Following Dame Agatha Christie’s Literary Footsteps

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据《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》统计，她是人类史上最畅销的小说作家；她被《纽约时报》称为“神秘的第一夫人”，著作数量之丰仅次于莎士比亚，法国已故总统戴高乐、英国玛丽王太后等都是她的“粉丝”；她被誉为“侦探小说女王”——她就是阿加莎·克里斯蒂。

During a conversation with her sister Madge, a young Agatha Christie mentioned that she wanted to try her hand at1. try one’s hand at: 尝试做（从未做过的事），小试牛刀。writing her own detective novel. Madge replied “well I bet you couldn’t” and the rest is history.2. I bet: 我确信，我敢打赌；the rest is history: 其他的都众所周知了。Or rather, the rest continues to live on today, Agatha Christie remains the world’s most published novelist of all time, and she’s only been topped by copies of The Bible and the plays of William Shakespeare.3. 更确切地说，后面的故事今天还在上演，阿加莎是世界上最畅销的小说家，只有《圣经》和威廉·莎士比亚的作品销量在其之上。live on: 继续存在，继续活着；top: 超越，超过。

Reflecting on the sisterly conversation that led to the publication of 82 Agatha Christie books and hundreds of short stories, the queen of crime said “from that moment on I was fired by the determination that I should write a detective story” and so it all began.4. reflect on: 回忆； fire: 激起，使充满热情。

There are many facts about Agatha Christie that have been well documented, such as her Guinness Book of World Records status as the of ficial bestselling author to have ever lived, but who was the woman behind the mysteries?5. 阿加莎的事情许多都有据可查，例如她已经作为人类史上最畅销的作家被《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》收录，然而这许多谜团背后的女人到底是个什么人物？document: 记录，记载；Guinness Book of World Records:《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》，1955年其第一版装订成书，当年圣诞节前即荣登英国畅销书榜首，迄今《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》已翻译成37种语言，在全球一百多个国家累计销量已达一亿册；bestselling: 畅销的，抢手的。How did she see the world? And what inspired characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple whose names became synonymous with her own?6. inspire: 启发，使产生灵感；Hercule Poirot:赫尔克里·波洛，阿加莎笔下的比利时籍侦探，主要出场作品有《罗杰疑案》、《东方快车谋杀案》、《尼罗河上的惨案》等；Miss Marple: 马普尔小姐，阿加莎小说中的乡村侦探，阿加莎笔下的第二号侦探，终身未婚，有人说她是个“奇怪的老姑娘”、“有点儿神经质”，但破获了不少疑案，人们又对她十分钦佩；synonymous with: 同义的，有紧密联系的。

南德文郡风景

What Inspired Agatha Christie?

There’s only one place to start if you want to understand what inspired Agatha Christie’s books and plays and that’s in the very picturesque South Devon.7. picturesque: 风景如画的；South Devon: 南德文郡，德文郡有很多海岸度假区及一些历史古城，气候温和，旅游业在其经济中占重要地位。Agatha was born in Torquay8. Torquay: 托基，英格兰西南部原德文郡南部城市，1968年与托贝合并，是著名的冲浪圣地。in 1890, and although she moved to London in 1918 the Torquay area of Devon remained her favourite part of the world.

Agatha and her husband Max bought Greenway House in nearby Galmpton in 1938 and the pair spent their summers on the estate for the rest of their lives.9. Greenway House: 绿廊之家，阿加莎的假日休闲别墅；estate: 庄园，地产。By the way, the couple’s grandson donated Greenway House to the National Trust,complete with all of their belongings,10. donate: 捐赠，赠送；National Trust: 国民托管组织，是英国一个独立于政府的、旨在保护名胜古迹的私人组织；belongings: 所有物，财物。and it welcomes thousands of Agatha Christie fans every year.

There’s barely a Torquay landmark or beauty spot that hasn’t found itself the scene of a fictional crime or part of a plot at the hands of the town’s most famous export, and although Agatha gave them different names she always made it perfectly clear just which location had inspired a setting.11. 托基的地标或风景区几乎都可以在该镇最著名的作家笔下的罪行或情节中找到。虽然阿加莎赋予了它们不同的名字，但是她总是很明确地暗示出故事发生地点的原型。landmark: 地标；beauty spot: 风景区； fictional: 虚构的，小说的；setting:（事件发生的）背景，地点。

The Majestic Hotel featured in Peril at End House is in fact The Imperial Hotel that to this day remains a familiar sight on the Torquay coastline.12. feature: 起主要作用，作重要角色；Peril at End House: 《悬崖山庄奇案》，阿加莎的著名小说；sight: 名胜，风景。Another famous example is Hampsly Cavern in The Man in the Brown Suit, which could only be based on Torquay’s prehistoric set of caves—actually called Kents Cavern.13. The Man in the Brown Suit:《褐衣男子》，是阿加莎唯一一次以生活里的人物为原型创作的一部作品，且为应一位朋友的要求而作；prehistoric: 史前的，陈旧的。In some cases the names remained the same, and few Agatha Christie readers have arrived at Torquay Station without noting that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot almost (but of course only almost!) met whilst in disguise at this quaint location.14. 有些小说里的名字保留了真实地名，因而很多阿加莎·克里斯蒂的读者到达托基车站后，总会感觉乔装了的马普尔小姐和赫尔克里·波洛似乎（当然只是似乎）会在这奇妙的地方相遇。whilst: 同时，同“while”；in disguise: 乔装，伪装；quaint: 离奇有趣的，古香古色的。

It wasn’t only her own past that ignited Agatha’s imagination though, as many of her novels reference her passion for archaeology and travel.15. ignite: 激起，点燃；reference: 提及，谈到；archaeology: 考古学。Agatha’s Max was a leading archaeologist of the time—eventually knighted16. knight: 封……为爵士。for his work—and Agatha first met him when she visited Ur (now Iraq). The excavations captured Agatha’s imagination and she was a common sight on the trips to Syria and Iraq that forged her husband’s name.17. excavation: 发掘，挖掘（古物等）；capture: 吸引，激发；forge: 努力实现；name: 名声，声誉。

Greenway House is adorned with artefacts from the famous couple’s travels, and the many journeys formed the basis for their share of Agatha Christie books too.18. adorn: 装饰，修饰；artefact:（尤指有历史或文化价值的）手工艺品；share: 共享。Murder on the Orient Express was penned in an Istanbul hotel room, and Death on the Nile was largely the fruit of Agatha’s experiences abroad.19. Murder on the Orient Express:《东方快车谋杀案》； pen: 写，书写；Death on the Nile:《尼罗河上的惨案》。

Agatha and Max spent many years in London, and the capital shows its face in many a20. many a: 许多的。novel and play. After arriving in London, Poirot moves into Farraway Street and later Whitehaven Mansions in upmarket Mayfair,although the later television series was recorded at Florin Court because of its fitting 1930s architecture.21. upmarket: 高档的，高端的；Mayfair: 梅菲尔区，伦敦上流住宅区； fit: 使适合，使与……相符。

Agatha lived in nine different houses during her time in London, but fans wishing to see one of them whilst in the city would be best to visit 58 Sheffield Terrace in W8 as it’s marked with a blue plaque on the outside, perhaps because it had a room dedicated to writing her work.22. mark: 标记，做记号；plague: 匾额；dedicate to: 献（身）于……，把（时间、精力等）用于……。