Tender is the night. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Учим английский, читая мировую классику

III

It was almost two when they went into the dining-room. Back and forth over the deserted (покинутый) tables a heavy pattern (рисунок, узор) of beams (луч) and shadows swayed (колыхаться) with the motion (движение) of the pines outside (вне помещения; снаружи). Two waiters, piling (раскладывать, собирать) plates and talking loud Italian, fell silent (замолчать) when they came in and brought them a tired (утомленный) version of the table d’h?te (табльдот, общий обеденный стол) luncheon [ленч, второй завтрак (в 12—14 часов; лёгкий у тех, кто обедает вечером (dinner); плотный, заменяющий обед у тех, кто вечером ужинает).

«I fell in love (влюбиться) on the beach,» said Rosemary.

«Who with?»

«First with a whole lot (масса, куча) of people who looked nice (приятный). Then with one man.»

«Did you talk to him?»

«Just a little. Very handsome (красивый). With reddish (рыжеватый) hair.» She was eating, ravenously (жадно). «He’s married though (хотя; несмотря на; тем не менее) – it’s usually the way (так бывает обычно).»

Her mother was her best friend and had put every last possibility into the guiding of her (вести её по жизни), not so rare a thing (не такая уж редкость) in the theatrical profession, but rather special (весьма своеобразный) in that Mrs. Elsie Speers was not recompensing herself for a defeat (фиаско, неудача) of her own. She had no personal bitterness (горечь) or resentments (обида, негодование, возмущение) about life – twice satisfactorily (нормально, удовлетворительно) married and twice widowed (овдоветь), her cheerful (энергичный, неунывающий) stoicism (стоицизм) had each time deepened (углубляться). One of her husbands had been a cavalry officer and one an army doctor, and they both left something to her that she tried to present intact (целый, незатронутый) to Rosemary. By not sparing (щадить) Rosemary she had made her hard (твёрдый; негибкий, негнущийся) – by not sparing (щадить) her own labor and devotion (любовь, преданность) she had cultivated (взвращивать) an idealism in Rosemary, which at present (в настоящее время) was directed toward herself and saw the world through her eyes (её глазами). So that while (в тот момент, в то время) Rosemary was a «simple» child she was protected (защищать) by a double sheath (футляр, защитная оболочка) of her mother’s armor (броня) and her own – she had a mature (зрелый) distrust (недоверие) of the trivial (тривиальный, обычный), the facile (поверхностный) and the vulgar. However, with Rosemary’s sudden success in pictures Mrs. Speers felt that it was time she were (настала пора, чтобы она была) spiritually (духовно, интеллектуально, умственно) weaned (отнимать от груди, отлучать от матери); it would please (радовать, нравиться) rather than (а не) pain (ранить, обидеть) her if this somewhat (некий) bouncing (оживлённый, крепкий, нескладный), breathless (запыхавшийся) and exigent (требовательный) idealism would focus on something except herself (кроме неё самой).

«Then you like it here?» she asked.

«It might be fun (хорошо, приятно) if we knew those people. There were some other people, but they weren’t nice (приятный). They recognized (узнавать) me – no matter where (куда бы ни) we go everybody’s seen „Daddy’s Girl.“»

Mrs. Speers waited for the glow () of egotism () to subside (); then she said in a matter-of-fact (сухой, прозаичный) way: «That reminds me (кстати), when are you going to see Earl (граф) Brady?»

«I thought we might go this afternoon – if you’re rested.»

«You go – I’m not going.»

«We’ll wait till to-morrow then.»

«I want you to go alone (Я хочу, чтобы ты пошла одна). It’s only a short way – it isn’t as if you didn’t speak French.»

«Mother – aren’t there some things I don’t have to (должен) do?»

«Oh, well then go later – but some day before we leave (до того, как мы уедем).»

«All right, Mother.»

