NINE, TEN, A GOOD FAT HEN 5

V
At the Gothic House, Poirot was received by a secretary, a tall, limp young man with an
accomplished¹ social manner.
He was pleasantly apologetic.
“I am so sorry, M. Poirot—and so is Mr. Blunt. He has been called to Downing Street. The
result of this—er—incident last night. I rang your flat, but unfortunately you had already left.”
The young man went on rapidly:
“Mr. Blunt commissioned me to ask you if it would be possible for you to spend the weekend
with him at his house in Kent. Exsham, you know. If so, he would call for you in the car tomorrow
evening.”
Poirot hesitated.
The young man said persuasively²:
“Mr. Blunt is really most anxious to see you.”
Hercule Poirot bowed his head.
He said: “Thank you. I accept.”
“Oh, that’s splendid. Mr. Blunt will be delighted. If he calls for you about a quarter to six, will
that—Oh, good morning, Mrs. Olivera—”
Jane Olivera’s mother had just entered. She was very smartly dressed, with a hat clinging to an
eyebrow³ in the midst of a very soignée coiffure.
“Oh! Mr. Selby, did Mr. Blunt give you any instructions about those garden chairs? I meant to
talk to him about them last night, because I knew we’d be going down this weekend and—”
Mrs. Olivera took in Poirot and paused.
“Do you know Mrs. Olivera, M. Poirot?”
“I have already had the pleasure of meeting Madame.”
Poirot bowed.
Mrs. Olivera said vaguely⁴:
“Oh? How do you do. Of course, Mr. Selby, I know that Alistair is a very busy man and that
these small domestic matters mayn’t seem to him important—”
“It’s quite all right, Mrs. Olivera,” said the efficient Mr. Selby. “He told me about it and I rang
up Messrs Deevers about them.”
“Well, now, that’s a real load off my mind. Now, Mr. Selby, can you tell me …”
Mrs. Olivera clacked on. She was, thought Poirot, rather like a hen. A big, fat hen! Mrs.
Olivera, still clacking, moved majestically⁵ after her bust⁶ towards the door.
“ … And if you’re quite sure that there will only be ourselves this weekend—”
Mr. Selby coughed.
“Er—M. Poirot is also coming down for the weekend.”
Mrs. Olivera stopped. She turned round and surveyed Poirot with visible distaste.
“Is that really so?”
“Mr. Blunt has been kind enough to invite me,” said Poirot.
“Well, I wonder—why, if that isn’t queer of Alistair. You’ll excuse me, M. Poirot, but Mr.
Blunt particularly told me that he wanted a quiet, family weekend!”
Selby said firmly:
“Mr. Blunt is particularly anxious that M. Poirot should come.”
“Oh really? He didn’t mention it to me.”
The door opened. Jane stood there. She said impatiently:
“Mother, aren’t you coming? Our lunch appointment is at one fifteen!”
“I’m coming, Jane. Don’t be impatient.”
“Well, get a move on, for goodness sake—Hallo, M. Poirot.”
She was suddenly very still—her petulance⁷ frozen. Her eyes more wary⁸.
Mrs. Olivera said in a cold voice:
“M. Poirot is coming down to Exsham for the weekend.”
“Oh—I see.”
Jane Olivera stood back to let her mother pass her. On the point of following her, she whirled
back again.
“M. Poirot!”
Her voice was imperious.
Poirot crossed the room to her.
She said in a low voice: “You’re coming down to Exsham? Why?”
Poirot shrugged⁹ his shoulders. He said:
“It is a kind thought of your uncle’s.”
Jane said:
“But he can’t know … He can’t … When did he ask you? Oh, there’s no need—”
“Jane!”
Her mother was calling from the hall.
Jane said in a low, urgent tone:
“Stay away. Please don’t come.”
She went out. Poirot heard the sounds of altercation¹⁰. Heard Mrs. Olivera’s high, complaining,
clucking voice. “I really will not tolerate your rudeness, Jane … I shall take steps to see that you
do not interfere—”
The secretary said:
“Then at a little before six tomorrow, M. Poirot?”
Poirot nodded assent¹¹ mechanically. He was standing¹² like a man who has seen a ghost. But it
was his ears, not his eyes, that had given him the shock.
Two of the sentences that had drifted in through the open door were almost identical with those
he had heard last night through the telephone, and he knew why the voice had been faintly
familiar.
As he walked out into the sunshine he shook his head blankly.
Mrs. Olivera?
But it was impossible! It could not have been Mrs. Olivera who had spoken over the ’phone!
That empty-headed society woman—selfish, brainless, grasping, self-centred? What had he
called her to himself just now?
“That good fat hen? C’est ridicule¹³!” said Hercule Poirot.
His ears, he decided¹⁴, must have deceived him. And yet—

1 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

2 persuasively   

adv.口才好地；令人信服地

参考例句：

• Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
• He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句

3 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

4 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

5 majestically   

雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地

参考例句：

• The waters of the Changjiang River rolled to the east on majestically. 雄伟的长江滚滚东流。
• Towering snowcapped peaks rise majestically. 白雪皑皑的山峰耸入云霄。

6 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

7 petulance   

n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急

参考例句：

• His petulance made her impatient.他的任性让她无法忍受。
• He tore up the manuscript in a fit of petulance.他一怒之下把手稿撕碎了。

8 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

9 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 altercation   

n.争吵，争论

参考例句：

• Throughout the entire altercation,not one sensible word was uttered.争了半天，没有一句话是切合实际的。
• The boys had an altercation over the umpire's decision.男孩子们对裁判的判决颇有争议。

11 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。