With tears in my eyes (со слезами на глазах) I knelt down and gave thanks to
God (упал на колени и вознес благодарность Богу). I thanked him that he had kept me
alive and safe through so many years (благодарил Его /за то/ что Он сохранил меня
живым и в безопасности столько много лет). I thanked him that I had been cast on the
side of the island which was never visited by savages (за то, что я был выброшен на
сторону острова, которую никогда не посещали дикари). I thanked him for all the
comforts and blessings that were mine (за все удобства и благословение, которые
были моими = выпали мне на долю).
Then I arose and went home to my castle (затем я встал и пошел домой в мой
замок; to arise).
As I sat before my door that evening (когда я сидел перед дверью в тот вечер),
I thought the whole matter over (я обдумал весь вопрос: «всю материю»), and felt
much easier in my mind (и почувствовал намного легче в уме = почувствовал
облегчение).
I had been on the island eighteen years before I saw the first footprint (я пробыл
на острове 18 лет, прежде чем увидел первый отпечаток ноги). I had been there
twenty-three years before I saw any other signs of savages (другие признаки дикарей).
It was likely that many more years would pass before any harm should come to me (было
похоже, что много лет пройдут, прежде чем какая-либо беда постигнет меня).
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www
. f ranklang . r u
148
With these thoughts I lay down in my hammock and slept without fear (с этими
мыслями я лег в мой гамак и спал без страха).
But it was a long time before I went again to the farther shore of the island (но
прошло долгое время, прежде чем я пошел опять на дальний берег острова). I did
not even go to look after my canoe.
The days went quietly by (дни тихо проходили). I kept quite close to my castle
(держался довольно близко к замку), and busied myself with my goats and my grain
(занимался козами и зерном).
I was always on my guard (начеку; guard — охрана, защита; бдительность,
осторожность), and never stepped out of doors without first looking around me (не
выходил из дверей, не осмотревшись сначала).
observe [əb'zə:v] disgust [dιs'g st
ʌ ] hesitate ['hezιteιt]
I AM AGAIN ALARMED
FIVE or six years had passed, and not another footprint had I seen.
I had gotten over my great fright, and yet I was not so bold as I had been. Any
sudden sound would make me start and look around. I thought that if savage men had
been on the island once, they were quite likely to come again. So I kept on the lookout
for them all the time.
My flock of goats had now grown to be very large, and I needed another field. I
wished to put some of them in a hidden spot where the savages, if they did come, would
not find them.
I had already a small flock in one such spot, as I have told you. But now I wished
to have another.
In looking for the right kind of place, I went all over the island. I even went far
out on a rocky point beyond the place where I kept my canoe.
As I was standing on a rock and looking out to sea, I thought I saw a boat in the
distance. I was only a little speck on the water, and it seemed to rise and fall with the
waves. It could not be a rock.
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www
. f ranklang . r u
149
I looked at it till my eyes could look no more. I had saved a spyglass out of the
ship; but, as luck would have it, I had left it at home. How I wished for it then!
Whether I really saw a boat or not, I do not know. But as I walked back along the
shore, I made up my mind never to go out again without my spyglass.
I walked slowly along, thinking of what I had seen. All at once I came upon that
which made my heart stand still.
On the sandy, sloping beach of a pleasant little harbor I saw not only one
footprint, but hundreds of them.
I stood still, afraid to move.
But the footprints were not all. The beach at one place was covered with bones
and bits of flesh, as in a slaughter house. Some of the bones were quite fresh; some had
been charred with fire.
"Here the savages have been holding a feast," I said to myself.
A little farther on I saw that a pit had been dug in the sand, and here they had had
their fire. The ashes were still warm.
I wondered what kind of a feast these wild men had been having. There were
savages on the mainland who were said to kill and eat the captives whom they took in
war. Cannibals, they were called.
Could this have been a feast of cannibals? And were these the bones and flesh of
human beings?
I trembled as I thought of it.
I turned and ran from the place as fast as I could.
I ran until I could go no farther. My breath came fast. I sank down upon the
ground.
When I had rested a little while, I looked around and found that I was not very far
from my castle. All around me was peaceful and still. I was surely safe from harm.
With tears in my eyes I knelt down and gave thanks to God. I thanked him that he
had kept me alive and safe through so many years. I thanked him that I had been cast on
the side of the island which was never visited by savages. I thanked him for all the
comforts and blessings that were mine.
Then I arose and went home to my castle.
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www
. f ranklang . r u
150
As I sat before my door that evening, I thought the whole matter over, and felt
much easier in my mind.
I had been on the island eighteen years before I saw the first footprint. I had been
there twenty-three years before I saw any other signs of savages. It was likely that many
more years would pass before any harm should come to me.
With these thoughts I lay down in my hammock and slept without fear.
But it was a long time before I went again to the farther shore of the island. I did
not even go to look after my canoe.
The days went quietly by. I kept quite close to my castle, and busied myself with
my goats and my grain.
I was always on my guard, and never stepped out of doors without first looking
around me.
I MAKE A SURPRISING DISCOVERY (совершаю удивительное открытие)
ONCE every week I went into the woods to see the flock of goats that I had
hidden there (один раз каждую неделю я ходил в лес посмотреть на стадо коз,
которое я спрятал там).