After lunch they were both overwhelmed (переполнять, охватывать) by the sudden flatness (монотонность, однообразие, скука) that comes over American travellers in quiet (тихий, спокойный) foreign (заграничный) places. No stimuli (никакие стимулы) worked upon them, no voices called them from without, no fragments of their own thoughts came suddenly from the minds of others, and missing (скучать) the clamor (шум) of Empire they felt that life was not continuing here.

«Let’s only stay three days, Mother,» Rosemary said when they were back in their rooms. Outside a light wind blew the heat around, straining (просачиваться) it through the trees and sending little hot gusts (порыв ветра) through the shutters (ставни).

«How about the man you fell in love with on the beach?»

«I don’t love anybody but you, Mother, darling.»

Rosemary stopped in the lobby (вестибюль, холл) and spoke to Gausse p?re about trains. The concierge, lounging (сидеть развалившись, расслабившись) in light-brown khaki by the desk, stared (уставиться) at her rigidly (строго, сурово), then suddenly remembered the manners of his mеtier (профессия, занятие, ремесло). She took the bus and rode with a pair of obsequious (исполнительный, послушный) waiters to the station, embarrassed (сбивать с толку, приводить в замешательство) by their silence, wanting to urge them: «Go on, talk, enjoy yourselves. It doesn’t bother (мешать, беспокоить) me.»

The first-class compartment was stifling (душный); the vivid (яркий) advertising cards of the railroad companies – The Pont du Gard at Arles, the Amphitheatre at Orange, winter sports at Chamonix – were fresher than the long motionless (неподвижное) sea outside. Unlike American trains that were absorbed in an intense destiny of their own, and scornful (презирающий) of people on another world less swift (подвижный) and breathless (запыхавшийся), this train was part of the country through which it passed. Its breath (дыхание) stirred (шевелить, сдувать) the dust from the palm leaves, the cinders (зола) mingled (смешиваться) with the dry dung (навоз) in the gardens. Rosemary was sure she could lean (наклониться, высунуться из) from the window and pull (выдёргивать) flowers with her hand.

A dozen cabbies (таксист) slept in their hacks (такси) outside (снаружи) the Cannes station. Over on the promenade (прогулка, променад) the Casino, the smart shops, and the great hotels turned blank (пустой) iron masks to the summer sea. It was unbelievable (Не верилось) that there could ever have been a «season,» and Rosemary, half in the grip (в тисках) of fashion, became a little self-conscious (застенчивый, легко смущающийся), as though she were displaying (проявлять) an unhealthy (нездоровый) taste (вкус) for the moribund (устаревающий, выходящий из употребления); as though (как будто) people were wondering (удивляться) why she was here in the lull (затишье) between the gaiety (веселье) of last winter and next winter, while (в то время, как) up north the true world thundered (греметь, грохотать) by.

As she came out of a drug store (аптека) with a bottle of cocoanut oil (кокосовое масло), a woman, whom she recognized as (в которой она узнала) Mrs. Diver, crossed her path with arms full of sofa cushions (диванная подушка), and went to a car parked down the street. A long, low black dog barked (лаять) at her, a dozing (дремлющий) chauffeur (шофёр) woke with a start (вздрагивание). She sat in the car, her lovely face set (сосредоточенный), controlled, her eyes brave (смелый) and watchful (наблюдательный), looking straight ahead (прямо вперед) toward nothing (в никуда). Her dress was bright red and her brown legs were bare (голый). She had thick, dark, gold hair like a chow (чау-чау) ’s.

With half an hour to wait for her train Rosemary sat down in the Cafе des Alliеs on the Croisette, where the trees made a green twilight (сумерки) over the tables and an orchestra wooed (привлекать, обхаживать) an imaginary public of cosmopolites (космополит) with the Nice Carnival Song and last year’s American tune. She had bought Le Temps and The Saturday Evening Post for her mother, and as she drank her citronade she opened the latter (второй) at the memoirs of a Russian princess, finding the dim (непримечательный) conventions (обычай, традиция, правила поведения) of the nineties (девяностых) realer and nearer than the headlines (заголовок) of the French paper. It was the same feeling that had oppressed (угнетать) her at the hotel – accustomed (привыкший) to seeing the starkest (строгий, суровый) grotesqueries of a continent heavily (весьма, в большой степени) underlined as comedy or tragedy, untrained (неподготовленный) to the task of separating out (выделить) the essential (существенное) for herself, she now began to feel that French life was empty and stale (тривиальный, банальный). This feeling was surcharged () by listening to the sad tunes of the orchestra, reminiscent () of the melancholy music played for acrobats in vaudeville (водевиль). She was glad to go back to Gausse’s Hotel.

