Уильям Моэм: Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. На окраине империи. Рассказы

gross [grqus], obese [qu`bJs], ambitious [xm`bISqs]

"You would not have thought that among these people, whose emotions, though so violent, are very transient, a woman could be found capable of so enduring a passion. She never lost the profound conviction that sooner or later Red would come back. She watched for him, and every time someone crossed this slender little bridge of coconut trees she looked. It might at last be he."

Neilson stopped talking and gave a faint sigh.

"And what happened to her in the end?" asked the skipper.

Neilson smiled bitterly.

"Oh, three years afterwards she took up with another white man."

The skipper gave a fat, cynical chuckle.

"That’s generally what happens to them," he said.

The Swede shot him a look of hatred. He did not know why that gross, obese man excited in him so violent a repulsion. But his thoughts wandered and he found his mind filled with memories of the past. He went back five and twenty years. It was when he first came to the island, weary of Apia, with its heavy drinking, its gambling and coarse sensuality, a sick man, trying to resign himself to the loss of the career which had fired his imagination with ambitious thought. He set behind him resolutely all his hopes of making a great name for himself and strove to content himself with the few poor months of careful life which was all that he could count on.

He was boarding with a half-caste trader (он проживал у торговца-метиса; to board — всходить на борт; останавливаться, жить у кого-либо; предоставлять жилье и питание за плату; half-caste — человек смешанной расы ) who had a store a couple of miles along the coast (у которого был магазин в нескольких милях дальше по берегу) at the edge of a native village (на окраине туземной деревни); and one day (и однажды), wandering aimlessly along the grassy paths of the coconut groves (бесцельно прогуливаясь по заросшим травой дорожкам кокосовых рощ; grassy — травянистый ), he had come upon the hut in which Sally lived (он наткнулся на ту хижину, в которой жила Салли). The beauty of the spot had filled him with a rapture so great (красота этого места наполнила его восторгом таким огромным) that it was almost painful (чуть ли не болезненным), and then he had seen Sally (а потом он увидел Салли). She was the loveliest creature he had ever seen (она была самым прелестным созданием, /которое/ он когда-либо видел), and the sadness in those dark, magnificent eyes of hers (и грусть в этих ее темных, великолепных глазах) affected him strangely (странным образом взволновала его). The Kanakas were a handsome race (канаки сами по себе привлекательны; handsome — красивый; race — народ; раса ), and beauty was not rare among them (и красота не редкость среди них; rare — редкий ), but it was the beauty of shapely animals (но это /как бы/ красота хорошо сложенных животных). It was empty (она пуста). But those tragic eyes were dark with mystery (но те печальные глаза скрывали тайну; tragic — трагический;dark — темный; неясный;тайный ), and you felt in them (и в них чувствовалась) the bitter complexity of the groping, human soul (мучительная запутанность ищущей человеческой души; to grope — идти ощупью, нащупывать; искать ). The trader told him the story and it moved him (торговец рассказал ему /ее/ историю, и она тронула его).

"Do you think he’ll ever come back (/как/ вы думаете, он когда-нибудь вернется)?" asked Neilson.

"No fear (конечно нет). Why, it’ll be a couple of years before the ship is paid off (да пройдет пара лет, прежде чем команда: «корабль» получит расчет), and by then he’ll have forgotten all about her (и к тому времени он /уже/ совсем: «всё» забудет о ней). I bet he was pretty mad (держу пари, он был довольно взбешен) when he woke up and found he’d been shanghaied (когда он проснулся и обнаружил, /что/ с ним так поступили; to shanghai — опоив, отправить матросом в плавание ), and I shouldn’t wonder but he wanted to fight somebody (и я бы не удивился, если он хотел подраться с кем-нибудь). But he’d got to grin and bear it (но ему пришлось смириться с этим; to grin and bear it — /устойчивое выражение/скрывать под улыбкой свои переживания; to grin — осклабиться, ухмыляться; bear — нести; выдерживать ), and I guess in a month he was thinking it the best thing (и, полагаю, через месяц он /уже/ думал, /что/ это было самым лучшим) that had ever happened to him (что когда-либо случалось с ним) that he got away from the island (что он уехал с этого острова)."

