I WAS so pleased at having given the slip to Long John, that I began to enjoy myself and look around me with some interest on the strange land that I was in.

I had crossed a marshy tract full of willows, bulrushes, and odd, outlandish, swampy trees; and I had now come out upon the skirts of an open piece of undulating, sandy country, about a mile long, dotted with a few pines, and a great number of contorted trees, not unlike the oak in growth, but pale in the foliage, like willows. On the far side of the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks, shining vividly in the sun.

 

1. I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration (теперь я впервые почувствовал радость исследования). The isle was uninhabited (остров был необитаем); my shipmates I had left behind (своих товарищей по плаванию я оставил позади), and nothing lived in front of me (и ничего не жило передо мной = я не мог никого встретить) but dumb brutes and fowls (кроме бессловесных тварей и птиц). I turned hither and thither among the trees (я петлял: «поворачивал» туда-сюда среди деревьев). Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me (то тут, то там попадались цветущие растения, неизвестные мне); here and there I saw snakes (часто я видел змей), and one raised his head from a ledge of rock (и одна /из них/ подняла свою голову с уступа скалы) and hissed at me with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top (и зашипела на меня с шумом = издав звук, похожий на /звук/ вращающейся юлы). Little did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy (мало я предполагал = а я и понятия не имел, что она была смертельным врагом = смертоносной тварью), and that the noise was the famous rattle (и что ее шум был знаменитым шипением гремучей змеи; rattle — треск, грохот; трещотка гремучей змеи).

2. Then I came to a long thicket of these oak-like trees (затем я вошел в длинную рощу этих похожих на дубы деревьев) — live, or evergreen, oaks (виргинских, или вечнозеленых дубов), I heard afterwards they should be called (/как/ я узнал впоследствии, /так/ их следует называть) — which grew low along the sand like brambles (которые росли низко вдоль песка = на песке, словно /кусты/ ежевики), the boughs curiously twisted (их ветви /были/ необычно изогнуты), the foliage compact, like thatch (а листва густой, словно соломенная крыша; compact — компактный, сжатый). The thicket stretched down from the top of one of the sandy knolls (эта роща спускалась: «тянулась вниз» с вершины одного из песчаных холмиков; to stretch — растягиваться, простираться), spreading and growing taller as it went (раскидываясь и вырастая по мере спуска), until it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen (пока не доходила до берега широкого, заросшего тростником болота; to reach — достигать, добраться; margin — граница, край, берег; fen — болото, топь, торфяник), through which the nearest of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage (через которое ближайшая из мелких речушек протекала к /нашей/ стоянке; to soak — впитывать, промачивать насквозь, просачиваться). The marsh was steaming in the strong sun (болото испускало пар на сильном = под палящим солнцем; steam — пар), and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled through the haze (и очертания Подзорной Трубы дрожали сквозь эту дымку = в легком тумане).

 

uninhabited [AnIn`hxbItId] dumb [dAm] brambles [`brxmblz] haze [heIz]

 

I now felt for the first time the joy of exploration. The isle was uninhabited; my shipmates I had left behind, and nothing lived in front of me but dumb brutes and fowls. I turned hither and thither among the trees. Here and there were flowering plants, unknown to me; here and there I saw snakes, and one raised his head from a ledge of rock and hissed at me with a noise not unlike the spinning of a top. Little did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy, and that the noise was the famous rattle.

Then I came to a long thicket of these oak-like trees — live, or evergreen, oaks, I heard afterwards they should be called — which grew low along the sand like brambles, the boughs curiously twisted, the foliage compact, like thatch. The thicket stretched down from the top of one of the sandy knolls, spreading and growing taller as it went, until it reached the margin of the broad, reedy fen, through which the nearest of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. The marsh was steaming in the strong sun, and the outline of the Spy-glass trembled through the haze.

