双语对照 | 书虫二级《神秘女人——阿加莎·克里斯蒂》：7.年轻的考古学家
7.A young archaeologist
7．年轻的考古学家
During the first weeks of 1927, Agatha went to stay with Madge and her husband in Cheadle, near Manchester. Archie stayed at Styles, but he wanted to marry Nancy Neele, and he asked Agatha for a divorce. At first she would not agree, but at last she said yes, and they were divorced in April 1928. Rosalind lived with Agatha.
1927年最初的几个星期，阿加莎和马奇以及她的丈夫一起住在曼彻斯特附近的奇德尔，阿奇则住在斯泰尔斯，但他想和南希·内莱结婚，并向阿加莎提出离婚。起初她并不同意，不过后来还是同意了，于是1928年4月他们离婚了。罗莎琳德与阿加莎住在一起。
'I don't want to use the name "Christie" again,' Agatha told her publishers. 'I will think of another name to use.'
“我不想再用'克里斯蒂'这个名字了。”阿加莎告诉她的出版商们，“我要另换一个。”
'But you can't change it now,' they said. 'Your readers know "Agatha Christie"—that's why they buy your books. If you change your name, nobody will know who you are!'
“但是现在你不能改，”他们说，“你的读者们知道'阿加莎·克里斯蒂'，所以才会买你的书。如果你改了名字，没人会知道你是谁！”
In the end, Agatha agreed to keep the name Christie, but she was not happy about it. But William Collins was right. Thousands of people in England (and America) were reading Agatha's books now.
阿加莎最终同意继续使用克里斯蒂这个名字，但是她很不高兴。不过威廉·柯林斯公司是对的，因为此时英国（和美国）有成千上万的人在读阿加莎的书。
Then, in the autumn of 1928, Agatha decided to visit the West Indies. Rosalind was at school, and Agatha wanted a holiday in the sun, so she got tickets for a ship to Jamaica.
1928年秋天，阿加莎决定去西印度群岛旅行。罗莎琳德住在学校，并且阿加莎想要度一个阳光绚烂的假期，于是她买了去牙买加的船票。
Two days before she left England, Agatha went to dinner with some friends. During the evening, she talked to some people who were just back from Baghdad, in Iraq. Their names were Commander and Mrs Howe.
还有两天就要离开伦敦的时候，阿加莎和一些朋友吃晚饭。整个晚上她都在和两个刚刚从伊拉克的巴格达归来的人聊天，他们是豪司令及夫人。
'People always say that Baghdad is a terrible place,' said Mrs Howe. 'But we loved it.'
“人们总是说巴格达是个恐怖的地方。”豪夫人说，“可我们很喜欢那儿。”
She went on talking about the city, and Agatha listened with great interest. She soon decided that she wanted to see Baghdad for herself.
她继续聊着那座城市，阿加莎饶有兴致地听着。很快她便决定要去亲眼看一看巴格达。
'How do you get there?' she said. 'By sea?'
“您怎么到那儿去呢？”她问，“乘船吗？”
'You can go by train,' said Mrs Howe. 'On the Orient Express.'
“您可以坐火车去，”豪夫人回答，“坐东方快车。”
'The Orient Express!' said Agatha. 'I've always wanted to ride on that famous train. I'll go to Baghdad, not the West Indies!'
“东方快车！”阿加莎说，“我一直想乘一次那列有名的火车。我要去巴格达，不去西印度群岛了！”
The Howes were very helpful and wrote down the names of interesting places for Agatha to visit. 'And you must go to Ur,' Commander Howe said.
豪夫妇很热心地给阿加莎写下了那些要参观的名胜古迹的名字。“您一定要去乌尔。”豪司令说。
Next day, Agatha changed her tickets for the West Indies for tickets to Istanbul by the Orient Express, and then on across the desert to Baghdad.
