Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник)
Шрифт:
4) There had been no crime connected with the hat so far.
5) Being familiar with the deductive method, Watson, however, could not apply it.
6) Mr. Henry Baker was grateful to the commissionaire who had saved him from the roughs.
7) Sherlock Holmes retained the hat, although he had to eat the goose.
Vocabulary
2. Fill in the gaps with the following words. In some cases you will have to think of other words with identical roots.
disreputable, deduce, retrogression, genius
1) Dr. Watson can’t… as much as Sherlock Holmes from an ordinary old hat.
Sherlock Holmes is believed to have invented the famous… method which proved useful during so many inquiries. Logical… consists in moving from the general to the specific as opposed to induction.
2) The criminals have worked out an… robbery plan.
Is it true that one can never be… and evil at the same time?
3) Take off this… old coat! You remind me of all the Dickens’ characters at once.
Luck is changeable: sometimes even a harmless little mistake can bring you into…
4) Once prosperous, the country has now sunk into the civil war, which caused chaos, devastation and the… of culture.
Whatever we discuss, he always… towards the opposite view.
3. Find a synonym for each word in the second column.
Grammar
4. Translate the following sentences into English using constructions with rather.
1) Меня
2) Эта огромная яхта принадлежит моей подруге, а точнее – ее отцу.
3) Я проделал довольно долгий путь и нуждаюсь в отдыхе.
4) Она лучше сбежит, чем снова вернется жить в тот дом.
5) Пойдемте, я покажу вам дорогу. Я довольно хорошо знаю эти места.
6) С тех пор как его жена умерла, он живет здесь, точнее, просто существует в ожидании конца.
Interesting facts about Great Britain
Goose was an important part of the traditional English Christmas dinner. Even now it is not entirely replaced by turkey. According to the legend, Queen Elizabeth I was eating goose when she received good news about the victory over the Spanish Armada. Inspired, she announced that there should always be a goose on every Christmas table. As Rod Molisse says in his annotation to “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”, “The Christmas goose also carries considerable symbolic meaning”. Eating goose used to be part of the ancient rites of the goose gods in many early European cultures.
7) Я бы, пожалуй, выпил молочный коктейль, а то чай быстро надоедает.
8) Это довольно неглупая собака, хоть и очень навязчивая.
9) Неужели ты не понимаешь, что скрывать от него свое прошлое – это в некоторой степени обман?
10) Заставить его с кем-то пообщаться – это уже в какой-то мере победа.
Writing
5. Find out some information about other Christmas traditions in Britain.
II
“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped.
“Eh? What’s the matter with it? Has it returned to life and flew out of the kitchen window?”
“Look, sir! Look what my wife found in its crop!” He held out his hand and showed a brilliantly shiny blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size. But it was so pure and radiant that it twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand.
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. “By Jove [57] , Peterson!” said he, “you’ve found a real treasure. I suppose you know what you have got?”
57
by Jove – Ей-богу
“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were putty.”
“It’s more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone.”
“Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I realized.
“Precisely so. l should know its size and shape, because I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lately. It is absolutely unique, and we can only imagine its value. The reward of 1000 pounds is offered, but it doesn’t make even a twentieth part of the market price.”
“A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy [58] !” The commissionaire sat down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us.
“That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are sentimental considerations in the background which would make the Countess give half her fortune away if she could but get the gem back.”
“It was lost, if I remember right, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,” I remarked.
58
Great Lord of mercy –
Боже милостивый!“Precisely so, on December 22d, just five days ago. John Horner, a plumber, was accused of having stolen it from the lady’s jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case has been referred to the Assizes [59] . I have something about it here, I believe.” He looked through his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until at last he read the following paragraph:
“Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was accused of having upon the 22d inst., stolen from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might fix the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been called away. When he returned, he found that Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been open, and that the small jewel-case in which the Countess used to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing-table. Ryder gave the alarm immediately, and Horner was arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the Countess, declared that she had heard Ryder’s cry of dismay when the robbery was discovered, and had rushed into the room, where she found out the gem was missing. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, who struggled madly, and insisted on his innocence. He had shown signs of intense emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was carried out of court.”
59
referred to the Assizes – передано в суд
“Hum! So much for [60] the police-court,” said Holmes thoughtfully, putting aside the paper. “The question is what sequence of events is leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly become much more important and less innocent. Here is the stone; the stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must find this gentleman and reveal his part in this little mystery. To do this, we must try the simplest means first and advertise in all the evening papers.”
60
so much for – это все, что касается