Убийство Роджера Экройда

Кристи А.
К82
Убийство Роджера Экройда: Книга для чтения на английском языке / Адаптация, комментарии, словарь Ю. Б. Голицынского. — СПб.: КАРО, 2009. — 160 с.: ил. — (Серия «Reading with exercises»).

ISBN 9785992500844

Книга представляет собой адаптацию романа всемирно известной
«королевы детектива» Агаты Кристи и предназначена для учащихся
старших классов школ с углубленным изучением английского языка, студентов и всех, изучающих английский язык.
Обращаем ваше внимание, что в дополнение к книге нашим издательством предлагается обширный аудиоматериал — диск в формате
МР3.

УДК 373
ББК 81.2 Англ922

ISBN 9785992500844

© Голицынский Ю. Б.:
адаптация, комментарии,
словарь; 2001
© КАРО, 2009
Все права защищены

УДК  373
ББК  81.2 Англ922
     К 82

Иллюстрации художника

А. В. Ветрогонского

В дополнение к книге вы можете приобрести
тематический аудиоматериал на диске МР3,
подготовленный нашим издательством

Chapter 1

DR. SHEPPARD
AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE

Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th–17th September.
I was sent for at eight o’clock in the morning on Friday the
17th . There was nothing to be done1: she had been dead some
hours.
It was just a few minutes after nine when I returned home.
I opened the front door with my key and stopped in the hall to
take off my hat and overcoat. To tell the truth, I was upset
and worried: my instinct told me that there was trouble
ahead2.
«Is that you, James?» called my sister Caroline from the
diningroom.
My sister Caroline is a person who always knows all the
news. And she draws her own conclusions from the information she gets.
Mrs. Ferrars’ husband died a year ago, and Caroline is sure
that his wife poisoned him. I always tell her that he died of
heavy drinking, but she does not believe me.
I walked into the diningroom and sat down to eggs and
bacon.
«You’ve had an early call,» said Caroline.
«Yes,» I said. «Mrs. Ferrars.»

1 There was nothing to be done — Ничего нельзя было сделать
2 there was trouble ahead — будут неприятности

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie

4

«I know,» said my sister.
«How do you know?»
«Annie told me.»
Annie is our maid. A nice girl, but talks a lot.
«Well?» said my sister.
«A bad business. Nothing to be done. She died in her
sleep.»
«I know,» said my sister again.
I was surprised. «You can’t know», I said. «I didn’t know
myself until I came there, and I haven’t told anybody. So how
could Annie know it?»
«The milkman told her. And he learned it from the
Ferrars’ cook.»
Just as I said. There is no need for Caroline to go out to
get information. She sits at home, and the information comes
to her.
«What did she die of?» continued my sister.
«An overdose of veronal. She took it for sleeplessness.
Evidently she took too much by mistake.»
«Nonsense,» said Caroline. «She took it on purpose1. As
you know, she poisoned her husband a year ago, and since
that time she’s been haunted by her crime2. You will see for
yourself. I am sure that she has left a letter in which she
confesses everything.»

1 on purpose — [] нарочно
2 she’s been haunted [] by her crime — ее преступление преследовало ее

Chapter 2

WHO IS WHO IN KING’S ABBOT

Our village, King’s Abbot, is very much like any other
village. We have a large railway station, a small postoffice
and two big shops. The greatest hobby of the population can
be described by one word, «gossip».
There are only two houses of any importance in King’s
Abbot. One is the house of Mrs. Ferrars. The other, called
Fernly Park, belongs to Roger Ackroyd. He is the richest man
in the village, about fifty years old.
When Roger Ackroyd was a young man of twentyone, he
fell in love with, and married, a beautiful woman who was
five or six years older than he. Her name was Paton and she
had a child. Their married life was short and painful. Mrs.
Ackroyd drank a lot and finally died of it four years after her
marriage.
Roger Ackroyd did not marry a second time. His wife’s
child, a boy called Ralph, was only seven years old when his
mother died. Now he is twentyfive. Ackroyd has always
regarded him as his own son and gave him a good education.
However Ralph Paton has always been a wild boy and caused
his stepfather a lot of worries and troubles1. But Ralph is a
very goodlooking young man, with very good manners, and
we are all very fond of him.

