《谁的尸体》开篇：英文原著带中文翻译

“Oh, damn!” said Lord Peter Wimsey at Piccadilly Circus. “Hi, driver!”

「哎呀，该死！」彼得·温西勋爵在皮卡迪利广场说道。「喂，车夫！」

The taxi man, irritated at receiving this appeal while negotiating the intricacies of turning into Lower Regent Street across the route of a 19 ’bus, a 38-B and a bicycle, bent an unwilling ear.

那出租车司机正忙着在车流中拐进下摄政街，要横穿一辆19路公共汽车、一辆38B路和一辆自行车的路线，听到这一声招呼，不情愿地侧过耳朵。

“I’ve left the catalogue behind,” said Lord Peter deprecatingly. “Uncommonly careless of me. D’you mind puttin’ back to where we came from?”

「我把书目落在后面了，」彼得勋爵带着歉意说。「我真是太粗心了。你介意掉头回到我们来的地方吗？」

“To the Savile Club, sir?”

「去萨维尔俱乐部吗，先生？」

“No—110 Piccadilly—just beyond—thank you.”

「不，皮卡迪利110号，就在前面一点，谢谢。」

“Thought you was in a hurry,” said the man, overcome with a sense of injury.

「我还以为您赶时间呢，」那人说，心里满是受了委屈的感觉。

“I’m afraid it’s an awkward place to turn in,” said Lord Peter, answering the thought rather than the words. His long, amiable face looked as if it had generated spontaneously from his top hat, as white maggots breed from Gorgonzola.

「恐怕那地方不好掉头，」彼得勋爵说，他回答的是那人心里的念头，而不是嘴里的话。他那张和善的长脸看上去像是从他的高礼帽里自发长出来的，就像白蛆从戈尔贡佐拉奶酪里生出来一样。

The taxi, under the severe eye of a policeman, revolved by slow jerks, with a noise like the grinding of teeth.

出租车在一名警察严厉的目光下，一顿一顿地慢慢掉过头来，发出像磨牙一样的声音。

The block of new, perfect and expensive flats in which Lord Peter dwelt upon the second floor, stood directly opposite the Green Park, in a spot for many years occupied by the skeleton of a frustrate commercial enterprise. As Lord Peter let himself in he heard his man’s voice in the library, uplifted in that throttled stridency peculiar to well-trained persons using the telephone.

彼得勋爵住在二楼的那幢崭新的、完美而昂贵的新公寓楼，正对着绿园，那地方多年来一直立着一座半途而废的商业企业的骨架。彼得勋爵自己开门进去时，听见他的男仆在书房里的声音，正用受过良好训练的人打电话时那种压低的尖嗓子说着话。

“I believe that’s his lordship just coming in again—if your Grace would kindly hold the line a moment.”

「我想那正是勋爵大人又进来了，如果公爵夫人您愿意稍等片刻的话。」

“What is it, Bunter?”

「什么事，邦特？」

“Her Grace has just called up from Denver, my lord. I was just saying your lordship had gone to the sale when I heard your lordship’s latchkey.”

「公爵夫人刚从丹佛打来电话，勋爵大人。我正要说您去了拍卖会，就听见您的钥匙开门声。」

“Thanks,” said Lord Peter; “and you might find me my catalogue, would you? I think I must have left it in my bedroom, or on the desk.”

「谢谢，」彼得勋爵说，「你顺便帮我把书目找出来好吗？我想我大概是把它落在卧室里了，或者放在书桌上。」

He sat down to the telephone with an air of leisurely courtesy, as though it were an acquaintance dropped in for a chat.

他坐下来接电话，一副悠闲有礼的神气，仿佛是一位熟人顺路进来闲聊。

“Hullo, Mother—that you?”

「喂，母亲，是您吗？」

“Oh, there you are, dear,” replied the voice of the Dowager Duchess. “I was afraid I’d just missed you.”

「哦，你在那儿呀，亲爱的，」 dowager 公爵夫人的声音回答道。「我还担心我刚错过了你呢。」

“Well, you had, as a matter of fact. I’d just started off to Brocklebury’s sale to pick up a book or two, but I had to come back for the catalogue. What’s up?”

「嗯，事实上您确实错过了。我刚出发去布罗克尔伯里的拍卖会，想挑一两本书，可是不得不回来拿书目。出什么事了？」

“Such a quaint thing,” said the Duchess. “I thought I’d tell you. You know little Mr. Thipps?”

「真是件古怪的事，」公爵夫人说。「我想该告诉你。你认识小西普斯先生吧？」

“Thipps?” said Lord Peter. “Thipps? Oh, yes, the little architect man who’s doing the church roof. Yes. What about him?”

「西普斯？」彼得勋爵说。「西普斯？哦，认识，就是那个在修教堂屋顶的小个子建筑师。认识。他怎么了？」

“Mrs. Throgmorton’s just been in, in quite a state of mind.”

「思罗格莫顿太太刚来过，心神很不宁。」

“Sorry, Mother, I can’t hear. Mrs. Who?”

「抱歉，母亲，我听不见。谁太太？」

“Throgmorton—Throgmorton—the vicar’s wife.”

「思罗格莫顿，思罗格莫顿，牧师的妻子。」

“Oh, Throgmorton, yes?”

「哦，思罗格莫顿，是吗？」

“Mr. Thipps rang them up this morning. It was his day to come down, you know.”

「西普斯先生今天早上给他们打了电话。你知道，今天是他该来的日子。」

“Yes?”

「是吗？」

“He rang them up to say he couldn’t. He was so upset, poor little man. He’d found a dead body in his bath.”

「他打电话来说他来不了。他心烦意乱，可怜的小个子。他在自己的浴缸里发现了一具尸体。」

“Sorry, Mother, I can’t hear; found what, where?”

「抱歉，母亲，我听不见，发现了什么，在哪儿？」

“A dead body, dear, in his bath.”

「一具尸体，亲爱的，在他的浴缸里。」

“What?—no, no, we haven’t finished. Please don’t cut us off. Hullo! Hullo! Is that you, Mother? Hullo!—Mother!—Oh, yes—sorry, the girl was trying to cut us off. What sort of body?”

「什么？不，不，我们还没说完。请别把我们的线切断。喂！喂！是您吗，母亲？喂！母亲！哦，是的，抱歉，那姑娘想把我们的线切断。什么样的尸体？」

“A dead man, dear, with nothing on but a pair of pince-nez. Mrs. Throgmorton positively blushed when she was telling me. I’m afraid people do get a little narrow-minded in country vicarages.”

「一个死人，亲爱的，身上什么也没穿，只戴着一副夹鼻眼镜。思罗格莫顿太太讲给我听的时候，脸都红了。恐怕乡下牧师住宅里的人确实有点心胸狭窄。」

“Well, it sounds a bit unusual. Was it anybody he knew?”

「嗯，这听起来是有点不寻常。是他认识的人吗？」

“No, dear, I don’t think so, but, of course, he couldn’t give her many details. She said he sounded quite distracted. He’s such a respectable little man—and having the police in the house and so on, really worried him.”

「不，亲爱的，我想不是，不过当然，他也给不了她多少细节。她说他听上去心神完全乱了。他那么一个体面的小个子，家里来了警察什么的，真让他担心。」

“Poor little Thipps! Uncommonly awkward for him. Let’s see, he lives in Battersea, doesn’t he?”

「可怜的小西普斯！这对他真是尴尬极了。让我想想，他住在巴特西，是吧？」