APPENDIX

THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.

AGATHA CRISTIE

Agatha Christie is a well-known author. In this particular story the action takes place in a small town of Cricklewood. The plot is psychological and enigmatic. So we together with the author follow the dialogues of the characters and the speculations of the solicitor and in the long run we have to make up our own mind of the traditional question asked by the judge opening every trial: “Do you plead guilty or not guilty?”

Chapter I. A RUN OF BAD LUCK

Mr. Mayherne adjusted his pince-nez and cleared his throat. Then he looked again at the man opposite him, the man charged with wilful murder.

Mr. Mayherne was a small man, precise in manner, neatly, not to say foppishly dressed, with a pair of very shrewd and piercing grey eyes. By no means a fool. Indeed, as a solicitor, Mr. Mayherne’s reputation stood very high. His voice, when he spoke to his client, was dry but not unsympathetic.

“I must impress upon you again that you are in very grave danger, and that the utmost frankness is necessary.”

Leonard Vole transferred his glance to the solicitor.

“I know,” he said hopelessly. “You keep telling me so. But I can’t realize yet that I’m charged with murder, murder. And such a dastardly crime, too.” Mr. Mayherne was practical, not emotional. He coughed again, took off his pince-nez, polished them carefully, and replaced them on his nose.

Then he said, “Yes, yes, yes. Now, my dear Mr. Vole, we’re going to make a determined effort to get you off – and we shall succeed – we shall succeed. But I must have all the facts. I must know just how damaging the case against you is likely to be. Then we can fix upon the best line of defence.”

Still the young man looked at him in the same dazed, hopeless fashion. To Mr. Mayherne the case had seemed black enough, and the guilt of the prisoner assured. Now, for the first time, he felt a doubt.

“You think I’m guilty,” said Leonard Vole in a low voice. “But, by God, I swear. I’m not. It looks pretty black against me, I know that. I’m like a man caught in a net. But I didn’t do it, Mr. Mayherne, I didn’t do it”.

In such a position a man was bound to protest his innocence. Mr. Mayherne knew that. Yet in spite of himself, he was impressed. It might be, after all, that Leonard Vole was innocent.

“You are right, Mr. Vole,” he said gravely. “The case does look very black against you. Nevertheless, I accept your assurance. Now, let us get to

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the facts. I want you to tell me in your own words exactly how you came to make the acquaintance of Miss Emily French.”

“It was one day in Oxford Street. I saw an elderly lady crossing the road. She was carrying a lot of parcels. In the middle of the street she dropped them, tried to recover them, found the bus was almost on the top of her, and just managed to reach the kerb safely. I recovered her parcels, wiped the mud off them as best as I could, retied the string o f one, and returned them to her.”

“There was no question of your having saved her life.”

“Oh, dear me, no! All I did was to perform a common act of courtesy. She was extremely grateful, thanked me warmly, and said something about my manners not being those of most of the younger generation – I can’t remember the exact words. Then I lifted my hat and went on. I never expected to see her again. But life is full of coincidences. That very evening I came across her at a party at a friend’s house. She recognized me at once and asked that I should be introduced to her. I then found out that she was Miss Emily French and that she lived at Cricklewood. I talked to her for some time. She was, I imagine, an old lady who took sudden and violent fancies to people. She took one to me on the strength of a perfectly simple action which anyone might have performed. On leaving she took me warmly by the hand and asked me to come and see her. I replied, of course, that I should be very pleased to do so, and she then urged me to name the day. I did not want particularly to go, but it would have seemed churlish to refuse, so I fixed on the following Saturday. After she had gone, I learned something about her from my friends. That she was rich, eccentric, lived alone with one maid, and owed no less than eight cats”.

“I see,” said Mr. Mayherne. “The question of her being well off came up as early as that?”

“If you mean that I inquired.” began Leonard Vole hotly but Mr. Mayherne stilled him with gesture.

“I have to look at the case as it will be presented by the other side. An ordinary observer would not have supposed Miss French to be a lady of means. She lived poorly. Unless you had been told the contrary, you would in all probability have considered her to be in poor circumstances – at any rate to begin with. Who was it exactly who told you that she was well off?”

“My friend, George Harvey, at whose house the party took place.” “Is he likely to remember it?”

“I really don’t know. Of course it is some time ago now.”

“Quite so, Mr. Vole. You see, the first aim of prosecution will be to establish that you were in low water financially – that is true, is it not?” Leonard Vole flushed.

“Yes,” he sad in a low voice. “I had a run of bad luck just then.”

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“Quite so,” said Mr. Mayherne again. “That being, as I say, in low water financially, you met this rich old lady and cultivated her acquaintance a s- siduously. A great deal depends on the memory of Mr. Harvey. Is he likely to remember that conversation or is he not?”

