尼罗河的惨案23

Eleven,“Will you explain to me, Madame, the meaning of the word ‘fey’?”,Mrs. Allerton looked slightly surprised. She and Poirot were toiling ¹ slowly up to the rockoverlooking the Second Cataract ². Most of the others had gone up on camels, but Poirot had feltthat the motion of the camel was slightly reminiscent of that of a ship. Mrs. Allerton had put it onthe grounds of personal indignity ³.,They had arrived at Wadi Halfa the night before. This morning two launches had conveyed allthe party to the Second Cataract, with the exception of Signor Richetti, who had insisted onmaking an excursion of his own to a remote spot called Semna, which, he explained, was ofparamount interest as being the gateway ⁴ of Nubia in the time of Amenemhet III, and where therewas a stele ⁵ recording ⁶ the fact that on entering Egypt Negroes must pay customs duties. Everythinghad been done to discourage this example of individuality, but with no avail. Signor Richetti wasdetermined and had waved aside each objection: (1) that the expedition was not worth making, (2)that the expedition could not be made, owing to the impossibility of getting a car there, (3) that nocar could be obtained to do the trip, (4) that a car would be a prohibitive price. Having scoffed ⁷ at(1), expressed incredulity at (2), offered to find a car himself to (3), and bargained fluently inArabic for (4), Signor Richetti had at last departed—his departure being arranged in a secret andfurtive manner, in case some of the other tourists should take it into their heads to stray from theappointed paths of sightseeing.,“Fey? ” Mrs. Allerton put her head on one side as she considered her reply. “Well, it’s a Scotchword, really. It means the kind of exalted ⁸ happiness that comes before disaster. You know—it’stoo good to be true.
”,She enlarged on the theme. Poirot listened attentively ⁹.,Mrs. Allerton gave a little shiver.,“It must have been a very near escape. Do you think some of these little black wretches ¹⁰ rolled itover for fun? It’s the sort of thing boys might do all over the world—not perhaps really meaningany harm.”,Poirot shrugged ¹¹ his shoulders.,“It may be, Madame. ”,He changed the subject, talking of Majorca and asking various practical questions from thepoint of view of a possible visit.,She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎 ，心中涌满愤恨 。,He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人
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