Her shoulders were too burned to swim with the next day, so she and her mother hired (арендовать) a car – after much haggling (торговаться), for Rosemary had formed her valuations (оценка, определение ценности) of money in France – and drove along the Riviera, the delta (устье) of many rivers. The chauffeur, a Russian Czar of the period of Ivan the Terrible, was a self-appointed (самозванный) guide, and the resplendent (блистательный, великолепный, ослепительный) names – Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo – began to glow through their torpid (апатичный, бездеятельный, вялый) camouflage (камуфляж, маскировка), whispering of old kings come here to dine (обедать; ужинать) or die (умереть), of rajahs (раджа – княжеский титул в Индии)) tossing (бросать, метать) Buddha’s eyes to English ballerinas, of Russian princes turning the weeks into Baltic twilights (сумерки) in the lost caviare (икра) days. Most of all, there was the scent (запах, дух) of the Russians along the coast (побережье) – their closed book shops and grocery (бакалейный) stores. Ten years ago, when the season ended in April, the doors of the Orthodox (православный, ортодоксальный) Church were locked (закрывать, запирать), and the sweet (сладкий) champagnes they favored (которые они одобряли) were put away (были отставлены в сторону) until their return (возвращение). «We’ll be back (вернуться) next season,» they said, but this was premature (преждевременный, ранний), for they were never coming back any more (никогда больше не приезжали).

It was pleasant to drive back to the hotel in the late afternoon, above a sea as mysteriously colored as the agates (агат) and cornelians (сердолик) of childhood, green as green milk, blue as laundry (прачечная) water, wine dark. It was pleasant to pass people eating outside their doors, and to hear the fierce (свирепый, энергичный) mechanical pianos behind the vines (виноградная лоза) of country estaminets (кафе). When they turned off the Corniche d’Or and down to Gausse’s Hotel through the darkening banks (группа, ряд) of trees, set one behind another (один за другим) in many greens, the moon already hovered (неподвижно зависать в воздухе) over the ruins (руина) of the aqueducts (акведук, водопровод) ….

Somewhere in the hills behind the hotel there was a dance, and Rosemary listened to the music through the ghostly (похожий на привидение; призрачный) moonshine of her mosquito net (москитная сетка), realizing that there was gaiety (веселье) too somewhere about (где-то вокруг, поблизости), and she thought of the nice people on the beach. She thought she might meet them in the morning, but they obviously (очевидно) formed a self-sufficient (самодостаточный) little group, and once their umbrellas, bamboo rugs (коврик), dogs, and children were set out in place the part of the plage (пляж) was literally (буквально) fenced in (огородить). She resolved (принять решение) in any case not to spend her last two mornings with the other ones.

IV

The matter was solved for her. The McKiscos were not yet there and she had scarcely spread her peignoir when two men – the man with the jockey cap and the tall blonde man, given to (занятый) sawing (распиливание) waiters in two – left the group and came down toward her.

«Good morning,» said Dick Diver. He broke down (не выдержать, потерять самообладание). «Look – sunburn (обгорать на солнце) or no sunburn, why did you stay away (не было) yesterday? We worried about you.»

She sat up and her happy little laugh welcomed their intrusion (вторжение).

«We wondered,» Dick Diver said, «if you wouldn’t come over this morning. We go in, we take food and drink, so it’s a substantial (существенный, важный) invitation.»

