(не высадились ли некоторые из этих диких людей вновь на мой остров).
queer ['kwI@], disturb [dIs't@:b], both ['b@uT], different ['dIf(@)r(@)nt], joy ['dZOI], pilot ['paIl@t], people [pi:pl], earnest ['@:nIst]
TWO years passed without any alarms, and I was beginning to think that nothing would ever again happen to disturb the quiet of my life.
One night in the rainy season of March I could not sleep. I lay for hours in my hammock and was not able to close my eyes. I was thinking, thinking, thinking.
I thought of all that had ever happened to me both before and after my shipwreck.
I thought of my first happy years on the island.
I thought of the fear and care that I had lived in ever since I saw the first footprint in the sand.
Then I thought of my great desire to see my native land once more, and to have friends and companions with whom I could talk.
These thoughts brought to mind the savages of whom I had so great a dread, and I began to ask myself a thousand questions about them.
How far off was the coast from which they came?
Why did they come to my island from so great a distance?
What kind of boats did they have?
With such thoughts as these I lay awake until far in the night. My pulse beat fast, my breath came hard, my nerves were unstrung.
At last, worn out by my very restlessness, I fell asleep.
The same thoughts must have followed me into my dreams, but they took a different form.
I dreamed that I was sitting on the seashore with my gun on my lap and my umbrella by my side.
I was thinking, thinking, thinking. I had never been so sad and lonely.
I was thinking of the home I was never to see again, and of the friends who perhaps had forgotten me.
Suddenly, as I lifted my eyes, I thought I saw two canoes coming toward the island. I ran and hid myself in a grove by the shore.
There were eleven savages in the canoes, and they had with them another savage whom they were going to kill and eat.
But I thought in my sleep that this savage suddenly sprang up and ran for his life.
I thought that he came running to the little grove, to hide himself in it.
Seeing him alone, I arose and met him. I smiled kindly, and tried to make him know that I was his friend.
He threw himself on the ground at my feet. He seemed to be asking my help.
I showed him my ladder and made him go up over the wall.
Then I led him into my castle, and he became my servant.
I thought in my sleep, that I cried aloud for joy and said: "Now I shall escape from this place. For this savage will be my pilot. He will guide me to the mainland. He will tell where to go and what to do. He will help me find my own people."
This thought filled my mind with great joy and while I was still rejoicing I awoke.
What a disappointment it was to find that it was only a dream!
For several days I felt very sad. I was almost ready to give up hope.
Then I remembered my dream; and I said to myself: "If I could only get hold of a savage and teach him to love me, things might turn out just that way. He must be one of their prisoners and I must save him from being eaten; for then it will be easy to win his friendship."
This thought so fixed itself in my mind that I could not get rid of it. Waking or sleeping, I seemed to be always planning to get hold of a savage.
At last I set myself about it in earnest. Almost every day I went out with my gun to see if some of these wild men had not again landed on my island.
I GET HOLD OF A SAVAGE
(я захватываю дикаря)
FOR a year and a half I kept close watch upon the farther shore of the island as well as upon that nearest to my castle (в течение полутора лет я держал постоянное наблюдение за дальним берегом острова, равно как и за тем /берегом, который был/ ближайшим к замку). But not a single savage came near (но ни один дикарь не приблизился = не появился; single — один; единственный; одиночный).
One morning in June, however (однако одним июньским утром), I had a great surprise (я получил большое удивление = случилось неожиданное для меня).
I was just starting out from my castle (я как раз выходил из моего замка) when I saw five canoes lying high and dry on the beach not a mile away (когда увидел пять каноэ, лежащих вытащенными на берег: «высоко и сухими» на берегу не более мили вдалеке = на расстоянии не более мили; high and dry — выброшенный, вытащенный на берег /о судне/). There was not a man near them (не было ни одного человека рядом с ними). The people who had come in them were perhaps asleep among the trees (люди, которые прибыли на них, возможно, спали между деревьями).
