THE STORY OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AGATA CHRISTIE The most mysterious and still unsolved work of Agatha Christie was her own disappearance. In December 1926, after her husband asked her for a divorce, confessing that he had fallen in love with another woman. Agatha Christie disappeared, and almost the entire country was looking for her for 11 days. Agatha Christie left her home in Berkshire on December 3, 1926, leaving in her Morris Cowley. The car, on the windshield of which there were traffic tickets for illegal parking, she abandoned the next morning at the chalk quarry. The car was soon discovered, and a fur coat and an expired driver's license were found in the cabin. Christie herself reached the nearest railway station and left for London, and from there she moved to North Yorkshire (northern England). In the future, the writer everywhere introduced herself as Teresa Neal (the surname coincided with the surname of Nancy Neal, to whom her husband was about to leave). She chose a fashionable hotel in a hydrotherapy resort as the place of her anonymous stay. At this time, the fugitive was already missed, and the news about the car abandoned in the wilderness gave rise to the most disturbing rumors. The story was picked up by newspapers and radio, and a police investigation began. Fans of the queen of detective stories, as befits their favorite genre, began to build versions of the murder. For several days, Archibald Christie fought off press attacks and questions about his involvement in what happened. Responding to reporters, he did not mention his own intrigue. Such an explanation for the disappearance of his wife would undoubtedly destroy his reputation. On the fifth day, the Daily Mail began to assure its readers that the missing woman had a revolver with her, and she could have shot herself. Meanwhile, Agatha Christie herself went to the post office to advertise in The Times. The message asked for friends and relatives of Teresa Neal, who had recently arrived in the United Kingdom from South Africa. The fugitive was discovered after the appeal of the hotel guests, who a week later finally identified the traveler as the heroine of the front pages of British newspapers. Soon Archibald arrived at the hotel with the knowledge of the police. At the meeting, Agatha introduced herself to him as Teresa Neal. Mr. Christie told the press that his wife had experienced amnesia and that she had trouble defining her own self. This version is alive to this day - its supporters believe that due to stress, the writer was struck by a dissociative fugue (short-term memory disorder). After examination, amnesia was confirmed by doctors. Agatha Christie herself never commented on the most mysterious episode of her biography. In her autobiography, December 1926 is not mentioned at all. Perhaps there was no amnesia, and everything turned out to be easier. In England at that time, divorces were granted only in exceptional cases, were considered something out of the ordinary, and often entailed public disgrace. Christie, who was already a prominent figure in British literature, was appalled at the possibility of a scandal that would trigger a divorce suit. By the way, the writer never liked the annoying press. Whatever caused Agatha Christie to stun the whole of England with her disappearance, her quarrel with her husband still ended in a divorce, the certificate of which was issued in 1928. Two weeks later, Archibald married Nancy Neal. The writer, along with her nine-year-old daughter, left for the Canary Islands, where she completed the novel The Secret of the Blue Train. photo: Mr. and Mrs. Christie after their wedding (1914).

"Ten Little Indians"- detective novel by English writer Agatha Christie

"Ten Little Indians" summary

Ten complete strangers (except one married couple) with each other people come to the Negro Island at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Oneim (Alec Norman Oneim and Anna Nancy Oneim). There are no names on the island. In the living room there is a tray with ten porcelain black women, and in the room, each of the guests hangs a children's belonging that resembles "ten green bottles":

"Ten Little Indians"

(classical translation by Bespalova L. G.)

Ten Negrittat went to dine
One choked, there were nine left.

Nine close, sowing, roared nose,
One could not wake up, there were eight of them left.

Eight close to Devon left later
One did not return, seven of them remained.

Seven close firewood cutled together
One killed himself - and there were six of them.

Six Negreat went for an hourly walk,
One was stung by a bumblebee, there were five left.

Five close judging learned,
They sentenced one, there are four of them.

Four Necrhyrcons went swimming in the sea,
One fell for the bait, there were three of them left.

Three Negroeat in Zvezenz turned out to be
One was grabbed by a bear, and two remained.

Two Negrettim lay on the sun,
One burned down - and here is one, unhappy, lonely.

The last Negro looked tired,
He hanged himself, and there was no one left.

