M. Bouc flung up his arms in comic despair. “If this is what you call natural, mom ami –” Words failed him.
布克先生滑稽地挥动着双臂，失望地说：“如果你说这个是自然的，我的朋友——”他一时说不出话来。
“You are going to make another of these famous guesses of yours?”
“你又要来一次著名的猜测吗？”
“It is really a most extraordinary case,” said Constantine.
“这真是一桩最离奇的案件。”康斯坦汀说。
The big Italian had a wary look in his eye as he came in. He shot nervous glances from side to side like a trapped animal.
大块头意大利人进来时眼睛里充满了警惕。他像一只被困的野兽那样紧张不安地来回打量着。
“That is a very profound remark,” said Poirot. “Would you like to see what your favourite suspect, the Italian, has to say for himself?”
“这是一句很深刻的话。”波洛说，“你想不想听听你最喜欢的嫌疑人，那个意大利人，是怎么说的？”
“Nothing would surprise me now,” said M. Bouc. “Nothing! Even if everybody in the train proved to have been in the Armstrong household I should not express surprise.”
“现在，没什么事能让我吃惊了。”布克先生说，“没有！就算火车的人都被证实在阿姆斯特朗家待过，我也不会惊讶。”
“Precisely.”
“正是。”
Poirot had by this time requested the dining car attendant to fetch Antonio Foscarelli.
这时，波洛已经让餐车服务员去叫安东尼奥·福斯卡雷利了。
“No, it is most natural.”
“不，这是最自然不过的了。”
“What do you want?” he said. “I have nothing to tell you — nothing, do you hear! Per Dio –” He struck his hand on the table.
“你们想要什么！”他说，“我再没什么要告诉你们的了——没有，听到了吗？我向上帝发誓——”他拍着桌子。
“Yes, you have something more to tell us,” said Poirot firmly. “The truth!”
“不，你还可以告诉我们一些事，”波洛坚定地说，“真相！”
“The truth?” He shot an uneasy glance at Poirot. All the assurance and geniality had gone out of his manner.
“真相？”他不安地扫了波洛一眼，举止中的笃定和亲切荡然无存。
“Mais oui. It may be that I know it already. But it will be a point in your favour if it comes from you spontaneously.”
“当然，或许我已经知道了，但如果你主动说出来，对你还是很有利的。”
“No, no, never. They could not prove a thing against me — but it was not for want of trying.”
“不，不，从来没有。他们不能证明我有罪——并没有上庭审判我。”
Poirot said quietly: “That was in the Armstrong case, was it not? You were the chauffeur?”
波洛平静地说：“那是关于阿姆斯特朗的案子，对吗？你那时是个汽车司机？”
“Ah! so you have had experience of the New York police?”
“啊，那么你跟纽约的警察打过交道了？”
“Since you know — why ask me?”
“既然你知道了——干吗问我？”
“Perhaps it is exactly justice that they would have given you!”
“没准他们给你的正是公义！”
“Business reasons. Besides, I do not trust the Yugo-Slav police. They hate the Italians. They would not have given me justice.”
“因为公事。另外，我不相信南斯拉夫警察，他们恨意大利人，他们不会公正地对待我的。”
“No, no, I had nothing to do with this business last night. I never left my carriage. The long-faced Englishman, he can tell you so. It was not I who killed this pig — this Ratchett. You cannot prove anything against me.”
“不，不，我跟昨晚的案子一点关系也没有。我从来没离开过房间。那个长脸英国人，他可以告诉你。杀死那头猪——那个雷切特——的人不是我。你们无法证明我有罪。”
“Why did you lie this morning?”
“今天上午你为什么撒谎？”
“You talk like the American police. ‘Come clean,’ that is what they say –‘come clean.'”
“你说话的口气就像个美国警察。‘老实交代。’他们就是这么说的，‘老实交代。’”
His eyes met those of the Italian. The bluster went out of the big man. He was like a pricked balloon.
他迎着意大利人的目光。大块头泄了气，就像一只被扎破了的气球。
“It is a conspiracy. You are going to frame me? All for a pig of a man who should have gone to the chair! It was an infamy that he did not. If it had been me — if I had been arrested –“
“这是个阴谋。你要算计我吗？所有这一切都是为了那个猪一样的、该坐进电椅的人！他没有被处死简直就是个耻辱。要是我——要是我被捕了——”
Poirot was writing something on a sheet of paper. He looked up and said quietly: “Very good. You can go.”
