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I Say No by Wilkie Collins, CHAPTER I. THE SMUGGLED SUPPER.

CHAPTER I. THE SMUGGLED SUPPER.

Outside the bedroom the night was black and still. The small rain fell too softly to be heard in the garden; not a leaf stirred in the airless calm; the watch-dog was asleep, the cats were indoors; far or near, under the murky heaven, not a sound was stirring.

Inside the bedroom the night was black and still.

Miss Ladd knew her business as a schoolmistress too well to allow night-lights; and Miss Ladd's young ladies were supposed to be fast asleep, in accordance with the rules of the house. Only at intervals the silence was faintly disturbed, when the restless turning of one of the girls in her bed betrayed itself by a gentle rustling between the sheets. In the long intervals of stillness, not even the softly audible breathing of young creatures asleep was to be heard.

The first sound that told of life and movement revealed the mechanical movement of the clock. Speaking from the lower regions, the tongue of Father Time told the hour before midnight.

A soft voice rose wearily near the door of the room. It counted the strokes of the clock—and reminded one of the girls of the lapse of time.

"Emily! eleven o'clock." There was no reply. After an interval the weary voice tried again, in louder tones:

"Emily!" A girl, whose bed was at the inner end of the room, sighed under the heavy heat of the night—and said, in peremptory tones, "Is that Cecilia?" "Yes." "What do you want?" "I'm getting hungry, Emily. Is the new girl asleep?" The new girl answered promptly and spitefully, "No, she isn't." Having a private object of their own in view, the five wise virgins of Miss Ladd's first class had waited an hour, in wakeful anticipation of the falling asleep of the stranger—and it had ended in this way! A ripple of laughter ran round the room. The new girl, mortified and offended, entered her protest in plain words.

"You are treating me shamefully! You all distrust me, because I am a stranger." "Say we don't understand you," Emily answered, speaking for her schoolfellows; "and you will be nearer the truth." "Who expected you to understand me, when I only came here to-day? I have told you already my name is Francine de Sor. If want to know more, I'm nineteen years old, and I come from the West Indies." Emily still took the lead. "Why do you come here? " she asked. "Who ever heard of a girl joining a new school just before the holidays? You are nineteen years old, are you? I'm a year younger than you—and I have finished my education. The next big girl in the room is a year younger than me—and she has finished her education. What can you possibly have left to learn at your age?" "Everything!" cried the stranger from the West Indies, with an outburst of tears. "I'm a poor ignorant creature. Your education ought to have taught you to pity me instead of making fun of me. I hate you all. For shame, for shame!" Some of the girls laughed. One of them—the hungry girl who had counted the strokes of the clock—took Francine's part. "Never mind their laughing, Miss de Sor. You are quite right, you have good reason to complain of us." Miss de Sor dried her eyes. "Thank you—whoever you are," she answered briskly. "My name is Cecilia Wyvil," the other proceeded. "It was not, perhaps, quite nice of you to say you hated us all. At the same time we have forgotten our good breeding—and the least we can do is to beg your pardon." This expression of generous sentiment appeared to have an irritating effect on the peremptory young person who took the lead in the room. Perhaps she disapproved of free trade in generous sentiment.

"I can tell you one thing, Cecilia," she said; "you shan't beat ME in generosity. Strike a light, one of you, and lay the blame on me if Miss Ladd finds us out. I mean to shake hands with the new girl—and how can I do it in the dark? Miss de Sor, my name's Brown, and I'm queen of the bedroom. I—not Cecilia—offer our apologies if we have offended you. Cecilia is my dearest friend, but I don't allow her to take the lead in the room. Oh, what a lovely nightgown!" The sudden flow of candle-light had revealed Francine, sitting up in her bed, and displaying such treasures of real lace over her bosom that the queen lost all sense of royal dignity in irrepressible admiration. "Seven and sixpence," Emily remarked, looking at her own night-gown and despising it. One after another, the girls yielded to the attraction of the wonderful lace. Slim and plump, fair and dark, they circled round the new pupil in their flowing white robes, and arrived by common consent at one and the same conclusion: "How rich her father must be!" Favored by fortune in the matter of money, was this enviable person possessed of beauty as well?