He seemed kind and charming (очаровательный) – his voice promised that he would take care of her, and that a little later he would open up whole new worlds for her, unroll (развёртывать; разворачивать) an endless (бесконечный) succession (серия, последовательность) of magnificent (великолепный, внушительный) possibilities. He managed the introduction so that her name wasn’t mentioned (упоминать) and then let her know easily that everyone knew who she was but were respecting the completeness of her private (частный) life – a courtesy (учтивость, вежливость) that Rosemary had not met with save (за исключением, кроме) from professional people since her success.

Nicole Diver, her brown back hanging from her pearls (жемчуг), was looking through a recipe book (меню) for chicken Maryland. She was about twenty-four, Rosemary guessed (догадаться) – her face could have been described in terms of conventional (условный, обычный) prettiness, but the effect was that it had been made first on the heroic scale (шкала) with strong structure and marking (отметка), as if the features and vividness of brow and coloring, everything we associate with temperament and character had been molded (формировать, отливать) with a Rodinesque intention (замысел в стиле Родена), and then chiseled away (вырезать, долбить) in the direction of prettiness (миловидность) to a point where a single slip (промах, ошибка) would have irreparably (непоправимо, безнадёжно) diminished (убывать, уменьшаться) its force and quality (качество). With the mouth the sculptor had taken desperate (отчаянный) chances – it was the cupid’s (купидон) bow (лук) of a magazine cover (обложка), yet it shared (разделять) the distinction (отличительная черта) of the rest.

«Are you here for a long time?» Nicole asked. Her voice was low (низкий), almost harsh (хриплый).

Suddenly Rosemary let the possibility enter her mind that they might stay another week.

«Not very long,» she answered vaguely (туманно). «We’ve been abroad a long time – we landed in (высадиться в) Sicily in March and we’ve been slowly working our way north. I got pneumonia (пневмония) making a picture last January and I’ve been recuperating (поправляться; выздоравливать).»

«Mercy (милость Божия)! How did that happen?»

«Well, it was from swimming,» Rosemary was rather reluctant (не хотеть) at embarking (погружаться) upon personal revelations (откровение). «One day I happened to have the grippe and didn’t know it, and they were taking a scene where I dove (погружаться) into a canal in Venice. It was a very expensive (дорогой) set (комплект), so I had to dive and dive and dive all morning. Mother had a doctor right there, but it was no use – I got pneumonia.» She changed the subject determinedly (решительно) before they could speak. «Do you like it here – this place?»

«They have to like it,» said Abe North slowly. «They invented (создавать, изобретать) it.» He turned his noble (благородный) head slowly so that his eyes rested (остановиться) with tenderness (нежность) and affection (любовь) on the two Divers.

«Oh, did you?»

«This is only the second season that the hotel’s been open in summer,» Nicole explained. «We persuaded Gausse to keep on a cook and a gar?on and a chasseur (егерь) – it paid its way and this year it’s doing even better.»

«But you’re not in the hotel.»

«We built a house, up at Tarmes.»

«The theory is,» said Dick, arranging (располагать, устанавливать) an umbrella to clip (срезать, убрать) a square (квадрат) of sunlight off Rosemary’s shoulder, «that all the northern places, like Deauville, were picked out by Russians and English who don’t mind the cold, while half of us Americans come from tropical climates – that’s why we’re beginning to come here.»

The young man of Latin aspect (внешность) had been turning the pages of The New York Herald.

«Well, what nationality are these people?» he demanded, suddenly, and read with a slight French intonation, ««Registered at the Hotel Palace at Vevey are Mr. Pandely Vlasco, Mme. Bonneasse’ – I don’t exaggerate (преувеличивать) – «Corinna Medonca, Mme. Pasche, Seraphim Tullio, Maria Amalia Roto Mais, Moises Teubel, Mme. Paragoris, Apostle Alexandre, Yolanda Yosfuglu and Geneveva de Momus!» She attracts (привлекать) me most (сильно, очень) – Geneveva de Momus. Almost worth running up to Vevey to take a look at Geneveva de Momus.»