There is a pause after this, nobody feeling sufficiently sure of himself to contradict the old gentleman (после этого наступает пауза, никто не чувствует себя достаточно уверенно, чтобы возражать старому джентльмену). So he has to go on by himself without any encouragement (поэтому ему приходится продолжать самому, без какой-либо поддержки).
"Well, I had a haul on Tuesday evening that it's not much good my telling anybody about."
"Oh! why's that?" they ask.
"Because I don't expect anybody would believe me if I did," replies the old fellow calmly, and without even a tinge of bitterness in his tone, as he refills his pipe, and requests the landlord to bring him three of Scotch, cold.
There is a pause after this, nobody feeling sufficiently sure of himself to contradict the old gentleman. So he has to go on by himself without any encouragement.
"No," he continues thoughtfully (продолжает он задумчиво); "I shouldn't believe it myself if anybody told it to me (я бы и сам не поверил, если бы кто-нибудь рассказал мне об этом), but it's a fact, for all that (но это факт, тем не менее). I had been sitting there all the afternoon and had caught literally nothing (я просидел весь день и не поймал буквально ничего; to catch) — except a few dozen dace and a score of jack (кроме нескольких дюжин мелкой рыбешки и двух десятков щучек); and I was just about giving it up as a bad job when I suddenly felt a rather smart pull at the line (и я уже собирался бросить это /как/ безнадежное дело, когда вдруг почувствовал сильное дерганье за леску). I thought it was another little one, and I went to jerk it up (я подумал, это еще какая-нибудь мелочь, и попытался подсечь; to jerk — резко толкать, дергать/ся/). Hang me, if I could move the rod (черт меня побери, если я мог = я не смог поднять удочку; rod — прут, стержень; удочка)! It took me half-an-hour — half-an-hour, sir (мне потребовалось полчаса — полчаса, сэр = да-с, полчаса)!— to land that fish; and every moment I thought the line was going to snap (чтобы вытащить ту рыбу; и каждую минуту я думал, леска оборвется; to snap — щелкать, хлопать; захлопываться; порвать/ся/, сломать/ся/)! I reached him at last, and what do you think it was (я вытащил ее наконец, и что, вы думаете, это было)? A sturgeon (осетр)! a forty pound sturgeon (сорокафунтовый осетр)! taken on a line, sir (пойманный на леску, да-с)! Yes, you may well look surprised (вы вполне можете выглядеть удивленными = конечно, это удивительно) — I'll have another three of Scotch, landlord, please (хозяин, я возьму еще три рюмки шотландского виски, пожалуйста)."
And then he goes on to tell of the astonishment of everybody who saw it (потом он в качестве продолжения рассказывает об удивлении всех = как удивились все, кто видел осетра); and what his wife said, when he got home, and of what Joe Buggles thought about it (и что сказала его жена, когда он пришел домой, и что об этом подумал Джо Багглс).
sturgeon ['[email protected]:dZ(@)n] astonishment [@'[email protected]]
"No," he continues thoughtfully; "I shouldn't believe it myself if anybody told it to me, but it's a fact, for all that. I had been sitting there all the afternoon and had caught literally nothing — except a few dozen dace and a score of jack; and I was just about giving it up as a bad job when I suddenly felt a rather smart pull at the line. I thought it was another little one, and I went to jerk it up. Hang me, if I could move the rod! It took me half-an-hour — half-an-hour, sir! — to land that fish; and every moment I thought the line was going to snap! I reached him at last, and what do you think it was? A sturgeon! a forty pound sturgeon! taken on a line, sir! Yes, you may well look surprised — I'll have another three of Scotch, landlord, please."
And then he goes on to tell of the astonishment of everybody who saw it; and what his wife said, when he got home, and of what Joe Buggles thought about it.
I asked the landlord of an inn up the river once, if it did not injure him, sometimes (я спросил однажды хозяина трактира у реки, не задевает ли его = не противно ли ему иногда), listening to the tales that the fishermen about there told him (слушать небылицы, которые здешние рыбаки рассказывают ему /там/); and he said:
"Oh, no; not now, sir (нет, теперь нет, сэр). It did used to knock me over a bit at first (они действительно ошеломляли меня поначалу), but, lor love you! me and the missus we listens to `em all day now (но, слава Богу, мы с хозяйкой /можем/ слушать их теперь весь день; lor = lord; missus = missis; `em = them). It's what you're used to, you know (это то, к чему привык = дело привычки, знаете ли). It's what you're used to."
I knew a young man once, he was a most conscientious fellow (я знал одного молодого человека, он был очень честным малым), and, when he took to fly-fishing, he determined never to exaggerate his hauls by more than twenty-five per cent (когда начал удить на муху, он решил никогда не преувеличивать улова больше, чем на двадцать пять процентов).
"When I have caught forty fish (если я поймаю сорок /штук/ рыб)," said he, "then I will tell people that I have caught fifty, and so on (тогда скажу, что поймал пятьдесят, и так далее). But I will not lie any more than that, because it is sinful to lie (но я не стану врать больше, чем на эту величину, потому что врать — грешно)."
injure ['[email protected]] exaggerate [Ig'z&[email protected]]
I asked the landlord of an inn up the river once, if it did not injure him, sometimes, listening to the tales that the fishermen about there told him; and he said:
"Oh, no; not now, sir. It did used to knock me over a bit at first, but, lor love you! me and the missus we listens to `em all day now. It's what you're used to, you know. It's what you're used to."
