Corum frowned. He looked below and now they were crossing a bleak yellow and brown desert (он посмотрел вниз, теперь они пересекали унылую желто-коричневую пустыню; bleak — незащищенный от ветра; гнетущий, безрадостный). It was the desert called Dhroonhazat and it seemed entirely waterless (это была пустыня под названием Друнхазат, и она казалась совершенно безводной). By an accident of fate he was being borne towards the Knight of the Swords faster than he had expected (по случайности судьбы = благодаря случайности его несло к Рыцарю Мечей быстрее, чем он ожидал).
Or was it an accident of fate (/хотя/, было ли это случайностью)?
myriad [ˈmɪrɪəd] cosmology [kɔzˈmɔləʤɪ] vouch [vauʧ] desert [ˈdezət]
`Aye, the Sword Rulers and others. Then there are the Great Old Gods, to whom all the myriad planes of Earth are merely a tiny fragment in a greater mosaic. Hanafax shrugged. `This is the cosmology I was taught when I was a priest. I cannot vouch for its truth.
Corum frowned. He looked below and now they were crossing a bleak yellow and brown desert. It was the desert called Dhroonhazat and it seemed entirely waterless. By an accident of fate he was being borne towards the Knight of the Swords faster than he had expected.
Or was it an accident of fate?
Now the heat was increasing and the sand below shimmered and danced (теперь жара усиливалась, и песок внизу переливался и прыгал; to dance — танцевать; прыгать, скакать). Hanafax licked his lips (Ганафакс облизал губы).
`We're getting dangerously close to the Flamelands, Prince Corum (мы приближаемся опасно близко к Огненным землям, принц Корум). Look (смотри).
On the horizon Corum saw a thin, flickering line of red light (на горизонте Корум увидел тонкую, дрожащую линию красного света). The sky above it was also tinged red (небо над ней тоже было слегка красным).
The kite sped nearer and the heat increased (воздушный змей подлетал ближе /к огню/, и жара усиливалась; to speed — мчаться, торопиться). To his astonishment, Corum saw that they were approaching a wall of flame (к своему изумлению = с удивлением Корум увидел, что они приближаются к стене огня) that stretched as far as he could see in both directions (которая растянулась на сколько он мог видеть в оба направления = от края до края).
`Hanafax, we shall be burned alive (Ганафакс, мы сгорим заживо), he said softly.
`Aye, it seems likely (да, похоже на то).
`Is there no means of turning this kite of yours (неужели нет средств = нельзя повернуть этого твоего змея)?
danced [dɑ:nst] increased [ɪnˈkri:st] astonishment [əˈstɔnɪʃmənt]
Now the heat was increasing and the sand below shimmered and danced. Hanafax licked his lips. `We're getting dangerously close to the Flamelands, Prince Corum. Look.
On the horizon Corum saw a thin, flickering line of red light. The sky above it was also tinged red.
The kite sped nearer and the heat increased. To his astonishment, Corum saw that they were approaching a wall of flame that stretched as far as he could see in both directions.
`Hanafax, we shall be burned alive, he said softly.
`Aye, it seems likely.
`Is there no means of turning this kite of yours?
`I have tried, in the past (я пытался, в прошлом = раньше). It is not the first time it has taken me away from one danger and into a worse one (это не первый раз, когда он уносит меня от одной опасности к /другой/, худшей) …
The wall of fire was now so close that Corum could feel its direct heat burning his face (огненная стена теперь была так близко, что Корум ощущал, как ее прямой = исходящий от нее жар обжигает его лицо). He heard it rumble and crackle and it seemed to feed on nothing but the air itself (он услышал, как она гремела и потрескивала и, казалось, пожирала лишь один воздух; to feed on — питать; жить за чей-либо счет).
`Such a thing defies nature (подобная вещь нарушает /законы/ природы = это неестественно)! he gasped (проговорил он, задыхаясь).
`Is that not a fair definition of all sorcery (разве это не ясное определение всего колдовства = таковым является все колдовство)? Hanafax said. `This is Chaos work (это работа Хаоса). The disruption of the natural harmony is, after all, their pleasure (нарушение естественной гармонии — это, в конце концов, их развлечение).
`Ah, this sorcery (ох уж это колдовство). It wearies my mind (оно утомляем мой разум = как я от него устал). I cannot grasp its logic (не могу понять его логику; to grasp — схватывать; понимать, усваивать).
definition [, defɪˈnɪʃ (ə) n] harmony [ˈhɑ:mənɪ] grasp [ɡrɑ:sp]
`I have tried, in the past. It is not the first time it has taken me away from one danger and into a worse one…
The wall of fire was now so close that Corum could feel its direct heat burning his face. He heard it rumble and crackle and it seemed to feed on nothing but the air itself.
`Such a thing defies nature! he gasped.
