Dialogue 1. In the Courtroom

Task: read the dialogue, reproduce it a) abridged, b) in the form of a monologue.

Court Clerk: Stephen Vole, you are charged with murdering Emily French on the 14-th day of October. Now say you, Stephen Vole, are you guilty or not guilty?

Vole: Not guilty .

Court Clerk: Members of the Jury! The prisoner stands indicted for that he on the 14-th day of October murdered Emily French. To this indictment he has pleaded ‘not guilty’, and it is your charge to say¹, having heard the evidence, whether he be guilty or not.

Judge: Members of the Jury, by the oath which you have just taken you swore to try this case on the evidence. You must shut out from your minds² everything, except what will take place in this court. (To the prosecutor). You may proceed for the Prosecution, Mr Myers.

Myers: (rising): May it please you, my Lord³. (To the jury): I appear in this case for the Prosecution. And my learned friend Sir Wilfred Robert appears for the Defence. The facts in this case are simple and to a point, not in dispute⁴. You will hear how the prisoner made the acquaintance of Mrs Emily French, how he was treated by her with kindness. On the night of October the 14-th last between 9:30 and 10:00 Mrs French was murdered. It is the case for the Prosecution that the murder was committed by the prisoner Stephen Vole.

Vole: That’s not true! I didn’t do it!

Myers: Among the witness you will hear police evidence, also the evidence of Mrs French’s housekeeper, and from the medical and laboratory experts, and the evidence of the murdered woman’s solicitor. I will now call Chief Inspector Hearne, Criminal Investigation Department of New Scotland Yard.

Usher: Chief Inspector Hearne! Chief Inspector Hearne!

Hearne: From the body temperature and other factors we placed the time of death at between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Approximately thirty minutes before the housekeeper returned home and called us. Death was instantaneous, caused by one blow from a heavy blunt instrument.

Myers: Were there any signs of struggle?

Hearne: No, just one blow.

Myers: After establishing the cause and the time of death, what did you then do?

Hearne: A search was made. Photographs were taken and the premises were fingerprinted.

Myers: What fingerprints did you discover?

Hearne: I found the fingerprints of Mrs French, those of the housekeeper and some of Leonard Vole.

Myers: What made you think a robbery had been committed? Was any of the murdered woman’s property missing?

Hearne: No, sir. Nothing was missing.

Myers: Will you produce a jacket, Inspector? (a jacket found by the police in Vole’s house and is offered as evidence).

Hearne: Yes, sir.

Myers: Where did you find it, Inspector?

Hearne: In the prisoner’s flat and I handed it to our lab to test for bloodstains.

Myers: And did you find any?

Hearne: Yes, though an attempt had been made to wash them out.

Myers: What tests did the laboratory make?

Hearne: First to determine if the stains were made by human blood, then to classify it by group or type.

Myers: And what was the result?

Hearne: The blood on the jacket and the blood of the dead woman is of the same type.

Myers: Thank you, Inspector. No further questions.

(After A. Christie)

Notes:

1. It is your charge to say… – ваша обязанность сказать ...

2. Shut out from your minds – выбросить из головы

3. May it please you, my Lord – Если Вам угодно, Ваша Светлость

4. not in dispute – не подлежит обсуждению

Ex. 1. How is the following expressed in the dialogue?

1. happening at once

2. to promise formally

3. to be charged formally with an offence in law

4. a solemn promise

5. reason

6. to answer a charge in court

7. a person who is present when something happens

8. that which is owned, possession

9. words or objects which prove a statement or make a matter more clear

10. a person with special knowledge or training

11. a spot

12. not sharp

13. to remove by washing

14. to find out or make certain

15. to act or behave towards

Ex. 2. Study the dialogue and analyse different ways of addressing people depending on their social status.

Ex. 3. Give Russian equivalents to the following:

to stand indicted for, to plead “not guilty”, to hear the evidence, to take an oath, to proceed for the Prosecution, to appear for the Prosecution (Defence), to treat smb, a laboratory expert, approximately, instantaneous, to be caused by smth, a blunt instrument, to establish a cause, to make a search, a fingerprint, to miss smth, to test for smth, to make an attempt.

Ex. 4. Translate and activate the following sentences in your speech:

1. Он обвиняется в убийстве. 2. Он не признает себя виновным. 3. Заслушав показания свидетелей, они должны сказать, виновен он или нет. 4. Члены суда присяжных заседателей принимают присягу. 5. Факты этого дела просты и обсуждению не подлежат. 6. Время смерти было определено по температуре тела и другим показателям. 7. Был проведен осмотр, сделаны фотографии и взяты отпечатки пальцев. 8. Это не было ограбление, т. к. никакие вещи убитой не пропали. 9. Пиджак был осмотрен в лаборатории на предмет наличия пятен крови. 10. Что было выявлено в лаборатории? 11. Возможно, что кровь, обнаруженная на пиджаке, принадлежала убитой.