- •I wrapped my hanky round my thumb and got myself organized. George
- •I was known as Needle.
- •I stood silently among the people, watching. As you will see, I wasn't in a
- •I took a good look at this man accompanying Kathleen. It was her husband.
- •It was not for me to speak to Kathleen, but I had a sudden inspiration which
- •I must explain that I departed this life nearly five years ago. But I did not
- •Inspired to it. Indeed it's one of the things I can't do now — to speak out,
- •I taught in a private school in Kensington, for almost three months, very
- •I didn't love Skinny so I gave him back the ring.
- •I accompanied the party as a sort of secretary. Skinny vouched for me, he
- •I had broken off our engagement, lectured me about this, but still he took me
- •I'm busy in the hat-shop and being presented. You would think he hadn't
- •I must say I was myself a bit off-put by this news about the brown woman. I
- •Intelligent than a mule and sturdier than a horse. But I'm not having any
- •I was able to live on the fee I got for writing a gossip column in a local
- •I met George once more in a hotel in Bulawayo. We drank highballs and
- •I had half a mind to marry Skinny; perhaps, I thought, when his studies
- •I had already heard about the baby girl. Coal black, by repute, with
- •Impotence and need I secreted a venom which infected all my life for days on
- •I was nearly sick. One, because of my Scottish upbringing. Two, because of
- •I returned to England with Skinny's party just before the war.
- •I did not see George again till just before my death, five years ago.
- •I was waiting to write about life and it seemed to me that the good fortune lay in
- •I thought of my type of luck after I became a Catholic and was being
- •I visited Skinny twice in the two years that he was in the sanatorium. He was
- •Very close friends. We met several times each week, and after our Saturday-
- •If we had felt moved to do so.
- •I ought to get in touch with poor George. But then I think he would write
- •I did not speak of George's marriage, nor of any of his confidences in the
- •Impatience with him in former days; she said,
- •In the course of the morning he had told her of his wartime nightclub in
- •I was curious to see this version of George, but I was leaving for Scotland
- •Visited at week-ends; this old lady lived a few miles from Kathleen's aunt,
- •I should go ahead of her in the early afternoon to see to the provisions for our
- •I said no, I liked an empty house.
- •It was like a treasure hunt as I followed clue after clue through the cool silent
- •I found myself speaking to him almost as if he were a child.
- •I giggled, and looked at him. His face had grown much larger, his lips full, wide,
- •I still kept up. They referred to her as "George's Dark Lady" and of course
- •I said, "If Kathleen intends to marry you, I shall tell her that you're already
- •Vest year. Unfortunately, the byreman's hands were even brawnier and
- •If I hadn't been wearing my long-sleeved cardigan, it was said, the bruises
- •I dashed his hopes. I said, "Hallo, George!"
- •In that convivial street. I thought to myself. "He looks as if he had a mouthful
- •I might have been inspired to say more on that agreeable morning, but he
- •I doubt if George will ever see me again in the Portobello Road. He broods
- •Its few drooping tenants. They huddled together like birds in a storm; their
- •I was waiting for friends to come and pick me up on their way to Venice.
- •Importance was permitted to dawn upon strangers.
- •In the garden, strangely standing on a path between the flowers for
- •I climbed the lower slopes of the mountains while the experts in their boots
- •I was moved by the sight. The girl called Mitzi was watching me as I stood
- •In the kitchen doorway. "Coffee?'' she said.
- •I saw a black lacquered cabinet inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and just
- •I went into the polished dining-room, and Mitzi brought my coffee there.
- •It was that very day that the nuisance occurred. The double windows of my
- •It was a cold day. I sat in my room writing letters. I glanced out of the
- •I looked up a few moments later, and this time Herr Stroh was seated on a
- •I left my room and went down to complain to Frau Lublonitsch.
- •I returned to my room. Herr Stroh still sat in position, the field-glasses in
- •In his doorway blinking up at the roof of the Guest-house Lublonitsch. He
- •I didn't want to draw his attention by following the line of his gaze but I
- •In Frau Lublonitsch's splendid bedroom.
- •I turned the comer just as Herr Stroh gave up his gazing; he went indoors,
- •It while I waited for someone to come. I did not have to wait long, for two
- •Indeed were there, but invisible.
- •In the peeling pastel stucco of the little town, the unnecessary floral balconies,
- •Intrigued her.
- •Impassive neck.
- •Is she —"
- •Insurance manager. The successful kind."
- •I think twenty-two. I am twenty-two so far as Richard's concerned. I don't
- •If you want to be successful with men you have to hang on to your youth."
