Мистер Всезнайка. Рассказы
Шрифт:
He paused for a moment (на мгновение он замолк; topause— делать паузу, останавливаться). I handed him a cigarette and lit another myself (я дал ему сигарету и зажег себе другую; to hand — передавать, вручать).
"I was glad she did (я рад, что она /умерла/). We could never have lived together again (мы бы больше никогда не смогли жить вместе), and it would have been very hard to explain my action (и /мне/ было бы очень сложно объяснить свой поступок; hard — сильно, интенсивно; тяжело, струдом).
"Very (очень)."
dye [daI], deceive [dI'si: v], infuriate [In'fju(q)rIeIt], apparently [q'pxrqntlI]
" ‘What are you laughing at?’ I asked.
" ‘Madame Renard. That was the same dress she wore at our wedding, she’d had it dyed and done over; but it didn’t deceive me. I’d have known it anywhere.’
"It was such a stupid remark, it infuriated me. I was seized with rage, and with all my might I hit her over the head with my Indian club. I broke her skull, apparently, and she died two days later in hospital without recovering consciousness."
He paused for a moment. I handed him a cigarette and lit another myself.
"I was glad she did. We could never have lived together again, and it would have been very hard to explain my action.
"Very."
"I was arrested and tried for murder (меня
accident ['xksId(q)nt], evidence ['evId(q)ns], prosecution ["prOsI'kju: S(q)n], injury ['IndZqrI], deliberate [dI'lIb(q)rIt]
"I was arrested and tried for murder. Of course I swore it was an accident, I said the club had slipped out of my hand, but the medical evidence was against me. The prosecution proved that such an injury as Marie-Louise had suffered could only have been caused by a violent and deliberate blow. Fortunately for me they could find no motive.
"The public prosecutor tried to make out (государственный обвинитель/прокурор пытался доказать) that I had been jealous of the attentions some man had paid her at the party (что я ревниво отнесся к тем знакам внимания, которые какой-то мужчина оказал ей на вечере; to pay attention to smb. — обращатьвниманиенакого-либо; to pay attentions to a lady — ухаживатьзадамой) and that we had quarrelled on that account (и что мы из-за этого поссорились), but the man he mentioned swore that he had done nothing to arouse my suspicions (но тот человек, которого упомянул он /прокурор/, поклялся, что он не сделал ничего такого, что возбудило бы мои подозрения; to arouse — будить, пробуждать; вызывать, возбуждать/чувства/) and others at the party testified that we had left the best of friends (и все остальные /участники вечеринки/ подтвердили, что мы уехали /с вечера/ лучшими друзьями; to testify — даватьпоказания; подтверждатьсвидетельскимпоказанием). They found on the dressing-table an unpaid dressmaker’s bill (на туалетном столике обнаружили неоплаченный счет от портнихи) and the prosecutor suggested that we had quarrelled about that (и прокурор предположил, что мы поспорили из-за него), but I was able to prove that Marie-Louise paid for her clothes out of her own money (но я смог доказать, что Мария-Луиза платила за свои наряды из собственных средств; clothes — одежда, платье), so that the bill could not possibly have been the cause of a dispute (так что этот счет никак не мог быть причиной ссоры; dispute — диспут, дискуссия; спор, пререкания).
prosecutor ['prOsIkju: tq], quarrel ['kwOrql], suspicion [sq'spIS(q)n], unpaid [An'peId], dispute [(')dIs'pju: t]
"The public prosecutor tried to make out that I had been jealous of the attentions some man had paid her at the party and that we had quarrelled on that account, but the man he mentioned swore that he had done nothing to arouse my suspicions and others at the party testified that we had left the best of friends. They found on the dressing-table an unpaid dressmaker’s bill and the prosecutor suggested that we had quarrelled about that, but I was able to prove that Marie-Louise paid for her clothes out of her own money, so that the bill could not possibly have been the cause of a dispute.
"Witnesses came forward and said that I had always been kind to Marie-Louise (выступали свидетели и показали, что я всегда был добр к Марии-Луизе). We were generally looked upon as a devoted couple (нас все считали любящей семейной парой; generally — обычно, широко; повсеместно, вбольшинствеслучаев; to look upon smb. as smb. — считатького-либокем-либо). My character was excellent (репутация у меня была безукоризненной; character — характер, нрав; репутация) and my employer spoke in the highest terms of me (и мой работодатель очень хорошо отозвался обо мне; high — высокий; лучший, высший; term — выражение, слово). I was never in danger of losing my head (я не подвергался риску потерять голову = быть казненным: «обезглавленным»; danger — опасность; риск), and at one moment I thought I had a chance of getting off altogether (а одно время мне казалось, что у меня была возможность вообще избежать наказания; to get off — слезать, вылезать; убежать; спастись, отделаться /от наказания и т. п./). In the end I was sentenced to six years (в конце концов я был приговорен к шести годам).
devoted [dI'vqutId], employer [Im'plOIq], altogether ["O: ltq'geDq]
"Witnesses came forward and said that I had always been kind to Marie-Louise. We were generally looked upon as a devoted couple. My character was excellent and my employer spoke in the highest terms of me. I was never in danger of losing my head, and at one moment I thought I had a chance of getting off altogether. In the end I was sentenced to six years.