half-caste [`hRfkRst], magnificent [mxg`nIfIsnt], shanghai [SxN`haI]

He was boarding with a half-caste trader who had a store a couple of miles along the coast at the edge of a native village; and one day, wandering aimlessly along the grassy paths of the coconut groves, he had come upon the hut in which Sally lived. The beauty of the spot had filled him with a rapture so great that it was almost painful, and then he had seen Sally. She was the loveliest creature he had ever seen, and the sadness in those dark, magnificent eyes of hers affected him strangely. The Kanakas were a handsome race, and beauty was not rare among them, but it was the beauty of shapely animals. It was empty. But those tragic eyes were dark with mystery, and you felt in them the bitter complexity of the groping, human soul. The trader told him the story and it moved him.

"Do you think he’ll ever come back?" asked Neilson.

"No fear. Why, it’ll be a couple of years before the ship is paid off, and by then he’ll have forgotten all about her. I bet he was pretty mad when he woke up and found he’d been shanghaied, and I shouldn’t wonder but he wanted to fight somebody. But he’d got to grin and bear it, and I guess in a month he was thinking it the best thing that had ever happened to him that he got away from the island."

But Neilson could not get the story out of his head (но Нилсон /никак/ не мог выбросить этот рассказ из головы). Perhaps because he was sick and weakly (может быть, потому, что он /сам/ был больным и хилым), the radiant health of Red appealed to his imagination (сияющее здоровье Рыжего = пышущий здоровьем Рыжий взывал к его воображению). Himself an ugly man (сам некрасивый человек), insignificant of appearance (неприметной внешности; insignificant — незначительный ), he prized very highly comeliness in others (он ценил очень высоко привлекательность в других). He had never been passionately in love (он никогда /не/ был страстно влюблен), and certainly he had never been passionately loved (и, конечно, его никогда страстно /не/ любили). The mutual attraction of those two young things (взаимное притяжение тех двоих молодых существ) gave him a singular delight (доставляло ему своеобразное/необычайное удовольствие). It had the ineffable beauty of the Absolute (оно обладало неописуемой красотой Абсолюта). He went again to the little hut by the creek (он снова пошел к маленькой хижине у речки). He had a gift for languages (у него были способности к языкам) and an energetic mind, accustomed to work (и энергичный ум, привычный к работе), and he had already given much time to the study of the local tongue (и он посвятил: «отдал» уже много времени изучению местного языка). Old habit was strong in him (в нем была сильна старая привычка) and he was gathering together material for a paper on the Samoan speech (и он собирал материал для доклада по самоанскому языку; together — вместе, воедино; speech — речь; язык;произношение ). The old crone who shared the hut with Sally (старая карга, которая жила в хижине /вместе/ с Салли; to share — делить; разделять ) invited him to come in and sit down (пригласила его войти и присесть). She gave him kava to drink and cigarettes to smoke (она дала = угостила его кавой и сигаретами; kava — кустарник семейства перечных; алкогольный напиток, сделанный из ароматных корней этого кустарника; to drink — пить; to smoke — курить ). She was glad to have someone to chat with (она была рада /хоть/ с кем-то поболтать; to have — иметь; получать ) and while she talked he looked at Sally (и пока она говорила, он смотрел на Салли). She reminded him of the Psyche in the museum at Naples (она напомнила ему Психею из музея в Неаполе). Her features had the same clear purity of line (черты ее лица имели ту же четкую безупречность линий), and though she had borne a child (и хотя она /уже/ рожала: «родила ребенка») she had still a virginal aspect (она по-прежнему выглядела как девушка: «у нее все еще был девичий вид»).