波洛在一张纸上写了些什么。他抬起头，平静地说：“很好，你可以走了。”
Foscarelli lingered uneasily. “You realize that it was not I — that I could have had nothing to do with it?”
福斯卡雷利局促不安地徘徊着。“你知道不是我？我跟这事一点关系也没有！”
“I said that you could go.”
“我说你可以走了。”
“But it was not you. You had nothing to do with the kidnapping of the child.”
“但不是你。你跟那起儿童绑架案无关。”
“The No. 10– the Swedish lady.”
“十号房间——那位瑞典女士。”
“Pietro,” called Poirot.
“彼得罗。”波洛喊道。
“What is that you are saying? Why, that little one — she was the delight of the house. Tonio, she called me. And she would sit in the car and pretend to hold the wheel. All the household worshipped her! Even the police came to understand that. Ah, the beautiful little one.”
“你在说什么？啊，那个小宝贝——她是全家人的欢乐。她叫我托尼奥。她会坐在车子里，假装握着方向盘。全家人都喜爱她。连警察也能理解。啊，可爱的小天使！”
His voice had softened. The tears came into his eyes. Then he wheeled round abruptly on his heel and strode out of the dining car.
他的声音柔和了起来，眼里充满了泪水。之后，他猛地转过身，大步走出了餐车。
The dining car attendant came at a run.
餐车服务员跑着进来了。
“My head is spinning,” groaned M. Bouc.
“我头晕。”布克先生呻吟道。
She collapsed on the seat facing Poirot and wept steadily into a large handkerchief.
她跌坐在波洛对面的椅子里，一块大手帕捂着脸，不停地哭着。
“Now do not distress yourself, Mademoiselle. Do not distress yourself.” Poirot patted her on the shoulder. “Just a few little words of truth, that is all. You were the nurse who was in charge of little Daisy Armstrong?”
“别伤心了，小姐，别难过了。”波洛轻轻拍着她的肩膀，“只是说几句真话，仅此而已。你就是照顾小黛西·阿姆斯特朗的护士，对吗？”
“Bien, Monsieur.”
“好的，先生。”
“Another?” cried M. Bouc. “Ah, no — it is not possible. I tell you it is not possible.”
“还有一个？”布克先生叫道，“啊，不——不可能。我跟你说这不可能。”
“Mon cher, we have to know. Even if in the end everybody on the train proves to have a motive for killing Ratchett, we have to know. Once we know, we can settle once for all where the guilt lies.”
“亲爱的，我们必须了解这些。即使到最后，火车上的每个人都被证明有谋杀雷切特的动机，我们也得了解这些。一旦我们了解了，就能一劳永逸地找到罪恶所在了。”
“It is true — it is true,” wept the wretched woman. “Ah, she was an angel — a little sweet, trustful angel. She knew nothing but kindness and love — and she was taken away by that wicked man — cruelly treated — and her poor mother — and the other little one who never lived at all. You cannot understand — you cannot know — if you had been there as I was — if you had seen the whole terrible tragedy — I ought to have told you the truth about myself this morning. But I was afraid — afraid. I did so rejoice that that evil man was dead — that he could not any more kill or torture little children. Ah! I cannot speak — I have no words…”
“是的，是真的。”可怜的女人哭泣着说，“啊，她是个天使——一个可爱、听话的天使。她只懂得爱和善良，可她被那个邪恶的人绑走了…受到了残忍的折磨。她那可怜的妈妈，还有另外一个没有出世的孩子。你们无法理解…你们不知道…如果你们像我那样也在那里，如果你们看到了那幕可怕的悲剧！今天上午我应该告诉你们真相的。但是我很害怕…害怕。我很庆幸那个罪恶的人死了，再也不能杀害和折磨其他孩子了！啊，我说不下去了…我无话可说了…”
Greta Ohlsson was ushered in sympathetically by the attendant. She was weeping bitterly.
格丽塔·奥尔松被服务员同情地带了进来。她哭得很伤心。
She wept with more vehemence than ever.
她哭得更厉害了。
By now inarticulate with sobs, Greta Ohlsson rose and groped her way blindly towards the door. As she reached it she collided with a man coming in.
此刻已经泣不成声的格丽塔·奥尔松站起身，摸索着朝门口走去。刚到门口就撞到了一个正走进来的男人。
It was the valet — Masterman.