In the disposition of the beds, Miss de Sor was placed between Cecilia on the right hand, and Emily on the left. If, by some fantastic turn of events, a man—say in the interests of propriety, a married doctor, with Miss Ladd to look after him—had been permitted to enter the room, and had been asked what he thought of the girls when he came out, he would not even have mentioned Francine. Blind to the beauties of the expensive night-gown, he would have noticed her long upper lip, her obstinate chin, her sallow complexion, her eyes placed too close together—and would have turned his attention to her nearest neighbors. On one side his languid interest would have been instantly roused by Cecilia's glowing auburn hair, her exquisitely pure skin, and her tender blue eyes. On the other, he would have discovered a bright little creature, who would have fascinated and perplexed him at one and the same time. If he had been questioned about her by a stranger, he would have been at a loss to say positively whether she was dark or light: he would have remembered how her eyes had held him, but he would not have known of what color they were. And yet, she would have remained a vivid picture in his memory when other impressions, derived at the same time, had vanished. "There was one little witch among them, who was worth all the rest put together; and I can't tell you why. They called her Emily. If I wasn't a married man—" There he would have thought of his wife, and would have sighed and said no more. While the girls were still admiring Francine, the clock struck the half-hour past eleven.

Cecilia stole on tiptoe to the door—looked out, and listened—closed the door again—and addressed the meeting with the irresistible charm of her sweet voice and her persuasive smile.

"Are none of you hungry yet?" she inquired. "The teachers are safe in their rooms; we have set ourselves right with Francine. Why keep the supper waiting under Emily's bed?" Such reasoning as this, with such personal attractions to recommend it, admitted of but one reply. The queen waved her hand graciously, and said, "Pull it out." Is a lovely girl—whose face possesses the crowning charm of expression, whose slightest movement reveals the supple symmetry of her figure—less lovely because she is blessed with a good appetite, and is not ashamed to acknowledge it? With a grace all her own, Cecilia dived under the bed, and produced a basket of jam tarts, a basket of fruit and sweetmeats, a basket of sparkling lemonade, and a superb cake—all paid for by general subscriptions, and smuggled into the room by kind connivance of the servants. On this occasion, the feast was especially plentiful and expensive, in commemoration not only of the arrival of the Midsummer holidays, but of the coming freedom of Miss Ladd's two leading young ladies. With widely different destinies before them, Emily and Cecilia had completed their school life, and were now to go out into the world.

The contrast in the characters of the two girls showed itself, even in such a trifle as the preparations for supper.

Gentle Cecilia, sitting on the floor surrounded by good things, left it to the ingenuity of others to decide whether the baskets should be all emptied at once, or handed round from bed to bed, one at a time. In the meanwhile, her lovely blue eyes rested tenderly on the tarts.

Emily's commanding spirit seized on the reins of government, and employed each of her schoolfellows in the occupation which she was fittest to undertake. "Miss de Sor, let me look at your hand. Ah! I thought so. You have got the thickest wrist among us; you shall draw the corks. If you let the lemonade pop, not a drop of it goes down your throat. Effie, Annis, Priscilla, you are three notoriously lazy girls; it's doing you a true kindness to set you to work. Effie, clear the toilet-table for supper; away with the combs, the brushes, and the looking-glass. Annis, tear the leaves out of your book of exercises, and set them out for plates. No! I'll unpack; nobody touches the baskets but me. Priscilla, you have the prettiest ears in the room. You shall act as sentinel, my dear, and listen at the door. Cecilia, when you have done devouring those tarts with your eyes, take that pair of scissors (Miss de Sor, allow me to apologize for the mean manner in which this school is carried on; the knives and forks are counted and locked up every night)—I say take that pair of scissors, Cecilia, and carve the cake, and don't keep the largest bit for yourself. Are we all ready? Very well. Now take example by me. Talk as much as you like, so long as you don't talk too loud. There is one other thing before we begin. The men always propose toasts on these occasions; let's be like the men. Can any of you make a speech? Ah, it falls on me as usual. I propose the first toast. Down with all schools and teachers—especially the new teacher, who came this half year. Oh, mercy, how it stings!" The fixed gas in the lemonade took the orator, at that moment, by the throat, and effectually checked the flow of her eloquence. It made no difference to the girls. Excepting the ease of feeble stomachs, who cares for eloquence in the presence of a supper-table? There were no feeble stomachs in that bedroom. With what inexhaustible energy Miss Ladd's young ladies ate and drank! How merrily they enjoyed the delightful privilege of talking nonsense! And—alas! alas!—how vainly they tried, in after life, to renew the once unalloyed enjoyment of tarts and lemonade!