I knew a young man once, he was a most conscientious fellow, and, when he took to fly-fishing, he determined never to exaggerate his hauls by more than twenty-five per cent.
"When I have caught forty fish," said he, "then I will tell people that I have caught fifty, and so on. But I will not lie any more than that, because it is sinful to lie."
But the twenty-five per cent plan did not work well at all (но двадцатипятипроцентный план вообще не работал). He never was able to use it (ему никак не удавалось его применить). The greatest number of fish he ever caught in one day was three (самое большое количество рыбы, что он ловил за день — три), and you can't add twenty-five per cent to three — at least, not in fish (и нельзя прибавить двадцать пять процентов к трем — по крайней мере, в рыбах).
So he increased his percentage to thirty-three-and-a-third (поэтому он увеличил процент до тридцати трех с третью); but that, again, was awkward, when he had only caught one or two (но это опять было неудобно, если он ловил только одну /рыбу/ или две); so, to simplify matters, he made up his mind to just double the quantity (и, чтобы упростить дело, он решил попросту удваивать количество; to make up one`s mind — решить/ся/).
He stuck to this arrangement for a couple of months (он придерживался этой схемы пару месяцев; to stick to), and then he grew dissatisfied with it (потом он стал недоволен ей). Nobody believed him when he told them that he only doubled (никто не верил ему, когда он говорил, что только удваивает), and he, therefore, gained no credit that way whatever (и он, таким образом, совсем не приобретал доверия = ему все равно не верили; credit — доверие, вера; хорошая репутация, доброе имя), while his moderation put him at a disadvantage among the other anglers (в то время как его умеренность ставила его в невыгодное положение среди других удильщиков). When he had really caught three small fish, and said he had caught six (когда он на самом деле ловил три маленькие рыбешки, он говорил, что поймал шесть), it used to make him quite jealous to hear a man (и ему было весьма обидно слушать, как человек; jealous — ревнивый, завистливый; не выносящий лжи, измены), whom he knew for a fact had only caught one (который, как он точно знал, поймал лишь одну рыбу), going about telling people he had landed two dozen (ходил и рассказывал, что вытащил две дюжины; to go about — расхаживать, ходить туда и сюда; начинать, приступать).
awkward ['O:[email protected]] quantity ['kwOntItI]
But the twenty-five per cent plan did not work well at all. He never was able to use it. The greatest number of fish he ever caught in one day was three, and you can't add twenty-five per cent to three — at least, not in fish.
So he increased his percentage to thirty-three-and-a-third; but that, again, was awkward, when he had only caught one or two; so, to simplify matters, he made up his mind to just double the quantity.
He stuck to this arrangement for a couple of months, and then he grew dissatisfied with it. Nobody believed him when he told them that he only doubled, and he, therefore, gained no credit that way whatever, while his moderation put him at a disadvantage among the other anglers. When he had really caught three small fish, and said he had caught six, it used to make him quite jealous to hear a man, whom he knew for a fact had only caught one, going about telling people he had landed two dozen.
So, eventually, he made one final arrangement with himself (поэтому в конце концов он вступил в соглашение с самим собой; to make arrangements with somebody — договариваться, уславливаться с кем-либо), which he has religiously held to ever since (которого строго придерживается с тех пор), and that was to count each fish that he caught as ten, and to assume ten to begin with (считать каждую рыбу, которую он ловит, за десять, и /всегда/ начинать с десяти; to assume — брать на себя /ответственность/; допускать, предполагать; притворяться). For example, if he did not catch any fish at all, then he said he had caught ten fish (например, если он вообще не поймал ни одной рыбы, тогда он говорил, что поймал десять) — you could never catch less than ten fish by his system (нельзя было поймать меньше, чем десять рыб, по его системе); that was the foundation of it (в этом была ее основа). Then, if by any chance he really did catch one fish, he called it twenty (если в действительности он случайно и ловил одну рыбу, то считал ее за двадцать), while two fish would count thirty, three forty, and so on (тогда как две рыбы считал за тридцать, три — за сорок и так далее).
It is a simple and easily worked plan, and there has been some talk lately of its being made use of by the angling fraternity in general (это простой и легко осуществимый план, и недавно говорили о том, чтобы использовать его всей удящей братией; to make use of — применять, употреблять, использовать; fraternity — братство, община, братия). Indeed, the Committee of the Thames Angler's Association did recommend its adoption about two years ago (комитет Ассоциации удильщиков Темзы действительно рекомендовал принять его около двух лет назад; adoption — усыновление; принятие /закона, резолюции/), but some of the older members opposed it (но некоторые из старших членов воспротивились ему). They said they would consider the idea if the number were doubled, and each fish counted as twenty (они сказали, что рассмотрят этот план, если цифра будет удвоена и каждая рыба будет считаться за двадцать).