When the guests gather in the living room, the butler Rogers, on the written order of Onim left to him, turns on the gramophone. The guests hear a voice that accuses them of the murders they have committed.

-Edward Armstrong- Doctor from Harley Street, operated on an elderly woman, Mary Elizabeth Kliis, while drunk, as a result of which she died. He was invited to work as a doctor for a solid fee. - Emily Brent — elderly woman, kicked out a young maid, Beatrice Taylor, after learning that she had become pregnant out of wedlock; the girl drowned. I received an invitation written in illegible handwriting, I assumed that it was from an old friend. - Vera Claythorne was the nanny of Cyril Hamilton, who stood in the way of her lover Hugo to the inheritance. While swimming, Vera allowed the boy to swim behind the rock - as a result, he fell into the current and drowned. Came to the island at the suggestion of Mrs. Oneim to become her secretary. - Policeman William Henry Blore gave false testimony in court, which led to the imprisonment of the innocent Landor in hard labor, where he died a year later. He was a scoundrel and always confident in his abilities. - John Gordon MacArthur- an old general, during the war he sent to certain death a subordinate, the lover of his wife Arthur Richmond. Received an invitation to the island from old army comrades. - Philip Lombard abandoned 20 people, the natives of the East African tribe in the veld, having stolen all the provisions, left them to certain death. Came to the island at the suggestion of Isaac Morris - Thomas and Ethel Rogers, serving with Miss Brady, an elderly sick woman, did not give her medicine in time; she died leaving the Rogers a small inheritance. Together with his wife, he was hired by Mr. Oneim. - Anthony Marston- a young guy, crushed two children, John and Lucy Combs, in a car. Was invited by a friend. - Lawrence John Wargrave Judge sentenced Edward Simon to death.

The boat that brought the guests does not return, a storm begins and the guests get stuck on the island. They begin to die one by one, in accordance with the children's rhyme about Negroes, whose figurines disappear with each death.

Marston dies first - potassium cyanide was found in a glass of whiskey. Rogers notices that one of the porcelain neglected disappeared.

The next morning, Mrs. Rogers dies, a lethal dose of sleeping pills was mixed into her glass. The judge declares that Onim is most likely a dangerous maniac and a murderer. The men search the island and the house, but find no one. MacArthur is found dead. Wargrave states that the killer is among the guests, as there is no one else on the island. No one had an alibi for the period of the general's death.

In the morning, the butler Rogers is found hacked to death. That same morning, Emily Brent dies from an injection of potassium cyanide. Miss Brent was injected with Dr. Armstrong's syringe. At the same time, Lombard's revolver, which he brought with him, disappears.

Vera goes up to her room, a minute later the others hear her screams. The men rush to Vera's room and find that she has passed out because she touched seaweed hanging from the ceiling in the dark. Returning to the hall, they find the judge shot to death, wearing a red robe and wig. The pawnbroker finds a revolver in his drawer.

Dr. Armstrong disappears that night. Now the rest are sure that the doctor is the killer. In the morning they leave the house and stay on the rock. Blore returns to the house for food, Vera and Lombard hear a strange rumble. They find Blore dead - a bear-shaped marble clock has been dropped on his head. They then find Armstrong's body washed ashore by the tide.

Only Vera and Lombard remain. Vera decides Lombard is the killer. She gets his revolver and kills Philip. Vera returns to the house, confident that she is safe, goes into her room and sees a noose and a chair. In deep shock from what she experienced and saw, she rises to a chair and hangs herself.

Epilogue

Arriving on the island, the police finds 10 corpses. Inspector Maine and Sir Thomas Lagg from Scotland Yard try to reconstruct the chronology of events and unravel the mystery of the murders on the Negro island, in the end they come to a standstill. They build versions regarding the last killed:

• Armstrong exterminated everyone, after which he threw himself into the sea, his body was washed ashore by the tide. However, subsequent tides were lower and it was determined that the body was in the water for 12 hours.
• Philip Lombard brought the clock down on Blore's head, forced Vera to hang herself, returned to the beach (where his body was found) and shot himself. However, the revolver lay in front of the judge's room.
• William Blore shot Lombard and forced Vera to hang herself, after which he brought down the clock on his head. But no one chose this method of suicide and the police know that Blore was a scoundrel, he had no desire for justice.
• Vera Claythorne shot Lombard, threw a marble watch on Blore's head, and then hanged herself. But someone picked up the chair she had overturned and placed it against the wall.

