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Файл:Жизнь Роберта Льюиса Стивенсона. Учебное пособие – книга для чтения на английском языке
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R
OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. HIS L
IFE
Stevenson sighed with relief and started to pack. She
liked Scotland and she liked her in-laws.
Now they will see what good care I have been
taking of you, she said proudly.
They arrived in Edinburgh in June just when the
Scottish weather was at its best. Thomas and Margaret
Stevenson greeted them joyously with open arms. We
have a summer cottage all picked out! Thomas Stevenson
said. Yes, said Smouts mother. Its near Pitlochry.
So off they all started for Pitlochry in the Scottish
hills.
Assignments
I. Answer the following questions:
1. Where did Stevenson stay in Monterey?
2. What did he do to earn his living?
3. What did Robert Louis and Fanny decide to do?
4. Where did they go to get permission to marry?
5. What letter did Stevenson get from his father?
6. When did the wedding of Robert Louis Stevenson
and Fanny take place?
7. Where did they decide to return after the wedding?
8. Who met them in Scotland?
9. Why couldnt they stay at home?
10. What country did the doctor advise Robert Louis
Stevenson to go to?
11. What new member of the family went with
Mr and Mrs Stevenson?
II. Divide the chapter into logically complete parts
and give a brief summary of each. Suggest possible
titles for these parts.
III. Retell the contents of the letter which Stevenson
got from his father.
91
C. O. Peare
IV. Imagine you are Robert Louis Stevenson.
Speak about your feelings when you returned home
to Scotland after you had been away from home a
year.
V. Compose a dialogue which might have taken
place between Stevenson and his parents who came to
the pier to welcome their Smout home to Scotland.
VI. Speak about the scenery of Switzerland and
the town of Davos where the Stevensons lived.
VII. What is the mood prevalent in the chapter? Is
it cheerfulness, happiness, pride, nervousness, excitement,
triumph, gloom? Prove your statement.
Chapter XIII
TREASURE
I
SLAND
Where shall we adventure, today that were afloat,
Wary of the weather and steering by a star?
Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,
To Providence, or Babylon, or off to Malabar?
(Pirate Story)
Kinnaird was the little village near Pitlochry where
the Stevensons had rented a house, with hills in the
background.
Stevensons long rest in Switzerland had done him
a world of good. By the time he reached Kinnaird his
head was full of new ideas and he was full of energy.
92
R
OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. HIS L
IFE
He and Fanny worked out some stories together, for
she had writing talent as well.
They stayed at Kinnaird for two months, and during
that time Stevenson wrote two of his very famous stories.
One was Thrawn Janet
1
and the other
The Merry Men
Im writing a series of supernatural stories, he
announced.
The Body Snatcher
3
will be one.
The family moved farther north for the last month
of the summer. They took a cottage in the village of
Braemar, in the Cairngorm Mountains.
Braemar was quiet and peaceful on a country road.
The scenery was even lovelier than in Kinnaird. All
around were hills covered with green forests. The
Cairngorm Mountains went far into the distance, hill
behind hill, hill behind hill.
Stevenson worked very hard. He began thinking of
becoming a professor at Edinburgh University. His
parents didnt discourage him. Fanny knew he wasnt
earning enough money from his writings, and that was
making him unhappy and making him work too much.
She knew also that being a professor was out of the
question.
4
But he grew angry easily and she didnt
cross him. She understood him and knew it would be
best to let things run their course.
5
Meanwhile Stevenson decided to practise for the
job of professor. He wrote a long paper on law.
Now, Lloyd, he said to his stepson, you must
help me. You can be my audience while I read this
paper. Pay close attention.
2
.
1
Thrawn Janet
2
The Merry Men
3
The Body Snatcher
4
being а professor was out of the question o том, чтобы
стать профессором, не могло быть и речи
5
it would be best to let things run their course áûëî áû
['TrPn 'GxnIt]
«Окаянная Джанет»
«Веселые молодцы»
«Похититель трупов»
самое лучшее, если бы все шло своим чередом
93
C. O. Peare
Thirteen-year-old Lloyd sat on a hard chair while
RLS stood before him with some papers in his hand.
Lloyd was his roomful of students.
Professor Stevenson paced up and down and read on
and on. Lloyds chair grew harder and harder. Still the
professor talked. A whole hour passed. There were pages
more to go. Lloyd yawned. The professor talked. At
last, when Lloyd could stand no more he sighed heavily
and said: Why dont you try to write something
interesting?
Interesting? Stevenson hadnt thought about this
work exactly in that way. Maybe that was the trouble
with all of his writings. Maybe they would sell better if
he could make them interesting enough for young people
interesting enough so that Lloyd wouldnt yawn.
Stevenson went back to his desk to think. All the
next morning as he lay resting in bed he was thinking.
