Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Глядя на лес снежным вечером

Прервал я санок легких бег,

Любуясь, как ложится снег

На тихий лес,— и так далек

Владеющий им человек.

Мой удивляется конек:

Где увидал я огонек,

Зовущий гостя в теплый дом

В декабрьский темный вечерок;

Позвякивает бубенцом,

Переминаясь надо льдом,

И наста слышен легкий хруст,

Припорошенного снежком.

А лес манит, глубок и пуст.

Но словом данным я влеком:

Мне еще ехать далеко,

Мне еще ехать далеко.

Перевод И. Кашкина

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-by;

And further still at an unearthly height

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

Знакомый с ночью

Я был тем самым, с ночью кто знаком.

Я вышел в дождь, - я в дождь вошел опять,

Ушел за фонари, далек уж дом,

Грусть переулков стал я выявлять;

Мне встретился дежурный постовой, -

Прошел его, не в силах объяснять, -

Потупив взгляд, поникнув головой.

Брел дальше, вдруг раздался чей-то крик, -

Прервался ... . Вздрогнув, приглушил шаг свой, -

Зов или же прощание? - в тот же миг

Часов небесных я услышал бой, -

Но временных градаций, - я постиг, -

Нет никаких у тех часов; при том

Я был тем самым, с ночью кто знаком.

Перевод В. Чистяков

J ack london

(1876 - 1916)

Jack London, the famous American novelist and short-storey writer, was born in San Francisco, California on January 12, 1876. The family was very poor. When the boy was eight, he learned to read, and read everything he could get. He borrowed books from the public library and spent all his free time with a book. He began to work very early, when he was nine. He got up at three and delivered newspapers, after that he went to school. After school he delivered evening papers. On week-ends he worked as a porter at a hotel.

After graduating from a grammar school he continued working as a newspaper boy and did other jobs. His father was seriously ill at that time and Jack had to feed the family. He found work in a factory, but his wages were so low that he worked overtime. When jack was a boy he dreamed of being a sailor and now, when he had free time, he spent I near the sea. On one such day he was offered work as a sailor on board a ship going to Japan. Jack London worked on that ship for a year and in 1893 came back to San Francisco. His family was near starvation. Jack found a job at a factory, after a day at a factory he could think of nothing but sleep. It was at that period that his first short storey was published. A San Francisco newspaper offered a prize for a storey, Jack sent his short story and was awarded the first prize.

It was more and more difficult to get a job in San Francisco and Jack London marched with the army of unemployed to Washington to ask for bread and work. Then he tramped all over the United States and Canada and spent a month in prison for tramping. That month in prison helped him to understand the class struggle. He saw men go mad or beaten to death there. When London returned home, he decided to continue his education and after three month of study entered the University of California. But he spent there only a semester because his family needed his help. London found a job at a laundry and at the same time decided to try his luck in literature.

Working day and night, he wrote poetry, essays and stories. He sent them to magazines, but nothing was published. Gold was found in Alaska at that time? So London went there. He hoped to become rich enough to devote himself to literature. He worked there for a year, but didn’t find any gold. He found the heroes of his stories: strong and brave people.

In 1898 Jack London returned home and found his father dead. Again he had to take different jobs – washing windows, cleaning carpets. At the same time he continued to write and in 1898 his story “To the Man on Trail” was published and was a success.

In the next four years the writer published his northern stories “The Son of the Wolf”, “Children of the Forest”, “A Daughter of the Snows” and others, which make Jack London famous and brought him enough money to devote himself to literature.

In 1902 London visited he capital of England. He spent much time in the slums of London and later wrote one of his best books, “The People of the Abyss” (1903), where he showed a horrible picture of the poverty of English working people at that time.

The Russian Revolution of 1905 led London to better understanding of the class struggle. His works “The War of the Classes”(1905), “Revolution” (1908), “The Iron Heel”(1907) were written under the influence of the Russian Revolution.

The years 1905 – 1909 were most successful for the writer. He published “White Fang”, “The South Sea Tales”, “Martin Eden” and many other works which brought the author great fame. In “Martin Eden” he used many facts from his own life. In the last years of his life Jack London moved away from the working class. His literary works of this period were less important. He did not touch upon any social problems in them but showed the success in life of some men. (“The Little Lady of the Big House”). In 1916 Jack London died.