“No, that is not true. We are more advanced. We know certain things. We have heard the evidence of the passengers.”
“不，不是这样的。我们的确有所进展。我们知道了一些事情，也听到了旅客的证词。”
“I am not a magician, mon cher. I am, like you, a very puzzled man. This affair advances in a very strange manner.”
“我不是个魔术师，我的朋友，跟你们一样，我也很困惑。这案子的进展真是奇怪。”
The three conductors and Hildegarde Schmidt had been dismissed.
三个列车员和希尔德嘉德·施密特都已经离开了。
“Explain to me then, quickly, what actually happened on the train last night.”
“那就快点给我解释解释，昨晚在火车上到底怎么了？”
“And what has that told us? Nothing at all.”
“可这些告诉我们什么了？什么也没有。”
“It does not advance at all. It stays where it was.”
“一点进展也没有，还在原地不动。”
“A small dark man with a womanish voice,” said M. Bouc.
“小个子，深色皮肤，说话女里女气的男人。”布克先生说。
“It is a good phrase that,” said Poirot. “The impossible cannot have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.”
“说得好，”波洛说，“不可能的事是不会发生的，所以，无论表面如何，这不可能的一定是可能的。”
Poirot shook his head.
波洛摇摇头。
“I would not say that, my friend.”
“不能这么说，我的朋友。”
“But I understand nothing — but nothing of all this! The enemy that this Ratchett spoke of, he was then on the train after all? But where is he now? How can he have vanished into thin air? My head, it whirls. Say something, then, my friend, I implore you. Show me how the impossible can be possible!”
布克先生失望地摊开手。“可我什么都没明白——所有这一切，都不明白！这个雷切特提到的敌人，他到底还是上了火车吗？但是他在哪儿呢？他怎么能凭空消失呢？我的头都给搅和晕了。说句话吧，我的朋友，求你了。告诉我这不可能是怎么变成可能的？”
“I exaggerate, perhaps. The American, Hardman, and the German maid — yes, they have added something to our knowledge. That is to say, they have made the whole business more unintelligible than it was.”
“也许我夸大其词了，那个美国人哈德曼，还有德国女仆——没错，他们提供了一些新线索，可也让这案子更加扑朔迷离了。”
M. Bouc turned upon him. “Speak, then, let us hear the wisdom of Hercule Poirot.”
布克先生转向他：“说吧，我们来听听聪明的赫尔克里·波洛怎么说。”
“No, no, no,” said Poirot soothingly.
“不，不，不。”波洛温和地说。
“Did I not tell you that I was, like you, a very puzzled man? But at least we can face our problem. We can arrange such facts as we have with order and method.”
“我没跟你说过，我跟你一样也很困惑吗？但是至少我们能面对现在的问题。我们可以按照一定的顺序和方法整理现有的事实。”
“Pray continue, Monsieur,” said Dr. Constantine.
“请继续说，先生。”康斯坦汀医生说道。
“Let us review the case as it stands at this moment. First, there are certain indisputable facts. This man Ratchett, or Cassetti, was stabbed in twelve places and died last night. That is fact one.”
“我们回顾一下现有的情况。首先，有几点无可置疑的事实，这个雷切特或者卡塞蒂，昨天被人刺了十二刀，死了。这是一个。”
Poirot cleared his throat and straightened a piece of blotting-paper.
波洛清了清喉咙，把一张吸墨纸铺平。
“I grant it to you — I grant it, mon vieux,” said M. Bouc with a gesture of irony.
“这点我承认，我承认，朋友。”布克先生嘲讽地说。
“I will pass over for the moment certain rather peculiar appearances which Dr. Constantine and I have already discussed together. I will come to them presently. The next fact of importance, to my mind, is the time of the crime.”
“现在，先略过我和康斯坦汀医生已经共同讨论过的某些奇怪的现象，等一会儿再说。我认为第二个重要的事实，就是作案时间。”
Hercule Poirot was not at all put out. He continued calmly.
波洛一点也没有气恼，继续平静地说着。
“Not everything. You exaggerate. There is, certainly, a fair amount of evidence to support that view.”
“不是所有的，你夸大了。确实，有相当多的证据可以支持这个观点。”
“One: That the crime was committed, as you say, at a quarter past one. This is supported by the evidence of the German woman, Hildegarde Schmidt. It agrees with the evidence of Dr. Constantine.
