Английский язык с Джеромом К. Джеромом. Трое в лодке, не считая собаки

Еремин Андрей

relic ['relk] surmise [s'maz] conscientiously [,kn'ensl] fossil [fsl] preglacial [,pri:'lel]

My own idea, on first catching sight of the object, was that it was a Roman relic of some sort, — relic of what I do not know, possibly of a coffin.

The neighbourhood of the upper Thames is rich in Roman relics, and my surmise seemed to me a very probable one; but our serious young man, who is a bit of a geologist, pooh-poohed my Roman relic theory, and said it was clear to the meanest intellect (in which category he seemed to be grieved that he could not conscientiously include mine) that the thing the boy had found was the fossil of a whale; and he pointed out to us various evidences proving that it must have belonged to the preglacial period.

To settle the dispute, we appealed to the boy (чтобы

разрешить спор, мы обратились к мальчику). We told him not to be afraid, but to speak the plain truth (сказали ему не бояться и сказать нам чистую правду): Was it the fossil of a pre-Adamite whale, or was it an early Roman coffin (было ли это ископаемыми останками доисторического кита или древнеримским гробом; Adamite — потомок Адама, человек)?

The boy said it was The Pride of the Thames (мальчик сказал, что это «Гордость Темзы»).

We thought this a very humorous answer on the part of the boy at first (сначала мы сочли это очень забавным ответом /со стороны/ мальчика), and somebody gave him twopence as a reward for his ready wit (и кто-то дал ему два пенса в качестве награды за его остроумие; ready — готовый; легкий, быстрый; wit — остроумие, ум); but when he persisted in keeping up the joke, as we thought, too long, we got vexed with him (но когда он упорно продолжал повторять эту шутку, то он начал раздражать нас; to keep up — поддерживать; продолжать; to vex — досаждать, раздражать).

"Come, come, my lad (ну, ну, мой мальчик)!" said our captain sharply (сказал резко наш капитан), "don't let us have any nonsense (довольно глупостей). You take your mother's washing-tub home again, and bring us a boat (унеси корыто своей мамы обратно домой и приведи нам лодку; tub — кадка, бадья; бочонок, бочка)."

reward [r'w:d] captain ['kaeptn]

To settle the dispute, we appealed to the boy. We told him not to be afraid, but to speak the plain truth: Was it the fossil of a pre-Adamite whale, or was it an early Roman coffin?

The boy said it was The Pride of the Thames.

We thought this a very humorous answer on the part of the boy at first, and somebody gave him twopence as a reward for his ready wit; but when he persisted in keeping up the joke, as we thought, too long, we got vexed with him.

"Come, come, my lad!" said our captain sharply, "don't let us have any nonsense. You take your mother's washing-tub home again, and bring us a boat."

The boat-builder himself came up then (тогда подошел сам человек, построивший лодку; builder — строитель; изготовитель; плотник), and assured us, on his word, as a practical man, that the thing really was a boat (и заверил нас честным словом как специалист, что эта вещь — действительно лодка; upon my word —

честное слово; practical man — практик) — was, in fact, the boat, the "double sculling skiff" selected to take us on our trip down the river (более того, та самая лодка, четырехвесельный ялик, выбранный для нашего путешествия вниз по реке).

We grumbled a good deal (мы много = долго ворчали). We thought he might, at least, have had it whitewashed or tarred (сказали, что он мог бы, по крайней мере, выбелить или просмолить ее; tar — смола, деготь) — had something done to it to distinguish it from a bit of a wreck (хоть что-нибудь сделать с ней, чтобы /можно было/ отличить ее от обломка затонувшего судна); but he could not see any fault in it (но он не видел в ней никаких недостатков).

He even seemed offended at our remarks (казалось, он даже обиделся на наши замечания). He said he had picked us out the best boat in all his stock (сказал, что выбрал для нас лучшую лодку из всех; stock — совокупность объектов: род, семья; запас, ассортимент /товаров/; парк /вагонов и т. д./), and he thought we might have been more grateful (и полагает, что мы могли бы быть более признательны/благодарны).

distinguish [ds'tw] fault [f:lt] offended ['fendd]

The boat-builder himself came up then, and assured us, on his word, as a practical man, that the thing really was a boat — was, in fact, the boat, the "double sculling skiff" selected to take us on our trip down the river.

We grumbled a good deal. We thought he might, at least, have had it whitewashed or tarred — had something done to it to distinguish it from a bit of a wreck; but he could not see any fault in it.

He even seemed offended at our remarks. He said he had picked us out the best boat in all his stock, and he thought we might have been more grateful.

He said it, The Pride of the Thames, had been in use, just as it now stood (or rather as it now hung together) (он сказал, «Гордость Темзы» используется, в том самом /виде/, в каком она стоит сейчас /или, скорее, держится на воде/), for the last forty years, to his knowledge (последние сорок лет, насколько ему известно; to hang together — держаться сплоченно, поддерживать друг друга), and nobody had complained of it before, and he did not see why we should be the first to begin (и никто не жаловался на нее раньше, и он не понимает, почему это мы первые начали).

We argued no more (мы больше не спорили).

We fastened the so-called boat together with some pieces of string (мы связали так называемую лодку веревкой), got a bit of wall-paper and pasted over the shabbier places (достали кусок обоев и заклеили самые позорные места; shabby — поношенный; потрепанный, протертый /об одежде, мебели и т. п./; убогий, захудалый), said our prayers, and stepped on board (прочитали молитвы и ступили на борт).