Confession of a killer

The fishermen find the bottle with the letter and take it to Scotland Yard. The author of the letter is Judge Wargrave. Even in his youth, he dreamed of murder, but he was hampered by the desire for justice, which is why he became a lawyer. Being terminally ill, he decided to satisfy his passion and selected ten people who committed murders, but for some reason escaped punishment. The tenth was the criminal Isaac Morris, through whom Wargrave acquired the island. Before going to the island, the judge poisoned Morris. While on the island, he exterminated the others. After killing Miss Brent, he conspired with Armstrong, claiming he suspected Lombard. Armstrong helped the judge stage his death, after which the killer lured him onto a rock at night and threw him into the sea. Convinced that Vera had hanged herself, Wargrave went up to his room and shot himself, tying the revolver to the door with a rubber band and to the glasses that he put under him. After the shot, the rubber band got loose from the door and hung on the shackle of the glasses, the revolver fell at the threshold.

This song, although not folk, but written by Frank Green in the late 60s of the 19th century, also ended up in a collection of nursery rhymes. Shortly before its introduction, another song was published in England. It was written by American Septimus Winner and was called Ten little Injuns. Greene wrote an imitation of Winner's song and it quickly sold out in music halls and other similar places of entertainment. This song was enthusiastically sung by people of all ages from young to old at various events.

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self, and then there were nine.

Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself, and then there were eight.

Kight little nigger boys travelling in Devon;
One said he "d stay there, and then there were seven.

Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in half, and then there were six.

Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;
A bumble-bee stung one, and then there were five.

Five little nigger boys going in for law;
One got in chance, and then there were four.

Four little nigger boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.

Three little nigger boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.

Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up, and then there was one.

One little nigger boy living all alone;
He got married, and then there were none.

In the translation of S. Marshak, which you probably know, this verse sounds like this:

Bathered ten blacks.
You can't play pranks in the river, after all!
But the stubborn brother was so naughty,
That there were nine brothers.

Once nine Negritat
Elk hunted.
The ninth brother fell on the horn,
And now there are eight of them.

Walked eight blacks.
There was darkness in the forest
Missing younger brother,
And there were seven brothers.

Spending seven Negritat
There is a pie and the village.
The most greedy brother ate,
And there were six brothers.

Send six brothers-Negreat
Learn the laws.
A eloquent brother entered the court,
And there were five brothers.

Five Brothers-Negreat
Catching bees in the apartment,
The fifth brother was stung in the ear,
And there were four of them.

In the forest four are neglected
The savages came.
The next brother was eaten
And there were three brothers.

In Zezor Troy Negreat
We climbed into the lion's cage.
The third brother was torn to death,
And there were two brothers.

Topi two Negritat
On a rainy day, a fireplace.
One brother fell into the fire,
And one survived.

In an early version of this song, the last black man got married and had ten children with his wife.

Glossary for release:

ten- 10 - ten

little- little

nigger- Negro

boy (plural - boys)- boy (boys)

went- walk, travel

out- outside, outside

to dine- lunch

one- 1 - one

shocked- crushed, suffocated

his- his, his

little- little; Little

self- myself

and- and

then- then

there- here

were- became

nine- 9 - nine

sat up- sat

very- very

late- late

overslept- overslept, overslept

himself- myself

eight- 8 - eight

traveling- travel

Devon- Devon, city name

said- said

he "d had to stay- he will stay

seven- 7 - seven

chopping up- chop

sticks- sticks

chopped- chopped

himself- by myself

in half- in half

six- 6 - six

playing- play

with- With

a hive- hive, swarm of bees

a bumble-bee- bumblebee

stung- stung

five- 5 - five

going in- applied

for law- to justice

got in chance- got into a hopeless situation, in a loop

four- 4 - four

going out- gone

to sea- to sea

a red herring- red herring

swallowed- swallowed

three- 3 - three

walking- stroll

in the Zoo- in zoo

a big bear- A big bear

hugged- tightly squeezed, here - crushed

two- 2 - two

sitting- is sitting

in the sun- in the sun

got frizzled up- fried; fried

living- lives, living

all alone- alone, alone

got married- married

none- none, none

Note: word meanings are given only for this context. See the dictionary for other meanings of the words.