“一、就像你说的，凶案发生在一点一刻，手表以及哈巴特太太、德国女仆希尔德嘉德·施密特的话都是证据，康斯坦汀医生也同意这点。
“That, again, is one of the few things we do know,” said M. Bouc. “The crime was committed at a quarter past one this morning. Everything goes to show that was so.”
“这还是我们已经知道的啊，”布克先生说，“凶案发生在今天凌晨一点一刻，所有的证据都能证明这一点。”
“I am glad you admit that at least.”
“很高兴至少你承认了。”
“Possibility three: The crime was committed earlier and the evidence faked for the same reason as above.
“三、凶案发生的时间稍早，有人伪造了手表时间，原因同上。
“Now, if we accept possibility one as the most likely to have occurred and the one supported by most evidence, we must also accept certain facts arising from it. To begin with, if the crime was committed at a quarter past one, the murderer cannot have left the train, and the question arises: Where is he? And who is he?
“现在，如果我们接受可能性一，因为最有可能发生，证据也最多，那么我们也得接受由它产生的某些相关的事实。如果凶案发生在一点一刻，凶手就无法离开火车，那问题也随之而来：他在哪儿？他是谁？
“Possibility two: The crime was committed later and the evidence of the watch was deliberately faked.
“二、凶案发生的时间稍晚，而手表上的时间被人故意动过手脚，用来误导人的。
Poirot went on calmly, unperturbed by the interruption. “We have before us three possibilities:
波洛并没有被打岔影响，继续泰然自若地说道：“我们面前有三种可能性：
“To begin with, let us examine the evidence carefully. We first hear of the existence of this man — the small dark man with a womanish voice — from the man Hardman. He says that Ratchett told him of this person and employed him to watch out for the man. There is no evidence to support this — we have only Hardman’s word for it. Let us next examine the question: Is Hardman the person he pretends to be — an operative of a New York Detective Agency?
“首先，让我们仔细研究一下证词。我们先是听到存在这么一个人——小个子，深色皮肤，说话女里女气的。这是哈德曼说的。他说雷切特告诉他有这么个人，还雇用他来保护自己。没有证据能证明这一点，我们只是听哈德曼这么说而已。下面我们来研究这个问题：哈德曼会不会冒充了纽约侦探社的员工？
“What to my mind is so interesting in this case is that we have none of the facilities afforded to the police. We cannot investigate the bona fides of any of these people. We have to rely solely on deduction. That, to me, makes the matter very much more interesting. There is no routine work. It is a matter of the intellect. I ask myself, ‘Can we accept Hardman’s account of himself?’ I make my decision and I answer, ‘Yes.’ I am of the opinion that we can accept Hardman’s account of himself.”
“我觉得这个案子有趣的地方在于，我们没有任何警方能提供的信息，无法调查这些人身份的真实性，只能依靠逻辑推理。对我来说，这个案子更加有意思了。没有常规程序，全凭智力。我问自己：我们能接受哈德曼的自我介绍吗？我做了个决定，回答‘能’。依我看，我们可以接受哈德曼的自我介绍。”
“You rely on the intuition — what the Americans call the hunch?” said Dr. Constantine.
“是靠直觉吗？就是美国人说的第六感？”康斯坦汀医生问。
“Not at all. I regard the probabilities. Hardman is travelling with a false passport — that will at once make him an object of suspicion. The first thing that the police will do when they do arrive upon the scene is to detain Hardman and cable as to whether his account of himself is true. In the case of many of the passengers, to establish their bona fides will be difficult; in most cases it will probably not be attempted, especially since there seems nothing in the way of suspicion attaching to them. But in Hardman’s case it is simple. Either he is the person he represents himself to be or he is not. Therefore I say that all will prove to be in order.”
“不。我注重的是可能性。哈德曼持假护照旅行——这会让他立刻成为被怀疑的对象。警方到达现场做的第一件事就是扣留哈德曼，并打电报查证他对自己的介绍是否属实。况且还有这么多旅客，要查清他们证词的真实性是很困难的，在大多数情况下可能根本不会去查证，尤其是他们看上去都没有什么嫌疑，但是哈德曼的情况就很简单了，不管他是不是那个他冒充的人。所以我说这一切都能证明是有规则可循的。”
“You acquit him of suspicion?”