In the unintelligible scheme of creation, there appears to be no human happiness—not even the happiness of schoolgirls—which is ever complete. Just as it was drawing to a close, the enjoyment of the feast was interrupted by an alarm from the sentinel at the door.

"Put out the candle!" Priscilla whispered "Somebody on the stairs."

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CHAPTER I. THE SMUGGLED SUPPER. |one||illegally transported|meal event الفصل الأول. KAPITEL I. DAS GESCHMUGGELTE ABENDESSEN. CHAPTER I. THE SMUGGLED SUPPER. CAPÍTULO I. LA CENA DE CONTRABANDO. CHAPITRE I. LE SOUPER DE CONTREBANDE. 第1章 密輸された夕食 CAPÍTULO I. A CEIA DE CONTRABANDO ГЛАВА I. КОНТРАБАНДНЫЙ УЖИН. BÖLÜM I. KAÇAK AKŞAM YEMEĞİ. 第一章 走私的晚餐。

Outside the bedroom the night was black and still. beyond||||||||calm خارج غرفة النوم كان الليل أسود ولا يزال. A l'extérieur de la chambre, la nuit était noire et calme. 寝室の外では、夜は真っ暗で静かでした。 Ночь за пределами спальни была черной и тихой. The small rain fell too softly to be heard in the garden; not a leaf stirred in the airless calm; the watch-dog was asleep, the cats were indoors; far or near, under the murky heaven, not a sound was stirring. |||||||||||||||moved|||||||||||||inside the house||||||cloudy||||||moving سقط المطر القليل بهدوء شديد بحيث لا يمكن سماعه في الحديقة ؛ لا ورقة تقلب في هدوء خالي من الهواء ؛ كان كلب الحراسة نائمًا ، وكانت القطط في الداخل ؛ بعيدًا أو قريبًا ، تحت السماء المظلمة ، لم يكن هناك صوت يحرك. La petite pluie tombait trop doucement pour être entendue dans le jardin ; pas une feuille ne remuait dans le calme sans air ; le chien de garde dormait, les chats étaient à l'intérieur ; de loin ou de près, sous le ciel obscur, pas un bruit ne s'agitait. 小雨は庭で聞こえないほど柔らかく降りました。空気のない穏やかな場所で葉がかき混ぜられることはありません。番犬は眠っており、猫は室内にいた。暗い天国の下で、遠くても近くでも、音はかき回されていませんでした。 Мелкий дождь падал слишком тихо, чтобы его было слышно в саду; ни один лист не шелохнулся в безвоздушной тишине; сторожевой пес спал, кошки были дома; далеко или близко, под мутным небом не было слышно ни звука.

Inside the bedroom the night was black and still. 寝室の中は夜が真っ暗でした。

Miss Ladd knew her business as a schoolmistress too well to allow night-lights; and Miss Ladd's young ladies were supposed to be fast asleep, in accordance with the rules of the house. Mlle Ladd connaissait trop bien son métier de maîtresse d'école pour autoriser les veilleuses ; et les jeunes filles de Mlle Ladd étaient censées dormir profondément, conformément aux règles de la maison. ラッドさんは、彼女が学校の愛人であることをよく知っていて、常夜灯をつけることができませんでした。ミス・ラッドの若い女性は、家の規則に従って、ぐっすり眠っていたはずです。 Мисс Лэдд слишком хорошо знала свое дело школьной учительницы, чтобы разрешать ночные светильники, а юные леди мисс Лэдд, согласно правилам дома, должны были крепко спать. Only at intervals the silence was faintly disturbed, when the restless turning of one of the girls in her bed betrayed itself by a gentle rustling between the sheets. Лишь изредка тишина слегка нарушалась, когда беспокойное ворочание одной из девушек в постели выдавало себя нежным шорохом между простынями. In the long intervals of stillness, not even the softly audible breathing of young creatures asleep was to be heard. В долгих промежутках тишины не было слышно даже тихого дыхания спящих юных созданий.

