"I did. He was my best friend."
"I shouldn't have thought he was a very—literary character."
"None of my friends are."
Crabbin blinked nervously behind the horn-rims. He said with an air of appeasement, "He was interested in the theatre though. A friend of his—an actress, you know—is learning English at the Institute. He called once or twice to fetch her."
"Young or old?"
"Oh, young, very young. Not a good actress in my opinion."
Martins remembered the girl by the grave with her hands over her face. He said, "I'd like to meet any friend of Harry's."
"She'll probably be at your lecture."
"Austrian?"'
"She claims to be Austrian, but I suspect she's Hungarian. She works at the Josefstadt. I wouldn't be surprised if Lime had not helped her with her papers. She calls herself Schmidt. Anna Schmidt. You can't imagine a young English actress calling herself Smith, can you? And a pretty one, too. It always struck me as a bit too anonymous to be true."
Martins felt he had got all he could from Crabbin (Мартинс почувствовал, что он получил все, что он мог, от Крэббина), so he pleaded tiredness (так что он сослался на усталость;
He was tired (он устал: «был усталый»): he realised that (он осознал это) when he stretched himself out on his bed (когда растянулся на своей кровати;
A voice with a trace of foreign accent (голос со следом =
"Yes." It was a change to be himself and not Dexter (это была перемена — быть им самим собой, а не Декстером = = было приятно для разнообразия…).
"You wouldn't know me (вы меня, пожалуй, не знаете)," the voice said unnecessarily (сказал голос зачем-то;
It was a change too to hear anyone claim to be a friend of Harry's (это была перемена также =
"I'm just round the corner at the Old Vienna (я прямо за углом в ‘Старой Вене’)." "Wouldn't you make it tomorrow (не хотели бы вы сделать это завтра)? I've had a pretty awful day (у меня был совершенно ужасный день) with one thing and another (с одной вещью и другой = то одно, то другое)."
"Harry asked me to see that you were all right (Гарри попросил меня посмотреть =
"I thought... (я думал)" Rollo Martins said and stopped (сказал Ролло Мартинс и остановился). He was going to say (он собирался сказать), "I thought he died instantaneously (я думал , что он умер мгновенно;
"Kurtz (Куртц)," the voice said (сказал голос). "I'd offer to come round to you (я бы предложил зайти к вам;
"Perhaps we could meet at the Old Vienna in the morning (возможно, мы могли бы встретиться в ‘Старой Вене’ утром)."
"Certainly (конечно)," the voice said (сказал голос), "if you are quite sure (если вы совершенно уверены) that you are all right till then (что вы будете в порядке до того времени: «до тогда»)."
"How do you mean (что вы имеете в виду: «как вы подразумеваете»)?"
"Harry had it on his mind (у Гарри было в мыслях) that you'd be penniless (что вы будете без гроша)." Rollo Martins lay back on his bed (Ролло Мартинс откинулся: «лег назад» на свою кровать) with the receiver to his ear (с трубкой /прижатой/ к своему уху) and thought (и подумал): Come to Vienna to make money (приезжай в Вену, чтобы делать деньги). This was the third stranger to stake him (это был третий незнакомец, который давал ему деньги: «третий незнакомец, чтобы финансировать его») in less than five hours (в меньше чем пять часов). He said cautiously (он сказал осторожно), "Oh, I can carry on till I see you (о, я могу подождать, пока я не увижу вас;
"Shall we say eleven then at Old Vienna in the Kartnerstrasse (скажем =
"That's fine (прекрасно). How did you get hold of one (где: «как» вы ее раздобыли;
"Harry gave it to me (Гарри дал ее мне)." The voice had enormous charm and reasonableness (голос обладал огромным обаянием и рассудительностью;
[ı`mi:dıət], foreign [`forın], caution [`ko:ʃən]
immediate [I'mi:diqt], earn [q:n], rapidly ['rxpIdlI], appointment [q'pOIntm(q)nt], recognise ['rekqgnaIz], particular [pq'tIkjulq], telephone ['telIfqun], foreign ['fOrIn], accent ['xks(q)nt], unnecessarily [An'nesIsqrIlI], suggest [sq'Gest], caution ['kO:Sqn], reasonable ['ri:znqbl], conscious ['kOnSqs], police [pq'li:s], cigarette ["sIgq'ret], asleep [q'sli:p], mystery ['mIstqrI]
Martins felt he had got all he could from Crabbin, so he pleaded tiredness, a long day, promised to ring up in the morning, accepted ten pounds' worth of
He was tired: he realised that when he stretched himself out on his bed in his boots. Within a minute he had left Vienna far behind him and was walking through a dense wood, ankle deep in snow. An owl hooted, and he felt suddenly lonely and scared. He had an appointment to meet Harry under a particular tree, but in a wood so dense as this how could he recognise any one tree from the rest? Then he saw a figure and ran towards it: it whistled a familiar tune and his heart lifted with the relief and joy at not after all being alone. Then the figure turned and it was not Harry at all—just a stranger who grinned at him in a little circle of wet slushy melted snow, while the owl hooted again and again. He woke suddenly to hear the telephone ringing by his bed.
