On these occasions he usually slept with the donkey in its little thatched stable. But it was much too early to go to sleep yet, and Shasta, who had never learned that it is wrong to listen behind doors, sat down with his ear to a crack in the wooden wall of the cottage to hear what the grown-ups were talking about. And this is what he heard. | В таких случаях Шаста спал с ослом, в стойле; но было еще рано и, поскольку никто никогда не говорил ему, что нельзя подслушивать, он сел у самой стены. |
"O my master," replied the fisherman (and Shasta knew by the wheedling tone the greedy look that was probably coming into his face as he said it), "what price could induce your servant, poor though he is, to sell into slavery his only child and his own flesh? | - О, господин мой! - отвечал рыбак, и Шаста угадал по его голосу, что глазки у него блеснули.- Как продам я, твой верный раб, своего собственного сына? |
Has not one of the poets said, 'Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles?"' | Разве не сказал поэт: |
"It is even so," replied the guest dryly. | "Сильна, как смерть, отцовская любовь, а сыновья дороже, чем алмазы?" |
"But another poet has likewise said, | - Возможно, - сухо выговорил тархан, - но другой поэт говорил: |
"He who attempts to deceive the judicious is already baring his own back for the scourge." | "Кто хочет гостя обмануть - подлее, чем гиена". |
Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods. | Не оскверняй ложью свои уста. |
This boy is manifestly no son of yours, for your cheek is as dark as mine but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North." | Он тебе не сын, ибо ты темен лицом, а он светел и бел, как проклятые, но прекрасные нечестивцы с Севера. |
"How well it was said," answered the fisherman, "that Swords can be kept off with shields but the Eye of Wisdom pierces through every defence! | - Давно сказал кто-то, - отвечал рыбак, - что око мудрости острее копья! |
Know then, O my formidable guest, that because of my extreme poverty I have never married and have no child. | Знай же, о мой высокородный гость, что я, по бедности своей, никогда не был женат. |
But in that same year in which the Tisroc (may he live for ever) began his august and beneficent reign, on a night when the moon was at her full, it pleased the gods to deprive me of my sleep. | Но в год, когда Тисрок (да живет он вечно) начал свое великое и благословенное царствование, в ночь полнолуния, боги лишили меня сна. |
Therefore I arose from my bed in this hovel and went forth to the beach to refresh myself with looking upon the water and the moon and breathing the cool air. | Я встал с постели и вышел поглядеть на луну. |
And presently I heard a noise as of oars coming to me across the water and then, as it were, a weak cry. | Вдруг послышался плеск воды, словно кто-то греб веслами, и слабый крик. |
And shortly after, the tide brought to the land a little boat in which there was nothing but a man lean with extreme hunger and thirst who seemed to have died but a few moments before (for he was still warm), and an empty water-skin, and a child, still living. | Немного позже прилив прибил к берегу маленькую лодку, в которой лежал иссушенный голодом человек. Должно быть, он только что умер, ибо он еще не остыл, а рядом с ним был пустой сосуд и живой младенец. |
"Doubtless," said I, "these unfortunates have escaped from the wreck of a great ship, but by the admirable designs of the gods, the elder has starved himself to keep the child alive and has perished in sight of land." Accordingly, remembering how the gods never fail to reward those who befriend the destitute, and being moved by compassion (for your servant is a man of tender heart) -" | Вспомнив о том, что боги не оставляют без награды доброе дело, я прослезился, ибо раб твой мягкосердечен, и... |
"Leave out all these idle words in your own praise," interrupted the Tarkaan. | - Не хвали себя, - прервал его тархан. |
"It is enough to know that you took the child - and have had ten times the worth of his daily bread out of him in labour, as anyone can see. | - Ты взял младенца, и он отработал тебе вдесятеро твою скудную пищу. |
And now tell me at once what price you put on him, for I am wearied with your loquacity." | Теперь скажи мне цену, ибо я устал от твоего пусторечия. |
"You yourself have wisely said," answered Arsheesh, "that the boy's labour has been to me of inestimable value. This must be taken into account in fixing the price. | - Ты мудро заметил, господин, - сказал рыбак, -что труд его выгоден мне. |
For if I sell the boy I must undoubtedly either buy or hire another to do his work." | Если я продам этого отрока, я должен купить или нанять другого. |
"I'll give you fifteen crescents for him," said the Tarkaan. | - Даю тебе пятнадцать полумесяцев, - сказал тархан. |
"Fifteen!" cried Arsheesh in a voice that was something between a whine and a scream. | - Пятнадцать! - взвыл Аршиш. |
"Fifteen! For the prop of my old age and the delight of my eyes! | - Пятнадцать монет за усладу моих очей и опору моей старости! |
Do not mock my grey beard, Tarkaan though you be. | Не смейся надо мною, я сед. |
My price is seventy." | Моя цена - семьдесят полумесяце?.. |
At this point Shasta got up and tiptoed away. | Тут Шаста поднялся и тихо ушел. |
He had heard all he wanted, for he had open listened when men were bargaining in the village and knew how it was done. | Он знал, как люди торгуются. |
He was quite certain that Arsheesh would sell him in the end for something much more than fifteen crescents and much less than seventy, but that he and the Tarkaan would take hours in getting to an agreement. | Он знал, что Аршиш выручит за него больше пятнадцати монет, но меньше семидесяти, и что спор протянется не один час. |
You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel if we had just overheard our parents talking about selling us for slaves. | Не думайте, что Шаста чувствовал то самое, что почувствовали бы мы, если бы наши родители решили нас продать. |
For one thing, his life was already little better than slavery; for all he knew, the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to him than Arsheesh. | Жизнь его была не лучше рабства, и тархан мог оказаться добрее, чем Аршиш. |
For another, the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with excitement and with a sense of relief. | К тому же, он очень обрадовался, узнав свою историю. |
He had often been uneasy because, try as he might, he had never been able to love the fisherman, and he knew that a boy ought to love his father. And now, apparently, he was no relation to Arsheesh at all. That took a great weight off his mind. "Why, I might be anyone!" he thought. | Он часто сокрушался прежде, что не может любить рыбака, и когда понял, что тот ему чужой, с души его упало тяжкое бремя. |