The first sound that told of life and movement revealed the mechanical movement of the clock. Первый звук, говорящий о жизни и движении, открыл механический ход часов. Speaking from the lower regions, the tongue of Father Time told the hour before midnight. Говоря из нижних областей, язык Отца Времени говорил о часе до полуночи.

A soft voice rose wearily near the door of the room. Мягкий голос устало раздался возле двери комнаты. It counted the strokes of the clock—and reminded one of the girls of the lapse of time. Он считал удары часов и напоминал одной из девушек о течении времени.

"Emily! eleven o'clock." There was no reply. Ответа не последовало. After an interval the weary voice tried again, in louder tones: Через некоторое время усталый голос повторил попытку, но уже более громким тоном:

"Emily!" A girl, whose bed was at the inner end of the room, sighed under the heavy heat of the night—and said, in peremptory tones, "Is that Cecilia?" Een meisje, wiens bed aan de binnenkant van de kamer was, zuchtte onder de zware hitte van de nacht - en zei op dwingende toon: 'Is dat Cecilia?' Девушка, чья кровать стояла во внутреннем конце комнаты, вздохнула под тяжестью ночного зноя и спросила императивным тоном: "Это Сесилия?" "Yes." "What do you want?" "I'm getting hungry, Emily. "Я проголодался, Эмили. Is the new girl asleep?" Новенькая спит?" The new girl answered promptly and spitefully, "No, she isn't." Having a private object of their own in view, the five wise virgins of Miss Ladd's first class had waited an hour, in wakeful anticipation of the falling asleep of the stranger—and it had ended in this way! Преследуя свои собственные цели, пять мудрых дев из первого класса мисс Лэдд прождали целый час, бодрствуя в ожидании засыпания незнакомца, и все закончилось именно так! A ripple of laughter ran round the room. По комнате пробежала волна смеха. The new girl, mortified and offended, entered her protest in plain words. Новенькая, оскорбленная и оскорбленная, выразила свой протест прямым текстом.

"You are treating me shamefully! "Вы обращаетесь со мной позорно! You all distrust me, because I am a stranger." Вы все не доверяете мне, потому что я чужак". "Say we don't understand you," Emily answered, speaking for her schoolfellows; "and you will be nearer the truth." "Скажите, что мы вас не понимаем, - ответила Эмили, выступая от имени своих школьных товарищей, - и вы будете ближе к истине". "Who expected you to understand me, when I only came here to-day? "Кто ожидал, что вы меня поймете, если я пришла сюда только сегодня? I have told you already my name is Francine de Sor. Я уже говорила вам, что меня зовут Франсин де Сор. If want to know more, I'm nineteen years old, and I come from the West Indies." Если хотите узнать больше, мне девятнадцать лет, и я родом из Вест-Индии". Emily still took the lead. Эмили по-прежнему лидирует. "Why do you come  here? " "Почему вы пришли сюда? " she asked. "Who ever heard of a girl joining a new school just before the holidays? "Кто когда-нибудь слышал, чтобы девочка переходила в новую школу перед самыми каникулами? You are nineteen years old, are you? Вам девятнадцать лет, не так ли? I'm a year younger than you—and I have finished my education. Я на год младше вас и уже получил образование. The next big girl in the room is a year younger than me—and she has finished her education. What can you possibly have left to learn at your age?" Чему у вас еще есть чему поучиться в вашем возрасте?» "Everything!" "Все!" cried the stranger from the West Indies, with an outburst of tears. воскликнул незнакомец из Вест-Индии, разразившись слезами. "I'm a poor ignorant creature. «Я бедное невежественное создание. Your education ought to have taught you to pity me instead of making fun of me. Ваше образование должно было научить вас жалеть меня, а не смеяться надо мной. I hate you all. Я вас всех ненавижу. For shame, for shame!" К стыду, к стыду!" Some of the girls laughed. Некоторые девушки засмеялись. One of them—the hungry girl who had counted the strokes of the clock—took Francine's part. Одна из них - голодная девушка, считавшая удары часов, - взяла на себя роль Франсин. "Never mind their laughing, Miss de Sor. "Не обращайте внимания на их смех, мисс де Сор. You are quite right, you have good reason to complain of us." Вы совершенно правы, у вас есть все основания жаловаться на нас". Miss de Sor dried her eyes. Мисс де Сор вытерла глаза. "Thank you—whoever you are," she answered briskly. 'Dank je - wie je ook bent,' antwoordde ze kortaf. "Спасибо, кто бы вы ни были, - бодро ответила она. "My name is Cecilia Wyvil," the other proceeded. "Меня зовут Сесилия Вивил, - продолжила вторая. "It was not, perhaps, quite nice of you to say you hated us all. "Возможно, с вашей стороны было не очень красиво говорить, что вы ненавидите всех нас. At the same time we have forgotten our good breeding—and the least we can do is to beg your pardon." В то же время мы забыли о своем хорошем воспитании, и самое меньшее, что мы можем сделать, - это попросить у вас прощения". This expression of generous sentiment appeared to have an irritating effect on the peremptory young person who took the lead in the room. Это проявление великодушных чувств, похоже, произвело раздражающий эффект на императивного молодого человека, который занял лидирующее положение в комнате. Perhaps she disapproved of free trade in generous sentiment. Возможно, она не одобряла свободную торговлю из щедрых чувств.