- •Invitation must come from Richard."
- •Valley.
- •I felt the need of his support. "
- •Including Gwen. The one called Grace was quite pretty, with a bewildered
- •I put on my dark glasses to shield my eyes from the sun and conceal my
- •It is discouraging to put on sun glasses in the middle of someone's intimate
- •I was sent to have my eyes tested. He took me into the darkened interior
- •I had seen Miss Simmonds once before, at a garden fete, where she stood on
- •I stopped looking round. I said. "Read what?" for I had been told I would
- •I recall reading the letters correctly down to the last few lines, which were
- •I broke the glasses by sitting on them during my school holidays two years
- •I washed my hair the night before and put a wave in it. Next morning at
- •I smiled and put my hand in my blazer pocket.
- •I formed an idea of his private life. "Dorothy" I speculated, "and Basil." I let
- •Is it to her?"
- •I invented for myself a recurrent scene in which brother and sister
- •I was sent for to try on my new reading glasses. I had the hat-pin with me I
- •I said, "Grandmother said to inquire after your mother."
- •I took to giving Basil a charming smile when I passed him in the street on
- •I took walks before supper round the back lanes, ambling right round the
- •Visible from the window. He laid it side by side with another sheet of paper
- •Ink and started writing on the bottom of the sheet of paper before him,
- •I shivered in my soaking wet clothes. Dorothy looked with her eye at the
- •I took them into Mr. Simmonds early that afternoon.
- •I had smeared them with cold cream first.
- •Interrupted:
- •I noted her correct phrase, "Are these they?" and it seemed just over the
- •Vicious, in the wrong.
- •I started screaming when I got home, and was given a sedative. By evening
- •It was put down to an accident. There was a strong hope that Miss
- •I said, "The bottle may have been tampered with, have you thought of
- •I was attended by our woman doctor, the widow of the town's former
- •I saw Dr. Gray leaving the Simmonds' at six o'clock one evening. She must
- •I walked on, certain that he had known my guilty suspicions all along.
- •I had come to the summer school to lecture on history and she on
- •Inmost lives. This is probably because they spend so much time hearing out
- •It and myself looked back at myself through the dark water. I looked at Dr.
- •I took them off for a moment. I rather liked her for her innocence in not
- •I had my glasses on again, and was walking on.
- •I thought, neither had I.
- •I said, "He might have stopped seeing eyes if you'd taken him at his word."
- •I could hardly believe she was shouting, who previously had been so calm.
- •I think it was then she recognised me.
- •It there and then. You see, he had to do it while it was still wet."
- •Vestments, or at least lace veil.
- •Vestments.
- •Instance, when a local Town Councillor resigned his office Raymond said,
- •In this particular, from the prejudices of that middle class to which they as
- •Introduce them to so many people." For the dark pair had, within a month,
- •In eyes, skin, teeth, which made him seem all the more eager. He called out
- •Irritated Lou, though she kept her peace.
- •Very well by Elizabeth." They had pulled up outside the house where
- •I'm not going to leave my kids in no nursery. I'm not going to send them to no
- •In that he took a tubercular turn, which was followed by a religious one. He
- •Very delicate question. She was amazed when, within three weeks, Oxford
- •In previous numbers, various references to the Black Madonna, how she had
- •It was the Saturday before that Sunday when Lou had her first sick turn.
- •In the next parish magazine. "Another case has come to light of the kindly
- •In fact, it was a very easy birth, a girl. Raymond was allowed in to see Lou
- •In the late afternoon. She was half asleep. "The nurse will take you to see the
- •In the other cots. "Far more so than the others."
- •Isn't hers, which is ridiculous."
- •Very long chance. I've never known it happen in my experience, but I've
- •Inquire after Lou. He rather regretted smashing up the cot in his first fury.
- •It white."
- •It must be back in the olden days the nigro some ansester but it is only nature.
- •I thank the almighty it has missed my kids and your hubby must think it was
I should go ahead of her in the early afternoon to see to the provisions for our
party; Kathleen had invited George to dinner at her aunt's house that night.
"I should be with you by seven," she said. "Sure you won't mind the empty
house? I hate arriving at empty houses, myself."
I said no, I liked an empty house.