The number of canoes was greater (число каноэ было больше) than I had ever counted upon seeing (чем я когда-либо рассчитывал увидеть). For there were always four or six savages in each canoe (потому что в каждом каноэ всегда было четыре или шесть дикарей; always — всегда, неизменно), and there must now be between twenty and thirty men somewhere on the shore (и /значит/ должно быть между двадцатью и тридцатью мужчин где-то на берегу).
I did not know what to think of it (я не знал, что думать об этом). I did not feel brave enough to attack so many (я не чувствовал себя достаточно смелым, чтобы напасть на столь многих).
So I stayed in my castle (поэтому я остался в замке) and made ready to defend myself (и приготовился защищаться: «защищать себя»).
"There is little hope of getting a savage this time (мало надежды заполучить дикаря в этот раз)," I thought to myself (подумал я про себя).
I waited a long while (я ждал долго), but heard no unusual sound (но не услышал никаких необычных звуков). I grew tired of waiting (я устал: «стал уставшим» от ожидания = мне надоело ждать; to grow — становиться; tired — усталый, уставший; потерявший интерес, пресытившийся), and made up my mind to see what was going on (и решил посмотреть, что происходило).
So, with the help of my ladder (итак, с помощью лестницы), I climbed up to my lookout on the top of the rock (я взобрался на мою смотровую площадку на вершине скалы). I put my spyglass to my eyes (я приставил подзорную трубу к глазам) and looked down upon the beach (и посмотрел вниз на берег).
Surely enough (и действительно: «достаточно несомненно»; surely — конечно, непременно; несомненно)! there they were (они там были). I saw no fewer than thirty naked savages dancing around a fire (я увидел не менее тридцати обнаженных дикарей, танцующих вокруг огня; to dance — танцевать). I saw that they were broiling meat upon the coals (я видел, что они варили мясо на углях), but I could not tell what kind of meat it was (но я не мог различить, что это было за мясо).
As I watched I saw some of the dancers run to a boat and drag two miserable prisoners from it (когда я /так/ наблюдал, я увидел, как несколько танцоров побежали к лодке и притащили с нее двух несчастных пленников). They must have been in the boat all the time (должно быть, они были в лодке все это время), but as they were lying down I did not see them (но так как они лежали, я не видел их).
All the dancers now crowded around the poor prisoners (все танцоры столпились теперь вокруг несчастных пленников). They knocked one of them down with a club (они сбили одного с ног дубинкой), and then fell upon him with their knives (и затем набросились на него с ножами). I supposed they were going to cut him up for their horrid feast (я предположил, что они собирались разрезать его для своего страшного пира; to cut up — разрубать, разрезать на куски).
For a few moments they seemed to forget the other prisoner (на несколько мгновений они, казалось, забыли о другом пленнике), for they left him standing alone at one side (так как оставили его одного, стоящим в стороне).
All at once he made a break for liberty (неожиданно он сделал попытку убежать: «сделал рывок к свободе»). You never saw a hound run so fast (вы никогда не видели, чтобы гончая бежала так быстро). He ran along the sandy beach (он бежал вдоль песчаного берега), right toward my castle (прямо к моему замку). I was dreadfully frightened (я был ужасно напуган). I thought that now my dream was coming true (я подумал, что мой сон сбывался: «становился правдивым»; true — правдивый, достоверный), and that he would surely hide in my grove (и что он непременно спрячется в моей роще).
But would the other part of the dream come true (но сбудется ли другая часть сна)? Would the other savages lose sight of him (потеряют ли другие = остальные дикари его из виду), and running another way, not come near the castle (и, убегая по другому пути, не придут близко к моему замку) ? I feared not (я опасался, что нет = что этого не произойдет).
However, I stayed in my lookout and watched to see what would happen (тем не менее, я оставался на смотровой площадке и наблюдал, чтобы увидеть, что произойдет).
I saw, to my joy (я увидел, к моей радости), that only three of the savage followed him (что только трое из дикарей последовали за ним). He ran so fast that he gained ground on them (он бежал так быстро, что оторвался от них: «выиграл землю»). If he could hold out for ten or fifteen minutes (если он продержится десять-пятнадцать минут), he would get away from them all (он сможет убежать от них всех; to get away — уходить; отправляться; удирать; выбираться)