“你说他是无罪的吗？”
“Not at all. You misunderstand me. For all I know, any American detective might have his own private reasons for wishing to murder Ratchett. No, what I am saying is that I think we can accept Hardman’s own account of himself. This story, then, that he tells of Ratchett’s seeking him out and employing him, is not unlikely and is most probably, though not of course certainly, true. If we are going to accept it as true, we must see if there is any confirmation of it. We find it in rather an unlikely place — in the evidence of Hildegarde Schmidt. Her description of the man she saw in Wagon Lit uniform tallies exactly. Is there any further confirmation of these two stories? There is. There is the button found in her compartment by Mrs. Hubbard. And there is also another corroborating statement which you may not have noticed.”
“不是，你误会了我的意思。根据我的了解，任何美国侦探都有希望杀死雷切特的私人理由。不，我要说的是我们可以接受哈德曼的自我介绍，他所说的雷切特找到他，并雇用他这件事不是不可能，而且很有可能——虽然不能完全肯定——是真的。如果我们接受这是真的，那我们就得看看能否证实这一点。我们在一个不太可能的地方——希尔德嘉德·施密特的证词中——找到了证据。她所描述的见到的那个穿列车员制服的人，其特征跟哈德曼说的完全符合。关于两个人的证词，还有没有进一步的证据呢？有的。就是哈巴特太太在她房间里发现的那个纽扣。另外还有一个确凿的证词，你们两个人可能没有注意到。”
“What is that?”
“是什么？”
“Therefore this story, the story of a small dark man with a womanish voice dressed in Wagon Lit uniform, rests on the testimony — direct or indirect — of four witnesses.”
“因此，这个故事，这个关于小个子、深色皮肤、说话女里女气、身穿列车员制服的故事，已经直接或间接地被四位证人的证词所证明了。”
M. Bouc had been waiting with difficulty until they had finished.
布克先生好不容易才等他们把话说完。
“The fact that both Colonel Arbuthnot and Hector MacQueen mention that the conductor passed their carriage. They attached no importance to the fact, but Messieurs, Pierre Michel has declared that he did not leave his seat except on certain specified occasions, none of which would take him down to the far end of the coach past the compartment in which Arbuthnot and MacQueen were sitting.
“阿巴思诺特上校和赫克托·麦奎因两个人都提到的有个列车员经过他们的房间。虽然他们不认为这有什么重要的，但是，先生们，皮埃尔·米歇尔宣称，除了一些特殊情况之外，他没有离开过自己的座位——更不可能经过阿巴思诺特和麦奎因坐着聊天的那个房间，去车厢的尽头。
“That is explained, I think. When he arrived to answer Mrs. Hubbard, the maid was in with her mistress. When she finally returned to her own compartment, the conductor was in with Mrs. Hubbard.”
“我认为有种解释。当他去应哈巴特太太的铃时，女仆已经在主人的房间里了。后来她回到自己的房间时，列车员就在哈巴特太太房间里。”
“One small point,” said Dr. Constantine. “If Hildegarde Schmidt’s story is true, how is it that the real conductor did not mention having seen her when he came to answer Mrs. Hubbard’s bell?”
“一个小问题，”康斯坦汀医生说，“如果希尔德嘉德·施密特说的是真的，那么这个真的列车员怎么没有提到被哈巴特太太的铃声召去时见过她？”
“Yes, yes, my friend,” he said impatiently to Poirot. “But whilst I admire your caution, your method of advancing a step at a time, I submit that you have not yet touched the point at issue. We are all agreed that this person exists. The point is — where did he go?”
“是的，是的，我的朋友，”他不耐烦地对波洛说，“虽说我佩服你的谨慎，还有你那一步一个脚印的探索方式，但是我认为你并没有抓住争论的焦点。我们都同意存在这么个人，问题是，他去哪儿了？”
Poirot shook his head reprovingly.
波洛责备地摇摇头。
“You are in error. You are inclined to put the cart before the horse. Before I ask myself, ‘Where did this man vanish to?’ I ask myself, ‘Did such a man really exist?’ Because, you see, if the man were an invention — a fabrication — how much easier to make him disappear! So I try to establish first that there really is such a flesh and blood person.”
