死亡约会 Part II Chapter 18（1）

Chapter 18

‘Come,’ said Hercule Poirot. ‘We have still a little way to go! Dr Gerard has invoked¹ thepsychology. So let us now examine the psychological side of this case. We have taken the facts,we have established a chronological³ sequence of events, we have heard the evidence. Thereremains—the psychology². And the most important psychological evidence concerns the deadwoman—it is the psychology of Mrs Boynton herself that is the most important thing in this case.

‘Take from my list of specified⁴ facts points three and four. Mrs Boynton took definite pleasurein keeping her family from enjoying themselves with other people. Mrs Boynton, on the afternoonin question, encouraged her family to go away and leave her.

‘These two facts, they contradict each other flatly! Why, on this particular afternoon, shouldMrs Boynton suddenly display a complete reversal of her usual policy? Was it that she felt asudden warmth of the heart—an instinct of benevolence⁵? That, it seems to me from all I haveheard, was extremely unlikely! Yet there must have been a reason. What was that reason?

‘Let us examine closely the character of Mrs Boynton. There have been many different accountsof her. She was a tyrannical old martinet—she was a mental sadist—she was an incarnation of evil—she was crazy. Which of these views is the true one?

‘I think myself that Sarah King came nearest to the truth when in a flash of inspiration inJerusalem she saw the old lady as intensely pathetic. But not only pathetic—futile!

‘Let us, if we can, think ourselves into the mental condition of Mrs Boynton. A human creatureborn with immense ambition, with a yearning⁶ to dominate and to impress her personality on otherpeople. She neither sublimated⁷ that intense craving⁸ for power—nor did she seek to master it—no,mesdames and messieurs—she fed it! But in the end—listen well to this—in the end what did itamount to? She was not a great power! She was not feared and hated over a wide area! She wasthe petty tyrant⁹ of one isolated¹⁰ family! And as Dr Gerard said to me—she became bored like anyother old lady with her hobby and she sought to extend her activities and to amuse herself bymaking her dominance more precarious¹¹! But that led to an entirely¹² different aspect of the case! Bycoming abroad, she realized for the first time how extremely insignificant¹³ she was!

‘And now we come directly to point number ten — the words spoken to Sarah King inJerusalem. Sarah King, you see, had put her finger on the truth. She had revealed fully¹⁵ anduncompromisingly the pitiful futility¹⁶ of Mrs Boynton’s scheme of existence! And now listen verycarefully—all of you—to what her exact words to Miss King were. Miss King has said that MrsBoynton spoke¹⁴ “so malevolently—not even looking at me”. And this is what she actually said,“I’ve never forgotten anything—not an action, not a name, not a face.”

‘Those words made a great impression on Miss King. Their extraordinary intensity¹⁷ and the loudhoarse tone in which they were uttered! So strong was the impression that they left on her mindthat I think she quite failed to realize their extraordinary significance!

‘Do you see that significance, any of you?’ He waited a minute. ‘It seems not…

1 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 chronological   

adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的

参考例句：

• The paintings are exhibited in chronological sequence.这些画是按创作的时间顺序展出的。
• Give me the dates in chronological order.把日期按年月顺序给我。

4 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

5 benevolence   

n.慈悲，捐助

参考例句：

• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
• He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。

6 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

7 sublimated   

v.（使某物质）升华( sublimate的过去式和过去分词 )；使净化；纯化

参考例句：

• Their affection to each other was sublimated into a lasting friendship. 他俩之间的感情被升华成一种永久的友谊。 来自互联网
• Finally migrates the utilization, sublimated to the text the understanding. 最后是迁移运用，升华对文本的理解。 来自互联网

8 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

9 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

16 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

17 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。