 

1. All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes (внезапно началось нечто вроде суматохи в камыше); a wild duck flew up with a quack (дикая утка взлетела с кряканьем), another followed (другая последовала = за ней другая), and soon over the whole surface of the marsh (и вскоре над всей поверхностью болота) a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in the air (огромная туча птиц повисла, /пронзительно/ крича и кружась в воздухе). I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the fen (я решил тотчас = сразу догадался, что некоторые из моих товарищей по плаванию, должно быть, приближаются вдоль границ болота = идут по краю болота). Nor was I deceived (не был я обманут = и я не ошибся); for soon I hear the very distant and low tones of a human voice (потому как вскоре я услыхал очень отдаленные и низкие тона человеческого голоса), which, I continued to give ear (которые, я продолжал вслушиваться), grew steadily louder and nearer (становились неуклонно громче и ближе; steady — устойчивый; прочный, твердый; неизменный; неуклонный; постоянный). This put me in a great fear (это меня страшно напугало: «поставило в большой страх»), and I crawled under cover of the nearest live-oak (и я заполз под покров ближайшего виргинского дуба = спрятался за дубом; to crawl — ползать, медленно двигаться; under cover of — под покровом, под защитой), and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse (и притаился там, вслушиваясь, тихий как мышь; to squat — сесть на корточки, припасть к земле).

2. Another voice answered (другой голос ответил); and then the first voice, which now recognised to be Silver's (и затем первый голос, который был узнан /мной/ как /голос/ Сильвера), once more took up the story and ran on for a long while in a stream (продолжил рассказ и продолжал /его/ долго, без умолку: «потоком»; stream — поток, течение, ручей), only now and again interrupted by the other (лишь время от времени прерываемый другим /собеседником/). By the sound they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely (/судя/ по звуку = по их голосам, они, должно быть, говорили серьезно и почти что свирепо); but no distinct word came to my hearing (но ни одного отчетливого слова не дошло до моего слуха).

 

bustle [bAsl] surface [`sq:fIs] deceived [dI`sJvd] human [`hjHmqn] hearkening [`hRkqnIN]

 

All at once there began to go a sort of bustle among the bulrushes; a wild duck flew up with a quack, another followed, and soon over the whole surface of the marsh a great cloud of birds hung screaming and circling in the air. I judged at once that some of my shipmates must be drawing near along the borders of the fen. Nor was I deceived; for soon I hear the very distant and low tones of a human voice, which, I continued to give ear, grew steadily louder and nearer. This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest live-oak, and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse.

Another voice answered; and then the first voice, which now recognised to be Silver's, once more took up the story and ran on for a long while in a stream, only now and again interrupted by the other. By the sound they must have been talking earnestly, and almost fiercely; but no distinct word came to my hearing.

 

1. At last the speakers seemed to have paused (наконец говорящие, кажется, замолчали), and perhaps to have sat down (и возможно, присели); for not only did they cease to draw nearer (потому что не только они перестали приближаться), but the birds themselves began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp (но и птицы сами начали успокаиваться и садиться обратно на свои места в болоте).

2. And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business' (теперь я начал ощущать = почувствовал, что уклоняюсь от своих обязанностей; to neglect — пренебрегать, не выполнять долг) that since I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes (ведь если уж я так безрассудно сошел на берег с этими головорезами; foolhardy — безрассудно храбрый, авантюрный), the least I could do was to overhear them at their councils (самое малое, что я мог сделать — так это подслушать их на их совете = о чем они совещаются); and that my plain and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage (и моим явным и очевидным долгом было подкрасться так близко, как только я мог; to draw — тянуть, приближаться, подтягивать; to manage — управлять, ухитряться, справляться), under the favourable ambush of the crouching trees (/и устроить/ удобную засаду /среди/ склонившихся к земле деревьев: «под удобной засадой = поскольку деревья создавали удобную засаду»).

3. I could tell the direction of the speakers pretty exactly (я мог указать = определить направление говорящих довольно точно), not only by the sound of their voices (не только по звуку их голосов), but by the behaviour of the few birds (но и по поведению нескольких птиц) that still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders (которые все еще висели = кружились в тревоге над головами незваных гостей; to intrude — вторгаться, входить без приглашения).

 

desperadoes [despq`rRdquz] favourable [`feIvrqbl] ambush [`xmbuS] intruder [In`trHdq]

 

At last the speakers seemed to have paused, and perhaps to have sat down; for not only did they cease to draw nearer, but the birds themselves began to grow more quiet and to settle again to their places in the swamp.

And now I began to feel that I was neglecting my business' that since I had been so foolhardy as to come ashore with these desperadoes, the least I could do was to overhear them at their councils; and that my plain and obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage, under the favourable ambush of the crouching trees.