Любимые герои. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Treasure Island

just as it was ready to row off. As soon as the boat reached land, I jumped out of it and ran into the forest.

“Jim! Jim!” shouted Silver.

But you understand that I did not stop.

I ran a long time, then I stopped to rest. After some time I heard voices. I hid in the bushes. Soon I saw Silver and another sailor, Tom by name. They were arguing. Suddenly I heard a terrible scream far away.

“Silver,” said Tom, “tell me, what was that?” “That?” answered Silver with a smile. “That?

Oh, I think that was Alan.”

“Alan!” cried Tom. “So you have killed Alan, have you? Kill me too if you can, but I will not go with you!”

And with that the brave man turned away and walked back. With a cry Silver jumped on him and killed him with a knife.

I was frightened to death. I started running1 again and ran as fast as I could. I did not know what to do. I did not know how to return to the Hispaniola, because I was afraid of Silver. It was all over, I thought. Good-bye to the Hispaniola; good-bye to the squire, the doctor and the captain! There was nothing left for me but death.2

All this time I was running. Suddenly a strange man, dressed in rags, jumped out from among the trees and stopped me.

1started running — побежал

2There was nothing left for me but death. — Мне оста-

валось только умереть.

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Robert Louis Stevenson

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Ben Gunn1,” he answered. “I am poor Ben Gunn, and I haven’t spoken to a man these three years. What’s your name?”

“Jim,” I told him.

“Now, Jim, you tell me true: your ship isn’t Flint’s ship?” he asked.

I answered him: “It’s not Flint’s ship, and Flint is dead: but I’ll tell you true, as you ask me: there are some of Flint’s men on board; and that is bad for us.”

“Is Silver among them?” “Yes.”

Here I told Ben Gunn the whole story of our voy- age and the difficult position we were in now.

“You are a good boy, Jim,” he said, “and I will help you. Do you think the squire will help me?” “I am sure he will,” said I. “But I don’t know

how to get back on board.”

“I have a boat,” he said. “I made it with my two hands. I keep it under the white rock at the southeast of the island.”

At this moment we heard the sound of a gun.

“They have begun to fight!” I cried. “Follow me!”

We ran towards the anchorage. Soon we heard a volley of rifles2. Then I saw the British flag above the wood in front of me.

1Ben Gunn ['ben'MEn] — Бен Ганн

2a volley of rifles — ружейные залпы

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II

(The captain, the squire and the doctor decided to leave the ship and go to the shore. There was a stockade on the island, not far from the anchorage. It was a good place for their camp. They took rifles, powder and provisions and put them into a boat. On their side they had the squire’s men — Redruth, Hunter, and Joyce, and Gray, one of the sailors, who was not a pirate. They safely reached the shore and went towards the stockade. But when they were quite near it, they were attacked by the pirates and Redruth was killed. They fired theirriflesandkilledoneortwopirates;theothers disappeared. Then they went into the stockade and Captain Smollett ordered to hoist the British flag, which Jim saw from the wood.)

As soon as Ben Gunn saw the flag, he stopped and said:

“There’s your friends. They are in the old stockade which was made years and years ago by Flint.

Now, Jim, when your friends want to find Ben Gunn, you know where to find him — just where you saw me today. And he who comes1 must have a white flag in his hand, and he must come alone.”

“Well,” said I, “I think I understand. You have something to tell and you wish to see the squire or the doctor.”

1 he who comes — тот, кто придет

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Robert Louis Stevenson

Ben Gunn went back and I went towards the flag. Soon I came to the stockade, which was very high and strong. Inside the stockade there was a house. I climbed over the stockade and was very glad to see my friends.

I soon told my story and began to look about me. The house was made of logs — roof, walls and floor. In one corner there was a big stone and an old iron basket: this was the fireplace. The chim- ney was a hole in the roof: very little smoke went out by that hole; most of it remained in the house.

The trees inside the stockade were all cut down. The stockade was six feet high, without any door. The posts of the stockade were not close together1, so the stockade could not shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house could see them very well and shoot them easily through the holes which were made on each side of the house.

We were seven in the house: Captain Smollett, the squire, the doctor, Hunter, Joyce, the new man Gray and myself. Captain Smollett found work for each one. Four men were sent out to gather fire- wood; the doctor was made cook; I was told to guard the door. The captain himself went from one to another and helped.

After supper Captain Smollett, the doctor and the squire sat together in a corner to decide what to do. We hoped to kill the pirates before they ran away with the Hispaniola. Now they were four-

1 were not close together — стояли не вплотную

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teen against the seven of us, but we had two allies — rum and the climate. As for1 the first, the pirates drank all the time: though we were about half a mile away, we could hear how they roared and sang late into the night; as for the second, the place where they had made their camp was low, wet and very unhealthy, and the doctor said that half of them would be ill before the week was over.

III

In the morning I was waked by the sound of voices.“Whiteflag!”somebodysaid;andthen,with surprise: “Silver himself!”

I jumped up and ran to a hole in the wall. There were two men outside the stockade. One

of them was holding a white flag. The other was

Silver himself.

Captain Smollett went up to the door and shouted:

“Who goes? Stand, or we fire!” “White flag!” cried Silver.

“And what do you want with your white flag?” said the captain.

This time the other man replied. “Captain Silver, sir, wants to talk to you,” he shouted.

“Captain Silver! Don’t know him. Who is he?” cried the captain.

1 As for — Что касается

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Robert Louis Stevenson

“It’s me, sir!” answered Silver.

“My man,” said Captain Smollett. “I have no wish to talk to you, if you want to talk to me, you can come in.”

