- •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
It and myself looked back at myself through the dark water. I looked at Dr.
Gray's reflection and recognised her. I put on my dark glasses, then.
"Am I boring you (я вас утомляю)?" she said.
"No, carry on (нет, продолжайте)."
"Must you wear those glasses (вам обязательно носить эти очки)?, it is a
modern psychological phenomenon (это современное психологическое
явление) ... the trend towards impersonalisation (тенденция к обезличиванию) ...
the modern Inquisitor (современный инквизитор)."
For a while (какое-то время), she watched her own footsteps (она осторожно
ступала; to watch one’s footstep — ступать осторожно, действовать
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осмотрительно, footstep — шаг, поступь), as we walked round the lake (пока
мы шли вокруг озера). Then she continued her story (затем она продолжила
свой рассказ).
"...an optician (оптик). His sister was blind-going when I first attended her (его
сестра слепла, когда я в первый раз стала наблюдать ее). Only the one eye was
affected (только один глаз был поражен). Then there was an accident (затем
произошел несчастный случай), one of those psychological accidents (один из
тех психологических несчастных случаев). She was a trained dispenser (она
была квалифицированным фармацевтом), but she mixed herself the wrong eye-
drops (но она приготовила для себя неверные глазные капли). Now it's very
difficult to make a mistake like that, normally (в наше время: «сейчас»
достаточно сложно допустить такую ошибку, в нормальном состоянии;
normal — нормальный, обычный, обыкновенный). But subconsciously she
wanted to, she wanted to (но подсознательно она хотела этого /сделать
ошибку/, хотела этого). But she wasn't normal, she was not normal (потому, что
она не была психически нормальной, не была нормальной)."
affect [q'fekt] subconsciously [sAb'kOnSqslI]
"Am I boring you?" she said.
"No, carry on."
"Must you wear those glasses? it is a modern psychological phenomenon ...
the trend towards impersonalisation ... the modern Inquisitor."
For a while, she watched her own footsteps, as we walked round the lake.
Then she continued her story.
"...an optician. His sister was blind-going when I first attended her. Only the
one eye was affected. Then there was an accident, one of those psychological
accidents. She was a trained dispenser, but she mixed herself the wrong eye-
drops. Now it's very difficult to make a mistake like that, normally. But
subconsciously she wanted to, she wanted to. But she wasn't normal, she was
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not normal."
"I'm not saying she was (я и не говорю, что она была)," I said.
"What did you say (что вы сказали)?"
"I'm sure she wasn't a normal person (я уверена, что она не была психически
нормальным человеком)," I said, "if you say so (если вы говорите так)."
"It can all be explained psychologically (все может быть объяснено
психологически), as we've tried to show to my husband (как мы пытались
показать моему мужу). We've told him and told him (мы говорили и говорили
ему), and given him every sort of treatment (и лечили его всеми возможными
способами; treatment — обращение, лечение, уход) — shock, insulin, everything
(шоком, инсулином, всем). And after all (и, в конце-то концов: «после всего»),
the stuff didn't have any effect on his sister immediately (то средство /которое
она использовала по ошибке/ не повлияло на нее немедленно), and when she
did go blind (и когда она действительно ослепла) it was caused by acute
glaucoma (то это /случилось/ из-за острой глаукомы; to cause — быть
причиной). She would probably have lost her sight in any case (она, возможно,
потеряла бы зрение в любом случае). Well, she went off her head completely
(она совершенно потеряла голову) and accused her brother of having put the
wrong drug in the bottle deliberately (и обвиняла своего брата в том, что он
положил неверное лекарство в пузырек намеренно; to accuse — обвинять,
винить, осуждать; a drug — лекарство, наркотик). This is the interesting part
from the psychological point of view (это очень интересный момент с
психологической точки зрения) — she said she had seen something that he
didn't want her to see (она говорила, что она видела нечто такое, что он не
хотел, чтобы она видела), something disreputable (нечто постыдное;
(dis)reputable — (не)достойный). She said he wanted to blind the eye that saw it
(она говорила, что он хочет ослепить глаз, который видел это). She said..."
We were walking round the lake for the second time (мы шли вокруг озера во
второй раз). When we came to the spot where I had seen her face reflected (когда
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мы подошли к тому самому месту, где я впервые увидела ее лицо,
отраженным /в озере/) I stopped and looked over the water (я остановилась и
посмотрела на воду).
"I'm boring you (я вам надоела)."
"No, no."
"I wish you would take off those glasses (мне бы очень хотелось, что бы вы
сняли эти: «те» очки)."
explain [Ik'spleIn] effect [I'fekt] glaucoma [glO:'kqVmq] drug [drAg]
deliberately [dI'lIb(q)rItlI] disreputable [dIs'repjVtqbl]
"I'm not saying she was," I said.
"What did you say?"
"I'm sure she wasn't a normal person," I said, "if you say so."
"It can all be explained psychologically, as we've tried to show to my
husband. We've told him and told him, and given him every sort of treatment
-shock, insulin, everything. And after all, the stuff didn't have any effect on
his sister immediately, and when she did go blind it was caused by acute
glaucoma. She would probably have lost her sight in any case. Well, she went
off her head completely and accused her brother of having put the wrong
drug in the bottle deliberately. This is the interesting part from the
psychological point of view — she said she had seen something that he didn't
want her to see, something disreputable. She said he wanted to blind the eye
that saw it. She said..."
We were walking round the lake for the second time. When we came to the
spot where I had seen her face reflected I stopped and looked over the water.
"I'm boring you."
"No, no."
"I wish you would take off those glasses."
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I took them off for a moment (я сняла их на мгновение). I rather liked her for
her innocence in not recognising me (мне она даже понравилась за ее
простодушие, что она не узнала меня), though she looked hard (она не сводила
с меня глаз) and said, "There's a subconscious reason why you wear them (есть
какая-то подсознательная причина, почему вы носите их)."
"Dark glasses hide dark thoughts (темные очки скрывают темные мысли; to
hide — прятать, скрывать, не показывать)," I said.
"Is that a saying (это афоризм: «пословица»)?"
"Not that I've heard (я такого не слышала). But it is one now (но теперь,
должно быть, афоризм, но теперь это стало афоризмом)."
innocence ['Inqs(q)ns] saying ['seIIN]