to ride — скакать, ехать верхом).
heavy [ˈhevɪ], iron [ˈaɪən], couch [kauʧ]
At the end of the winding corridor, Aram halted at a door, across which a heavy iron bar rested in powerful metal brackets. This Aram lifted and showed the Cimmerian into a well-appointed chamber, the windows of which, Conan instantly noted, were small and strongly set with twisted bars of iron, tastefully gilded. There were rugs on the floor, a couch, after the Eastern fashion, and ornately carven stools. It was a much more elaborate chamber than Conan could have procured for the price nearer the center of the city — a fact that had first attracted him, when, that morning, he discovered how slim a purse his roistering for the past few days had left him. He had ridden into Zamboula from the desert a week before.
Aram had lighted a bronze lamp, and he now called Conan's attention to the two doors (Арам зажег бронзовую лампу, и он теперь привлек внимание Конана к двум дверям). Both were provided with heavy bolts (обе были снабжены тяжелыми засовами).
"You may sleep safely tonight, Cimmerian," said Aram (ты можешь спать в безопасности сегодня ночью, киммериец, — сказал Арам), blinking over his bushy beard from the inner doorway (подмигивая через /свою/ кустистую бороду из /внутреннего/ дверного проема).
Conan grunted and tossed his naked broadsword on the couch (Конан заворчал и швырнул свой обнаженный палаш на кушетку).
"Your bolts and bars are strong (твои засовы и решетки крепки); but I always sleep with steel by my side (но я всегда сплю со сталью под /моим/ боком)."
attention [əˈtenʃn], beard [bɪəd], steel [sti: l]
Aram had lighted a bronze lamp, and he now called Conan's attention to the two doors. Both were provided with heavy bolts.
"You may sleep safely tonight, Cimmerian," said Aram, blinking over his bushy beard from the inner doorway.
Conan grunted and tossed his naked broadsword on the couch.
"Your bolts and bars are strong; but I always sleep with steel by my side."
Aram made no reply (Арам не ответил: «не сделал никакого ответа»); he stood fingering his thick beard for a moment (он стоял, теребя пальцами свою густую бороду в течение короткого времени) as he stared at the grim weapon (/пристально/ глядя на грозное оружие). Then silently he withdrew, closing the door behind him (потом молча он ушел, закрыв дверь за собой; to withdraw — ретироваться, удаляться, уходить; to draw — тащить, тянуть). Conan shot the bolt into place, crossed the room, opened the opposite door, and looked out (Конан поставил засов на место, пересек комнату, открыл противоположную дверь и выглянул наружу). The room was on the side of the house that faced the road running west from the city (комната была на той стороне дома, которая выходила на дорогу, бегущую на запад от города). The door opened into a small court that was enclosed by a wall of its own (дверь открывалась в маленький дворик, который был обнесен своей собственной стеной). The end walls, which shut it off from the rest of the tavern compound (торцевые стены, которые закрывают его от остальных строений таверны: «от остатка строения таверны»), were high and without entrances (были высокие и без входа); but the wall that flanked the road was low (но стена, которая шла вдоль дороги, была низка), and there was no lock on the gate (и на воротах не было замка).
weapon [ˈwepən], court [kɔ: t], compound [kəmˈpaund]
Aram made no reply; he stood fingering his thick beard for a moment as he stared at the grim weapon. Then silently he withdrew, closing the door behind him. Conan shot the bolt into place, crossed the room, opened the opposite door, and looked out. The room was on the side of the house that faced the road running west from the city. The door opened into a small court that was enclosed by a wall of its own. The end walls, which shut it off from the rest of the tavern compound, were high and without entrances; but the wall that flanked the road was low, and there was no lock on the gate.
Conan stood for a moment in the door (Конан постоял минуту в дверях), the glow of the bronze lamps behind him (со светом бронзовых ламп позади него), looking down the road to where it vanished among the dense palms (глядя на дорогу до того места, где она исчезала среди густых пальм). Their leaves rustled together in the faint breeze (их листья шуршали непрерывно на слабом ветерке); beyond them lay the naked desert (за ними лежала голая пустыня). Far up the street, in the other direction, lights gleamed (далеко по улице в другом направлении мерцали огни) and the noises of the city came faintly to him (и шумы города доносились слабо до него). Here was only starlight, the whispering of the palm leaves (здесь был лишь звездный свет, шепот пальмовых листьев), and beyond that low wall, the dust of the road and the deserted huts thrusting their flat roofs against the low stars (а за той низкой стеной пыль дороги и пустые хижины, раскинувшие свои плоские крыши на фоне низких звезд). Somewhere beyond the palm groves a drum began (где-то за пальмовыми рощами начал бить барабан; to begin — начинать(ся)).
breeze [bri: z], roof [ru: f], began [bɪˈɡæn]
Conan stood for a moment in the door, the glow of the bronze lamps behind him, looking down the road to where it vanished among the dense palms. Their leaves rustled together in the faint breeze; beyond them lay the naked desert. Far up the street, in the other direction, lights gleamed and the noises of the city came faintly to him. Here was only starlight, the whispering of the palm leaves, and beyond that low wall, the dust of the road and the deserted huts thrusting their flat roofs against the low stars. Somewhere beyond the palm groves a drum began.
