NINE, TEN, A GOOD FAT HEN 7

VII
In leaving the room Poirot almost cannoned¹ into a tall figure outside the door.
He said: “I beg your pardon, Mademoiselle.”
Jane Olivera drew apart a little.
She said. “Do you know what I think of you, M. Poirot?”
“Eh bien—Mademoiselle—”
She did not give time to finish. The question, indeed, had but a rhetorical value. All that it meant
was that Jane Olivera was about to answer it herself.
“You’re a spy, that’s what you are! A miserable², low, snooping spy, nosing round and making
trouble!”
“I assure you, Mademoiselle—”
“I know just what you’re after! And I know now just what lies you tell! Why don’t you admit it
straight out? Well, I’ll tell you this—you won’t find out anything—anything at all! There’s
nothing to find out! No one’s going to harm a hair on my precious uncle’s head. He’s safe enough.
He’ll always be safe. Safe and smug and prosperous—and full of platitudes³! He’s just a stodgy⁴
John Bull, that’s what he is—without an ounce of imagination or vision.”
She paused, then, her agreeable, husky voice deepening, she said venomously: “I loathe⁵ the
sight of you—you bloody⁶ little bourgeois⁷ detective!”
She swept away from him in a whirl of expensive model drapery.
Hercule Poirot remained, his eyes very wide open, his eyebrows⁸ raised and his hand
thoughtfully caressing⁹ his moustaches.
The epithet¹⁰ bourgeois was, he admitted, well-applied to him. His outlook on life was essentially¹¹
bourgeois, and always had been, but the employment of it as an epithet of contempt by the
exquisitely¹² turned out Jane Olivera gave him, as he expressed it to himself, furiously to think.
He went, still thinking, into the drawing room.
Mrs. Olivera was playing patience.
She looked up as Poirot entered, surveyed him with the cold look she might have bestowed¹³
upon a black beetle¹⁴ and murmured distantly:
“Red knave¹⁵ on black queen.”
Chilled, Poirot retreated. He reflected mournfully:
“Alas, it would seem that nobody loves me!”
He strolled out of the window into the garden. It was an enchanting¹⁶ evening with a smell of
night-scented stocks in the air. Poirot sniffed¹⁷ happily and strolled along a path that ran between
two herbaceous borders.
He turned a corner and two dimly-seen figures sprang apart.
It would seem that he had interrupted a pair of lovers.
Poirot hastily turned and retraced¹⁸ his steps.
Even out here, it would seem, his presence was de trop.
He passed Alistair Blunt’s window and Alistair Blunt was dictating¹⁹ to Mr. Selby.
There seemed definitely only one place for Hercule Poirot.
He went up to his bedroom.
He pondered for some time on various fantastic aspects of the situation.
Had he or had he not made a mistake in believing the voice on the telephone to be that of Mrs.
Olivera? Surely the idea was absurd!
He recalled the melodramatic revelations of quiet little Mr. Barnes. He speculated on the
mysterious whereabouts of Mr. Q.X.912, alias²⁰ Albert Chapman. He remembered, with a spasm²¹ of
annoyance²², the anxious look in the eyes of the maidservant, Agnes—
It was always the same way—people would keep things back! Usually quite unimportant things,
but until they were cleared out of the way, impossible to pursue a straight path.
At the moment the path was anything but straight!
And the most unaccountable obstacle in the way of clear thinking and orderly progress was
what he described to himself as the contradictory²³ and impossible problem of Miss Sainsbury
Seale. For, if the facts that Hercule Poirot had observed were true facts—then nothing whatever
made sense!
Hercule Poirot said to himself, with astonishment²⁴ in the thought:
“Is it possible that I am growing old?”

1 cannoned   

vi.与…猛撞（cannon的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The drunk man cannoned into a waiter. 那个醉汉撞在侍者怀里。 来自辞典例句
• A big dog came running round the corner, cannoned into him, and knocked him over. 一只大狗由街角跑来，撞上他，把他撞倒了。 来自辞典例句

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 platitudes   

n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子

参考例句：

• He was mouthing the usual platitudes about the need for more compassion. 他言不由衷地说了些需要更加同情之类的陈腔滥调。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He delivered a long prose full of platitudes. 他发表了一篇充满陈词滥调的文章。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 stodgy   

adj.易饱的；笨重的；滞涩的；古板的

参考例句：

• It wasn't easy to lose puppy fat when Mum fed her on stodgy home cooking.母亲给她吃易饱的家常菜，她想减掉婴儿肥可是很难。
• The gateman was a stodgy fellow of 60.看门人是个六十岁的矮胖子。

5 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。

8 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

9 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

10 epithet   

n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语

参考例句：

• In "Alfred the Great","the Great"is an epithet.“阿尔弗雷德大帝”中的“大帝”是个称号。
• It is an epithet that sums up my feelings.这是一个简洁地表达了我思想感情的形容词。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 exquisitely   

adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地

参考例句：

• He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服，还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分

13 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

14 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

15 knave   

n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克

参考例句：

• Better be a fool than a knave.宁做傻瓜，不做无赖。
• Once a knave,ever a knave.一次成无赖，永远是无赖。

16 enchanting   

a.讨人喜欢的

参考例句：

• His smile, at once enchanting and melancholy, is just his father's. 他那种既迷人又有些忧郁的微笑，活脱儿象他父亲。
• Its interior was an enchanting place that both lured and frightened me. 它的里头是个吸引人的地方，我又向往又害怕。

17 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 retraced   

v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返，想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

20 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

21 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

22 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

23 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

24 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。