"I don’t regret what I did (я не жалею о том, что я сделал), for from that day, all the time I was in prison awaiting my trial, and since (потому что с того дня, все то время, пока я был в тюрьме, ожидая суда, и с тех пор; trial — испытание, проба;юр. судебноеследствие, суд, слушаниедела), while I’ve been here, I’ve ceased to worry about Riri (пока я был здесь, я перестал терзаться о Рири). If I believed in ghosts I’d be inclined to say (если бы я верил в призраков, я был бы склонен сказать) that Marie-Louise’s death had laid Riri’s (что смерть Марии-Луизы изгнала призрак Рири; to lay a ghost — прогнатьпризрак). Anyhow, my conscience is at rest (во всяком случае, моя совесть больше меня не тревожит; rest — покой, отдых, сон), and after all the torture I suffered I can assure you that everything I’ve gone through since is worth it (и после всех тех страданий, которые я претерпел, я могу уверить вас, что все, через что я прошел с тех пор, стоило того; torture — пытка; муки); I feel I can now look the world in the face again (я чувствую, что теперь я снова могу взглянуть миру в лицо)."
trial ['traIql], cease [si: s], ghost [gqust], torture ['tO: tSq]
"I don’t regret what I did, for from that day, all the time I was in prison awaiting my trial, and since, while I’ve been here, I’ve ceased to worry about Riri. If I believed in ghosts I’d be inclined to say that Marie-Louise’s death had laid Riri’s. Anyhow, my conscience is at rest, and after all the torture I suffered I can assure you that everything I’ve gone through since is worth it; I feel I can now look the world in the face again."
I know that this is a fantastic story (я знаю, что это странная/фантастическая история); I am by way of being a realist (я считаюсь реалистом/я в своем роде реалист; to be by way of being smb. — считатьсякем-либо; относитьсяккакой-либокатегориилюдей), and in the stories I write I see verisimilitude (и в тех историях что я пишу, я нахожу достоверность; verisimilitude — вероятность, правдоподобие; лит. иск. жизненность, правдивость; to see — видеть; находить, обнаруживать). I eschew the bizarre as scrupulously as I avoid the whimsical (я старательно сторонюсь странного, так же тщательно, как я избегаю фантастического/неестественного; scrupulously— честно, добросовестно; тщательно, скрупулезно;whimsical— причудливый, эксцентричный; прихотливый; фантастический;toeschew— воздерживаться, избегать, остерегаться, сторониться). If this had been a tale that I was inventing (если бы это была история, которую придумывал я; toinvent— изобретать; выдумывать, сочинять) I would certainly have made it more probable (я, конечно бы, сделал ее более правдоподобной; probable— вероятный, возможный; правдоподобный). As it is (в действительности), unless I had heard it with my own ears (если бы я не услышал ее своими собственными ушами) I am not sure that I should believe it (я не уверен, что я бы поверил в нее). I do not know whether Jean Charvin told me the truth (я не знаю, сказал ли Жан Шарвен мне правду), and yet the words with which he closed his final visit to me had a convincing ring (и все же те слова, которые он /произнес/ в свое последнее посещение, звучали убедительно; toconvince— убеждать, уверять;ring— звон, звяканье; звук, звучание). I had asked him what were his plans for the future (я спросил у него, каковы его планы на будущее).
fantastic [fxn'txstIk], verisimilitude ["verIsI'mIlItju: d], eschew [I'stSu: ], bizarre [bI'zQ: ], scrupulously ['skru: pjulqslI], whimsical ['wImzIk(q)l]
I know that this is a fantastic story; I am by way of being a realist, and in the stories I write I see verisimilitude. I eschew the bizarre as scrupulously as I avoid the whimsical. If this had been a tale that I was inventing I would certainly have made it more probable. As it is, unless I had heard it with my own ears I am not sure that I should believe it. I do not know whether Jean Charvin told me the truth, and yet the words with which he closed his final visit to me had a convincing ring. I had asked him what were his plans for the future.