So I did, when I got there (и он мне действительно понравился: «так я сделала:
«so I did = so I liked», когда я приехала туда). I had never found the house more
likeable (я никогда не находила дом более привлекательным; to like —
нравится; likeable — располагающий, внушающий симпатию). A large
Georgian vicarage (большой георгианский дом священника; vicar —
священник) in about eight acres (/на участке/ около восьми акров; acre — мера
площади, равная 43,560 кв.футов = 4,046.87 кв.метров), most of the rooms shut
and sheeted (большинство комнат закрыты и /мебель/ покрыта чехлами; shut —
закрытый; sheet — простыня, лист), there being only one servant (так как в
доме: «там» был только один слуга; servant — слуга). I discovered (я
обнаружила) that I wouldn't need to go shopping (что мне не придется идти по
магазинам; shop — магазин, to go shopping). Kathleen's aunt had left many (тетя
Кэтлин оставила много) and delicate supplies (и вкусных: «деликатесных»
запасов; delicate — деликатес; изысканный, изящный) with notes attached to
them (с записочками, прикрепленными к ним): "Eat this up please do (съешьте
это, пожалуйста), see also fridge (посмотрите также и в холодильнике;
refrigerator — fridge — холодильник)" and "A treat (удовольствие) for three
hungry people (для трех голодных людей) see also 2 bottles beaune (смотри
также 2 бутылки бургундского вина; beaune — бургундское вино, по названию
городка Cфte de Beaune, неофициальной столицы винной торговли Бургундии)
for yr party (for your party = для вашей компании) on black kn table (= on black
kitchen table = на черном кухонном столе)." It was like a treasure hunt (это было
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
70
похоже на поиски сокровищ; treasure — сокровища; hunt — охота) as I
followed clue after clue (когда я следовала от одной подсказки к другой; clue —
ключ к разгадке) through the cool silent domestic quarters (по: «через»
прохладным безмолвным домашним покоям: «частям»; cool — прохладный,
silent — тихий).
likeable ['laIkqb(q)l] vicarage ['vIk(q)rIG] attached [q'txCt] treasure ['treZq]
So I did, when I got there. I had never found the house more likeable. A
large Georgian vicarage in about eight acres, most of the rooms shut and
sheet-ed, there being only one servant. I discovered that I wouldn't need to go
shopping. Kathleen's aunt had left many and delicate supplies with notes
attached to them: "Eat this up please do, see also fridge" and "A treat for
three hungry people see also 2 bottles beaune for yr party on black kn table."
It was like a treasure hunt as I followed clue after clue through the cool silent
domestic quarters.
A house in which there are no people (дом, в котором нет людей) — but with
all the signs of tenancy (но со всеми признаками: «знаками» жильцов:
«проживания»; sign — знак, вывеска; tenancy — аренда жилья) — can be a
most tranquil good place (может быть самым спокойным, тихим: «хорошим»
местом). People take up space in a house (люди занимают пространство в доме;
space — место, пространство, космос) out of proportion (несопоставимое;
proportion — пропорции, соизмеримость) to their size (по размерам: «с их
размером»; size — размер). On my previous visits (во время моих предыдущих
посещений) I had seen the rooms overflowing (я видела комнаты,
переполненные; to overflow — переливаться через край), as it seemed (как
казалось), with Kathleen («с» Кэтлин), her aunt (ее тетей), and the little fat
maidservant (и маленькой толстенькой служанкой; fat — жирный, толстый;
maid (девушка) + servant (слуга)); they were always on the move (они всегда
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
71
были в движении; to move — двигаться). As I wandered through that part of the
house (пока я блуждала по той части дома) which was in use (которая была
жилой: «использовалась»), opening windows (открывая окна) to let in (чтобы
впустить) the pale yellow air of September (бледный желтый воздух сентября), I
was not conscious (я не ощущала; to be conscious — понимающий, осознающий)
that I, Needle (что я, Игла), was taking up any space at all (занимала хоть какое-
то пространство), I might have been a ghost (я могла быть призраком).
tranquil ['trxNkwIl] yellow ['jelqV] conscious ['kOnSqs]
A house in which there are no people — but with all the signs of tenancy —
can be a most tranquil good place. People take up space in a house out of
proportion to their size. On my previous visits I had seen the rooms
overflowing, as it seemed, with Kathleen, her aunt, and the little fat
maidservant; they were always on the move. As I wandered through that part
of the house which was in use, opening windows to let in the pale yellow air of
September, I was not conscious that I, Needle, was taking up any space at all, I
might have been a ghost.
