Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. Театр

Франк Илья

women, young men and women not so young (молодые мужчины и молодые

женщины, молодые мужчины и женщины не такие уж молодые), men with

bald heads and men with fat bellies (мужчины с лысыми головами и мужчины с

толстыми животами), old harridans clinging desperately to their painted

semblance of youth (старые греховодницы, цепляющиеся отчаянно за свои

собственные раскрашенные подобия юности). Some were in love, and some

were jealous, and some were indifferent (некоторые из них любили, некоторые

ревновали, и некоторым

было все равно; indifferent — безразличный,

равнодушный).

archway ['Q:tSweI] harridan ['hxrIdn] semblance ['semblqns]

The room in which she sat was connected by three archways with the big dining-

room where they supped and danced; amid the crowd doubtless were a certain

number who had been to the play. How surprised they would be if they knew that

the quiet little woman in the corner of the adjoining room, her face half hidden by a

felt hat, was Julia Lambert. It gave her a pleasant sense of independence to sit there

unknown and unnoticed. They were acting a play for her and she was the audience.

She caught brief glimpses of them as they passed the archway, young men and

young women, young men and women not so young, men with bald heads and men

with fat bellies, old harridans clinging desperately to their painted semblance of

youth. Some were in love, and some were jealous, and some were indifferent.

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru

856

Her steak arrived (подали бифштекс). It was cooked exactly as she liked it (он

был приготовлен именно так, как она любила), and the onions were crisp and

brown (и лук был хрустящим и румяным; brown — зд. поджаренный,

подрумяненный). She ate the fried potatoes delicately (она изящно ела

жаренный картофель), with her fingers (/держа/ его пальцами), savouring each

one (смакуя каждый кусочек) as though it were the passing moment that she

would bid delay (как если бы это было уходящим: «мимолетным» моментом,

который она бы попросила задержаться; to bid (bade, bidden) — предлагать

цену, приказывать).

"What is love beside steak and onions (что есть любовь по сравнению с

бифштексом

с луком)?" she asked (спросила она). It was enchanting to be alone

(это было очаровательно — быть одной) and allow her mind to wander (и

позволить своим мыслям блуждать). She thought once more of Tom (она еще

раз подумала о Томе) and spiritually shrugged a humorous shoulder (и в душе

пожала смешливо плечами). "It was an amusing experience (это был забавный

опыт)."

onion ['Anjqn] delicately ['delIkItlI] savour ['seIvq]

Her steak arrived. It was cooked exactly as she liked it, and the onions were crisp

and brown. She ate the fried potatoes delicately, with her fingers, savouring each

one as though it were the passing moment that she would bid delay.

"What is love beside steak and onions?" she asked. It was enchanting to be alone

and allow her mind to wander. She thought once more of Tom and spiritually

shrugged a humorous shoulder. "It was an amusing experience."

It would certainly be useful to her one of these days (он обязательно будет ей

полезен, в ближайшем будущем: «на днях»). The sight of the dancers seen

through the archway (вид танцоров, которых было видно через сводчатые

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru

857

проходы) was so much like a scene in a play (был так похож на сцену из

спектакля) that she was reminded of a notion that she had first had in St. Malo

(что ей напомнило о той идее, которая пришла ей в голову впервые в Сен-

Мало). The agony that she had suffered when Tom deserted her (те муки,

которые она испытывала, когда Том бросил ее) recalled to her memory Racine's

Phиdre (вызвал в ее памяти «Федру» Расина) which she had studied as a girl

with old Jane Taitbout (которую она изучила, когда была девочкой, со старой

Жанной Тэбу). She read the play again (она перечитала пьесу снова). The

torments that afflicted Theseus' queen were the torments that afflicted her (те

самые муки, что приводили в отчаяние жену: «королеву» Тезея, были теми

же самыми муками, что привели ее в отчаяние), and she could not but think (и

она не могла не думать) that there was a striking similarity in their situations (что

была некая поразительная схожесть в их ситуациях). That was a part she could