The garbled warnings of the Zuagir returned to him (искаженные предостережения зуагира вернулись к нему; to garble — подтасовывать, искажать, фальсифицировать), seeming somewhow less fantastic than they had seemed in the crowded, sunlit streets (кажущиеся = и казались как-то менее фантастическими, чем они казались на переполненных народом /и/ освещенных солнцем улицах). He wondered again at the riddle of those empty huts (он удивился снова загадке тех пустых хижин). Why did the beggars shun them (почему нищие остерегались их; to shun — избегать)? He turned back into the chamber, shut the door, and bolted it (он вернулся в комнату, закрыл дверь и запер ее на засов; to bolt — запирать на засов).
seem [si: m], those [ðəuz], shut [ʃʌt]
The garbled warnings of the Zuagir returned to him, seeming somewhow less fantastic than they had seemed in the crowded, sunlit streets. He wondered again at the riddle of those empty huts. Why did the beggars shun them? He turned back into the chamber, shut the door, and bolted it.
The light began to flicker, and he investigated (свет начал мерцать, и он занялся расследованием), swearing when he found the palm oil in the lamp was almost exhausted (выругавшись, когда /он/ обнаружил, /что/ пальмовое масло в лампе было почти израсходовано). He started to shout for Aram, then shrugged his shoulders and blew out the light (он начал звать Арама, потом пожал /своими/ плечами и задул свет; to blow — дуть). In the soft darkness he stretched himself fully clad on the couch (в приятной темноте он растянулся полностью одетый на софе), his sinewy hand by instinct searching for and closing on the hilt of his broadsword (его мускулистая рука инстинктивно поискала и сомкнулась на рукоятке его палаша; sinew — сухожилие). Glancing idly at the stars framed in the barred windows (глядя лениво на звезды, обрамленные зарешеченными окнами), with the murmur of the breeze through the palms in his ears (с шорохом бриза сквозь пальмы в /его/ ушах), he sank into slumber with a vague consciousness of the muttering drum (он погрузился в дрему с неясным осознанием глухо грохочущего барабана; to sink — погружаться, тонуть), out on the desert — the low rumble and mutter of a leather-covered drum (снаружи в пустыне — низкий рокот и грохот обтянутого кожей барабана), beaten with soft, rhythmic strokes of an open black hand (ударяемого = по которому бьет мягкими ритмичными ударами раскрытая черная рука; to beat — бить, ударять) …
blew [blu: ], stretch [streʧ], consciousness [ˈkɔnʃəsnɪs]
The light began to flicker, and he investigated, swearing when he found the palm oil in the lamp was almost exhausted. He started to shout for Aram, then shrugged his shoulders and blew out the light. In the soft darkness he stretched himself fully clad on the couch, his sinewy hand by instinct searching for and closing on the hilt of his broadsword. Glancing idly at the stars framed in the barred windows, with the murmur of the breeze through the palms in his ears, he sank into slumber with a vague consciousness of the muttering drum, out on the desert — the low rumble and mutter of a leather-covered drum, beaten with soft, rhythmic strokes of an open black hand …
2. The Night Skulkers(Ночные крадуны = кто крадется в ночи)
It was the stealthy opening of a door which awakened the Cimmerian (это /было/ скрытное открывание двери, /которое/ разбудило Конана = Конана разбудил звук осторожно открываемой двери). He did not awake as civilized men do, drowsy and drugged and stupid (он не проснулся как /это/ делают цивилизованные люди, вялые, затороможенные и бестолковые; to drug — оказывать воздействие, подобное наркотическому, на кого-л.; притуплять (чувства, эмоции и т. д.); drug — медикамент(ы), снадобье, лекарственный препарат). He awoke instantly, with a clear mind (он проснулся мгновенно, с чистым разумом), recognizing the sound that had interruped his sleep (узнав звук, который прервал его сон). Lying there tensely in the dark he saw the outer door slowly open (лежа там напряженно в темноте, он увидел, /как/ медленно открывается наружная дверь). In a widening crack of starlit sky he saw framed a great black bulk, broad, stooping shoulders (в расширяющейся трещине освещенного звездами неба он увидел, заключенную в рамку /дверного проема/ огромную черну