“你错了。你犯了个本末倒置的错误。在我问自己‘这个男人消失到哪里去了’这个问题之前，我问的是‘这个人真的存在吗’。你瞧，如果这个人是虚构的，捏造的，那么让他消失是多么容易啊！所以我首先得确立一个事实，就是真有这么一个有血有肉的人。”
“And having arrived at the fact that there is — eh bien — where is he now?”
“既然已经证明了这个事实，那么，现在他在哪儿？”
“There are only two answers to that, mon cher. Either he is still hidden on the train in a place of such extraordinary ingenuity that we cannot even think of it, or else he is, as one might say, two persons. That is, he is both himself — the man feared by M. Ratchett — and a passenger on the train so well disguised that M. Ratchett did not recognize him.”
“关于这点，只有两个答案，先生。要么他仍然躲在火车上一个别出心裁、让人意想不到的地方，要么，就像我说的，是两个人。就是说，他既是他自己——雷切特所担心害怕的那个人——又是火车上乔装打扮的一个旅客，而雷切特没有认出来。”
“Perhaps he did know. Perhaps, already this woman had attempted his life wearing men’s clothes the better to accomplish her purpose. Ratchett may have guessed that she would use the same trick again, so he tells Hardman to look for a man. But he mentions, however, a womanish voice.”
“也许他确实知道。也许，这个女人之前以为穿着男人的衣服更容易达到目的，结果却刺杀未遂。雷切特也许以为她会故技重施，所以告诉哈德曼留心一个男人。然而他提到了‘女里女气’的说话声。”
“It is an idea, that,” said M. Bouc, his face lighting up. Then it clouded over again. “But there is one objection –“
“这个想法不错，”布克先生说，脸色也亮堂了，可马上又布满了乌云，“可还有个相反的想法——”
Poirot took the words out of his mouth. “The height of the man. It is that you would say? With the exception of M. Ratchett’s valet, all the passengers are big men — the Italian, Colonel Arbuthnot, Hector MacQueen, Count Andrenyi. Well, that leaves us the valet — not a very likely supposition. But there is another possibility. Remember the ‘womanish’ voice. That gives us a choice of alternatives. The man may be disguised as a woman, or, alternatively, he may actually be a woman. A tall woman dressed in man’s clothes would look small.”
波洛说出了他没说完的话：“这人的身高。你想说这个吗？除了雷切特先生的男仆，所有的旅客都是高个子——意大利人、阿巴思诺特上校、赫克托·麦奎因、安德雷尼伯爵。那么，剩下的只有这个男仆了——这种假设不太可能。但是还有另外一种可能性。别忘了那个‘女里女气’的声音。这让我们有了选择的余地。这个人可能会假扮成一个女人，或者，‘他’真的就是个女人。一个高个子女人穿上男人的衣服就会显得很矮小了。”
“It is a possibility,” said M. Bouc. “But –“
“有这个可能性，”布克先生说，“可是——”
“But surely Ratchett would have known –“
“可是雷切特肯定知道——”
“Exactly. It is absurd — improbable — it cannot be. So I myself have said. And yet, my friend, there it is! One cannot escape from the facts.”
“确实如此。荒谬、不现实、不可能。所以我自己也说过。然而，我的朋友，的确如此！不能逃避事实。”
“Listen, my friend, I think that I should now tell you of certain inconsistencies noticed by Dr. Constantine.”
“听我说，我的朋友，我想现在我得告诉你康斯坦汀医生注意到的某些前后矛盾的地方。”
He retailed at length the conclusions that he and the doctor had arrived at together from the nature of the dead man’s wounds. M. Bouc groaned and held his head again. “I know,” said Poirot sympathetically. “I know exactly how you feel. The head spins, does it not?”
他详细地说了他和康斯坦汀医生根据死者伤口得出的结论。布克先生哼了一声，捂着脑袋。“我知道，”波洛很是同情地说，“我完全明白你的感受。头还晕着呢，是吗？”
“The whole thing is a fantasy,” cried M. Bouc.
“整件事就是个幻想！”布克先生大喊。
The thought almost made him weep.
