗？”
“No.”
“没有。”
Poirot turned to the doctor. “Could Ratchett have been killed as early as that?”
白罗对医师说：“罗嘉德有可能那么早就遇害了吗？”
The doctor shook his head.
医师摇了摇头。
“Then I think you can reassure your friend, Mademoiselle.”
“那么，你可以请你的朋友放心了，小姐。”
“Thank you.” She smiled suddenly at him, a smile that invited sympathy.
“谢谢。”她突然朝他笑了笑，是那样逗人怜惜的微笑。
“She’s like a sheep, you know. She gets anxious and bleats.”
“你晓得，她像只绵羊，受了惊吓，就那么嘤嘤哭泣的。”
She turned and went out.
她转身踱了出去。