Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник)
Шрифт:
“‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Mr. Duncan Ross. Are you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?’
“I answered that I had not.
“His face fell.
“‘Dear me [37] !’ he said, ‘that is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The league was founded for the propagation of the red-headed men. It is very bad that you are a bachelor.’
“My face fell at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I would not have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for a few minutes he said that it would be all right.
37
Dear me! –
“‘We cannot lose a man with such a head of hair as yours. When will you be able to start work?’ said he.
“‘Well, I have a business already,’ said I.
“‘Oh, never mind about that [38] , Mr. Wilson!’ said Vincent Spaulding. ‘I am able to look after that for you.’
“‘What will be the working hours?’ I asked.
“‘Ten to two.’
“A pawnbroker’s business is mostly done in the evening, Mr. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before pay-day; so it suited me very well to earn a little in the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that he would see to anything that turned up.
38
never mind about that – не беспокойтесь об этом
“‘That will suit me very well,’ said I. ‘And the pay?’
“‘It is 4 pounds a week.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘Very simple.’
“‘What do you call very simple?’
“‘Well, you have to be in the office the whole time. If you leave, you will lose your position.’
“‘It’s only four hours a day, and I shall not leave,’ said I.
“‘Neither sickness, nor business, nor anything else will excuse you,’ said Mr. Duncan Ross; ‘you must stay there, or you lose your position.’
“‘And the work?’
“‘You are to copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. You must find your ink, pens, and paper, but we give you this table and chair. Will you be ready tomorrow?’
“‘Certainly,’ I answered.
“‘Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once more on the important position which you have received.’ He showed me out of the room and I went home with my assistant. I was so pleased at my good fortune.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What client called on Sherlock Holmes one day? What did he look like?
2. What did Sherlock Holmes tell Dr. Watson about Mr. Wilson’s case?
3. What did Sherlock Holmes guess about Mr. Wilson? What details helped him? Was Mr. Wilson impressed? Why (not)?
4. What did Mr. Wilson tell Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson about his business and household?
5. What did you learn about Mr. Wilson’s assistant?
6. How did Mr. Wilson learn about a vacancy on the Red-headed League?
7. Was Mr. Wilson enthusiastic about the vacancy? Why (not)?
8. Why did Mr. Wilson go to Fleet Street in the end?
9. Why did he take his assistant with him?
10. What did Mr. Wilson see in Fleet Street and in the office of the Red-headed League?
11. Whom did Mr. Wilson meet in the office? Did Mr. Ross employ him at once?
12. What was the work like?
2. Think and say if these statements are right or wrong. Correct the wrong ones, give your reasons.
1. Vincent Spaulding agreed to work for Mr. Wilson for half the wages to learn the business.
2. An American millionaire Ezekiah Hopkins left his enormous fortune to help and propagate red-headed men in London.
3. Mr. Wilson was sure that the whole affair of the Red-Headed League was a fraud and wanted Sherlock Holmes to explain to him what it was all about.
3. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.
1. as far as (I have heard / I know)
2. used to do smth / didn’t use to do smth
3. to be going on
4. it’s no use (smb’s) doing smth
5. to find oneself in some place
6. to shout at the top of one’s voice
7. to see to smth / to see to it that
8. to turn up
4. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above.
1. As the teacher came into the classroom where all the children were fighting she asked: “What is happening here?”
2. Eliza’s neighbour promised her to take care of her cat while she was away.
3. If such a job comes your way, don’t hesitate to take it.
4. In the past there were high trees opposite my house but there aren’t any left.
5. It’s useless arguing with her. She just won’t listen.
6. I suddenly realized that I had arrived back at the hotel without knowing how I came there.
7. It was so noisy in the night club that we had to shout as loudly as we could to be heard.
5. Complete the sentences with the phrases above in the correct form (one gap for a phrase).
1. When the boys disappeared Aunt Polly was very anxious and made a lot of people look for them. But then the wise heads decided that the boys had gone off on the raft and would soon… at the next town down the river.
2. There’s something that makes her anxious and unhappy. I wonder what it is. – How do you know? – She often sits in front of the fire thinking of something and paying no attention to what… around her.
3… I know, he… be a good sportsman in his younger days, but I’m not sure if he plays any sports now.
4. I’m surprised to see you smoking, you didn’t… smoke.
5… complaining, they won’t do anything about it.
6. After the accident Ben… in hospital.
7. I looked out of the window to see two small boys… I thought they were quarrelling but they were just playing.
II
“Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again; for now I was sure that the whole affair must be some great fraud. It seemed very strange that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. However, in the morning I decided to have a look at it after all, so I bought a bottle of ink, and with a pen and seven sheets of paper, I started off for Fleet Street.