A voice with a trace of foreign accent—only a trace said, "Is that Mr. Rollo Martins?"
"Yes." It was a change to be himself and not Dexter.
"You wouldn't know me," the voice said unnecessarily, "but I was a friend of Harry Lime."
It was a change too to hear anyone claim to be a friend of Harry's: Martins' heart warmed towards the stranger. He said, "I'd be glad to meet you."
"I'm just round the corner at the Old Vienna." "Wouldn't you make it tomorrow? I've had a pretty awful day with one thing and another."
"Harry asked me to see that you were all right. I was with him when he died."
"I thought..." Rollo Martins said and stopped. He was going to say, "I thought he died instantaneously," but something suggested caution. He said instead, "You haven't told me your name."
"Kurtz," the voice said. "I'd offer to come round to you, only you know, Austrians aren't allowed in Sacher's."
"Perhaps we could meet at the Old Vienna in the morning."
"Certainly," the voice said, "if you are quite sure that you are all right till then."
"How do you mean?"
"Harry had it on his mind that you'd be penniless." Rollo Martins lay back on his bed with the receiver to his ear and thought: Come to Vienna to make money. This was the third stranger to stake him in less than five hours. He said cautiously, "Oh, I can carry on till I see you." There seemed no point in turning down a good offer till he knew what the offer was.
"Shall we say eleven then at Old Vienna in the Kartnerstrasse? I’ll be in a brown suit and I’ll carry one of your books."
"That's fine. How did you get hold of one?"
"Harry gave it to me." The voice had enormous charm and reasonableness, but when Martins had said good-night and rung off, he couldn't help wondering how it was that if Harry had been so conscious before he died he had not had a cable sent to stop him. Hadn't Callaghan too said that Lime had died instantaneously—or without pain, was it? or had he himself put the words into Callaghan's mouth? It was then that the idea first lodged firmly in Martins' mind that there was something wrong about Lime's death, something the police had been too stupid to discover. He tried to discover it himself with the help of two cigarettes, but he fell asleep without his dinner and with the mystery still unsolved. It had been a long day, but not quite long enough for that.
4
WHAT I DISLIKED about him at first sight (что мне не понравилось в нем с первого взгляда)," Martins told me (рассказал Мартинс мне), "was his toupee (был его паричок;
This conversation took place some days later (этот разговор имел место несколько дней позже)—he brought out his whole story (он выложил: «принес наружу» всю свою: «свою целую» историю) when the trail was nearly cold (когда след был /уже/ почти холодным). When he made that remark about the romantic schoolgirls (когда он сделал это замечание о романтичных школьницах) I saw his rather hunted eyes focus suddenly (я увидел, как его довольно затравленные глаза внезапно фокусируются). It was a girl (это была девушка)—just like any other girl, I thought (просто как любая другая девушка =
"Something pretty (что-то хорошенькое = кто-то хорошенький)?"
He brought his gaze back and said (он вернул свой взгляд назад и сказал;
"I see (я вижу = понимаю). I thought you were looking at a girl (я думал, вы смотрели на девушку)."
"I was (смотрел). But only because she reminded me for a moment of Anna (но только потому, что она напомнила мне на одно мгновение об Анне)—Anna Schmidt."
"Who's she (кто она)? Isn't she a girl (разве она не девушка)?"
"Oh, yes, in a way (о, да, в некотором роде)."