这个想法都快让他哭了。
“Is it not? It is so mad, my friend, that sometimes I am haunted by the sensation that really it must be very simple… But that is only one of my ‘little ideas.’…”
“可不是？有时候我会被这样一种感觉困扰：事实上事情肯定非常简单…但这只是我的一个‘小想法’。”
“Two murderers,” groaned M. Bouc. “And on the Orient Express.”
“两个凶手，”布克先生咕哝着，“并且在东方快车上…”
“And now let us make the fantasy more fantastic,” said Poirot cheerfully. “Last night on the train there are two mysterious strangers. There is the Wagon Lit attendant answering to the description given us by M. Hardman, and seen by Hildegarde Schmidt, Colonel Arbuthnot and M. MacQueen. There is also a woman in a red kimono — a tall, slim woman — seen by Pierre Michel, by Miss Debenham, by M. MacQueen and by myself — and smelt, I may say, by Colonel Arbuthnot! Who was she? No one on the train admits to having a scarlet kimono. She, too, has vanished. Was she one and the same with the spurious Wagon Lit attendant? Or was she some quite distinct personality? Where are they, these two? And, incidentally, where is the Wagon Lit uniform and the scarlet kimono?”
“让我们把这种幻想变得更加异想天开一些吧，”波洛兴致勃勃地说，“昨天晚上在火车上，有两个神秘的陌生人。一个是哈德曼先生所描述的、希尔德嘉德·施密特和阿巴思诺特上校以及麦奎因先生所见到的列车员。还有一个穿猩红色和服式睡衣的女人——一个高个子、苗条的女人，这是皮埃尔·米歇尔、德贝纳姆小姐、麦奎因先生还有我自己（可以说还有阿巴思诺特上校闻到的！）所见到的。她是谁？火车上没人承认有件猩红色的睡衣。她也消失了。她和那个假列车员是同一个人吗？或者她具有某些十分独特的个性？这两个人，他们在哪儿？还有，顺带问一句，列车员制服和猩红色睡衣在哪儿？”
“It is madness!”
“太疯狂了！”
“But how –” began M. Bouc and stopped. “What is this noise that approaches?” he cried. “It resembles a locomotive in motion.”
“可是怎么——”布克先生说了个话头就打住了，“哪里来的声音？”他大喊道，“好像是机车发动的声音。”
“Ah! that is something definite.” M. Bouc sprang up eagerly. “We must search all the passengers’ luggage. Yes, that will be something.”
“啊！现在有明确的东西了！”布克先生急切地跳了起来，“我们必须搜查所有旅客的行李！没错，肯定有东西！”
“It’s too horrible,” she cried. “It’s just too horrible. In my sponge bag. My sponge bag. A great knife — all over blood.”
“太可怕了！”她叫喊着，“这可真是太可怕了！在我的洗漱包里，我的洗漱包！一把大刀——全是血！”
“Hildegarde Schmidt? You think –“
“希尔德嘉德·施密特？你认为——”
“You will find the scarlet kimono in the baggage of one of the men and you will find the uniform of the Wagon Lit conductor in the baggage of Hildegarde Schmidt.”
“你会在其中一个男人的行李箱中发现猩红色的睡衣，在希尔德嘉德·施密特的行李箱里发现列车员的制服。”
“Not what you are thinking. I will put it like this. If Hildegarde Schmidt is guilty, the uniform might be found in her baggage — but if she is innocent it certainly will be.”
“不是你想的那样。我是这么认为的：如果希尔德嘉德·施密特犯了罪，就‘有可能’在她行李箱中找到制服；但如果她是清白的，衣服就‘一定在’那儿。”
“Where, then?”
“那么，在哪里？”
Poirot rose also.
波洛也站了起来。
“I will make a prophecy,” he said.
“我敢预言。”他说。
The noise drew nearer. It consisted of shrill cries and protests in a woman’s voice. The door at the end of the dining car flew open. Mrs. Hubbard burst in.
噪声越来越近了，还掺杂着刺耳的喊叫声、女人的抗议声。餐车尽头的门猛地被打开了，哈巴特太太闯了进来。
“I have a little idea.”
“我有个小想法。”
“You know where they are?”
“你知道它们在哪里？”
And, suddenly toppling forward, she fainted heavily on M. Bouc’s shoulder.
她忽然向前一扑，重重地倒在布克先生的肩膀上。
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