5 THE CHRISTIAN NAME OF PRINCESS DRAGOMIROFF
5 德瑞格米罗夫郡主的名字
When the Count and Countess had departed, Poirot looked across at the other two.
安君业伯爵夫妇离去之后，白罗朝对面的两位先生望了一眼。
“You see,” he said “we make progress.”
“你们看，”他说：“我们这不是有了进展了嘛。”
“Excellent work,” said M. Bouc cordially. “On my part, I should never have dreamed of suspecting Count and Countess Andrenyi. I will admit I thought them quite hors de combat. I suppose there is no doubt that she committed the crime? It is rather sad. Still, they will not guillotine her. There are extenuating circumstances. A few years’ imprisonment—that will be all.”
“神来之举。”波克先生殷勤地说：“要是我啊，连作梦也不会怀疑安君业伯爵夫妇身上去呀。坦白说，我一直以为他们两人绝无问题的。这么说，无疑了，准是她下的手了！真令人难过。还好，他们还不至于判她死刑，还有减刑的余地，顶多判她几年徒刑。”
“In fact you are quite certain of her guilt.”
“这么说，你是相当肯定地认为是她有罪的了？”
“My dear friend—surely there is no doubt of it? I thought your reassuring manner was only to smooth things over till we are dug out of the snow and the police take charge.”
“老兄呀，当然啰。这还有什么问题吗？我以为你这副安心的神态，只等着把案子顺一顺，等风雪过去，由警方来接手呢。”
“You do not believe the Count’s positive assertion—on his word of honor—that his wife is innocent?”
“你是不相信安君业发誓，坚认他夫人是清白的那番话是实话了？”
“Mon cher—naturally—what else could he say? He adores his wife. He wants to save her! He tells his lie very well—quite in the grand seigneur manner. But what else than a lie could it be?”
“老兄呵，那当然啰，他还能说什么？他深爱他的太太，他要挽救她呀！他的谎倒是扯得很够气派，一副君子重言的样子。可是他说的不是谎言又是什么？“
“Well, you know, I had the preposterous idea that it might be the truth.”
“不过，你晓得，我却有过几近荒谬的看法：他说的可能是真话。”
“No, no. The handkerchief, remember. The handkerchief clinches the matter.”
“不，怎么会？别忘了那块手帕。这手帕与这桩命案是牢牢相连的。”
“Oh, I am not so sure about the handkerchief. You remember, I always told you that there were two possibilities as to the ownership of the handkerchief.”
“喔，关于那块手帕，我可不敢下断言。你还记得吧，我说过关于这块手帕的物主是有两种可能性的。”
“All the same—”
“还不是一样……”
M. Bouc broke off. The door at the end had opened, and Princess Dragomiroff entered the dining-car.
波克先生突然停下话来。餐车另一端的门打开，德瑞格米罗夫郡主进了餐车。她笔直地朝他们走来，三个人都站起身来。
She came straight to them and all three men rose to their feet.
她看都不着另外两人一眼，只对白罗说话。
She spoke to Poirot, ignoring the others. “I believe, Monsieur,” she said, “that you have a handkerchief of mine.”
“我相信，先生，”她说：“我有一块手帕在你这里。”
Poirot shot a glance of triumph at the other two.
白罗得意地扫了那两个人一眼。
“Is this it, Madame?”
“是这块吗，夫人？”
He produced the little square of fine cambric.
他拿出了那块精致的麻纱手帕。
“That is it. It has my initial in the corner.”
“是的，角上绣了我名字的缩写字母。”
“But, Madame la Princesse, that is the letter H,” said M. Bouc. “Your Christianname—pardon me—is Natalia.” She gave him a cold stare.
“可是，郡主夫人，那个字母是H呵。”波克先生说：“您的名字——对不起——是娜泰丽亚呀。”她冷冷地瞄了他一眼。
“That is correct, Monsieur. My handkerchiefs are always initialled in the Russian characters. H is N in Russian.”
“不错，先生。我手帕上的名字编写都是用俄文字母绣的。在俄文里，H就是N。”
M. Bouc was somewhat taken aback. There was something about this indomitable old lady which made him feel flustered and uncomfortable.
波克先生吃了一惊。这位老太太的那股莫名的慑人之气，令他感到狼狈不安。
“You did not tell us that this handkerchief was yours at the inquiry this morning.”