"What do you mean (что вы подразумеваете/имеете в виду), in a way (в некотором роде)?"
"She was Harry's girl (она была девушкой Гарри)."
"Are you taking her over (вы ее наследуете)?"
"She's not that kind (она не такая: «не такого рода»), Сalloway. Didn't you see her at his funeral (разве вы не видели ее на его похоронах)? I'm not mixing my drinks any more (я не мешаю больше мои напитки). I've got a hangover to last me a life-time (похмелья мне хватит до конца моих дней;
"You were telling me about Kurtz (вы рассказывали мне о Куртце)," I said.
It appeared that Kurtz was sitting there, making a great show of reading
"Tension (напряжение)?"
"Suspense (интерес;
"So you were a friend of Harry's (так вы были другом Гарри)," Martins said.
"I think his best (я думаю, его лучшим)," but Kurtz added with the smallest pause (но Куртц добавил с очень маленькой: «мельчайшей» паузой) in which his brain must have registered the error (в которой =
"Tell me how he died (расскажите мне, как он умер)."
"I was with him (я был с ним). We came out together from the door of his flat (мы вышли наружу вместе из двери его квартиры) and Harry saw a friend he knew across the road (и Гарри увидел друга, которого он знал, через дорогу)—an American called Cooler (американца по имени Кулер). He waved to Cooler (он помахал Кулеру) and started across the road to him (и бросился через дорогу к нему) when a jeep came tearing round the corner (когда джип вылетел: «пришел мчащийся» из-за угла) and bowled him over (и сбил его). It was Harry's fault really (это была, вообще-то, вина Гарри)—not the driver's (не водителя)."
"Somebody told me he died instantaneously (кое-кто сказал мне, что он умер мгновенно)."
"I wish he had (я хотел бы, чтобы это было так). He died before the ambulance could reach us though (и все же он умер прежде, чем скорая помощь смогла достичь нас = чем прибыла…)."
"He could speak then (значит, он мог говорить)?"
"Yes. Even in his pain he worried about you (даже в своей боли он беспокоился о вас)."
"What did he say (что он сказал)?"
"I can't remember the exact words, Rollo (я не могу вспомнить точные слова, Ролло)—I may call you Rollo (я могу называть вас Ролло), mayn't I (не так ли)? he always called you that to us (он всегда называл вас нам этим именем). He was anxious (он очень хотел;
dislike [dIs'laIk], toupee ['tu:peI], bald [bO:ld], romantic [rqu'mxntIk], suddenly ['sAdnlI], pretty ['prItI], hangover ['hxN"quvq], appear [q'pIq], indescribably ["IndIs'kraIbqblI], false [fO:ls], enthusiasm [In'Tju:zIxzm], tension ['tenS(q)n], suspense [sqs'pens], guess [ges], error ['erq], ambulance ['xmbjulqns], arrive [q'raIv], collect [kq'lekt], return [rI'tq:n]
WHAT I DISLIKED about him at first sight," Martins told me, "was his toupee. It was one of those obvious toupees—flat and yellow, with the hair cut straight at the back and not fitting close. There must be something phony about a man who won't accept baldness gracefully. He had one of those faces too where the lines have been put in carefully, like a make-up, in the right places—to express charm, whimsicality, lines at the corners of the eyes. He was made-up to appeal to romantic schoolgirls."
This conversation took place some days later—he brought out his whole story when the trail was nearly cold. When he made that remark about the romantic schoolgirls I saw his rather hunted eyes focus suddenly. It was a girl—just like any other girl, I thought —hurrying by outside my office in the driving snow.
"Something pretty?"
He brought his gaze back and said, "I'm off that for ever. You know, Сalloway, a time comes in a man's life when he gives up all that sort of thing ..."
"I see. I thought you were looking at a girl."
"I was. But only because she reminded me for a moment of Anna—Anna Schmidt."
"Who's she? Isn't she a girl?"
"Oh, yes, in a way."
"What do you mean, in a way?"
"She was Harry's girl."
"Are you taking her over?"
"She's not that kind, Calloway. Didn't you see her at his funeral? I'm not mixing my drinks any more. I've got a hangover to last me a life-time."
"You were telling me about Kurtz," I said.
It appeared that Kurtz was sitting there, making a great show of reading
"Tension?"