а его тихонько к его кровати), and as he got in (и когда он лег) she slipped the portrait of Mary Poppins into his hand (она сунула портрет Мэри Поппинс в его руку = ему в руку; to slip — скользить; давать /что-либо/ скрытно, незаметно) — hurriedly (поспешно), in case she should regret it (на случай, если она могла бы пожалеть об этом).
“You have it for tonight, darling (это тебе на ночь, дорогой),” whispered Jane (прошептала Джейн), and she tucked him in (и она укутала его) just as Mary Poppins used to do (точно так, как делала Мэри Поппинс)…
attached [q'tæt∫t] foreign ['fOrIn] portrait ['pO:trIt]
“That’s the Match Man — he did it,” said Michael, and took it in his hand so that he could have a better look.
Jane found suddenly that there was a letter attached to the painting. She unfolded it carefully. It ran:
DEAR JANE,
Michael had the compass so the picture is for you. Au revoir.
MARY POPPINS
She read it out loud till she came to the words she couldn’t understand.
“Mrs Brill!” she called. “What does ‘au revoir’ mean?”
“Au revore, dearie?” shrieked Mrs Brill from the next room. “Why, doesn’t it mean — let me see, I’m not up in these foreign tongues — doesn’t it mean ‘God bless you’? No. No, I’m wrong. I think, Miss Jane dear, it means ‘To Meet Again’.”
Jane and Michael looked at each other. Joy and understanding shone in their eyes. They knew what Mary Poppins meant.
Michael gave a long sigh of relief. “That’s all right,” he said shakily. “She always does what she says she will.” He turned away.
“Michael, are you crying?” Jane asked.
He twisted his head and tried to smile at her.
“No, I am not,” he said. “It is only my eyes.”
She pushed him gently towards his bed, and as he got in she slipped the portrait of Mary Poppins into his hand — hurriedly, in case she should regret it.
“You have it for tonight, darling,” whispered Jane, and she tucked him in just as Mary Poppins used to do…
Postscript ( эпилог )
“If you are looking for autobiographical facts (если вы ищете автобиографические факты),” P. L. Travers once wrote (Памела Треверс однажды написала), “Mary Poppins is the story of my life («МэриПоппинс — история моей жизни»).” This seems rather unlikely (это кажется довольно невероятным / неправдоподобным), when you consider (если вы учитываете) that Mary Poppins goes inside a chalk pavement picture (что Мэри Поппинс входит в меловую картину на тротуаре), slides up banisters (скользит вверх по перилам), arranges tea-parties on the ceiling (устраивает чаепития на потолке) and has a carpet bag (и имеет ковровую сумку) which is both empty and — at the same time — contains many strange but useful objects (которая одновременно пустая ивтожевремя содержит много странных, но полезных вещей). And yet memories of people and events from her life did find their way into the Mary Poppins stories (и однако воспоминания о людях и событиях из ее жизни нашли свой путь в рассказах Мэри Поппинс) — not that most people were aware of that (правда, большинство людей не знали об этом). Even those of us (даже те из нас) who were her friends knew little about her private life (кто были ее друзьями, знали немного о ее личной жизни).
One thing we did know was that (одно, что мы знали — это то), as a child growing up in Australia (что как ребенок, выросший в Австралии), she had fallen in love with the fairy-tales, myths and legends (она влюбилась в сказки, мифы и легенды) from which she later borrowed some of the ideas and images found in her own books (из которых она позднее заимствовала некоторые из идей и образов, найденных в ее собственных книгах). Her passion for reading naturally led her to become a storyteller (ее страсть к чтению естественно привела ее к тому, что она стала рассказчицей), beginning her writing career as a journalist and poet some years before she wrote her first full-length novel (начав свою писательскую карьеру в качестве журналиста и поэтессы за несколько лет до того, как она написала свой первый солидный роман; full-lenth — «полнойпротяженности»). It was in one of her earliest stories (это было в одном из ее ранних рассказов) — written before she left Australia for Britain in 1924 (написанном перед тем, как она покинула Австралию ради Британии = переезжаю в Британию в 1924) — that a character appeared named Mary Poppins (появился персонаж, которого звали Мэри Поппинс). She was neither magical nor particularly memorable (она была ни магической, ни особенно запоминающейся), but the author had found a name (но автор обнаружил имя) that she would one day give to somebody else (которое она однажды даст кому-то еще)…
autobiographical ['O:tquֽbaIqu'græfIk(q)l] Australia [Os'treIljq] character ['kærIktq]
“If you are looking for autobiographical facts,” P. L. Travers once wrote, “Mary Poppins is the story of my life.” This seems rather unlikely, when you consider that Mary Poppins goes inside a chalk pavement picture, slides up banisters, arranges tea-parties on the ceiling and has a carpet bag which is both empty and — at the same time — contains many strange but useful objects. And yet memories of people and events from her life did find their way into the Mary Poppins stories — not that most people were aware of that. Even those of us who were her friends knew little about her private life.
