"Just a couple of proverbs. Well, I must be off. Got a little business in the next street to see to — receiving stolen jewelry. I thought I'd just drop in on my way and put your mind at rest. Pity to let those grey cells function unnecessarily."

With which words and a hearty laugh, Japp departed.

"He does not change much, the good Japp, eh?" asked Poirot.

"He looks much older," I said. "Getting as grey as a badger," I added vindictively.

Poirot coughed and said: "You know, Hastings, there is a little device — my hairdresser is a man of great ingenuity — one attaches it to the scalp and brushes one's own hair over it — it is not a wig, you comprehend — but — "

"Poirot," I roared (Пуаро, — взревел я). "Once and for all (раз и навсегда = никогда в жизни) I will have nothing to do (я не буду иметь ничего общего) with the beastly inventions of your confounded hairdresser (с гадкими изобретениями вашего проклятого парикмахера; beast — зверь, животное; to invent — изобретать; to confound — мешать; смущать; проклинать). What's the matter with the top of my head (что за дело с моей макушкой)?"

"Nothing (ничего) — nothing at all (совершенно ничего)."

"It's not as though I were going bald (это не так, как будто бы я лысею = уж не лысею ли я/ведь я же не лысею)."

"Of course not (конечно нет)! Of course not!"

"The hot summers out there (жаркое лето там /в Америке/) naturally cause the hair to fall out a bit (естественно, заставляет волосы немного выпадать). I shall take back a really good hair tonic (я возьму /с собой/ назад действительно хорошее средство для укрепления волос)."

"Precisement (фр. именно так: «точно»)."

roar [r:], confounded [kn'fandd], tonic ['tnk]

"Poirot," I roared. "Once and for all I will have nothing to do with the beastly inventions of your confounded hairdresser. What's the matter with the top of my head?"

"Nothing — nothing at all."

"It's not as though I were going bald."

"Of course not! Of course not!"

"The hot summers out there naturally cause the hair to fall out a bit. I shall take back a really good hair tonic."

"Precisement."

"And, anyway (и, в любом случае), what business is it of Japp's (какое дело до этого Джеппу)? He always was an offensive kind of devil (он всегда был любителем сказать неприятное: «оскорбительным типом дьявола»; offensive — обидный, оскорбительный; неприятный, противный; to offend — оскорблять, обижать). And no sense of humour (и никакого чувства юмора). The kind of man (тот тип человека) who laughs (который смеется) when a chair is pulled away (когда стул выдергивают) just as a man is about to sit down (как раз тогда, когда человек собирается сесть; to be about to do smth. — собираться что-то сделать)."

"A great many people would laugh at that (большое количество людей смеются над этим)."

"It's utterly senseless (это совершенно бессмысленно; utter — полный; совершенный; крайний)."

"From the point of view of the man about to sit (с точки зрения человека, /который/ собирается сесть), certainly it is (конечно, так /оно и есть/)."

offensive ['fensv], humour [hju:m], utterly ['tl]

"And, anyway, what business is it of Japp's? He always was an offensive kind of devil. And no sense of humour. The kind of man who laughs when a chair is pulled away just as a man is about to sit down."

"A great many people would laugh at that."

"It's utterly senseless."

"From the point of view of the man about to sit, certainly it is."