第二天，阿加莎把去西印度群岛的船票换成了乘东方快车去伊斯坦布尔的车票，然后从那里穿越沙漠到达巴格达。
It was an exciting journey for her, travelling alone for the first time. And later it gave her the idea for another of her most famous books—Murder on the Orient Express.
对她而言，这是一次很让人兴奋的旅行，因为这是她首次独自出行。后来这次旅行赋予了她写出她另外一部名作的灵感——《东方快车谋杀案》。
While she was staying in Baghdad, she remembered Commander Howe's words, 'You must go to Ur.'
在巴格达逗留期间，她想起了豪司令说过的话：“您一定要去乌尔。”
Archaeology was something that interested Agatha very much, and Leonard Woolley, the archaeologist, and his wife were working at Ur.
阿加莎对考古学极其感兴趣，而且当时考古学家伦纳德·伍利和他的妻子正在乌尔工作。
Katherine Woolley was very happy to meet Agatha.
凯瑟琳·伍利非常高兴能见到阿加莎。
'I love your books!' she told Agatha. 'I've just finished reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It was wonderful!'
“我很喜欢您的书！”她告诉阿加莎。“我刚刚读完《罗杰·阿克罗伊德命案》，写得棒极了！”
Agatha became the Woolleys' special visitor. She loved Ur, and she loved watching the archaeologists. It was slow, tiring work, and they had to dig very carefully. Sometimes they found nothing for hours, and sometimes they found old pots or knives. It was always exciting when one of the workers found something that was thousands of years old.
阿加莎成了伍利夫妇的贵宾。她喜欢乌尔，也喜欢看考古学家们工作。这种工作缓慢而辛苦，并且他们挖掘时必须非常小心。有时候一连几个小时他们一无所获，有时候他们则可以发现一些旧锅或刀子。而某个考古工作者发现了有几千年历史的东西的时候，总是很让人兴奋的时刻。
'You must come back again another year,' Katherine Woolley said.
“以后你一定要再来。”凯瑟琳·伍利说。
So Agatha did. She went out in March 1930, the week before the Woolleys planned to come back to England. The plan was that Agatha could travel back with them through Syria and Greece.
阿加莎做到了。她于1930年3月出发，也就是伍利夫妇准备回英国前的一个星期。之所以这样安排，为的是阿加莎能够和他们一同途经叙利亚和希腊返回。
A young archaeologist called Max Mallowan was working with the Woolleys. He was twenty-five years old, and a quiet young man.
和伍利夫妇一起工作的有一个名叫马克斯·马洛温的年轻考古学家。他25岁，是个性格温和的年轻人。
'I've told Max to show you Nejef and Kerbala,' Katherine Woolley told Agatha. 'Nejef is the holy city of the dead, and Kerbala has a wonderful mosque. When we leave here and go to Baghdad, he'll take you there. You can see Nippur on the way.'
“我已经告诉马克斯让他带你去奈寨和克尔巴拉，”凯瑟琳·伍利对阿加莎说，“奈寨是亡灵的圣地，而在克尔巴拉有一个很漂亮的清真寺。他会在我们动身去巴格达的时候带你去那儿。路上你还可以顺便去尼普尔。”
'Oh, but doesn't Max want to go to Baghdad with you?' said Agatha. 'He will have friends to see there before he goes home to England.'
“哦，可是难道马克斯不想和你们一起去巴格达吗？”阿加莎问道，“回英国之前他肯定要去那儿看望朋友。”
'Oh no,' said Katherine. 'Max will be pleased to take you.'
“哦，不，”凯瑟琳说，“马克斯会很高兴带你去的。”
The young archaeologist was pleased to take Agatha. He liked her immediately, and Agatha liked him. They talked and laughed and enjoyed every minute of their time together.
那个年轻的考古学家的确很高兴带阿加莎去玩。他立刻喜欢上了她，而且阿加莎也喜欢他。他们又说又笑，在一起的每分每秒都很快乐。
They met the Woolleys in Baghdad, and the four of them travelled to Greece together. But when they got to their hotel in Athens, there were seven telegrams waiting for Agatha. They all said the same thing. Rosalind was ill. Agatha must come home quickly.