One thing we did know was that, as a child growing up in Australia, she had fallen in love with the fairy-tales, myths and legends from which she later borrowed some of the ideas and images found in her own books. Her passion for reading naturally led her to become a storyteller, beginning her writing career as a journalist and poet some years before she wrote her first full-length novel. It was in one of her earliest stories — written before she left Australia for Britain in 1924 — that a character appeared named Mary Poppins. She was neither magical nor particularly memorable, but the author had found a name that she would one day give to somebody else…
That “somebody” blew into Pamela Travers’ imagination (этот «другой» ворвался в воображение Памелы Треверс) rather as Mary Poppins herself blew into Cherry Tree Lane (довольно /похоже на то/, как сама Мэри Поппинс ворвалась на Вишневую улицу). The author was staying in an old thatched manor in Sussex (автор жила в старом, крытом соломой особняке в Сассексе) and was ill in bed (и лежала в постели по болезни). As she once described it to me (как она однажды описала это мне): “The idea of this unusual person came to me (идея/представление об этой необычной личности/необычном человеке пришла ко мне) and, in that halfway state between being well and ill, I began to write about her (и, на полпути между здоровьем и болезнью я начала писать о ней).”
So (так что), some parts of Mary Poppins came to Pamela from out of the blue (некоторые части рассказа о Мэри Поппинс пришли к Памеле из синевы = из неба = совершенно неожиданно; out of the blue — совершенно неожиданно, как гром среди ясного неба); others were memories of her earlier life (другие были воспоминаниями о ее ранней жизни) when she was growing up on an Australian sugar plantation (когда она подрастала на Австралийской сахарной плантации). Bertha (or maybe she was called Bella — Pamela could never quite remember!) (Берта (или может быть ее звали Бэла — Памела не могла точно вспомнить)), one of the family’s Irish servants (одна из ирландских слуг семьи), was a marvellous character (была удивительным персонажем) whose pride and joy was a parrot-headed umbrella (чьей гордостью и радостью был зонтик с головой попугая). “Whenever Bertha was going out (когда бы Берта ни выходила из дома),” Pamela told me (Памела рассказвала мне), “the umbrella would be carefully taken out of tissue paper (зонтик должен был заботливо вынут из оберточной бумаги) and off she would go (и она уходила), looking terribly stylish (выглядя ужасно стильно). But, as soon as she came back (но, как только она возвращалась), the umbrella would be wrapped up in tissue paper once more (зонтик должен был упаковываться в оберточную бумагу еще раз = снова).”
Bertha ['bq:Tq] tissue ['tI∫u:] servants ['sq:v(q)nts]
That “somebody” blew into Pamela Travers’ imagination rather as Mary Poppins herself blew into Cherry Tree Lane. The author was staying in an old thatched manor in Sussex and was ill in bed. As she once described it to me: “The idea of this unusual person came to me and, in that halfway state between being well and ill, I began to write about her.”
So, some parts of Mary Poppins came to Pamela from out of the blue; others were memories of her earlier life when she was growing up on an Australian sugar plantation. Bertha (or maybe she was called Bella — Pamela could never quite remember!), one of the family’s Irish servants, was a marvellous character whose pride and joy was a parrot-headed umbrella. “Whenever Bertha was going out,” Pamela told me, “the umbrella would be carefully taken out of tissue paper and off she would go, looking terribly stylish. But, as soon as she came back, the umbrella would be wrapped up in tissue paper once more.”
Like Mary Poppins (подобно Мэри Поппинс), Bertha also had a number of fascinating relatives (Бэрта имела много очаровательных родственников) whom she would visit (которых она навещала). Pamela recalled (Памела вспоминала): “She would come back and tell us wonderful stories (она возвращалась и рассказывала удивительные истории)… But no (но нет) — she wouldn’t quite tell (она не совсем рассказывала). She’d just hint (она только намекала): ‘If you could know what happened to me cousin’s brother-in-law (если бы вы только знали, что случилось со моей кузины зятем)…’ And when you’d opened your ears and your eyes (и когда вы открывали свои уши и свои глаза) — and your mouth (