Английский язык с Робинзоном Крузо
Шрифт:
пещере, что могло причинить мне вред)? No man could live there in the darkness (ни
один человек не мог жить там в темноте). As for any animal (что касается любого
животного), I knew there was nothing fiercer on the island than one of my cats (я знал,
что не было ничего более свирепого на острове, чем мои кошки).
So, with a blazing stick for a torch (со сверкающий факелом), I crept back into
the cave (пробрался обратно в пещеру). But I had not gone three steps before I was
frightened almost as much as before (но
почти также сильно, как раньше).
I heard a loud sigh (громкий вздох), like that of a man in trouble (как /звук/
человека в беде). Then there were low moans (низкие стоны), and sounds as of some
one trying to speak (звуки кого-то пытающегося говорить).
I stopped short (остановился как вкопанный). Cold chills ran down my back
(холодок пробежал вниз по спине). My hair seemed to stand on end (казалось, волосы
встали дыбом). But I would not allow myself to run out again (но я не позволил бы
себе выбежать опять).
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I pushed my little torch forward into the darkness (толкнул = протянул мой
маленький факел вперед в темноту), as far as I could (так далеко, как я мог). The
blaze lit up the cave (пламя осветило пещеру). And what do you suppose I saw then (и
что вы полагаете, я увидел затем)?
Why, nothing but a shaggy old goat (да ничего, как только потрепанную
старого козла) that I had missed from my flock for nearly a week past (которого
недоставало моему стаду почти неделю уже = который пропал из стада почти
неделю назад; to miss — обнаружить отсутствие /чего-л./).
He was stretched on the floor of the cave (он растянулся на полу пещеры), and
too weak to rise up (слишком слаб, чтобы встать). He was a very old fellow (он был
старым: «старым парнем»), and perhaps had gone in there to die (и, возможно,
пришел сюда умирать).
I gave him some food and water (я дал ему еды и воды), and made him as
comfortable as I could (и сделал ему так удобно, как мог). But he was too far gone to
live long (но он был слишком стар, чтобы прожить долго).
I found that, although I could stand up in the cave, it was very small (я
обнаружил, что, хотя я мог стоять в пещере, она была очень маленькой). It was only
a hole in the rocks (была только дырой в скалах), and was neither round nor square (ни
круглая, ни квадратная).
But at the end of this little chamber there seemed to be a passage that led farther
in (но в концу этой маленькой комнаты, казалось, был проход, который вел дальше
внутрь). This passage was very narrow and dark (узким и темным), and as my torch had
burned out (поскольку мой факел выгорел), I did not try to follow it (не попытался
последовать
по нему).I went back to my wood chopping (я вернулся к моей рубке леса).
caution ['ko:
n] quarrel ['kworl]
I MAKE A SURPRISING DISCOVERY
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ONCE every week I went into the woods to see the flock of goats that I had
hidden there. I always carried my gun, but since my last great fright I did not dare to fire
it off. I was afraid even to drive a nail or chop a stick of wood, lest some savages might
be near enough to hear the sound.
I was afraid to build a fire at my castle, lest the smoke should be seen.
At last I carried some of my pots and kettles to my hidden field in the woods. I
could do my cooking there much more safely than at my castle.
Hardly had I put things in order there when I found something that made me very
glad. What do you suppose it was?
It was a cave — a real cave. The door into it was through a little hollow place at
the bottom of a great rock. It was so well hidden that no one could have found it even by
looking for it.
Shall I tell you how I came upon it?
I was afraid to make a smoke near my house, and yet I could not live without
cooking meat. I tried all kinds of dry wood, and yet there was always some smoke. Then
I thought I would try charcoal. But I must first make the charcoal.
I found a place in the darkest part of the woods where the smoke would hardly
rise to the tops of the trees. There I built my charcoal pit.
This was done in the following way:
First, I cleared off a round space about ten feet in diameter. Here I dug out the
earth till I made a pit about a foot deep. Then I cut a cord or more of wood and piled it up
in this space. I piled it up until it was almost as high as my shoulders. I covered it a foot
deep with earth and turf, leaving a small open place at the bottom.
When this was done, I set fire to the wood through the hole in the bottom. It
burned slowly. The wood became charcoal.
One day, while cutting wood for my charcoal pit, I happened to see a hollow
place in the rock close by a tree I was chopping.
It was half covered with brush. I pushed this aside and looked in. I saw a little
cave just large enough for me to creep into on my hands and knees.
But, a little farther in, it was larger. It was so high that I could stand upright, and
it was so wide that two men could have walked in it side by side.
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