What would Lloyd consider interesting? What had he
liked as a boy?
Robin Hood
Aladdin
! The Red Rover
! The Smuggler!
! Stories of action and adventure. He began
to have an idea.
May I borrow your water-colour paints and
brushes? he asked Lloyd.
Íå wrote to Henley in London, Please send me a
good reference book on pirates and their ways.
First he drew and painted a map of a make-believe
island Skeleton Island. The writing began. After a
few days he joined his family at teatime with the
opening chapters of his adventure story.
Whats the story called? Lloyd asked.
The Sea Cook
, or Treasure Island
1
,
said RLS.
Stevenson liked to act, and he read dramatically
and his family listened. Some visitors were at the
Braemar cottage that evening, and they listened, too.
1
Treasure Island
['treZq 'aIlqnd]
94
«Остров сокровищ»
R
OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. HIS L
IFE
There they were at the Admiral Benbow Inn. It was
late. The old buccaneer came to the inn door, his seachest following behind him in a hand-barrow; a tall,
strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his pigtail falling over
the shoulders of his blue coat; his hands scarred, with
black, broken nails; and the sabre cut across one cheek.
The Stevensons set down their teacups. They forgot
their tea. They forgot their cake.
Fifteen men on the Dead Mans Chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Hawkins, the boy hero, got himself deeper and
deeper into danger. At last the story reached the point
where Hawkins and Dr Livesey examined the map and
directions for finding the buried treasure. The tale
moved faster and faster.
The Hispaniola
lay some way out, and we went
round the sterns of many other ships, and their cables
sometimes were underneath our keel, and sometimes
swung above us. At last, however, we got alongside,
and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the
mate, Mr Arrow, a brown old sailor, with earrings in
his ears.
Now, every time the characters sang in the story,
Fifteen men on the Dead Mans Chest, the Stevensons
sang it, too.
Stevenson told them that William Ernest Henley
had inspired the character of John Silver.
I need some suggestions now, said Robert Louis
Stevenson. I have to find a way to let Hawkins
overhear Long John Silver and his companions plotting
their evil.
Why not let him hide in àn empty apple barrel?
said his father. They must surely have carried some
fresh fruit on the voyage, and that would explain why
the empty barrel was standing there.
95
C. O. Peare
Every evening from then on there were more pages.
Stevenson rested in bed all morning. He wrote in the
afternoon. Family and friends waited eagerly for
another chapter at the end of each day.
As long as the warm weather lasted, Stevenson could
go out for walks in the inspiring scenery. But as the
Scottish autumn grew cold and rainy and stormy, his
health grew worse.
You must return to Switzerland, said the doctor.
Treasure Island
was more than half done.
Young
Folks magazine had already begun to publish it as a
serial. Stevenson promised the editor he would finish
the book in Switzerland, and he did.
Stevenson wasnt at all sure that such a story would
be good for his reputation as an author. So he used a
pen-name. For a long while readers of
thought that
Treasure Island
had been written by a
Young Folks
Captain George North.
During the summer at Braemar and the second
winter at Davos, Stevenson wrote down more than
Treasure Island
. Writing a story for young boys,
reminded him more and more about his own boyhood.
He remembered his grandfathers house, the Manse.
He remembered the river in the back of it and the yew
tree and the swing in the garden. He remembered
sitting at the window at Heriot Row and watching for
the lamplighter. And he remembered seeing castles and
armies in the burning fireplace. Each thing that he
remembered became a poem. Soon he had collected so
many that he decided to save them for a book of
childrens poems. He would call it
of Verses.
1
A Childs Garden
He and Lloyd had another game they played together
during their second winter in Switzerland. Lloyd had
1
À Childs Garden of Verses
«Детский цветник стихов»
96
R
OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. HIS L
IFE
a toy printing press. They became the Davos Printing
Office, managed by Samuel Lloyd Osbourne and Co.
Stevenson wrote verses and short articles, and Lloyd
published them in little booklets. Stevenson even did
the illustrations. He carved woodcuts for them. Lloyd
sold the booklets for prices from a penny to sixpence.
He kept most of the profits and paid his author the
lowest fees.
I have to buy my own works, I can tell you,
Stevenson told his friends in London.
I declare Im ruined. I got a penny a cut and a
halfpenny a set of verses from the hard-hearted publisher
and only one specimen copy.
In the spring Stevenson was permitted to go back
to Edinburgh. His mind was made up to write another
boys adventure story. This second one was to be called
Kidnapped
. But at the end of the summer Stevenson
became really ill. He even had a bad hemorrhage. Fanny
was truly frightened. He had worked too much. The
Scottish summer had been too damp. He must stay in
bed and begin his cure all over again. She hoped she
would not have to return to the snowy Alps.
The doctor thought better of it. He told Fanny to
take RLS to his most favourite place in all Europe
southern France. The patient managed a smile when
he heard that.
