Джек Лондон: Английский язык с Джеком Лондоном. В далекой стране (рассказы)

churn [CWn], moccasin ['mOkqsIn], silence ['saIlqns]

What was that? Oh, the men lashing the sleds and drawing tight the thongs. He listened, who would listen no more. The whip-lashes snarled and bit among the dogs. Hear them whine! How they hated the work and the trail! They were off! Sled after sled churned slowly away into the silence. They were gone. They had passed out of his life, and he faced the last bitter hour alone. No. The snow crunched beneath a moccasin; a man stood beside him; upon his head a hand rested gently. His son was good to do this thing. He remembered other old men whose sons had not waited after the tribe. But his son had. He wandered away into the past, till the young man's voice brought him back.

"Is it well with you?" he asked (с тобой все хорошо? — спросил он).

And the old man answered, "It is well (и старик ответил: — хорошо)."

"There be wood beside you," the younger man continued (дерево/хворост рядом с тобой, — молодой человек продолжил), "and the fire burns bright (и костер горит ярко). The morning is gray (утро пасмурное: «серое»), and the cold has broken (и холод спадает: «сломлен»; to break — ломать, разбивать; прекращать ). It will snow presently (снег пойдет сейчас). Even now is it snowing (уже сейчас идет снег)."

"Ay (да), even now is it snowing."

"The tribesmen hurry (люди племени спешат). Their bales are heavy (их тюки тяжелые), and their bellies flat with lack of feasting (а их животы плоские из-за отсутствия пищи). The trail is long (путь длинный) and they travel fast (и они двигаются быстро). Go now (/я/ ухожу сейчас). It is well?"

fire ['faIq], burn [bWn], hurry ['hArI]

"Is it well with you?" he asked.

And the old man answered, "It is well."

"There be wood beside you," the younger man continued, "and the fire burns bright. The morning is gray, and the cold has broken. It will snow presently. Even now is it snowing."

"Ay, even now is it snowing."

"The tribesmen hurry. Their bales are heavy, and their bellies flat with lack of feasting. The trail is long and they travel fast. Go now. It is well?"

"It is well. I am as a last year's leaf (я как последний лист в году), clinging lightly to the stem (цепляющийся едва за стебель; lightly — легко, слегка ). The first breath that blows (первое дуновение /ветра/, которое подует), and I fall (и я упаду). My voice is become like an old woman's (мой голос стал, как у старой женщины/старухи). My eyes no longer show me the way of my feet (мои глаза больше не показывают мне дорогу моих ног = не вижу, куда идут мои ноги), and my feet are heavy, and I am tired (а мои ноги тяжелы, и я устал). It is well."

heavy ['hevI], leaf [lJf], first [fWst]

"It is well. I am as a last year's leaf, clinging lightly to the stem. The first breath that blows, and I fall. My voice is become like an old woman's. My eyes no longer show me the way of my feet, and my feet are heavy, and I am tired. It is well."

He bowed his head in content (он наклонил голову в знак согласия; content — удовлетворенность ) till the last noise of the complaining snow had died away (пока последний шум жалующегося снега не умер вдали), and he knew his son was beyond recall (и он понял: «знал», что сын был за пределами зова). Then his hand crept out in haste to the wood (тогда его рука протянулась поспешно за дровами; to creep — ползти, медленно двигаться ). It alone stood between him and the eternity that yawned in upon him (он /хворост/ один стоял между ним и вечностью, которая разверзлась перед ним; to yawn — зевать; зиять; разверзаться ). At last the measure of his life was a handful of fagots (и вот, наконец, мерой его жизни была охапка хвороста). One by one they would go to feed the fire (один за другим они /дрова/ пойдут, чтобы питать огонь), and just so (и так же), step by step (шаг за шагом), death would creep upon him (смерть будет подползать к нему). When the last stick had surrendered up its heat (когда последняя палка отдаст свое тепло), the frost would begin to gather strength (мороз начнет набирать силу). First his feet would yield, then his hands (сначала сдадутся его ноги, потом руки); and the numbness would travel, slowly, from the extremities to the body (и оцепенение/окоченение пойдет, медленно, от конечностей к телу). His head would fall forward upon his knees (его голова упадет вперед на колени), and he would rest (и он успокоится). It was easy (это было легко). All men must die (все люди должны умереть).

beyond [bI'jOnd], surrender [sq'rendq], numbness ['nAmnIs]

He bowed his head in content till the last noise of the complaining snow had died away, and he knew his son was beyond recall. Then his hand crept out in haste to the wood. It alone stood between him and the eternity that yawned in upon him. At last the measure of his life was a handful of fagots. One by one they would go to feed the fire, and just so, step by step, death would creep upon him. When the last stick had surrendered up its heat, the frost would begin to gather strength. First his feet would yield, then his hands; and the numbness would travel, slowly, from the extremities to the body. His head would fall forward upon his knees, and he would rest. It was easy. All men must die.

He did not complain (он не жаловался). It was the way of life, and it was just (это было путем/манерой жизни, и это было справедливо). He had been born close to the earth (он родился близко к земле = на земле), close to the earth had he lived (на земле он жил), and the law thereof was not new to him (и этот закон ее не был новым для него). It was the law of all flesh (это был закон всего живого; all flesh — все живое: «вся плоть» ). Nature was not kindly to the flesh (природа не была добра к плоти). She had no concern for that concrete thing called the individual (она не имела интереса/заботы о том конкретном существе, называемом индивидуумом). Her interest lay in the species, the race (ее интерес состоит: «лежит» в виде, расе). This was the deepest abstraction old Koskoosh's barbaric mind was capable of (это была глубочайшая абстракция, /на которую/ примитивный ум старого Коскуша был способен), but he grasped it firmly (но он усвоил это твердо). He saw it exemplified in all life (он видел это, показанное на примере всей жизни; to exemplify — иллюстрировать, показывать на примере ). The rise of the sap (подъем живительной силы /в растениях/; sap — сок /растений/ ), the bursting greenness of the willow bud (готовая распуститься зелень ивовой почки; to burst — лопаться; разрываться ), the fall of the yellow leaf (опадание желтого листа) — in this alone was told the whole history (в этом одном была рассказана целая история). But one task did Nature set the individual (но одну задачу природа поставила перед живым существом). Did he not perform it, he died (/если/ оно не выполнило ее, оно умирало). Did he perform it, it was all the same, he died (/если/ выполнило ее — было то же самое — оно умирало). Nature did not care (природа была безразлична); there were plenty who were obedient (было множество /тех/, кто был послушен), and it was only the obedience in this matter (и только покорность в этом деле/вопросе: «материи»), not the obedient (а не /сами/ покорные), which lived and lived always (которая жила и жила всегда = и только покорность была вечной, а сами покорные умирали). The tribe of Koskoosh was very old (племя Коскуша было очень старым). The old men he had known when a boy (старики, которых он знал, когда /был/ мальчиком), had known old men before them (знали стариков до себя). Therefore it was true that the tribe lived (следовательно, это была правда, что племя жило), that it stood for the obedience of all its members (что оно означало покорность/подчинение всех своих членов; to stand for — поддерживать, стоять за; символизировать, означать, обозначать, значить ), way down into the forgotten past (сколько бы ни отступать: «/весь/ путь вниз» в забытое прошлое), whose very resting-places were unremembered (чьи сами могилы = даже могилы которых были забыты). They did not count; they were episodes (они не в счет, они были эпизодами; to count — считать; иметь значение ). They had passed away like clouds from a summer sky (они ушли, подобно облакам с летнего неба). He also was an episode, and would pass away (он также был эпизодом и уйдет /тоже/).