是男仆马斯特曼。
Poirot continued to pat her gently on the shoulder. “There — there — I comprehend — I comprehend everything — everything, I tell you. I will ask you no more questions. It is enough that you have admitted what I know to be the truth. I understand, I tell you.”
波洛继续温和地拍着她的肩膀。“好了，好了。我都能理解，所有的事都理解。我不再问你了。你已经承认了那些我知道是事实的事。我跟你说，我理解。”
“I hope I’m not intruding, sir. I thought it best to come along at once, sir, and tell you the truth. I was Colonel Armstrong’s batman in the war, sir, and afterwards I was his valet in New York. I’m afraid I concealed that fact this morning. It was very wrong of me, sir, and I thought I’d better come and make a clean breast of it. But I hope, sir, that you’re not suspecting Tonio in any way. Old Tonio, sir, wouldn’t hurt a fly. And I can swear positively that he never left the carriage all last night. So, you see, sir, he couldn’t have done it. Tonio may be a foreigner, sir, but he’s a very gentle creature — not like those nasty murdering Italians one reads about.”
“希望没有打扰您，先生。我想我最好还是过来一下，先生，告诉你们真相。我是战时阿姆斯特朗上校的勤务兵，先生，后来成为他在纽约时的仆人。今天上午我隐瞒了这个事实，这是我的错，先生，所以我想还是过来说清楚的好。但是我希望，先生，无论如何都不要怀疑托尼奥。老托尼奥，先生，连个苍蝇都不会伤害。我可以发誓他昨晚整晚都没有离开房间，先生。所以，您瞧，先生，事情不是他做的。托尼奥是个外国人，先生，但是他很温和——不像那些常在报上出现的、卑劣的、杀人不眨眼的意大利人。”
He came straight up to Poirot and spoke in his usual, quiet, unemotional voice.
他径直走向波洛，像平时那样平静、无动于衷地说道：
“Are you quite sure, Mr. Hardman, that you yourself were not the gardener at the Armstrong home?”
“哈德曼先生，你真的不是阿姆斯特朗家的园丁吗？”
“That is all, sir.”
“就这些，先生。”
Before Poirot could reply, the American had reached their table. He cocked an alert eye at them and, sitting down, he drawled out: “Just exactly what’s up on this train? It seems bughouse to me.”
还没等波洛回答，美国人已经来到了桌子旁边，警惕地看了看他们，坐了下来，慢吞吞地说道：“火车上到底发生了什么？就像个疯人院。”
“I can almost give you the answer to your question,” said Poirot. “Here comes our American sleuth, M. Hardman.”
“我差不多可以给你一个答案了。”波洛说，“我们的美国侦探来了，哈德曼先生。”
“Is he, too, coming to confess?”
“他，也是来坦白的吗？”
He stopped.
他停了下来。
“This,” said Dr. Constantine, “is more wildly improbable than any roman policier I have ever read.”
“这，”康斯坦汀医生说，“比我看过的任何侦探小说都离奇。”
Poirot looked steadily at him. “Is that all you have to say?”
波洛镇定地看着他，说：“这就是你要说的吗？”
Poirot twinkled at him:
波洛对他眨眨眼。
“I agree,” said M. Bouc. “Of the twelve passengers in that coach, nine have been proved to have had a connection with the Armstrong case. What next, I ask you? Or, should I say, who next?”
“我同意。”布克先生说，“在车厢里的十二个旅客中，有九个已经证实跟阿姆斯特朗一案有关，请问，接下来怎么办？或者我应该问：下一个是谁？”
He paused, then, as Poirot did not speak, he made an apologetic little bow, and after a momentary hesitation left the dining car in the same quiet, unobtrusive fashion as he had come.
他停下来，由于波洛没有做声，他表示歉意地微微鞠了一躬，迟疑片刻，像来的时候那样安静谦逊地离开了餐车。
“Or the butler?”
“或者管家？”
“No, sir. It’s got me beat. I don’t know how to figure it out. They can’t all be in it; but which one is the guilty party is beyond me. How did you get wise to all this, that’s what I want to know?”
“没有，先生。我被打败了。我不知道怎么才能弄清楚，不可能所有的人都卷进来——但哪个人有罪，已经超出了我的理解范围。你是怎么想明白这一切的？这就是我想知道的。”
“Have you any ideas of your own about the crime, M. Hardman?” inquired Poirot.
