Английский язык с Мюриэль Спарк (рассказы)
Шрифт:
interior [In'tI(q)rIq] downstairs ["daVn'stεqz] innocence ['Inqs(q)ns]
I was sent to have my eyes tested. He took me into the darkened interior and said. "Sit down, dear." He put his arm round my shoulder. His forefinger moved up and down on my neck. I was thirteen and didn't like to be rude to him. Dorothy Simmonds, his sister, came downstairs just then; she came upon us silently and dressed in a white overall. Before she had crossed the room to switch on a dim light Mr, Simmonds removed his arm from my shoulder with such a jerk that I knew for certain he had not placed it there in innocence.
I had seen Miss Simmonds once before (однажды
"Can you read (ты умеешь читать)?" said Mr. Simmonds.
I stopped looking round (я перестала оглядываться; tolookround— оглядываться кругом, осматриваться). I said: "Read what (читать что)?" for I had been told (так как мне сказали) I would be asked to read row after row of letters (что меня попросят прочитать ряды: «ряд за рядом» букв). The card which hung beneath the dim light (в таблице: «карте», которая висела под тусклой лампой) showed pictures of trains and animals (были картинки поездов и животных; toshow— показывать, выставлять).
fete [feIt] windfall ['wIndfO: l] sexual ['sek|SVqlI, — sjVqlI] beneath [bI'ni: T]
hostile ['hOstaIl]
I had seen Miss Simmonds once before, at a garden fete, where she stood on a platform in a big hat and blue dress, and sang "Sometimes between long shadows on the grass," while I picked up windfall apples, all of which seemed to be rotten. Now in her white overall she turned and gave me a hostile look, as if I had been seducing her brother. I felt sexually in the wrong, and started looking round the dark room with a wide-eyed air.
"Can you read?" said Mr. Simmonds.
I stopped looking round. I said. "Read what?" for I had been told I would be asked to read row after row of letters. The card, which hung beneath the dim light, showed pictures of trains and animals.
"Because if you can't read (потому что, если ты не умеешь читать) we have pictures for illiterates (то у нас есть картинки для неграмотных)."
This was Mr. Simmond's joke (это была шутка господина Симмондса). I giggled (я хихикнула). His sister smiled (его сестра улыбнулась) and dabbed her right eye with her handkerchief (и приложила к правому глазу платок; todab— ударять; прикасаться, намазывать). She had been to London (она была в Лондоне) for an operation on her right eye (где ей оперировали правый глаз).
I recall reading the letters correctly down to the last few lines (я припоминаю, что прочитала буквы правильно, вплоть: «вниз» до нескольких последних линий), which were too small (которые были очень мелкими; «маленькими»). I recall Mr. Simmonds squeezing my arm as I left the shop (я помню, как господин Симмондс сжимал мою руку, когда я выходила из магазина; to squeeze — сжимать, сдавливать, стискивать), turning his sandy freckled face in a backward glance (поворачивая свое рыжеватое веснушчатое лицо назад; sandy — песчаный, песочный, рыжий, freckle — веснушка, backward glance — соглядкой, взглядназад) to see for certain (чтобы быть уверенным: «чтобы увидеть наверняка») that his sister was not watching (что его сестра не наблюдает /за нами/).
illiterate [I'lIt(q)rIt] handkerchief ['hxNkqCIf] squeezing ['skwi: zIN]
"Because if you can't read we have pictures for illiterates."
This was Mr. Simmond's joke. I giggled. His sister smiled and dabbed her right eye with her handkerchief She had been to London for an operation on her right eye.
I recall reading the letters correctly down to the last few lines, which were too small. I recall Mr. Simmonds squeezing my arm as I left the shop, turning his sandy freckled face in a backward glance to see for certain that his sister was not watching.
My grandmother said (моя бабушка сказала), "Did you see (ты видела) —
— Mr. Simmonds’ sister (сестру господина Симмондса)?" said my aunt (сказала моя тетя).
"Yes, she was there all the time (да, она присутствовала: «была там» все время)," I said, to make it definite (сказала я, чтобы внести ясность; definite — определенный, ясный, точный).
My grandmother said (моя бабушка сказала), "They say she's going — (говорят, что она)
— blind in one eye (слепнет на один глаз; togoblind — ослепнуть)," said my aunt (сказала моя тетя).
"And with the mother bedridden upstairs (и с матерью, прикованной болезнью к постели /в комнате/ наверху; bedridden— прикованный к постели болезнью) —" my grandmother said (сказал моя бабушка).
"— she must be a saint (она, должно быть, ангел; saint— святой человек, праведник)," said my aunt.
Presently (вскоре) — it may have been within a few days or a few weeks (возможно, это случилось через несколько дней или несколько недель) — my reading glasses arrived (прибыли мои очки для чтения; toarrive— прибывать, приезжать, приходить), and I wore them (и я носила их) whenever I remembered to do so (каждый раз, когда помнила о них: «не забывала сделать это»).
definite ['defInIt] blind [blaInd] bedridden ['bed" rIdn]
My grand mother said, "Did you see—
— Mr.Simmonds" sister?" said my aunt.
"Yes, she was there all the time," I said, to make it definite.
My grandmother said, "They say she's going —
— blind in one eye," said my aunt.
"And with the mother bedridden upstairs —" my grandmother said.