Collins Crime Club
Word
AST, Eksmo, Manager, Azbuka

Pages:

256 (first edition)

Carrier: ISBN:

978-0-00-713683-4

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Plot

Ten complete strangers (except for one married couple) come to Negro Island at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. A.N. Oneim (Alec Norman Oneim and Anna Nancy Oneim). There are no names on the island. The living room has a tray with ten porcelain black women, and in the room, each of the guests hangs a children's belonging that resembles ten green bottles:

Ten Negreat decided to have lunch, one suddenly choked - they were left for nine. Nine is neglected, sowing, roared the nose, one could not wake up - they were left eight. Eight close to Devon left later, one did not return - they remained with all. Seven close firewood cutled together, shoved one of themselves - and there are six of them. Six neglets went for an hourly walk, one stung bumblebee - there are five of them. Five close judging was learned, they were abandoned by one, four were left. Four blacks went swimming in the sea, One fell for the bait - there were three of them left. Three Negroeat in Zvezenz turned out to be, one grabbed a bear - and the two remained. Two Negrettim lay on the sun, one burned down - and here is one, unhappy, lonely. The last Negro looked tired, went and hanged himself, and there was no one left.

When the guests gather in the living room, the butler Rogers, on the written order of Onim left to him, turns on the gramophone. The guests hear a voice that accuses them of the murders they have committed.

• Dr. Armstrong operated on an elderly woman, Mary Elizabeth Kliis, while drunk, resulting in her death.
• Emily Brent kicked out a young maid, Beatrice Taylor, after learning that she had become pregnant out of wedlock; the girl drowned.
• Vera Claythorne was the nanny of Cyril Hamilton, who stood in the way of her lover Hugo to the inheritance. While swimming, Vera allowed the boy to swim behind the rock - as a result, he fell into the current and drowned.
• Policeman William Henry Blore gave false testimony in court, which led to the imprisonment of the innocent Landor in hard labor, where he died a year later.
• John Gordon MacArthur during the war he sent to certain death a subordinate, the lover of his wife, Arthur Richmond.
• Philip Lombard abandoned 20 people, the natives of the East African tribe in the veld, having stolen all the provisions, left them to certain death.
• Thomas and Ethel Rogers, serving with Miss Brady, an elderly sick woman, did not give her medicine in time; she died leaving the Rogers a small inheritance.
• Anthony Marston ran over two children, John and Lucy Combe, in a car.
• Lawrence John Wargrave sentenced to death Edward Seaton.

The boat that brought the guests does not return, a storm begins and the guests get stuck on the island. They begin to die one by one, in accordance with the children's rhyme about Negroes, whose figurines disappear with each death.

Marston dies first - there was potassium cyanide in a glass of whiskey. Rogers notices that one of the porcelain neglected disappeared.

The next morning, Mrs. Rogers dies, a lethal dose of sleeping pills was mixed into her glass. The judge declares that Onim is most likely a dangerous maniac and a murderer. The men search the island and the house, but find no one. MacArthur is found dead. Wargrave states that the killer is among the guests, as there is no one else on the island. No one had an alibi for the period of the general's death.

In the morning, the butler Rogers is found hacked to death. That same morning, Emily Brent dies from an injection of potassium cyanide, a bumblebee crawls on the glass. Miss Brent was injected with Dr. Armstrong's syringe. At the same time, Lombard's revolver, which he brought with him, disappears.

Vera goes up to her room, a minute later the others hear her screams. The men rush to Vera's room and find that she has passed out because she touched seaweed hanging from the ceiling in the dark. Returning to the hall, they find the judge shot to death, wearing a red robe and wig. The pawnbroker finds a revolver in his drawer.

Dr. Armstrong disappears that night. Now the rest are sure that the doctor is the killer. In the morning they leave the house and stay on the rock. Blore returns to the house for food, Vera and Lombard hear a strange rumble. They find Blore dead - a bear-shaped marble clock has been dropped on his head. They then find Armstrong's body washed ashore by the tide.

