游戏照进现实：《弄假成真》（阿加莎经典作品英文选读+原音朗读）

商务印书馆英语编辑室 2022-06-09

阿加莎克里斯蒂的系列侦探小说，拉开了推理小说黄金时代的大幕。推理小说的要义是吸引读者解开隐藏于故事中的诡异奇谲的谜底，而设局者正凭借着自身缜密的逻辑、精到的手法让人们沉浸其中，追寻探索而乐此不疲。

《弄假成真》（Dead Man's Folly）这部小说就源于一场发生在游园会上的推理游戏。作品给人的感觉略显轻松，同时让人体会到作者的设计布局的巧妙。所以有人评价这部小说“更能充分体现克里斯蒂作为作家的资质“。该小说后来被改编为电影和电视剧。

（英剧Agatha Christie's Poirot 第13季第3集剧照）

George Stubbs爵士举办了一个游园会，并且在这个游园会上进行侦探小说家Oliver夫人设计的探案游戏。在设计游戏过程期间，预感到事情不对的她邀请Poriot以颁奖嘉宾的身份来到庄园。其结果正如作品的题目一样，假戏真做，扮演尸体的人，真的成了一具尸体。

祸不单行，在发生第一起命案后，爵士夫人Hattie失踪了，而在码头工作的Merdell也“意外”身亡。究竟是谁利用游戏杀人，爵士夫人去了哪里，码头工人的死亡真的是意外事件吗，这三起案件背后又存在着怎样的联系？凶手就是Poriot在庄园里见过的某人，看大侦探如何把真凶找出来。

Chapter 2

‘Who is there?’ asked Poirot. ‘There cannot be many people here?’

‘Well, Sir George Stubbs owns this place,’ began Mrs Oliver. ‘He’s rich and very stupid in most ways, I think, but probably very smart about business.

‘And there’s Lady Stubbs — Hattie — who’s about twenty years younger than he is, beautiful, but very stupid too — in fact, I think she’s a complete fool. She married him for his money, of course, and doesn’t think about anything but clothes and jewellery.

‘Then there’s Michael Weyman — he’s an architect, quite young, and good-looking. He’s designing a tennis pavilion for Sir George and repairing the folly.’

pavilion n. 运动员席，看台

folly n. 装饰性建筑

‘Folly? What is that?’

‘One of those small white buildings that rich people like to have in their gardens. Then there’s Miss Brewis, Sir George’s secretary — not attractive at all but very efficient. And there are people who come in and help. Young Sally Legge who rents a cottage down by the river with her husband. He’s a scientist — very clever but busy with work all the time. Sally’s a lovely girl, she’s an artist and often comes to the house to help.

（英剧Agatha Christie's Poirot 第13季第3集剧照）

‘There’s Mrs Masterton. She’s the wife of the local Member of Parliament’, very good at organizing.

‘Then there’s Jim Warburton. He’s the Mastertons’ political agent. And old Mrs Folliat who lives in the Lodge. Her husband’s family were the first owners of Nasse. But when her husband and sons died there were lots of death duties to pay so she sold the place.’

Poirot returned to the main subject.

‘Whose idea was the Murder Hunt?’

‘Mrs Masterton’s, I think.’

‘And what explanation did you give about why I am here?’ Poirot asked.

‘That was easy,’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘You’re here to give out the prizes for it. Everybody’s excited. I said I knew you and could persuade you to come.’

Mrs Oliver glanced at her watch.

‘It’s teatime. Let’s go back to the house and you can meet everybody.’

She took a different path from the one by which Poirot had come.

‘We pass the boathouse this way,’Mrs Oliver explained.

boathouse n. 船库

As she spoke, Poirot saw the boathouse. It was a pretty building by the edge of the river.

（英剧Agatha Christie's Poirot 第13季第3集剧照）

‘That’s where the body for the Murder Hunt is going to be,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘I see. And who is going to be killed?’

‘Oh, a traveller with a rucksack. But she’s really the Yugoslavian first wife of a young atomic scientist,’ said Mrs Oliver quickly.

Poirot looked surprised.

‘Of course, at first it looks like the atomic scientist killed her — but it’s not as simple as that.’

‘Of course not — since you are involved.’

Mrs Oliver waved her hand.