Leonard Vole reflected for some minutes. Then he said steadily enough, but with a rather pale face “I do not think that that line would be successful, Mr. Mayherne. Several of those present heard his remark, and one or two of them chaffed me about my conquest of a rich old lady. ” The solicitor tried to hide his disappointment. “Unfortunate,” he said “But I congratulate you upon your plain speaking, Mr. Vole. You made the acquaintance of Miss French, you called upon her, the acquaintanceship progressed. We want a clear reason for all this. Why did you, a young man of thirty three, good-looking, fond of sport, popular with your friends, devote so much of your time to an elderly woman with whom you could hardly have anything in common?”

“I can’t tell you – I really can’t tell you. After the first visit, she pressed me to come again, spoke of being lonely and unhappy. She made it difficult for me to refuse. She showed so plainly her fondness and affection for me that I was placed in an awkward position. You see, Mr. Mayherne, I’ve got a weak nature, I’m one of those people who can’t say no. And believe me or not, after the third or fourth visit I paid her I found I was getting fond of the old thing. My mother died when I was young, an aunt brought me up, and she, too, died before I was fifteen. If I told you that I enjoyed b e- ing mothered and pampered, you’d only laugh.”

A.Notes to the text.

1.“Dastardly crime” – подлое преступление; crime – (1.)

преступление; capital crime – преступление, наказуемое смертной казнью; property crime – имущественное преступление; violent crime – преступление против личности; crime against humanity – преступление против человечности; crime against nature – противоестественное преступление, to commit a crime – совершить преступление; (2.) преступность, wave of crime – волна преступности.

2.“It looks pretty black against me” – дело выглядит довольно безнадежно для меня. Compare: pretty black, black enough – довольно безнадежно, достаточно безнадежно, badly – плохо.

3.Innocent – невиновный; innocence – невиновность, невинность

(to prove one’s innocence – доказать чью-то невиновность; in all innocence – ненамеренно, he was declared innocent – он был признан невиновным, innocent victims – невинные жертвы; compare: innocent/ guilty- невиновный/виновный).

4.Guilty – юр. виновен (compare: blamed – обвинен; guilty – innocent, виновен – не виновен; to be guilty – быть виновным, ant. to be not

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guilty – быть не виновным); he was found guilty (not guilty) – он был признан виновным (не виновным); to plead guilty – признавать себя виновным в предъявленном обвинении; to plead not guilty – (1.)

объявить о своей невинности; (2.) просить об оправдании подсудимого.

5.To charge – (1.) платить. (2.) спец – обвинять; compare: to blame (he was charged with murder) – он был обвинен в убийстве, to be acquitted of the charge – быть оправданным, to lay smith to smb’s charge –

обвинить кого-либо в чем-либо; to bring a charge against smb –

предъявлять обвинение; to be arrested of the charge of murder – быть арестованным по обвинению в убийстве, what is the charge against him?

–в чем он обвиняется?

6.Solicitor – адвокат, поверенный в делах; compare: lawyer (юрист, адвокат), barrister – барристер, адвокат, выступающий в суде, legal expert – адвокат законовед, консультант, company (corporation) solicitor – юрисконсульт.

7.To own (property) – иметь (собственность), владеть принадлежать кому-либо (to possess); who owns this land? – кто владеет этой землей? whom does this land belong to? – кому принадлежит эта земля.

8.Witness – (1.) свидетель; compare: viewer of the event –

свидетель, очевидец события, witness for the prosecution – свидетель обвинения, there were no witnesses to the accident – не было свидетелей в несчастном случае, to call a witness – вызывать свидетеля, to call smb as a witness – вызывать кого-то в качестве свидетеля; (2.) свидетельство, in witness of which where of – в удостоверение чего; compare: testimony –

свидетельство, показания свидетеля, evidence – свидетельство, основание, факт, улика; to witness – (1.) свидетельствовать; compare: to witness smth – давать свидетельские показания; (2.) заверять, “witnessed” – заверено.

9.Prosecution – судебное преследование (compare: proceeding судебное расследование), обвинение; witness for the prosecution – свидетель обвинения; he appeared for the prosecution – он выступил в качестве адвоката (или в качестве представителя обвинения) U.S. – государственное обвинение.

10. A run of bad luck – полоса невезения; a run – (1.) бег; (2.) отрезок времени; compare: a period of time; a run of success – полоса удач, a run of good luck – полоса везения (удач), a run of ill luck (a run of bad luck) – полоса невезения.

