Chapter 1: News at Breakfast第 1 章：早餐桌上的消息

The story is told by Dr James Sheppard, the doctor in the English village of King's Abbot. Early on a Friday morning in September, he is called to King's Paddock, the home of Mrs Ferrars, a rich widow. She has died during the night, and there is nothing he can do. When he gets home, he waits a moment in the hall before going in to breakfast, because his older sister Caroline is there. Caroline hardly ever goes out to collect news. The servants, the milkman and the shopkeepers bring it to her, and she is an expert at spreading it. Sheppard tries to be discreet, as a doctor should be, but Caroline already knows about the death. He tells her that Mrs Ferrars died of an overdose. Caroline at once declares that it was no accident. For a year she has been telling the village that Mrs Ferrars poisoned her husband, Ashley Ferrars, a heavy drinker, and now she is sure that guilt drove the widow to end her life. Sheppard argues with her, partly because, in secret, he half agrees. He admits that no letter was found. When Caroline asks whether there will be an inquest, he does not answer and gets up from the table.故事由英國金艾伯特村的醫生詹姆斯·薛波德敘述。九月的一個星期五清晨，他被叫到國王牧場，也就是富有的寡婦費拉斯太太的家。她在夜裡過世了，他什麼也做不了。回到家時，他在玄關多待了一會兒才進去吃早餐，因為他的姊姊卡洛琳就在裡面。卡洛琳幾乎從不出門打聽消息，僕人、送牛奶的人和店家會把消息帶給她，而她非常擅長把消息傳出去。薛波德像醫生應該做的那樣，盡量謹慎不多說，但卡洛琳早就知道有人死了。他告訴她，費拉斯太太是用藥過量死的。卡洛琳立刻斷定那不是意外。一年來，她一直跟村裡的人說，費拉斯太太毒死了她那個酗酒的丈夫艾希禮·費拉斯；現在她確定，是罪惡感逼得這位寡婦結束了自己的生命。薛波德跟她爭論，部分原因是他私下其實有一半同意。他承認現場沒有找到任何信。卡洛琳問會不會進行死因調查時，他沒有回答，從餐桌旁站了起來。

The novel opens with a death and an argument at the breakfast table, which sets up a question for the reader straight away. Sheppard tells the story in the first person, in a dry, joking voice, especially when he compares Caroline to a mongoose, an animal known for poking its nose into everything. The contrast between the careful doctor and his quick-guessing sister gives the story both comedy and tension.小說一開場就是一個死亡事件和早餐桌上的爭論，立刻在讀者心中留下疑問。薛波德用第一人稱說故事，語氣冷面又愛開玩笑，尤其是他把卡洛琳比作獴，一種出了名什麼都要探頭去看的動物。謹慎的醫生和很快下結論的姊姊形成對比，讓故事同時有喜劇感和緊張感。