Уильям Моэм - Мистер Всезнайка. Рассказы

devour [dI`vauq], voluptuous [vq`lAptjuqs], fervour [`fWvq]

Frank lifted her great heavy head from her plate.

"Bring me some pвtй de foie gras ," she boomed.

"Frank!" cried Beatrice.

"Shut up!"

"All right. I'll have some too."

The coffee was brought and the hot rolls and cream and the pвtй de foie gras and they set to. They spread the cream on the pвtй and they ate it. They devoured great spoonfuls of jam. They crunched the delicious crisp bread voluptuously. What was love to Arrow then? Let the Prince keep his palace in Rome and his castle in the Apennines. They did not speak. What they were about was much too serious. They ate with solemn, ecstatic fervour.

"I haven't eaten potatoes for twenty-five years," said Frank in a far-off brooding tone.

"Waiter," cried Beatrice, "bring fried potatoes for three."

"Trиs bien, Madame."

The potatoes were brought. Not all the perfumes of Arabia smelt so sweet. They ate them with their fingers.

"Bring me a dry Martini (принесите мне один сухой мартини)," said Arrow.

"You can't have a dry Martini in the middle of a meal, Arrow (ты не можешь пить: «иметь» сухой мартини в середине/во время приема пищи, Эрроу)," said Frank.

"Can't I (не могу)? You wait and see (подожди и увидишь)."

"All right then (тогда ладно). Bring me a double dry Martini (принесите мне один двойной сухой мартини)," said Frank.

"Bring three double dry Martinis (принесите три двойных сухих мартини)," said Beatrice.

They were brought and drunk at a gulp (мартини: «они» были принесены и выпиты залпом; gulp— большой глоток ). The women looked at one another and sighed (женщины взглянули друг на друга и вздохнули). The misunderstandings of the last fortnight dissolved (/все/ недоразумения последних двух недель были забыты: «растворились») and the sincere affection each had for the other welled up again in their hearts (и искренняя привязанность, /которую/ каждая питала к другим: «имела к другой», снова заполнила их сердца; to well — битьключом; хлынуть; up — вверх; изглубинынаповерхность ). They could hardly believe (они едва могли поверить) that they had ever contemplated the possibility of severing a friendship (что они даже обдумывали возможность разорвать /их/ дружбу; ever — всегда; когда-либо; такжеупотребляетсядляусиления; to contemplate — созерцать; обдумывать;задумывать ) that had brought them so much solid satisfaction (которая приносила им так много нескончаемого удовольствия; solid — твердый; сплошной, непрерывный; satisfaction — удовлетворение; удовольствие ). They finished the potatoes (они доели картофель; to finish — кончать, заканчивать ).

"I wonder if they've got any chocolate (интересно, есть ли у них какие-нибудь шоколадные эклеры)," said Beatrice.

"Of course they have (конечно, у них есть)."

And of course they had (и, конечно, /они/ у них были). Frank thrust one whole into her huge mouth (Фрэнк засунула один /эклер/ целиком в свой огромный рот), swallowed it and seized another (проглотила его и схватила еще один), but before she ate it she looked at the other two (но прежде чем она съела его, она посмотрела на двух других /женщин/) and plunged a vindictive dagger into the heart of the monstrous Lena (и воткнула кинжал мести в сердце чудовищной Лины; to plunge— погружаться/;to plunge a dagger into/smb./ — пронзить кого-либо кинжалом;vindictive— мстительный ).

"You can say what you like (вы можете говорить, что хотите; tolike— любить, нравиться; хотеть ), but the truth is she played a damned rotten game of bridge, really (но правда /в том, что/ она играла /в/ чертовски отвратительную игру /в/ бридж = она чертовски плохо играла в бридж , вообще-то)."

"Lousy," agreed Arrow (паршиво, — согласилась Эрроу).

But Beatrice suddenly thought she would like a meringue (а Беатрис вдруг подумала, /что/ ей хотелось бы меренгу; meringue— меренга /французский десерт из взбитых и запеченных яичных белков с сахаром/ ).

dissolve [dI`zOlv], йclair [eI`kleq, I`kleq, `eIkleq], meringue [mq`rxN]

"Bring me a dry Martini," said Arrow.

"You can't have a dry Martini in the middle of a meal, Arrow," said Frank.

"Can't I? You wait and see."

"All right then. Bring me a double dry Martini," said Frank.

"Bring three double dry Martinis," said Beatrice.

They were brought and drunk at a gulp. The women looked at one another and sighed. The misunderstandings of the last fortnight dissolved and the sincere affection each had for the other welled up again in their hearts. They could hardly believe that they had ever contemplated the possibility of severing a friendship that had brought them so much solid satisfaction. They finished the potatoes.

"I wonder if they've got any chocolate йclairs," said Beatrice.

"Of course they have."

And of course they had. Frank thrust one whole into her huge mouth, swallowed it and seized another, but before she ate it she looked at the other two and plunged a vindictive dagger into the heart of the monstrous Lena.

"You can say what you like, but the truth is she played a damned rotten game of bridge, really."

"Lousy," agreed Arrow.

But Beatrice suddenly thought she would like a meringue.