Only Vera and Lombard remain. Vera decides Lombard is the killer. She gets his revolver and kills Philip. Vera returns to the house, confident that she is safe, goes into her room and sees a noose and a chair. In deep shock from what she experienced and saw, she rises to a chair and hangs herself ...

Epilogue

Arriving on the island, the police finds 10 corpses. Inspector Maine and Sir Thomas Lagg from Scotland Yard try to reconstruct the chronology of events and unravel the mystery of the murders on the Negro island, in the end they come to a standstill. They build versions regarding the last killed:

• Armstrong exterminated everyone, after which he threw himself into the sea, his body was washed ashore by the tide. However, subsequent tides were lower and it was determined that the body was in the water for 12 hours.
• Phillip Lombard brought the clock down on Blore's head, forced Vera to hang herself, returned to the beach (where his body was found) and shot himself. However, the revolver was lying in front of the judge's room.
• William Blore shot Lombard and forced Vera to hang herself, after which he brought down the clock on his head. But no one chose this method of suicide and the police know that Blore was a scoundrel, he had no desire for justice.
• Vera Claythorne shot Lombard, threw a marble watch on Blore's head, and then hanged herself. But someone picked up the chair she had overturned and placed it against the wall.

Confession of a killer

The fishermen find the bottle with the letter and take it to Scotland Yard. The author of the letter is Judge Wargrave. Since his youth, he dreamed of murder, but his desire for justice prevented him, which is why he became a judge. Being terminally ill, he decided to satisfy his passion and selected ten people who committed murders, but for some reason escaped punishment. The tenth was the criminal Isaac Morris, through whom Wargrave acquired the island. Before being sent to the island, the judge poisoned Morris. While on the island, he exterminated the others. After killing Miss Brent, he conspired with Armstrong, claiming he suspected Lombard. Armstrong helped the judge stage his death, after which the killer lured him onto a rock at night and threw him into the sea. Convinced that Vera had hanged herself, Wargrave went up to his room and shot himself, tying the revolver to the door with a rubber band and to the glasses that he put under him. After the shot, the rubber band got loose from the door and hung on the shackle of the glasses, the revolver remained at the threshold.

Characters

"Negro"

1. Anthony Marston- a young guy. Likes to drive a car.
2. Ethel Rogers- wife of Thomas Rogers, cook.
3. John MacArthur- the old general. Resigned to the idea of ​​dying. He often thought of his late wife Leslie.
4. Thomas Rogers- Butler. Together with his wife, he was hired by Mr. Oneim.
5. Emily Brent- elderly woman. Biblical fanatic; She was certain that death would pass her by.
6. Lawrence John Wargrave- the old judge. A very smart and wise man, at some point he was investigating the murders on the island.
7. Edward Armstrong- Doctor from Harley Street. Pretty weak person. Has an addiction to alcohol.
8. William Henry Blore- Retired Inspector. He was a scoundrel and always confident in his abilities.
9. Philip Lombard- doing dirty work. Came to the island at the suggestion of Isaac Morris.
10. Vera Claythorne- a young girl who came to the island at the suggestion of Mrs. Onim to become her secretary.

Minor Heroes

• Fred Narracott- Boat driver, brings guests to the island.
• Isaac Morris- The mysterious lawyer of Mr. Onim, organizes the crime, the tenth "negro". He dealt in drugs that killed the daughter of one of Wargrave's friends.
• Inspector Maine- Investigates the murders on the island in the novel's epilogue.
• Sir Thomas Legge- Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard.
• old sailor
• station worker

• All characters in the novel, including the killer, die.
• The book has gained great fame around the world and is considered the best work of Agatha Christie.
• Despite the fact that the name of the novel was changed, it is still known to this day under the name "Ten Little Indians" and was published under this title in many countries.

In culture

Play

There is a 1943 play called And There Were None, written by Agatha Christie. Consists of three acts. The play was staged in London with director Irene Hentschel. It premiered at the New Wimbledon Theater on 20 September 1943, before moving to the Wes End on 17 November the same year at the St. James Theatre. The play received good feedback and until February 24, 1944, withstood 260 performances, when a bomb hit the theater. Then on February 29 the production was transferred to the Cambridge Theater and ran there until May 6, after which it returned to St. James on May 9 and finally closed on July 1.