`Is that not a fair definition of all sorcery? Hanafax said. `This is Chaos work. The disruption of the natural harmony is, after all, their pleasure.
`Ah, this sorcery. It wearies my mind. I cannot grasp its logic.
`That is because it has none (это потому, что в нем ее нет). It is arbitrary (оно непостоянно). The Lords of Chaos are the enemies of Logic (Владыки Хаоса — враги Логики), the jugglers of Truth, the moulders of Beauty (искажатели Истины, разрушители Красоты; juggler — фокусник; жонглер; обманщик; to moulder — разрушать/ся/, разлагать/ся/). I should be surprised if they had not created these Flamelands out of some aesthetic impulse (я бы удивился, если бы они не создали эти Огненные земли из некоего эстетического побуждения). Beauty — an ever-changing beauty — is all they live for (красота — вечно меняющаяся красота — все, ради чего они живут).
`An evil beauty (зловещая красота).
`I believe that such notions of «good» and «evil» do not exist for the Chaos Lords (полагаю, что такие понятия, как «добро» и «зло» не существуют для Владык Хаоса).
`I should like to make it exist for them (хотелось бы мне сделать это существующим для них = лучше бы было иначе). Corum mopped his sweating head with his coat sleeve (Корум вытер /пот/ со своей потеющей голову рукавом плаща; to mop — мыть; вытирать /пот, слезы и т. д. /).
`And destroy all their beauty (и уничтожить всю их красоту)?
Corum darted an odd look at Hanafax (Корум бросил странный взгляд на Ганафакса). Was the Mabden on the side of the Knight (неужели этот мабден был на стороне Рыцаря)? Had he, in fact, trapped Corum into accompanying him (неужели он действительно обманом заставил Корума сопровождать себя); to trap into — вовлекать обманом)?
aesthetic [i:sˈƟetɪk] beauty [ˈbju:tɪ]
`That is because it has none. It is arbitrary. The Lords of Chaos are the enemies of Logic, the jugglers of Truth, the moulders of Beauty. I should be surprised if they had not created these Flamelands out of some aesthetic impulse. Beauty — an ever-changing beauty — is all they live for.
`An evil beauty.
`I believe that such notions of «good» and «evil» do not exist for the Chaos Lords.
`I should like to make it exist for them. Corum mopped his sweating head with his coat sleeve.
`And destroy all their beauty?
Corum darted an odd look at Hanafax. Was the Mabden on the side of the Knight? Had he, in fact, trapped Corum into accompanying him?
`There are other, quieter kinds of beauty, Sir Hanafax (существуют другие, более спокойные виды красоты, сэр Ганафакс).
`True (верно).
Everywhere below them now the flame yelled and leapt (повсюду под ними пламя кричало и прыгало = ревело и поднималось ввысь). The kite began to increase its height as its silk started to smoulder (змей стал набирать высоту, а его шелк начал тлеть). Corum was certain it would soon be destroyed by the fire (Корум был уверен, что его скоро уничтожит огонь) and they would be plunged into the depths of the flame wall (и они упадут в глубины огненной стены = в огненный океан; to plunge into — ввергать/ся/, погружать/ся/).
But now they were above it and, in spite of the silk suddenly springing alive with little fires (но теперь они были над ним, и, несмотря на то, что на шелке вдруг вспыхнули маленькие огоньки; to spring — появляться, выступать, возникать /внезапно/) and Corum feeling he was being roasted in his armour like a turtle in its shell (а Корум чувствовал себя поджареваемым в своих доспехах, словно черепаха в панцире), they now saw the other side of the wall (теперь они видели другую сторону стены).
A piece of the kite fell blazing away (кусок змея отвалился, пылая).
height [haɪt] piece [pi:s]
`There are other, quieter kinds of beauty, Sir Hanafax.
`True.
Everywhere below them now the flame yelled and leapt. The kite began to increase its height as its silk started to smoulder. Corum was certain it would soon be destroyed by the fire and they would be plunged into the depths of the flame wall.
But now they were above it and, in spite of the silk suddenly springing alive with little fires and Corum feeling he was being roasted in his armour like a turtle in its shell, they now saw the other side of the wall.
A piece of the kite fell blazing away.
Hanafax, his face a bright red, his body running with sweat, clung to a strut and gasped (Ганафакс с ярко-красным лицом и мокрым от пота телом вцепился в распорку и сказал, задыхаясь; to run with sweat — взмокнуть):
`Grasp a beam, Prince Corum (хватайся за перекладину, принц Корум; beam — балка, брус, перекладина)! Grasp a beam!
Corum took hold of one of the beams beneath his body as the burning silk was ripped from the frame and fluttered into the fires below (Корум ухватился за одну из перекладин под своим телом, когда горящий шелк оторвался от каркаса и полетел в огонь внизу;