Silver climbed over the stockade and came up to the house.

“Well,” said Captain Smollett.

“Well, sir,” said Silver, “we have come to make terms1. We want that treasure and we shall have it — that’s our point! You want to save your lives, I think; and that is your point. You have a map, haven’t you?”

“Maybe,” replied the captain.

“Oh, well, you have, I know that. Now, here are our terms: you give us the map. For this we shall take you on the ship and put you ashore somewhere, or, if you like, we can leave you on this island and promise to send a ship for you.”

“Very good,” said the captain. “Now you’ll hear me. If you come one by one, unarmed, I’ll clap you in irons2 and take you to England. If not — you are lost3. You can’t find the treasure. You can’t sail the ship. And these are the last good words you hear from me, because when I meet you next time, I’ll kill you. Now go away and be quick.”

With a terrible oath, Silver went back to the stockade. The man with the white flag helped him to get over it, and in a minute they disappeared among the trees.

1to make terms — прийти к соглашению

2I'll clap you in irons — я надену на вас наручники

3you are lost — вы погибли

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(In an hour the pirates attacked the log-house.

In the battle Captain Smollett was wounded. Hunter and Joyce were killed. Of the fourteen pirates five were dead. The remaining nine ran away.)

QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1.What did Jim learn from the talk of Silver and the other sailors?

2.How did Jim meet Ben Gunn?

3.Where did Ben Gunn keep his boat?

4.Describe the stockade and the house.

5.Why did Silver come to Captain Smollett? What did Captain Smollett tell him?

Part III

I

After dinner the squire and the doctor sat near the wounded captain and talked some time. Then the doctor took his hat and pistols, put the map in his pocket, climbed over the stockade and went into the wood.

Gray, who was sitting at the far end of the house and talking to me, was so surprised that he took his pipe out of his mouth and forgot to put it back.

“Why,” he said, “is Doctor Livesey mad?” “No,” I said. “I think that he is going to see Ben

Gunn.”

Later I learnt that I was right. But now I was thinking about how pleasant it was in the wood,

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in the shade of the trees, when it was so hot in the stockade under the sun. Then I had an idea. I decided to go to the white rock and see if Ben Gunn really had a boat there.

When the squire and Gray were helping the captain with his bandages, I put some bread into my pockets, took two pistols and quickly climbed over the stockade.

It was the second time that I was leaving my comrades, and this action was much worse than the first, because I was leaving only two men to guard the house. But in the end it helped greatly to save all of us.

I went straight to the east coast. When I reached it, I turned to the south and walked along the coast through the woods until I thought I was near the white rock. Then through thick bushes I climbed up the rocks and looked around.

In front of me was the anchorage and the His- paniola. At the side of the Hispaniola I saw one of the ship’s boats and Silver in it. He was talking to two pirates who were standing on the stern of the ship. Soon the boat rowed to the shore, and the two pirates went below into the cabin.

By this time the sun had gone down behind the Spy-Glass. It was getting dark. I saw that I must lose no time if I wanted to find Ben Gunn’s boat that evening.

The white rock was not far away and I went to it. On one side of the rock there was a small hollow covered with bushes, and in it I found Ben Gunn’s boat. It was very small and had one oar.

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Now I had another idea. I decided to sail up to the Hispaniola under cover of the night1, cut the anchor rope and let the ship go ashore2. “Then,” I thought, “if the pirates want to leave the island on the ship, they won’t be able to.”

It was now quite dark. I knew where the His- paniola was only by the light which was coming from the cabin window on the stern.

Ben Gunn’s boat was difficult to manage, but I was greatly helped by the tide, which carried me right in the direction of the ship. Soon I was at the stern and caught hold of3 the anchor rope. I heard the sound of loud voices from the cabin, where the pirates were drinking. I took out my knife and little by little cut the thick anchor rope. When at last it was cut, I seized the end of it, which was hanging from the stern.

Why I did it I don’t know. But when I had the end of the rope in my hands, I decided that I must have one look through the cabin window.

Holding on to the rope4, I began to pull myself nearer to the ship. When I was close, I stood up in my boat and looked into the cabin through the window.

By this time both the ship and the boat were moving very fast because the current was very strong. We were already passing the pirates’ camp

1under cover of the night — под покровом ночи

2let the ship go ashore — чтобы корабль выбросило на скалы

3caught hold of — схватился за

4Holding on to the rope — Держась за веревку

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Robert Louis Stevenson

andIsawtheirfireandheardtheirdrunkensongs.

I could not understand why the pirates on theHis- paniola did not show alarm. But when I looked into the cabin, I understood: they were fighting; each had his hand on the other’s throat.

I fell back into the boat and let go of1 the rope. At the same moment I noticed that the ship and the boat were changing their course. Now I saw the camp fire of the pirates behind my back. The current had turned to the south and was carrying us into the open sea.

I lay down in the bottom of the boat and began to wait for my end. I was sure that as soon as the boat was in the open sea, it would be broken to pieces by the waves.

I think I lay many hours while the waves rocked the boat. Finally I fell asleep.

II

It was morning when I woke up and saw that the boat was at the south-west end of Treasure Island. The Hispaniola was nowhere to be seen.2 A strong current was carrying me to the north along the coast. I saw that it was dangerous to try to approach the coast because the sea was very rough there. In the distance I saw a cape — the Cape of the Woods, as it was marked on the map.

1let go of — отпустил

2The Hispaniola was nowhere to be seen. — «Эспаньо-

лы» нигде не было видно.

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