他们与伍利夫妇在巴格达会合，然后四个人一起去了希腊。然而当他们到达在雅典的旅馆时，已经有七封电报等着阿加莎了。电报都是同样的内容——罗莎琳德病了，阿加莎必须尽快赶回去。
'I'll go with you, Agatha,' said Max.
“阿加莎，我陪你回去。”马克斯说。
'Oh, thank you, Max,' said Agatha. 'But haven't you got plans to—?'
“哦，谢谢你，马克斯，”阿加莎说，“可是你不是计划去——？”
'I've changed my plans,' said Max, quietly. 'I'm coming with you, Agatha.'
“我已经改变了我的计划，”马克斯平静地说，“阿加莎，我要和你一起回去。”
So they travelled home together. When they arrived, they found that Rosalind was much better, so that was one happy ending. Soon, there was another.
于是他们一起回了家。赶到家时，发现罗莎琳德已经好多了，那是一个圆满结局。很快，又有了另外一个。
Agatha was fourteen years older than Max, but during the journey home Max decided to ask her an important question. And when they were back in England, he asked Agatha to marry him.
阿加莎比马克斯大14岁，但在回英国的途中马克斯决定问她一个很重要的问题。回到英国后，他便向阿加莎求婚了。
They were married on the 11th of September, 1930, in Edinburgh, in Scotland.
1930年9月11日，他们在苏格兰的爱丁堡结婚了。
* * *
* * *
1930 was also the year when Agatha's other famous detective first appeared — in The Murder at the Vicarage. Her name was Miss Jane Marple—a little old woman who lived in the quiet English village of St Mary Mead. Miss Marple looked like somebody's grandmother, a nice kind woman who enjoyed cooking and gardening. But she also had very good eyes and ears. She saw, heard, and remembered everything—names, faces, the times of trains and buses, the colour of a shirt, the sound of a door shutting. And she always found out the name of the murderer before the police did.
也是在1930年，阿加莎的另一位名探在《牧师家的谋杀案》中首次登场了。她就是简·马普尔小姐——一位住在宁静的英国乡村圣·玛丽米德的小个子老太太。马普尔小姐看上去就像是谁的祖母，一个和蔼可亲、喜欢烹饪和园艺的老太太。可是她有着非常锐利的眼睛和极其灵敏的听觉。她能够看见、听到并且记住一切——姓名、面孔、火车和汽车的时间、衬衣的颜色、关门的声音。她总是能在警方之前找出凶手。
Readers loved the Miss Marple stories, and she was soon as popular as Hercule Poirot. But was she a real person? Where did the idea for the character come from?
读者们非常喜欢马普尔小姐的故事，很快她便变得和赫尔克里·波洛一样受欢迎了。可她是不是一个真实的人呢？这个人物的灵感又是从哪里得来的呢？
'Where? I can never remember,' Agatha always said.
“哪里？我记不得了。”阿加莎总是这么说。
* * *
archaeologist n. expert in the study of ancient civilizations by scientific analysis of physical remains found in the ground. 考古学家。
divorce n. legal ending of a marriage. 离婚；离异。
commander n. person who commands. 指挥官；司令；队长。
orient n. countries of the East (e.g. Japan, China). 东方国家（如日本、中国）。
express n. fast train that stops at few stations. 快车。
across prep. from one side to the other side of (sth.). 从（某物）的一边到另一边；横过（某物）。
pot n. round vessel made of earthenware, metal, etc. for cooking things in. （烹任用的）锅。
holy adj. regarded as sacred; consecrated. 视为神圣的；神圣化的。
mosque n. building in which Muslims worship. 清真寺。
telegram n. message sent by telegraph and then delivered in written or printed form. 电报。
gardening n. cultivating of gardens. 园艺。