“今天早上我们向您问讯时，您并没有告诉我们手帕是您的。”
“You did not ask me,” said the Princess drily.
“你们并没有问我。”郡主淡淡地说。
“Pray be seated, Madame,” said Poirot.
“请坐，夫人。”白罗说。
She sighed. “I may as well, I suppose.” She sat down.
她叹了口气说：“我想，我也还是坐下吧！”她坐了下来。
“You need not make a long business of this, Messieurs.”
“各位先生，你们也不必多费唇舌了。
Your next question will be—How did my handkerchief come to be lying by a murdered man’s body! My reply to that is that I have no idea.”
”你们下一个问题一定是——我的手帕怎么会掉在死者尸体旁边了？我的回答是我也不知道。”
“You have really no idea?”
“你真的一点不知道吗？”
“None whatever.”
“完全不晓得。”
“You will excuse me, Madame, but how much can we rely upon the truthfulness of your replies?”
“请原谅我冒昧，夫人，但是你认为我们对您的回答，应该相信几分呢？”
Poirot said the words very softly.
白罗这话说得相当温文委婉。
Princess Dragomiroff answered contemptuously. “I suppose you mean because I did not tell you that Helena Andrenyi was Mrs. Armstrong’s sister?”
德瑞格米罗夫郡主则不屑地回答说：“我想你的意思是说，我为什么没有告诉你海莲娜·安君业就是阿姆斯壮夫人的妹妹吧？”
“In fact you deliberately lied to us in the matter.”
“事实上，你是有意蒙骗我们的。”
“Certainly. I would do the same again. Her mother was my friend. I believe, Messieurs, in loyalty—to one’s friends and one’s family and one’s caste.”
“当然，我也只能这么做，她母亲是我朋友。先生，我是坚守忠诚的——对自己的朋友、家人与身份地位要忠心。”
“You do not believe in doing your utmost to further the ends of justice?”
“你是不主张一个人该尽力伸张正义的了？”
“In this case I consider that justice—strict justice—has been done.”
“以这件事来说，我认为正义——严谨的正义——已经伸张了。”
Poirot leaned forward.
白罗将身子向前倾了倾。
“You see my difficulty, Madame. In this matter of the handkerchief, even, am I to believe you? Or are you shielding your friend’s daughter?”
“夫人，相信你也了解我的困难。单拿这块手帕来说吧，我相信你的话呢，还是你的目的在掩护你朋友的女儿呢？”
“Oh! I see what you mean.” Her face broke into a grim smile. “Well, Messieurs, this statement of mine can be easily proved. I will give you the address of the people in Paris who make my handkerchiefs. You have only to show them the one in question and they will inform you that it was made to my order over a year ago. The handkerchief is mine, Messieurs.”
“喔！我懂你的用意了，”她的脸上挤出了一丝苦笑。“不过，各位，我现在说的话是可以很容易证实的。我可以把巴黎为我做手帕的店铺的地址给你们。你们只要把这块手帕拿给他们看，他们会告诉你们这是我一年多前定做的。这块手帕的确是我的，各位先生。”
She rose.
她站起身来。
“Have you anything further you wish to ask me?”
“你们还有别的事要问我吗？”
“Your maid, Madame, did she recognise this handkerchief when we showed it toher this morning?”
“夫人，你的女仆认得这块手帕吗？”
“She must have done so. She saw it and said nothing? Ah, well, that shows that she too can be loyal.” With a slight inclination of her head she passed out of the dining-car.
“她该认得的。怎么，她今天早上看过没说什么吗？这个嘛，正说明了她也懂得忠心的。”她微微低了一下头，就走出了餐车。
“So that was it,” murmured Poirot softly. “I noticed just a trifling hesitation when I asked the maid if she knew to whom the handkerchief belonged. She was uncertain whether or not to admit that it was her mistress’s. But how does that fit in with that strange central idea of mine? Yes, it might well be.”
“这就难怪了，”白罗轻声低语道：“我注意到在我讯问那名女仆是否知道这块手帕是谁的时候，她犹豫了一下。她好像一时不知该不该承认那是她女主人的。可是，这与我心中那奇特的中心理论又怎么配合呢？嗯，也许可以的。”
“Ah!” said M. Bouc with a characteristic gesture. “She is a terrible old lady, that!”