So, carefully and slowly, with the help of Cousin
Bob, Fanny moved RLS to a house on the Mediterranean
Sea near the city of Marseilles. There for a whole month
Stevenson could do nothing.
Fanny was in a panic.
If I dont do something in a hurry, she thought,
Ill surely lose him.
She decided to move him to the town of Hyeres
farther west along the coast. Their cottage was not
right on the sea, but it was in a quiet, peaceful place,
97
C. O. Peare
and it had a pretty garden, with plenty of warm
sunshine. There she and Rîbert Louis stayed for almost
a year and a half. Happily, Fanny watched him
improve.
Stevenson became well enough to start writing
again, and he began to work on another story for
boys by Captain George North. Its title:
Arrow
because their readers had liked
1
.
Young Folks
magazine waited eagerly for it
Treasure Island
The Black
so
much.
At the end of the first year in Hyeres,
Island
came out as a book. By then Stevenson knew he
Treasure
could be proud of the story, and the book came out
with his own name on the cover. That was the
beginning of Robert Louis Stevensons real popularity
and fame. Wherever the book appeared in the shops, it
was quickly sold out.
Stevenson grew gay and happy as the news came
in, and he felt better and better. He kept in touch
with friends and family with his letters, letters, letters.
He wrote to his mother to let her know how the
Mediterranean looked since she had seen it last.
Stevenson even wrote Jules Simoneau, the French
innkeeper in Monterey, California. A most important
letter went to Alison Cunningham.
My dear Cummy, it began... the real reason why
you have been more in my mind than usual is because
of some little verses that I have been writing, and
that I mean to make a book of. He meant
A Childs Garden of Verses
. The real reason of this
letter is that I have just seen that the book in question
must be dedicated to Alison Cunningham, the only
person who will really understand it... This little book,
which is all about my childhood, should indeed go to
1
The Black Arrow «Черная стрела»
98
R
OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. HIS L
IFE
no other person but you, who did so much to make
that childhood happy.
Cummy was no longer with the Stevensons. When
she was sure they didnt need her any more, she had
gone to live with a cousin in Edinburgh.
Stevenson had more than letters to keep in touch
with his friends. He had their personal visits from
time to time. Sidney Colvin came to France, then
Cousin Bob. Another time Henley managed the trip.
He wanted to speak to Stevenson about their
Deacon
Brodie play. The play was almost ready to be produced
in a London theatre.
Stevenson was feeling his best in a long time when
Henley arrived. He felt so well that he decided to take
a short trip with Henley along the coast. But it was
too much. On the way he had a fit of coughing. He
held to his chest.
I can hardly breathe, he said.
His friends helped him back to his hotel room and
to bed.
Pneumonia! said the doctor. I hope I can keep
him alive until his wife gets here.
Fanny came rushing from Hyeres. She sat by his
bed day and night. Every breath might be his last. But
Robert Louis survived once more. In a few weeks Fanny
was able to take him back to the cottage in Hyeres.
There she put him in bed.
First he grew worse. He caught an infection in his
eyes so that he could hardly see. He got rheumatism in
one leg. He was so weak he was not even permitted to
speak, and his right arm was fastened to his side for a
while so that he would not have another hemorrhage.
If he wanted to tell Fanny anything, he wrote a note
with his left hand.
Robert Louis Stevenson had the courage to go on
and on, no matter what the difficulty. He wrote a few
99
C. O. Peare
verses with his left hand. One of the poems that he
wrote at this time was his most famous
Requiem
. He
meant it for his epitaph, because he thought he was
going to die. He even managed a few letters. He wrote
one to his mother about Fanny:
I love my wife better than ever and admire her
more; and I cannot think what I have done to deserve
so good a gift.
He and Fanny had been married for four years by
that time.
Then suddenly, in the middle of the night, he had
another hemorrhage. He began to choke and gasp. He
couldnt speak. Fanny came running into his room. He
wrote her a note:
Dont be frightened. If this is death it is an easy
one.
She rushed to the table for his medicine, but her
hands shook so that she couldnt pour the right dose.
Calmly he took the bottle and glass and poured it
himself.
Little by little Robert Louis Stevenson recovered.
No matter how well he feels, said the doctor, he
must behave like an invalid. Long hours in bed. Peace
and quiet. No long walks. No climbing stairs. Dont do
anything to upset him.
What about his writing? cried Fanny.
Just a little each day.
Can I go home? asked Stevenson.
I think so in a few weeks if you travel very, very
slowly, and if you stop and rest every time you feel
tired.
Fanny and Louis set out for England as soon as they
dared. They both wanted to go home. Fanny wanted to
see her son Lloyd who was in school in Bournemouth,
England. RLS wanted to talk to his favourite doctors.
100
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