"I can tell you one thing, Cecilia," she said; "you shan't beat ME in generosity. "Я могу сказать тебе одно, Сесилия, - сказала она, - ты не сможешь превзойти меня в щедрости. Strike a light, one of you, and lay the blame on me if Miss Ladd finds us out. Зажги огонь, один из вас, и возложи вину на меня, если мисс Лэдд узнает о нас. I mean to shake hands with the new girl—and how can I do it in the dark? Miss de Sor, my name's Brown, and I'm queen of the bedroom. I—not Cecilia—offer our apologies if we have offended you. Cecilia is my dearest friend, but I don't allow her to take the lead in the room. Oh, what a lovely nightgown!" The sudden flow of candle-light had revealed Francine, sitting up in her bed, and displaying such treasures of real lace over her bosom that the queen lost all sense of royal dignity in irrepressible admiration. "Seven and sixpence," Emily remarked, looking at her own night-gown and despising it. One after another, the girls yielded to the attraction of the wonderful lace. Slim and plump, fair and dark, they circled round the new pupil in their flowing white robes, and arrived by common consent at one and the same conclusion: "How rich her father must be!" Favored by fortune in the matter of money, was this enviable person possessed of beauty as well? Был ли этот завидный человек, обласканный судьбой в денежном отношении, также и красотой?

In the disposition of the beds, Miss de Sor was placed between Cecilia on the right hand, and Emily on the left. При расположении кроватей мисс де Сор помещалась между Сесилией по правую руку и Эмили по левую. If, by some fantastic turn of events, a man—say in the interests of propriety, a married doctor, with Miss Ladd to look after him—had been permitted to enter the room, and had been asked what he thought of the girls when he came out, he would not even have mentioned Francine. Если бы по какому-то фантастическому стечению обстоятельств мужчине, скажем, в интересах приличия, женатому врачу, за которым присматривала бы мисс Лэдд, разрешили бы войти в комнату и спросили бы, что он думает о девушках, когда он вышел, он бы даже не упомянул Франсин. Blind to the beauties of the expensive night-gown, he would have noticed her long upper lip, her obstinate chin, her sallow complexion, her eyes placed too close together—and would have turned his attention to her nearest neighbors. Не замечая красоты дорогой ночной рубашки, он заметил бы ее длинную верхнюю губу, упрямый подбородок, землистый цвет лица, слишком близко посаженные глаза — и обратил бы внимание на ближайших соседей. On one side his languid interest would have been instantly roused by Cecilia's glowing auburn hair, her exquisitely pure skin, and her tender blue eyes. С одной стороны, его томный интерес мгновенно пробудили бы блестящие каштановые волосы Сесилии, ее необыкновенно чистая кожа и нежные голубые глаза. On the other, he would have discovered a bright little creature, who would have fascinated and perplexed him at one and the same time. If he had been questioned about her by a stranger, he would have been at a loss to say positively whether she was dark or light: he would have remembered how her eyes had held him, but he would not have known of what color they were. Если бы его спросил о ней незнакомый человек, он бы затруднился сказать определенно, темная она или светлая: он бы помнил, как держали его ее глаза, но не знал бы, какого они цвета. . And yet, she would have remained a vivid picture in his memory when other impressions, derived at the same time, had vanished. И все же она осталась бы в его памяти живой картиной, когда другие впечатления, полученные в то же время, исчезли. "There was one little witch among them, who was worth all the rest put together; and I can't tell you why. «Была среди них одна маленькая ведьма, которая стоила всех остальных, вместе взятых, и я не могу вам сказать, почему. They called her Emily. If I wasn't a married man—" There he would have thought of his wife, and would have sighed and said no more. Если бы я не был женатым человеком... Тут бы он подумал о своей жене, вздохнул бы и больше ничего не сказал. While the girls were still admiring Francine, the clock struck the half-hour past eleven. Пока девочки все еще любовались Франсиной, часы пробили полчаса одиннадцатого.