11. Believe me or not – хотите верьте, хотите нет; to believe: (1.) верить, полагать, думать; (2.) to believe in smb (human nature) –

верить в кого-либо (в человека): (3.) I believe that you are right – я полагаю (думаю), что вы правы; I believe so – правильно, думаю что так;

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I believe not – вероятно, нет; (4.) to make believe (in children’s games) –

притвориться (в детских играх), let’s make believe we are pirates –

давайте притворимся пиратами.

12.To make the acquaintance – познакомиться; acquaintance (person) – знакомый (человек), to make smb’s acquaintance = to make acquaintance of smb = to make acquaintance with smb. – знакомиться; заводить знакомство; to cultivate the acquaintance of smb – прилагать усилия для знакомства с кем-либо; to scrape acquaintance with smb – навязываться, to drop on acquaintance – раззнакомиться.

13.To expect – ожидать; (1.) to expect smb – ожидать кого-то, they expect me for supper – они ждут меня к ужину. (2.) to expect – рассчитывать (compare: to count on), expect to be back in time – я

рассчитывал (полагал) вернуться вовремя. (3.) to expect – требовать (to compare: to require), you expect too much of her – вы требуете слишком много то нее. (4.) to expect – полагать, думать, I expect he’ll be here – я полагаю, он будет здесь; prices are expected to rise – полагаю что цены повысятся.

14.You keep telling me so – вы все время это говорите; to keep (on) talking – он продолжал говорить, he kept doing smth – он продолжал что-либо делать, to keep – держать, оставлять, compare: retain, set aside.

15.To urge – подгонять, подбадривать, настаивать; I urged her not to give in – я убеждал ее не сдаваться; he urged patience – он советовал потерпеть; he urged this policy on the government – он настоятельно советовал правительству проводить именно такую политику; urgent – срочный, безотлагательный.

16.To name the day – назначить день (compare: to appoint –

назначать); to name a date for a meeting – назначить дату встречи; to name a price – назначить цену (определенно); she named a date for the meeting – она назначила день встречи; he named a price of the goods – он назначил цену товаров.

17.By no means a fool – ни в коем случае не дурак; by all means – во что бы то ни стало (you must do it by all means – вы должны это сделать во что бы то ни стало); by no means – ни в коем случае (it is not by no means easy – это совсем не легко); by any means – каким бы то ни было образом (he is not by any means a wretched man – он совсем не злой человек), by fair means – честным путем (he is rich by fair means – он богат честным образом); by fair means or foul means – любыми

средствами

18.He was bound to protest his innocence – он был вынужден заявить о своей невиновности; to protest one’s innocence – заявлять о своей невиновности, to be bound (certain, obliged) – быть обязанным, вынужденным; it is bound to happen – это обязательно произойдет; I’m bound to say – считаю нужным заметить; I’m bound by contract – я

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связан контрактом (я обязан это сделать по контракту).

19.Rich – богатый; compare: well off – обеспеченный, wealthy –

богатый, в достатке, to be well off – быть обеспеченным; compare: to be in easy circumstances – жить в достатке, to be in poor circumstances –

быть в стесненных обстоятельствах, compare: to be in low water financially – быть на мели в финансовом отношении, low water (affair, matter) syn. hot water – тяжелое положение (дело, обстоятельство).

20.To come across – встретить случайно; (l.) to come across the letter – случайно найти письмо; (2.) he came across her at the station – он случайно встретил ее на станции.

21.To take fancy to smb – полюбить кого-либо; to take smb’s fancy – понравиться кому-либо; fancy – вкус, склонность, пристрастие.

She took fancies to people and took one to me – Она влюблялась в людей

ив меня она тоже влюбилась.

22.In my favour – в мою пользу; he was in favour of doing it – он был за то чтобы сделать это, to be in favour – быть за, ant. to be against – быть против.

23.Against – (1.) против: to give evidence against smb – давать показания против кого-либо; the case was against him – дело (случай) был против него; dead against smb – резко (категорически) против кого-либо; (2.) на; to be so bitter against him – быть озлобленным на кого-либо.

В. Exercises

I. Translate the expressions with the verb “to expect” into Russian. Does the Russian translation always contain the verb – “ожидать”?

II. Give examples that illustrate the difference in the usage of the fo l- lowing synonyms:

well off – rich – wealthy; witness – testimony – evidence; solicitor – barrister – lawyer.

III. Give antonyms of “guilty”, “against”.

IV. Pick out from the passage sentences containing the verb “to come” and translate them into Russian.

V. Translate the following sentences into Russian paying attention to the underlined expressions.

1.You keep telling me so.

2.I’m charged with murder.

3.A man was bound to protest his innocence.

4.Tell me how you came to make the acquaintance of miss Emily French.

5.I never expected to see her again.

6.The old lady took sudden and violent fancies to people.

7.Believe me or not I was getting fond of the poor thing.

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