Михаил Сарапов - Английский для смелых. Истории о духах и привидениях / Great Ghost Stories

Dr Teesdale was a man of good nerve, and he recovered himself almost immediately, ashamed of his temporary panic. The terror that had blanched his face was chiefly the effect of startled nerves, not of terrified heart, and yet deeply interested as he was in psychical phenomena, he could not command himself sufficiently to go back there. Or rather he commanded himself, but his muscles refused to act on the message. If this poor earthbound spirit had any communication to make to him, he certainly much preferred that it should be made at a distance. As far as he could understand, its range was circumscribed. It haunted the prison yard, the condemned cell, the execution shed, it was more faintly felt in the infirmary. Then a further point suggested itself to his mind, and he went back to his room and sent for Warder Draycott, who had answered him on the telephone last night.

‘You are quite sure(вы совершенно уверены) ,’ he asked, ‘that nobody rang me up last night, just before I rang you up(что никто мне не звонил прошлым вечером, как раз перед тем, как я вам позвонил) ?’

There was a certain hesitation in the man’s manner which the doctor noticed(в поведении надзирателя была определенная неуверенность, которую заметил доктор; manner – манера, поведение ).

‘I don’t see how it could be possible, sir(я не понимаю, как это может быть возможно, сэр) ,’ he said. ‘I had been sitting close by the telephone for half an hour before, and again before that(я полчаса сидел возле телефона до звонка, да и еще раньше тоже) . I must have seen him, if anyone had been to the instrument(я бы должен был его увидеть, если кто-нибудь подходил к аппарату) .’

‘And you saw no one?’ said the doctor with a slight emphasis(а вы никого не видели? – сказал доктор, слегка акцентировав свой вопрос; emphasis – выразительность, сила, ударение ).

The man became more markedly ill at ease(стало еще заметнее, что надзирателю: «этому человеку стало более заметно» не по себе; ill at ease – не по себе, неловко; ≈ не в своей тарелке ).

‘No sir, I saw no one,’ he said, with the same emphasis(нет, сэр, я никого не видел, – сказал он, так же акцентировав свой ответ).

Dr Teesdale looked away from him(доктор Тисдейл посмотрел в сторону: «прочь от него»).

‘But you had perhaps the impression that there was someone there(но, возможно, у вас возникло впечатление, что кто-то там был) ?’ he asked, carelessly, as if it was a point of no interest(как бы между прочим спросил он: «он спросил небрежно, словно эта деталь значения не имела»; point – точка; пункт, момент, вопрос; interest – интерес, интересность; значимость ).

‘You are quite sure,’ he asked, ‘that nobody rang me up last night, just before I rang you up?’

There was a certain hesitation in the man’s manner which the doctor noticed.

‘I don’t see how it could be possible, sir,’ he said. ‘I had been sitting close by the telephone for half an hour before, and again before that. I must have seen him, if anyone had been to the instrument.’

‘And you saw no one?’ said the doctor with a slight emphasis.

The man became more markedly ill at ease.

‘No sir, I saw no one,’ he said, with the same emphasis.

Dr Teesdale looked away from him.

‘But you had perhaps the impression that there was someone there?’ he asked, carelessly, as if it was a point of no interest.

Clearly Warder Draycott had something on his mind(определенно на уме у надзирателя Дрейкотта что-то было) , which he found it hard to speak of(о чем он находил трудным говорить).

‘Well, sir, if you put it like that,’ he began(ну, сэр, если так вопрос ставить, – начал он) . ‘But you would tell me I was half asleep(но вы, наверное, скажете мне, что я был полусонный) , or had eaten something that disagreed with me at my supper(или за ужином съел что-то, чего я не перевариваю; to disagree – не подходить, противоречить ) .’

The doctor dropped his careless manner(доктор отбросил свою безучастную манеру; to drop – капать; бросать; careless – небрежный, беспечный ).

‘I should do nothing of the kind(ничего подобного я не сделаю) ,’ he said, ‘any more than you would tell me that I had dropped asleep last night(как и вы не скажете мне, что я вздремнул вчера вечером; to drop asleep – заснуть ) , when I heard my telephone bell ring(когда услышал звонок телефона) . Mind you, Draycott, it did not ring as usual(заметьте, Дрейкотт, он не зазвонил как обычно) , I could only just hear it ringing, though it was close to me(я едва слышал его звонок, хотя он был рядом со мной) . And I could only hear a whisper when I put my ear to it(и я смог расслышать только шепот, когда поднес трубку к уху: «приложил ухо к нему») . But when you spoke I heard you quite distinctly(но когда говорили вы, я слышал вас вполне отчетливо) . Now I believe there was something – somebody – at this end of the telephone(и вот я полагаю, что на этом конце телефонной линии было что-то – кто-то) . You were here, and though you saw no one, you, too, felt there was someone there(вы тут были, и хотя вы никого не видели, вы тоже почувствовали, что кто-то тут был).

Clearly Warder Draycott had something on his mind, which he found it hard to speak of.