Cecilia stole on tiptoe to the door—looked out, and listened—closed the door again—and addressed the meeting with the irresistible charm of her sweet voice and her persuasive smile. Сесилия на цыпочках подошла к двери, выглянула, прислушалась, снова закрыла дверь и обратилась к собравшимся с неотразимым очарованием своего сладкого голоса и убедительной улыбки.

"Are none of you hungry yet?" — Никто из вас еще не голоден? she inquired. — спросила она. "The teachers are safe in their rooms; we have set ourselves right with Francine. «Учителя в безопасности в своих комнатах, мы с Франсиной поправились. Why keep the supper waiting under Emily's bed?" Зачем держать ужин под кроватью Эмили? Such reasoning as this, with such personal attractions to recommend it, admitted of but one reply. Подобные рассуждения с такими личными интересами, которые можно рекомендовать, допускали только один ответ. The queen waved her hand graciously, and said, "Pull it out." Королева милостиво махнула рукой и сказала: «Вытащи его». Is a lovely girl—whose face possesses the crowning charm of expression, whose slightest movement reveals the supple symmetry of her figure—less lovely because she is blessed with a good appetite, and is not ashamed to acknowledge it? Разве прелестная девушка, чье лицо обладает венчающим очарованием выражения, чье малейшее движение обнаруживает гибкую стройность ее фигуры, менее прекрасна оттого, что она наделена хорошим аппетитом и не стыдится признавать это? With a grace all her own, Cecilia dived under the bed, and produced a basket of jam tarts, a basket of fruit and sweetmeats, a basket of sparkling lemonade, and a superb cake—all paid for by general subscriptions, and smuggled into the room by kind connivance of the servants. С присущим ей изяществом Сесилия нырнула под кровать и достала корзину тарталеток с джемом, корзину фруктов и сладостей, корзину игристого лимонада и превосходный торт — все это было оплачено общими взносами и тайно пронесено в магазин. комнату при любезном попустительстве слуг. On this occasion, the feast was especially plentiful and expensive, in commemoration not only of the arrival of the Midsummer holidays, but of the coming freedom of Miss Ladd's two leading young ladies. В этом случае пир был особенно обильным и дорогим, в ознаменование не только прихода праздников летнего солнцестояния, но и грядущей свободы двух главных девиц мисс Лэдд. With widely different destinies before them, Emily and Cecilia had completed their school life, and were now to go out into the world. Имея впереди совершенно разные судьбы, Эмили и Сесилия завершили школьную жизнь и теперь должны были выйти в мир.

The contrast in the characters of the two girls showed itself, even in such a trifle as the preparations for supper. Контраст в характерах двух девушек сказался даже в такой мелочи, как приготовления к ужину.

Gentle Cecilia, sitting on the floor surrounded by good things, left it to the ingenuity of others to decide whether the baskets should be all emptied at once, or handed round from bed to bed, one at a time. Нежная Сесилия, сидя на полу в окружении хороших вещей, предоставила на сообразительность других решать, следует ли опустошать корзины все сразу или передавать от кровати к кровати по одной. In the meanwhile, her lovely blue eyes rested tenderly on the tarts. Тем временем ее прекрасные голубые глаза нежно смотрели на тарталетки.

