Томас Майн Рид - Всадник без головы / The Headless Horseman

2) “Whoever you are – whence you have come – whither you are going – what you may be – henceforth there is a fate between us! I feel it – I know it– sure as there’s a sky above!”

3) “America for the Americans, and confusion to all foreign interlopers – especially the damned Irish!”

4) “I would give half my life to see you in the hands of Wild Cat and his drunken comrades – the other half to deliver you from the danger.”

5) “To kill a man outright requires skill. It can’t be done – even on the prairies – without danger of detection.”

6) “I claim but six months. If at the end of that time I do not show myself worthy of her confidence – her love – then shall I make you welcome to shoot me at sight.”

7) “He said he would be here by eight o’clock in the morning, and it’s now good six in the afternoon, if there’s any truth in a Texas sun. Sure there’s something detaining him?”

8) “I want to have him alive – for the matter of an hour or so. I have my reasons. Lay hold of him and his horse. If there is resistance, we must shoot him down; but let me fire first.”

9) “Six seconds more – I’ll give you six more; and if you don’t show speech by that time, I’ll let drive at your guts.”

10) “Ah! you are very beautiful, you angels here in heaven! Very beautiful. Yes, yes; you look so – to the eyes. But don’t say there are none like you upon the Earth; for there are – there are. I know one – that excels you all, you angels in heaven!”

11) “Trick, or no trick, it’s an ugly business. Whoever’s planned it, must know all that happened that night; and by God, if that thing got stuck there, I’ve got to get it back.”

12) “I’ve made up my mind to get married. I’m now close upon thirty – as you know; and I don’t intend to keep single any longer.”

13) “No doubt you little thought, as you took me by the hand, and led me along the gravelled walk, that the touch of your fingers was sending a thrill into my soul; your pretty prattle making an impression upon my heart, that neither time, nor distance, has been able to efface.”

14) “Where he went afterwards I do not attempt to say. You all know that better than I. I can only tell you, that he left me under the limb, with a lump upon my forehead and a painful swelling in the knee; neither of which I knew anything about till two hours afterwards.”

15) “Well, what I’m going to say now hasn’t so much to do with the prisoner at the bar, as with a man that in my opinion ought to be standing in his place. I won’t say who that man is. I’ll tell you what I know, and have found out, and then you of the jury may reckon it up for yourselves.”

16) “You see me standing on my grave; but I don’t go into it, till I’ve sent him to his. I don’t, by God!”

3. Who is described?

1) “a tall thin man of fifty, with a slightly sallowish complexion, and aspect proudly severe. He is simply though not inexpensively dressed. His features are shaded by a broad-brimmed hat”

2) “a round plump man, with carrot-coloured hair and a bright ruddy skin, dressed in a suit of stout stuff. His lips, nose, eyes, air, and attitude, were all unmistakably Irish”

3) “a man of between thirty and forty years of age. But for a cold animal eye, and a heaviness of feature that betrayed a tendency to behave with brutality – if not with positive cruelty – the individual in question might have been described as handsome”

4) “there was no embroidery upon his coarse clothing. Everything was plain almost to rudeness. The individual was apparently about fifty years of age, with a complexion inclining to dark, and features that, at first sight, exhibited a grave aspect”

4. Fill in the blanks with the following words in the right form:

flutter, linger, recoil, repose, overtake, predispose, chamber, obsequious, tidings, overtake, equestrian

1) The young horseman, once more drawing up his reins, was about to ride off; when something caused him to ____.

2) But neither his ashy envelope, nor the announcement of his humble calling, could damage him in the estimation of one, whose thoughts were already ____ in his favour – Louise Poindexter.

3) Notwithstanding that he had spent several days in the saddle – the last three in constant pursuit of the spotted mare – he was unable to obtain ____.

4) But few, if any, of the gentlemen felt actual alarm. All knew that Louise Poindexter was a splendid ____.

5) The injuries he had received, though not so severe as those of his antagonist, nevertheless made it necessary for him to keep to his _____ – a small, and scantily furnished bedroom in the hotel.

6) Her heart ____ between hope and fear. There was an instant when she felt half inclined to show herself.

7) The landlord, knowing who she is, answers her inquiries with ____ politeness.

8) Isidora advanced towards the invalid reclining upon his couch; with fierce fondness kissed his fevered brow, fonder and fiercer kissed his unconscious lips; and then ____ from them, as if she had been stung by a scorpion!

9) Her reflections were interrupted by the reappearance of Pluto; whose important air proclaimed him the bearer of eventful ____.

10) Suppose, I did have a fancy to ____ this prairie postman! It couldn’t be done upon that dull steed of yours: not a bit of it!

5. Tell the story from the person of:

1) Maurice Gerald

2) Cassius Calhoun

3) Louise Poindexter

4) Zeb Stump

5) Woodley Poindexter

abdomen n брюшная полость; живот

accomplice n сообщник

accursed a проклятый; ненавистный

acquiescence n уступка, согласие

acrimony n язвительность, злость

adhere v прилипать, приставать

advent n прибытие

afflict v беспокоить; причинять боль

afire adv в огне

agitation n волнение; возбуждение

ajar a приоткрытый

akin a родственный; похожий

alight v спускаться; приземляться

ambuscade n засада

anticipate v ожидать, предвидеть

aperture n отверстие

apparel v наряжать

arduous a трудный; напряженный

arraign v предъявлять обвинение, привлекать к суду

assignation n тайная встреча; любовное свидание

associate n товарищ; партнер

astir a на ногах

astound v изумлять

astray adv сбившись с пути, заблудившись

avenge v отомстить

avert v предотвращать

awe n страх, трепет

barren a неплодородный

bars n решетка; прутья