1 caused [] his stepfather a lot of worries and troubles — причинил своему отчиму массу беспокойства и неприятностей

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie

6

I have already said that we like to gossip in our village.
Everybody noticed at once that Ackroyd and Mrs. Ferrars
were very friendly towards each other. After her husband’s
death she spent even more time in Roger Ackroyd’s company,
and we thought that soon she would become Mrs. Roger
Ackroyd.
There are three women living in Roger Ackroyd’s house.
One of them, Miss Russell, is the housekeeper. The other two
are Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, the widow of Roger Ackroyd’s
younger brother, and her daughter. They came from Canada
not long ago, after the death of Cecil Ackroyd.
Walking along the street I was thinking about Mrs.
Ferrars’ death. Had she really killed herself? If so, probably
she really had left a letter.
Then I suddenly remembered that I had seen her only
yesterday. She had been walking and talking seriously with
Ralph Paton, and I had been very surprised, because I thought
that he had quarrelled with his stepfather and left the village.
Nobody had seen him in King’s Abbot for nearly six months.
I was still thinking of it when I came face to face with
Roger Ackroyd. «Sheppard!» he exclaimed. «I wanted to see
you. This is a terrible business.»
«So you’ve heard already?»
He nodded. He looked very unhappy. His cheeks, usually
red, were pale. «It’s terrible,» he repeated. «Look here,
Sheppard, I’ve got to talk to you. Can you come with me now?»
«No. I must visit three patients, and by twelve I must be
at home to see the patients who will come.»
«Then come and have dinner with us tonight. At seventhirty? Will it be all right for you?»
«Yes. And what’s wrong? Is it Ralph?» — I don’t know
why I said that.

Chapter 2
Who is Who in King’s Abbot

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie

Ackroyd looked at me as if he did not understand. I had
never seen him so upset before.
«Ralph?» he said. «Oh no, it isn’t Ralph. Ralph is in
London — Damn! Here is old Miss Ganett coming. I don’t
want to talk to her about this terrible business. See you
tonight, Sheppard. Seventhirty.»
He hurried away, and I remained standing, surprised.
Ralph in London? But he certainly was in King’s Abbot
yesterday.
When I came home at twelve o’clock, I found my three
patients waiting for me. There was nothing serious with
them, so I quickly examined them and they went away. And
here I saw one more patient. It was Miss Russell, the
housekeeper of Roger Ackroyd. She asked me to look at her
knee. I looked at it, but there was nothing wrong with it, and
I understood that she had come to me in order to talk. And
indeed, she began asking me questions about poisons. She
wanted to know if there were some very rare poisons, so rare
that it was very difficult to detect them.
«Ah!» I said, «you have been reading detective stories.»
She said that she had. «In detective stories», I said, «they
sometimes mention some rare poison — if possible something
from South America, something that savages use to poison
their arrows with1. Death comes at once, and Western science
cannot detect the poison. Is that what you mean?»
«Yes. Is there really such a thing?»
I shook my head. «I am afraid there isn’t», I said.
At last she said she must go back.

1 something that savages use to poison their arrows with — чтото,
чем дикари отравляют свои стрелы

Chapter 3

THE MAN WHO GREW
VEGETABLE MARROWS

I told Caroline at lunch time that I would go to Fernly for
dinner.
«Excellent,» she said. «You will hear all about it. By the
way1, what’s the trouble with Ralph?2»
«With Ralph?» I said, surprised, «There isn’t any
trouble.»
«Then why is he staying at the Three Boars instead of at
Fernly Park?»
«Ackroyd told me he was in London,» I said.
«Oh!» said Caroline. «He arrived at the Three Boars
yesterday morning. And he is still there. Last night he went
out with a girl.»
That did not surprise me at all. Ralph goes out with a girl
most nights of his life. «What girl?» I asked.
«I don’t know who she is», said Caroline. «But I can guess.»
I waited.
«It was his cousin,» said Caroline.
«Flora Ackroyd?» I exclaimed in surprise.
Of course Flora Ackroyd is not really Ralph’s relation,
but everybody speaks of them as cousins.

1 By the way — Кстати
2 what’s the trouble with Ralph? — какие неприятности с Ральфом?

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie

10

«Flora Ackroyd,» said my sister.
«But why didn’t he go to Fernly if he wanted to see her?»
«Because they are secretly engaged,» said Caroline. «Old
Ackroyd won’t hear of it1, and they have to meet secretly.»
Then our conversation changed to discussing our new
neighbour.
The house next door has recently been taken by a stranger,
and up to now Caroline has been unable to find out anything
about him, except that he is a foreigner. The only thing about
him that we know is that he is interested in growing vegetable
marrows.
But that is not the sort of information that Caroline wants
to get. She wants to know where he comes from2 and what he
does. She wants to know if he is married and who is (or was)
his wife, whether he has children, and so on3.
After lunch I went out into the garden. I am fond of
gardening. I was busy digging up some roots when I heard a
shout, and something heavy fell at my feet. It was a vegetable
marrow!
I looked up angrily. Over the garden wall I saw a face. An
eggshaped head4 covered with very black hair, very big
moustaches and a pair of watchful eyes. It was our neighbour.
«I am very sorry, sir,» he said. «I threw this vegetable marrow
over the wall without thinking. Oh, I am really very, very
sorry!»
Indeed, he looked very sorry, and I was not angry any
more. We began talking.

1 won’t hear of it — и слышать не хочет об этом
2 where he comes from — откуда он родом
3 and so on — и так далее
4 An eggshaped head — Голова яйцеобразной формы