| "I told you not to marry her." | Не женись на ней - так ведь я тебе говорила. |
| Claude didn't answer. There was no need to. | Клод ничего не ответил, да и не было нужды отвечать. |
| There was a familiar safety in his mother's arms. | Он ощутил тепло материнских рук. |
| There always had been. Even when he was a child and had come running home from school when the boys ganged up on him. | Как всегда, в детстве, когда он, обиженный, прибегал из школы домой. |
| His mother knew him. | Мать знала его. |
| He didn't have to tell her when he was troubled. | Ему незачем было рассказывать ей о своих неприятностях. |
| Instinctively she had moved out to California after his marriage to Rina. | Вот и теперь материнский инстинкт заставил ее приехать в Калифорнию после его женитьбы на Рине. |
| He had never been very strong, always frail and thin, and the intense nervousness of his creative spurts left him drained and exhausted. | Хрупкий и худощавый, он никогда не был сильным. Интенсивная творческая работа еще больше истощала и утомляла его. |
| At times like that, his mother would see to it that he took to his bed - for weeks on end, sometimes. She would serve him his meals, bring him the newspapers, read to him from the books they both loved. | В такие моменты мать укладывала его на несколько недель в постель, сама ухаживала за ним: кормила, приносила газеты, читала вслух любимые книги. |
| Often he felt that these were the happiest moments of his life. Here in the gentle pastels of the room his mother had decorated for him, he felt warm and comfortable and at ease. | Иногда Клод чувствовал, что это самые счастливые дни его жизни - в комнате, которую мать обставила для него в мягких пастельных тонах, он ощущал тепло и уют. |
| Everything he wanted was at his fingertips. The dirtiness and petty meanness of the world were safely locked away outside the walls of that room. | Все необходимое было у него под руками, за этими стенами он был надежно укрыт от грязи и подлости мира. |
| His father had never been more than a vague nebulous shadow. He could scarcely remember him, for he had died when Claude was only five. | Отца Клод помнил очень смутно, он умер, когда ему было всего пять лет. |
| His father's death had caused scarcely a noticeable ripple in the course of their lives, for they were left well off. They weren't wealthy but never was there want. | Смерть отца значительно изменила их образ жизни, их семья не была богатой, но и не испытывала нужды. |
| "You go back to the house and get what few things you need," his mother said. "You can spend the night here. In the morning, we'll see about a divorce." | - Ты вернешься домой и соберешь необходимые вещи, - сказала мать. - Ночь ты можешь провести здесь, а утром мы подумаем о разводе. |
| He raised his head from his mother's shoulder and looked at her. | Он поднял голову с плеча матери и посмотрел на нее. |
| "But, Mother, I wouldn't even know what to say to a lawyer." | - Но, мама, я даже не знаю, что говорить адвокату. |
| "Don't worry," his mother said confidently. "I'll take care of everything." | - Не беспокойся, - просто сказала мать, - я обо всем позабочусь. |
| He could feel a great weight lifting from his shoulders. | Клод почувствовал, что с плеч у него свалился огромный груз. |
| Once again, his mother had spoken the magic words. | Опять его мама произнесла волшебные слова. |
| But when he stood in the street in front of the house and saw Rina's car in the driveway, he was afraid to go in. | Но когда, остановившись перед домом, он увидел автомобиль Рины, то побоялся войти. |
| There would only be another scene and he wasn't up to it. He had no more strength. | Его приход мог закончиться очередной сценой, а у него уже больше не было сил. |
| He looked at his wrist watch. It was almost eleven o'clock. | Он взглянул на часы, было почти одиннадцать. |
| She would be leaving soon because she had a luncheon date at the studio. | Скоро Рина должна была уехать, так как во время ланча у нее было свидание на студии. |
| He walked back down the hill to the cocktail lounge just off the corner of Sunset. He would have a drink while he waited. He would be able to see her car as it came down the hill. | Клод спустился к подножию холма и зашел в бар. Здесь он мог подождать, пока ее автомобиль проедет мимо. |