“对于这个案子，你有没有什么想法，哈德曼先生？”波洛问道。
“They didn’t have a garden,” replied Mr. Hardman literally.
“他们没有园丁。”哈德曼先生逐字逐句地回答道。
“It is certainly a little surprising,” said Poirot mildly.
“确实有点吃惊。”波洛温和地说。
“Haven’t got the fancy manner for a place like that. No, I never had any connection with the Armstrong house — but I’m beginning to believe I’m about the only one on this train who hadn’t! Can you beat it — that’s what I say? Can you beat it?”
“我不具备获得那个职位的素养和风度。不，我跟阿姆斯特朗一家一点关系也没有——但是我开始相信我是火车上唯一跟他们家没有关系的人。你吃惊吗——这就是我说的，你吃惊吗？”
“C’est rigolo,” burst from M. Bouc.
“开玩笑！”布克先生忽然大叫一声。
“Then, believe me, you’re a pretty slick guesser. Yes, I’ll tell the world you’re a slick guesser.”
“那么，相信我，你是个非常聪明机灵的推测家。是的，我会告诉全世界，你是个聪明机灵的推测家。”
Mr. Hardman leaned back and looked at Poirot admiringly.
哈德曼先生向后靠了靠，钦佩地看着波洛。
“You’ll excuse me,” he said, “but no one would believe it to look at you. I take off my hat to you. I do, indeed.”
“请原谅，”他说，“可是只看外表，没人会相信的。我佩服你，确实佩服你。”
“I just guessed.”
“我只是猜测。”
“You are too kind, M. Hardman.”
“你太客气了，哈德曼先生。”
“Not at all. I’ve got to hand it to you.”
“一点也不。我对你深表钦佩。”
“All the same,” said Poirot, “the problem is not yet quite solved. Can we say with authority that we know who killed M. Ratchett?”
“然而，”波洛说，“问题还是没有彻底解决。我们可否确凿地说是谁杀了雷切特先生？”
“Well, nothing in the world would surprise me now,” said Mr. Hardman with quiet resignation. “Bughouse — that’s what this business is — bughouse!”
“好吧，这世上没什么能让我惊讶了。”哈德曼先生平静而顺从地说，“精神病院——事情就是这样——精神病院！”
“Count me out,” said Mr. Hardman. “I’m not saying anything at all. I’m just full of natural admiration. What about the other two you’ve not had a guess at yet? The old American dame and the lady’s maid? I suppose we can take it that they’re the only innocent parties on the train?”
“别算上我。”哈德曼先生说，“我什么都没说，只是充满了对你的钦佩。另外两个你没有猜测的人呢？那个美国老太太和她的女仆？我想我们可以认为她们是火车上唯一清白的人吧？”
“Ah, mon cher, that would be indeed stretching coincidence a little too far,” said M. Bouc. “They cannot all be in it.”
“啊，亲爱的，这些巧合也太离谱了，”布克先生说，“他们不可能全都卷进去啊。”
“Unless,” said Poirot, smiling, “we can fit them into our little collection as — shall we say?– housekeeper and cook in the Armstrong household.”
“除非，”波洛笑着说，“我们可以把她们也放入这个小范围之内——应该说——阿姆斯特朗家的女管家和厨娘。”
Poirot looked at him. “You do not understand,” he said. “You do not understand at all. Tell me,” he said, “do you know who killed Ratchett?”
波洛看着他。“你不明白，”他说，“你完全没明白。告诉我，你知道谁杀了雷切特吗？”
“Do you?” countered M. Bouc.
“你知道吗？”布克先生反问道。
The detective shook his head. He stared at Poirot curiously. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know at all. Which of them was it?”
侦探摇摇头，好奇地盯着波洛。“我不知道，”他说，“完全没有头绪。他们中的哪一个呢？”
Poirot nodded. “Oh, yes,” he said. “I have known for some time. It is so clear that I wonder you have not seen it also.” He looked at Hardman and asked, “And you?”
波洛点点头。“哦，是的，”他说，“我知道有段时间了。这么明显，真奇怪你们怎么还没有看出来。”他看着哈德曼，问道，“你呢？”
Poirot was silent a minute. Then he said: “If you will be so good, M. Hardman, assemble everyone here. There are two possible solutions of this case. I want to lay them both before you all.”
波洛沉默了一会儿，然后说：“麻烦你，哈德曼先生，把所有人都集合到这里来。这个案子有两个潜在的结论。我会把这两个都告诉大家。”
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