Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down|в стала на колени | and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed| Как же ей хотелось | to get out of that dark hall, and wander| побродить | about among those beds of bright flowers| клумб ярких цветов | and those cool| прохладных | fountains, but she could not even get her head through the doorway; “and even if my head would go through,” thought poor Alice, “it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up| здесь – складываться | like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.” For, you see, so many out-of-the-way| удивительных | things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed| очень мало вещей действительно | were really impossible.

There seemed to be no use| нет смысла | in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping| буквально – надеясь наполовину , лучше – смутно надеясь | she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (“which certainly was not here before,” said Alice,) and round the neck| вокруг горлышка | of the bottle was a paper label, with the words “DRINK ME,” beautifully printed on it in large letters.

It was all very well to say “Drink me,” but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. “No, I’ll look first,” she said, “and see whether it’s marked ‘ poison’| яд | or not”; for she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up| съеден | by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker| кочерга | will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds| пойдет кровь |; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you| не пойдет на пользу |, sooner or later.

However, this bottle was not marked “poison”, so Alice ventured| осмелилась | to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard| крем |, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off| выпила полностью |.

“What a curious feeling!” said Alice; “I must be shutting up like a telescope.”

And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up| засияло | at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further| уменьшиться еще сильнее |: she felt a little nervous about this; “ for it might end| так я могу вообще исчезнуть |, you know,” said Alice to herself, “ in my going out altogether| исчезну полностью |, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?” And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out| догорела |, for she could not remember ever having seen| что когда - либо видела | such a thing.

After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once| сразу же |; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach| добраться | it: she could see it quite plainly| запросто | through the glass, and she tried her best| старалась изо всех сил | to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery| скользко |; and when she had tired herself out| утомила себя | with trying, the poor little thing sat down| здесь – маленькая бедная девочка | and cried.

“Come, there’s no use in crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply; “I advise you to leave off| прекратить | this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded| ругала | herself so severely| сурово | as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears| оттаскать себя за уши | for having cheated herself in a game of croquet| за жульничество в игре в крикет | she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending| ей нравилось притворяться | to be two people. “But it’s no use now,” thought poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable| приличного | person!”

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully marked in currants| здесь – изюминами |. “Well, I’ll eat it,” said Alice, “and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way| в любом случае | I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care which happens!”

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously| беспокойно | to herself, “Which way? Which way?”, holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen| уже так привыкла что ничего , кроме как необычного тут не случается |, that it seemed quite dull| скучно | and stupid for life to go on in the common way.