James Baldwin - Английский язык с Робинзоном Крузо (в пересказе для детей) (ASCII-IPA)

Could this have been a feast of cannibals (могло это быть пиром каннибалов) ? And were these the bones and flesh of human beings (были ли это кости и мясо людей: «людских существ») ?

I trembled as I thought of it (я задрожал, когда подумал об этом) .

I turned and ran from the place as fast as I could (я развернулся и побежал от этого места так быстро, как /только/ мог) .

I ran until I could go no farther (я бежал, пока не мог двигаться больше) . My breath came fast (мое дыхание прерывалось: «приходило быстро») . I sank down upon the ground (я опустился/упал на землю; to sink — опускаться, падать) .

When I had rested a little while (когда я отдохнул немного; while — промежуток времени) , I looked around and found that I was not very far from my castle (я осмотрелся и обнаружил, что я был не очень далеко от моего замка) . All around me was peaceful and still (все вокруг меня было мирно и спокойно; still — бесшумный, тихий, безмолвный; неподвижный) . I was surely safe from harm (я был определенно спасен от вреда/беды = был в безопасности) .

With tears in my eyes (со слезами на глазах) I knelt down and gave thanks to God (я упал на колени и вознес благодарность Богу; to kneel — преклонять колени, становиться на колени) . I thanked him that he had kept me alive and safe through so many years (я благодарил Его, /за то/ что Он сохранил меня живым и невредимым на протяжении стольких многих лет) . I thanked him that I had been cast on the side of the island which was never visited by savages (я благодарил Его за то, что я был выброшен на /ту/ сторону острова, которую никогда не посещали дикари) . I thanked him for all the comforts and blessings that were mine (за все удобства и благословения = счастье, которые были моими = выпали мне на долю; blessing — благословение; блаженство, счастье; to bless — благославлять) .

Then I arose and went home to my castle (затем я встал и пошел домой в мой замок; to arise — подниматься, вставать) .

As I sat before my door that evening (когда я сидел перед своей дверью в тот вечер) , I thought the whole matter over (я обдумал весь вопрос: «всю материю»; to think smth. over — обдумывать что-л.) , and felt much easier in my mind (и почувствовал намного легче в душе = почувствовал облегчение; mind — разум; умственные способности; ум; настроение, расположение духа) .

I had been on the island eighteen years before I saw the first footprint (я пробыл на острове восемнадцать лет, прежде чем увидел первый отпечаток ноги) . I had been there twenty-three years before I saw any other signs of savages (я пробыл там двадцать три года, прежде чем увидел другие признаки дикарей; sign — знак) . It was likely that many more years would pass before any harm should come to me (было похоже, что много лет пройдут, прежде чем какая-либо беда постигнет меня) .

With these thoughts I lay down in my hammock and slept without fear (с этими мыслями я лег в мой гамак и спал без страха) .

But it was a long time before I went again to the farther shore of the island (но прошло долгое время, прежде чем я пошел опять на дальний берег острова) . I did not even go to look after my canoe (я даже не пошел взглянуть на мое каноэ = проверить свое каноэ; to look after smb., smth. — следить глазами, взглядом; присматривать, ухаживать за кем-л., чем-л., заботиться о ком-л., чем-л.) .

The days went quietly by (дни тихо проходили) . I kept quite close to my castle (я держался довольно близко к замку) , and busied myself with my goats and my grain (и занимался козами и зерном) .

I was always on my guard (я постоянно был начеку; guard — охрана, защита; бдительность, осторожность) , and never stepped out of doors without first looking around me (и никогда не выходил из дверей, сначала не осмотревшись) .

bold ['b@uld], harbor ['hA:b@], slaughter ['slO:t@], cannibal ['k&nIb(@)l], breath [breT], look [luk]

FIVE or six years had passed, and not another footprint had I seen.

I had gotten over my great fright, and yet I was not so bold as I had been. Any sudden sound would make me start and look around. I thought that if savage men had been on the island once, they were quite likely to come again. So I kept on the lookout for them all the time.

My flock of goats had now grown to be very large, and I needed another field. I wished to put some of them in a hidden spot where the savages, if they did come, would not find them.

I had already a small flock in one such spot, as I have told you. But now I wished to have another.

In looking for the right kind of place, I went all over the island. I even went far out on a rocky point beyond the place where I kept my canoe.

As I was standing on a rock and looking out to sea, I thought I saw a boat in the distance. I was only a little speck on the water, and it seemed to rise and fall with the waves. It could not be a rock.

I looked at it till my eyes could look no more. I had saved a spyglass out of the ship; but, as luck would have it, I had left it at home. How I wished for it then!

Whether I really saw a boat or not, I do not know. But as I walked back along the shore, I made up my mind never to go out again without my spyglass.

I walked slowly along, thinking of what I had seen. All at once I came upon that which made my heart stand still.

On the sandy, sloping beach of a pleasant little harbor I saw not only one footprint, but hundreds of them.

I stood still, afraid to move.

But the footprints were not all. The beach at one place was covered with bones and bits of flesh, as in a slaughter house. Some of the bones were quite fresh; some had been charred with fire.

"Here the savages have been holding a feast," I said to myself.

A little farther on I saw that a pit had been dug in the sand, and here they had had their fire. The ashes were still warm.

I wondered what kind of a feast these wild men had been having. There were savages on the mainland who were said to kill and eat the captives whom they took in war. Cannibals, they were called.