The only thing (единственное: «единственная вещь», что) to be fetched (надо
было принести; to fetch — пойти и принести) was the milk (так это молоко). I
waited till after four (я подождала, когда наступит четыре: «до после
четырех») when the milking should be done (когда дойка уже закончится:
«доение должно было быть сделанным»; to milk — доить; milk — молоко),
then set off for the farm (затем отправилась на ферму; set off — отправляться
в путь) which lay across two fields (которая располагалась: «лежала» через
два поля; to lay — класть, положить; field — поле) at the back of the orchard
(позади фруктового сада). There, when the byreman (там, когда дояр; byre
(коровник) + man (человек)) was handing me the bottle (вручал мне бутыль;
handle — управлять, касаться руками), I saw George (я увидела Джорджа).
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
72
"Hallo, George," I said (привет, Джордж, — сказала я).
"Needle (Игла)! What are you doing here (что ты делаешь здесь)?" he said.
"Fetching milk," I said (забираю молоко, — ответила я).
"So am I (и я тоже). Well, it's good to see you (ну, приятно видеть тебя), I must
say (должен сказать)."
fetch [feC] orchard ['O:Cqd] byreman ['baIqmxn]
The only thing to be fetched was the milk. I waited till after four when the
milking should be done, then set off for the farm which lay across two fields
at the back of the orchard. There, when the byreman was handing me the
bottle, I saw George.
"Hallo, George," I said.
"Needle! What are you doing here?" he said.
"Fetching milk," I said.
"So am I. Well, it's good to see you, I must say."
As we paid the farm-hand (когда мы расплатились с помощником на ферме; to
pay — платить; farm (ферма) + hand (рука, работник)), George said (Джордж
сказал), "I'll walk back with you (я пройду /назад/ с тобой) part of the way (часть
пути). But I mustn't stop (но я не смогу: «не должен» остановиться), my old
cousin's without any milk for her tea (моя старая кузина совсем без молока к
чаю). How's Kathleen (как Кэтлин)?"
"She was kept in London (она задержалась в Лондоне; to keep — держать).
She's coming on later (она появится позже), about seven, she expects (около
семи, она так думает: «ожидает»)."
We had reached the end of the first field (мы добрались: «достигли» до конца
первого поля). George's way led to the left (Дорожка Джорджа уходила: «вела»
налево; to lead — вести; left — левый) and on to the main road (и дальше, к
главной дороге; main — главный, road — дорога, путь).
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
73
"We'll see you tonight (мы тебя увидим сегодня вечером), then (тогда)?" I said
(сказала я).
"Yes, and talk about old times (да, и поговорим о старых временах)."
"Grand," I said (великолепно — сказала я; grand — грандиозный, большой).
But George got over the stile with me (но Джордж поднялся по приступкам
изгороди вместе со мной; to get over — преодолеть препятствие: «перейти
через»; stile — ступеньки для перехода через стену, забор).
"Look here (послушай: «посмотри сюда»)," he said, "I'd like to talk to you,
Needle (я хочу поговорить с тобой, Игла)."
cousin ['kAz(q)n] tonight [tq'naIt] grand [grxnd]
As we paid the farm-hand, George said, "I'll walk back with you part of the
way. But I mustn't stop, my old cousin's without any milk for her tea. How's
Kathleen?"
"She was kept in London. She's coming on later, about seven, she expects."
We had reached the end of the first field. George's way led to the left and on to
the main road.
"We'll see you tonight, then?" I said.
"Yes, and talk about old times."
"Grand," I said.
But George got over the stile with me.
"Look here," he said, "I'd like to talk to you, Needle."
"We'll talk tonight, George (мы поговорим сегодня вечером, Джордж). Better
not keep your cousin (лучше не заставлять: «держать» твою кузину) waiting for
the milk (ждать молоко)." I found myself speaking to him almost as if he were a
child (я обнаружила, что разговариваю с ним, почти как с ребенком: «если бы
он был ребенком»).
"No, I want to talk to you alone (нет, я хочу поговорить с тобой наедине). This is
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
74
a good opportunity (это хорошая возможность = удобный случай)."
We began to cross the second field (мы уже шли: «начали пересекать» по
второму полю). I had been hoping (я надеялась) to have the house to myself (что
побуду в доме одна: «иметь дом для себя») for a couple more hours (еще пару
часов) and I was rather petulant (и была довольно раздражена).
"See (смотри)," he said suddenly (сказал он неожиданно), "that haystack (тот
стог сена)."
"Yes," I said absently (да, — сказала я рассеянно; absent — отсутствующий,
рассеянный).
field [fi:ld] petulant ['petjVlqnt] absently ['xbs(q)ntlI]
"We'll talk tonight, George. Better not keep your cousin waiting for the milk."