‘Actually,’ she said, ‘she’s killed by the country squire — and the motive is really rather clever — I don’t believe many people will understand it, though it’s completely clear in the fifth clue.’

（英剧Agatha Christie's Poirot 第13季第3集剧照）

Poirot asked an important question:

‘How do you arrange for a suitable body?’

‘A Girl Guide,’ said Mrs Oliver. ‘Sally Legge was going to be the body, but now they want her to do the fortune-telling. So it’s a local Girl Guide called Marlene Tucker. When she hears someone coming, she has to lie down on the floor with a cord round her neck. It’s going to be rather boring for the poor girl, staying inside that boathouse until she’s found. But I’ve got some magazines for her — and I’ve written a clue for the hunt on one of them. We go up this way now.’

They began walking up a steep path that took them back towards the house. Turning between the trees they came into a space with a small white building. A young man, wearing very old trousers and a horrible green shirt, was frowning at it. He turned towards them.

atomic scientist n. 原子科学家

squire n. 大地主

fortune-telling n. 算命

cord n.（结实的）粗线

frown v. 皱眉

‘Mr Michael Weyman, Monsieur Hercule Poirot,’ said Mrs Oliver.

‘Ah, the architect,’ thought Poirot, smiling to himself at Michael Weyman’s choice of clothes.

（英剧Agatha Christie's Poirot 第13季第3集剧照）

‘It's extraordinary,’ the young man said angrily, ‘the places where people put things! This folly, for instance. It was built about a year ago — it’s rather nice and fits with the period when the house was built. But why did they put it here? These things were meant to be seen. It should be in a high, open place with grass all around. But here’s this poor little folly, hidden away among trees.’

文化注释

Folly

This word has two meanings. Both are used in the story to make a ‘play on words’. The first meaning is a small tower or other kind of unusual building in a large garden or park. Follies were usually white, had no real purpose, and were very expensive to build. However, they were often popular with rich people as a way to decorate their large gardens.

The second meaning of folly is an action that is silly, or not sensible.

装饰性建筑/愚蠢

Folly 这个词有两个意思，故事中两个意思都用到了，使用了“双关”。这个词的第一个意思是大公园或花园里的小塔或其他别致的建筑，这些建筑通常是白色的，没有实际的功能，建筑成本非常高。但是，富人通常都很喜欢这种建筑，常用它们来装饰自己巨大的花园。

Folly 的第二个意思是愚蠢、不理智的行为。

（以上内容节选自《弄假成真》，图片来自网络)

《弄假成真》是“阿加莎·克里斯蒂经典侦探作品集”丛书之一。
阿加莎·克里斯蒂：100年前的英伦传奇
用中国人看得懂的英语带您进入阿加莎·克里斯蒂的世界

语言：英语专家精心改写，适合中高级英语学习者阅读
文化：人物表和历史文化背景注释
词汇：难词注释帮助学习和阅读
听力：优美英音全文朗读（附二维码音频下载和点读功能）

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丛书目录（点击蓝色书名，可跳转到试听页面）
《斯泰尔斯庄园奇案》（The Mysterious Affair at Styles）《鸽群中的猫》（Cat among the Pigeons）《云中奇案》（Death in the Cloud）《命案目睹记》（4.50 from Paddington）《死亡约会》（Appointment with Death）《国际学舍谋杀案》（Hickory Dickory Dock）《古屋疑云》（Peril at End House）《罗杰疑案》（The Murder of Roger Ackroyd）《东方快车谋杀案》（Murder on the Orient Express）《控方证人及其他》（The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories）《尼罗河上的惨案》（Death on the Nile）《穿棕色套装的人》（The Man in the Brown Suit）《黑麦奇案》（A Pocket Full of Rye）《悬崖上的谋杀》（Why Didn't They Ask Evans）《书房命案》（The Body in the Library）《魔手》（The Moving Finger）《寓所谜案》（The Murder at the Vicarage）《怪屋》（Crooked House）《闪光的氰化物》（Sparkling Cyanide）《葬礼之后》（After the Funeral）《弄假成真》（Dead Man's Folly）《密码》（N or M？）《地狱之旅》（Destination Unknown）《借镜杀人》（They Do It with Mirrors）

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