The play was also staged on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater by director Albert de Corville, but under the title Ten Little Indians. The premiere took place on June 27, 1944, and on January 6 the production moved to the Plymouth Theater and ran there until June 30. There were 426 performances in total on Broadway.

The text of the play is printed to this day. For staging reasons, the names of some characters and their crimes are changed in the play, and, unlike the novel, the play ends with a happy ending. Vera, unknowingly, only hurts Lombard when she shoots him, after which she is confronted by an assassin (the killer's identity has not been changed), who tells her that he took a slow-acting poison, and when he dies, Vera will have nothing left except how to commit suicide so as not to be arrested. Lombard shows up, kills the killer with a gun, which Vera drops after she thinks she killed him, and that's where the play ends. For the sake of such an ending, Vera's crime and Lombard's biography were changed - in the play, Vera is suspected of the death of her sister's husband, but from the very beginning she says that she has nothing to do with this, and Lombard admits in the final that he is not really Philip Lombard, and his friend Charles Morley, and that the real Philip Lombard died a mysterious death shortly before, but Charles found his invitation to Negro Island and came here under his guise, thinking that this would help solve the mystery of his death. This ending was used in the first film adaptation of 1945 and then used in all subsequent ones, except for the Soviet 1987.

Screen adaptations

The novel has been filmed numerous times. The first film adaptation was the American film And Then There Were None, filmed in 1945 by René Clair. The main difference from the novel was the ending, remade to a happy ending based on the one that Agatha Christie wrote for the play, with only one difference: Lombard proposes to Vera to fake his murder beforehand, after which Vera intentionally shoots past Lombard, since they are standing outside at home and the killer from the window cannot hear what they were talking about. Subsequent remakes of the film (1965, 1974 and 1989) under the title Ten Little Indians/Indians used the same ending. Only the Soviet 2-episode TV movie Ten Little Indians directed by Stanislav Govorukhin (1987) used the original title of the novel and fully complied storyline with a dark ending.

Computer game

see also

• Children's counting rhymes

Notes

Links

	Ten Little Indians (novel) at Wikiquote

• Ten Little Indians in Maxim Moshkov's Library
• Ten Indians on the site www.agatachristie.ru

Works by Agatha Christie
Characters	Hercule Poirot · Miss Marple · Tommy and Tuppence · Ariadne Oliver · Arthur Hastings · Superintendent Battle · Chief Inspector Japp · Parker Pine · Mr. Harley Keane · Colonel Flight
Novels	The Mystery at Stiles The Mysterious Enemy The Golf Course Murder The Man in the Brown Suit The Chimneys Castle Mystery The Roger Ackroyd Murder The Big Four The Blue Train Mystery The Seven Dial Mystery The Vicarage Murder The Sittaford Mystery The Endhouse Mystery · Death of Lord Edgware · Murder on the Orient Express · Why not Evans? Three Act Tragedy Death in the Clouds Alphabet Murder Murder in Mesopotamia Cards on the Table Silent Witness Death on the Nile Encounter with Death Ten Nepritat· Easy to Kill · Hercule Poirot's Christmas · Sad Cypress · Evil Under the Sun · N or M? · One, two, buckle barely holding on · Body in Library · Five Little Pigs · One Finger · One Hour Zero · Death Comes at the End · Glittering Cyanide · Hollow · Lucky Beach · Crooked House · Murder Announced · Baghdad Meetings · Mrs. McGinty Lost Her Life · With Mirrors · After the Burial · A Pocket Full of Rye · Destination Unknown · Hickory Dickory Dock · Dead Man's Stupidity · At 4.50 from Paddington · Trial of Innocence · Cat Among Pigeons · White Horse Villa · And Mirror Circle in Cracks · Clock · Caribbean Mystery · Bertram's Hotel · The Third Girl · Endless Night · Click Only Once · Halloween Party · Passenger from Frankfurt · Nemesis · Elephants Can Remember · Gate of Destiny · Curtain · Forgotten Murder
Novels (under the name Mary Westmacott)	The Giants' Bread · Unfinished Portrait · Parted in the Spring · Rose and Yew · Daughter Has a Daughter · Burden
Storybooks	Poirot Investigates Partners in Crime The Mysterious Mr. Keene Thirteen Mysterious Cases Death Hound Listerdale Mystery Investigates Parker Pine Murder in the Gateway Mystery of the Regatta and Other Stories The Labors of Hercules Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories Three Blind Mice and Other Stories The Loser and Other Stories The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding Double Sin and Other Stories The Ballon d'Or and Other Stories The Early Cases of Poirot The Last Cases of Miss Marple Trouble in Pollença and Other Stories The Harlequin Tea Set As Long as the Light Lasts and Other Stories
Plays