| The cocktail lounge was dark as he entered, the chairs still up on the tables. The bar was open, however, and there was already a customer seated with a glass of beer in front of him. | Он вошел в бар, и хотя в помещении было еще темно и стулья не сняты со столов, в заведении уже сидели несколько посетителей. |
| Claude climbed up on a stool near the window, from which he could watch the street. He shivered slightly. It had begun to drizzle as he came down the hill and was turning into one of those nasty, chilly afternoons peculiarly indigenous to sunny California. He shivered again. He hoped he wasn't catching cold. | Клд занял место у окна, через которое ему была видна улица. Его слегка знобило, но он надеялся, что это не простуда. |
| "Whisky and warm water," he said to the bartender, remembering the drink his mother always gave him at the first sign of a cold. | - Виски с горячей водой, - сказал он бармену, вспомнив, что именно такое снадобье давала ему мать при первых признаках простуды. |
| The bartender looked at him peculiarly. "Warm water?" | - С горячей водой? - удивился бармен. |
| Claude nodded. "Yes, please." He looked up and noticed that the lone customer was also staring at him - a young man in a yellow lumber jacket. "And a slice of lemon, if you have it," he called after the bartender. | - Да, пожалуйста, - кивнул Клод. - Он поднял голову и увидел, что за ним наблюдает одинокий посетитель - молодой человек в желтом приталенном пиджаке. - Да, и пожалуйста, если у вас есть, ломтик лимона, - крикнул Клод вслед бармену. |
| Claude picked up the small steaming mug. He sipped at it and felt its warmth creep down toward his stomach. | Он отхлебнул дымящийся напиток и через мгновение почувствовал тепло в желудке. |
| He turned and looked out the window. It was really raining now. | За окном шел дождь. |
| He picked up the mug again and to his surprise, it was empty. | Клод поднес стакан к губам и, к своему удивлению, обнаружил, что он пуст. |
| He decided to have another. There was time. | Вполне можно было заказать еще одну порцию -время у него было. |
| He knew exactly what Rina was doing right now. He gestured to the bartender. | Он точно знал, чем в этот момент занимается Рина. |
| Right at this moment, she was seated in front of her dressing table, putting on her make-up, until it was precisely the way she wanted it. | Сидит перед туалетным столиком и делает макияж, добиваясь нужного эффекта. |
| Then she would fuss with her hair, teasing it until it hung carelessly, but with every strand in its allotted place. She had a fetish about not getting anywhere on time. | Потом начнет расчесывать волосы. |
| She was always at least an hour late, most of the time even later. | Рина никогда не приходила вовремя, всегда опаздывала по крайней мере на час, а то и больше. |
| It used to drive him crazy having to wait for her, but it never seemed to disturb anyone else. They just took it for granted. | Иногда он злился, ожидая ее. Других, похоже, ее опоздания не трогали - к ним привыкли. |
| Claude looked down at the mug. It was empty again. | Клод посмотрел на стакан - он снова был пуст. |
| He ordered another drink. He was beginning to feel better. | Теперь он чувствовал себя гораздо лучше и заказал еще одну порцию. |
| Rina would be surprised when she came home and found his things gone. | Рина будет удивлена, когда вернется домой и не обнаружит его вещей. |
| No more would she call him half a man. | Больше его никто не назовет "бабой". |
| She'd find out just how much of a man he was when the lawyer served her with divorce papers. | Она поймет, каков он на самом деле, когда адвокат представит ей бумаги о разводе. |
| She'd know then that she couldn't push him around. | Она поймет, что с ним нельзя так обращаться. |
| And she'd never look at him again the way she had the first night they were married - with pity and yet contempt, and worst of all, the knowledge in her eyes that she saw into him deeply, laying bare the very secrets of his soul, secrets that he kept even from himself. |