“啊！”波克先生作了一个他那特有的姿态，说：“这位老太太真可怕！”
“Could she have murdered Ratchett?” asked Poirot of the doctor.
“她有可能刺杀罗嘉德吗？”白罗问医师。
He shook his head.
他摇了摇头。
“Those blows—the ones delivered with great force penetrating the muscle— never, never could anyone with so frail a physique inflict them.”
“那些伤口——刺入骨肉中的那几处用力很大的伤口，绝对，绝对不是一个身子孱弱的人做得到的。”
“But the feebler ones?”
“可是那几处很浅的呢？”
“The feebler ones, yes.”
“很浅的那几刀是可能的。”
“I am thinking,” said Poirot, “of the incident this morning when I said to her that the strength was in her will rather than in her arm. It was in the nature of a trap, that remark. I wanted to see if she would look down at her right or her left arm. She did neither. She looked at them both. But she made a strange reply. She said, ‘No, I have no strength in these. I do not know whether to be sorry or glad.’ A curious remark that. It confirms me in my belief about the crime.”
“我想到今天早上我跟她说的话了，我说她的威力是在她的意志里，而不在她的手臂上。我这是故设的圈套，我要看她会看自己的右臂还是左臂，结果她没单看任何一只，却两只都看了，但是她的答话却不寻常。她说：”没有，我这方面是没有力量的。我不知该难过还是高兴。‘这个倒是挺怪的，也证实了我对这个案子的认识。“
“It did not settle the point about the left-handedness.”
“但是，左撇子的论点可并未解决呀？”
“No. By the way, did you notice that Count Andrenyi keeps his handkerchief in his right-hand breast pocket?”
“是的，没有。哦，对了，你有没有注意德瑞格米罗夫郡主的手帕是插在上衣右边还是左边的口袋里？”
M. Bouc shook his head. His mind reverted to the astonishing revelations of the last half-hour. He murmured: “Lies—and again lies. It amazes me, the number of lies we had told to us this morning.”
波克先生摇了摇头。他的脑中仍萦回着刚才半小时内惊人的发现呢。他口中喃喃地说：“谎言——又是谎言。真叫人不敢相信，我们今天早上竟听了这么多的谎话。”
“There are more still to discover,” said Poirot cheerfully.
“还有更多的要揭穿呢。”白罗欣喜地说。
“You think so?”
“你真认为如此？”
“I shall be very much disappointed if it is not so.”
“如果没有的话，我就大失所望了。”
“Such duplicity is terrible,” said M. Bouc. “But it seems to please you,” he added reproachfully.
“如此口是心非的确可怕，”波克先生说。“不过，你倒好像挺欢迎的嘛。”他责怪地加了一句。
“It has this advantage,” said Poirot. “If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, he will usually admit it—often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect.
“有这么一个好处，”白罗说：“要是你碰上一个谎话中仍带些真诚的人，他通常总会承认的，而且往往他们自己也没料到。要想达到预期的效果，最重要的是我们得猜得对。”
“That is the only way to conduct this case. I select each passenger in turn, consider his or her evidence, and say to myself, ‘If so and so is lying, on what point is he lying, and what is the reason for the lie?’ And I answer, ‘If he is lying—if, you mark—it could only be for such a reason and on such a point.’ We have done that once very successfully with Countess Andrenyi. We shall now proceed to try the same method on several other persons.”
“也只有用这种方法才可能侦破这个案子。我把旅客一个一个地选出来问讯，推考一下他或她的证词，然后问自己：”果若某个人在说谎，他谎话中的重点在哪儿，说谎的原因又是什么？然后我回答：“如果他是在扯谎——请注意，我是说如果——那么只有那种理由，且针对那一个重点。‘这个方法我们在安君业伯爵夫人的身上，已经得到成功的印证。我们现在不妨再找另外几个人来试试。”
“And supposing, my friend, that your guess happens to be wrong?”
“但是，老兄，假如你所猜想的正好都错了呢？”
“Then one person, at any rate, will be completely freed from suspicion.”
“那么，至少有一个人会完全脱开嫌疑了。”
“Ah!—a process of elimination.”
“喔！——你用的是过滤淘汰的方法呀。”
“Exactly.”
“正是。”
“And whom do we tackle next?”
“下面该找谁来较量了？”
“We are going to tackle that pukka sahib, Colonel Arbuthnot.”
“我们要向那位大人物，阿伯斯诺上校挑战了。”