- -
Ten Negrittat went to dine
One choked, there were nine left.

Nine close, sowing, roared nose,
One could not wake up, there were eight of them left.

Eight close to Devon left later
One did not return, seven of them remained.

Seven close firewood cutled together
One killed himself - and there were six of them.

Six Negreat went for an hourly walk,
One was stung by a bumblebee, there were five left.

Five close judging learned,
They sentenced one, there are four of them.

Four blacks went swimming in the sea,
One fell for the bait, there were three of them left.

Three Negroeat in Zvezenz turned out to be
One was grabbed by a bear, and two remained.

Two Negrettim lay on the sun,
One burned down - and here is one, unhappy, lonely.

The last negro looked tired,
He hanged himself, and there was no one left.

This counting rhyme translated by S.Ya. Marshak

Bathered ten blacks.
You can't play pranks in the river, after all!
But the stubborn brother was so naughty,
That there were nine brothers.

Once nine Negritat
Elk hunted.
The ninth brother fell on the horn,
And now there are eight of them.

Walked eight blacks.
There was darkness in the forest
Missing little brother
And there were seven brothers.

Spending seven Negritat
Pie - and the village is.
The most greedy brother ate,
And there were six brothers.

Send six brothers-Negreat
Learn the laws.
A eloquent brother entered the court,
And there were five brothers.

Five Brothers-Negreat
Catching bees in the apartment,
The fifth brother was stung in the ear,
And there were four of them.

In the forest four are neglected
The savages came.
The next brother was eaten
And there were three brothers.

In Zezor Troy Negreat
We climbed into the lion's cage.
The third brother was torn to death,
And there were two brothers.

Topi two Negritat
On a rainy day, a fireplace.
One brother fell into the fire,
And one survived.

***
Once ten is neglected dinner.
One of them coughed - and there were nine of them.
Once nine Next fell asleep very late.
One of them never got up - and there were eight of them.
Then eight Negro children wandered around Devon.
One remained there completely - and now there are seven of them.
All seven cheerful close-up cane bought.
One waved - an awkward gesture - and there were six of them.
Now the six is ​​close to the apiary.
But one was stung by a bumblebee - and five remained.
The five most strict Negro children administered a harsh judgment.
They sentenced one - and there were four of them.
And here is the fourth of Negreat, went splashing into the sea.
Caught on the hook alone - and there were three of them left.
Three people came to the zoo, the bear was walking in the wild.
He slammed one with his paw - there were two of them left.
Two Negroitena in the next one was lying on the sun.
Suddenly a shot rang out - and one was gone.
And here is one, all alone. The heart sank with melancholy.
He also hanged himself. And there was no one.

In the end, I want to give a sample of our, Russian, urban folklore on the topic of ten Negreat. Restoring from childhood memory:

Ten Negrittat went swimming in the sea,
Ten Negreat Sports on Spacious.
One of them drowned
They bought him a coffin.
And here is the result for you:

Nine Negroitt went swimming in the sea ...

None of the closely does not go swimming in the sea,
None of the Negroes do not frolic in the open.
But then one rose
They bought him a cross.
And here is the result for you:

One of the blacks is going to swim in the sea ...

And so, until all ten are resurrected, so that then they start to sink again ...
Such is metempsychosis, such is the cycle of Negroes in nature. Negro children don’t disappear with us “for nothing, for nothing”, they always come back ...