Emily's commanding spirit seized on the reins of government, and employed each of her schoolfellows in the occupation which she was fittest to undertake. Командный дух Эмили схватил бразды правления и нанял каждого из своих школьных товарищей по профессии, к которой она была наиболее приспособлена. "Miss de Sor, let me look at your hand. «Мисс де Сор, позвольте мне взглянуть на вашу руку. Ah! I thought so. Я так и думал. You have got the thickest wrist among us; you shall draw the corks. У тебя самое толстое запястье среди нас; вы должны вытащить пробки. If you let the lemonade pop, not a drop of it goes down your throat. Если вы позволите лимонаду выплеснуться, ни одна капля не попадет вам в горло. Effie, Annis, Priscilla, you are three notoriously lazy girls; it's doing you a true kindness to set you to work. Эффи, Аннис, Присцилла, вы три заведомо ленивые девушки; это делает вам истинное добро, чтобы заставить вас работать. Effie, clear the toilet-table for supper; away with the combs, the brushes, and the looking-glass. Эффи, убери туалетный столик к ужину; прочь гребни, щетки и зеркало. Annis, tear the leaves out of your book of exercises, and set them out for plates. Аннис, вырви листы из своей тетради с упражнениями и разложи их по тарелкам. No! I'll unpack; nobody touches the baskets but me. я распаковываю; никто не трогает корзины, кроме меня. Priscilla, you have the prettiest ears in the room. You shall act as sentinel, my dear, and listen at the door. Ты будешь часовым, моя дорогая, и будешь подслушивать у двери. Cecilia, when you have done devouring those tarts with your eyes, take that pair of scissors (Miss de Sor, allow me to apologize for the mean manner in which this school is carried on; the knives and forks are counted and locked up every night)—I say take that pair of scissors, Cecilia, and carve the cake, and don't keep the largest bit for yourself. Сесилия, когда вы пожираете эти тарталетки глазами, возьмите эти ножницы (мисс де Сор, позвольте мне извиниться за подлость, с которой ведется эта школа; ножи и вилки пересчитываются и запираются каждую ночь). ) — Я говорю, возьми эти ножницы, Сесилия, и разрежь торт, а самый большой кусок не оставляй себе. Are we all ready? Very well. Now take example by me. Теперь бери пример со меня. Talk as much as you like, so long as you don't talk too loud. Говорите сколько хотите, но не слишком громко. There is one other thing before we begin. Прежде чем мы начнем, есть еще одна вещь. The men always propose toasts on these occasions; let's be like the men. В таких случаях мужчины всегда произносят тосты; будем как мужики. Can any of you make a speech? Ah, it falls on me as usual. Ах, это падает на меня, как обычно. I propose the first toast. Предлагаю первый тост. Down with all schools and teachers—especially the new teacher, who came this half year. Долой все школы и учителей, особенно нового учителя, пришедшего в этом полугодии. Oh, mercy, how it stings!" О господи, как же оно жалит!» The fixed gas in the lemonade took the orator, at that moment, by the throat, and effectually checked the flow of her eloquence. Застывший газ в лимонаде в этот момент захватил оратору за горло и эффективно остановил поток ее красноречия. It made no difference to the girls. Excepting the ease of feeble stomachs, who cares for eloquence in the presence of a supper-table? Кроме легкости слабых желудков, кому нужно красноречие в присутствии ужина? There were no feeble stomachs in that bedroom. В этой спальне не было слабых желудков. With what inexhaustible energy Miss Ladd's young ladies ate and drank! С какой неиссякаемой энергией ели и пили барышни мисс Лэдд! How merrily they enjoyed the delightful privilege of talking nonsense! Как весело они наслаждались восхитительной привилегией говорить вздор! And—alas! И — увы! alas!—how vainly they tried, in after life, to renew the once unalloyed enjoyment of tarts and lemonade! увы! Как тщетно они пытались в загробной жизни возобновить когда-то чистое наслаждение пирогами и лимонадом!

In the unintelligible scheme of creation, there appears to be no human happiness—not even the happiness of schoolgirls—which is ever complete. В непостижимой схеме творения кажется, что нет человеческого счастья — даже счастья школьниц — которое всегда было бы полным. Just as it was drawing to a close, the enjoyment of the feast was interrupted by an alarm from the sentinel at the door. Когда оно подходило к концу, наслаждение пиром было прервано тревогой часового у двери.

"Put out the candle!" Priscilla whispered "Somebody on the stairs." Присцилла прошептала: «Кто-то на лестнице».