patron ['peItrqn], fashionable ['fxSnqbl], square [skweq]
Since there were just so many hours in a day her patrons were limited to some six or eight and she herself organized that the area of her labors was restricted to the fashionable sector of Eaton and Belgrave squares known as Belgravia. For once she had arrived in that neighborhood in the morning she was then able to walk quickly from house to flat to mews.
There was a Major Wallace, her bachelor (там /в числе клиентов/ был майор Уоллис, ее холостяк), whom naturally she spoiled and in whose frequent and changing love affairs she took an avid interest (которому она естественно потворствовала и чьими частыми и изменчивыми любовными делами она жадно интересовалась).
She was fond of a Mrs. Schreiber, a somewhat muddled person (она любила миссис Шрайбер, несколько бестолковую особу;
bachelor ['bxCqlq], representative ["reprI'zentqtIv], generosity ["Genq'rOsItI]
There was a Major Wallace, her bachelor, whom naturally she spoiled and in whose frequent and changing love affairs she took an avid interest.
She was fond of a Mrs. Schreiber, a somewhat muddled person, the wife of a Hollywood film representative living in London, for her American warmth and generosity which displayed itself in many ways, but chiefly by her interest in and consideration for Mrs. Harris.
She "did" for fashionable Lady Dant (она «делала» =
fashionable ['fxSnqbl], wealthy ['welTI], charity ['CxrItI]
She "did" for fashionable Lady Dant, the wife of a wealthy industrial baron, who maintained a flat in London as well as a country manor — Lady Dant was always getting her picture in
There were others (были и другие): a White Russian Countess Wyszcinska (русская белоэмигрантка графиня Вышинская), whom Mrs. Harris liked because she was divinely mad (которую миссис Харрис любила, потому что она была божественно/изумительно безумна); a young married couple (молодая супружеская пара); a second son, whose charming flat she loved because there were pretty things in it (средний: «второй» сын, чью очаровательную квартиру она любила, потому что там было много прелестных вещиц/безделушек); Mrs. Fford Foulks, a divorcee (миссис Ффорд Фоулкс, разведенная женщина), who was a valuable mine of gossip as to what the idle rich were up to (которая была ценным источником =
All of these establishments Mrs. Harris looked after quite on her own (за всеми этими домами миссис Харрис смотрела/ухаживала полностью сама:
couple [kApl], divorcee [dI"vO'sI], valuable ['vxljuqbl]
There were others: a White Russian Countess Wyszcinska, whom Mrs. Harris liked because she was divinely mad; a young married couple; a second son, whose charming flat she loved because there were pretty things in it; Mrs. Fford Foulks, a divorcee, who was a valuable mine of gossip as to what the idle rich were up to; and several others, including a little actress, Miss Pamela Penrose, who was struggling to gain recognition from her base in a two-room mews flat.
All of these establishments Mrs. Harris looked after quite on her own.
Yet she was not without assistance and someone to fall back on in case of emergency (однако она не обходилась без поддержки того, /к чьей/ помощи /могла/ прибегнуть в случае крайней необходимости) in the person of her friend and alter ego Mrs. Violet Butterfield (в лице ее подруги и единомышленницы миссис Вайолет Баттерфилд), like herself a widow and a char (такой же, как она сама, вдовы и уборщицы), and inclined to take the gloomy aspect of life and affairs wherever there was any choice (и склонной воспринимать жизнь и ее дела с мрачной стороны по любому поводу: «брать /именно/ мрачные стороны жизни и дел, где бы ни был выбор = когда был какой-либо выбор»;
Mrs. Butterfield, who was as large and stout as Mrs. Harris appeared to be thin and frail (миссис Баттерфилд, которая была настолько же крупной и крепкой, насколько миссис Харрис казалась худощавой и хрупкой), naturally had her own set of clients, fortunately likewise in the same neighborhood (конечно, имела собственный набор клиентов, также, к счастью, в том же районе;
inclined [In'klaInd], naturally ['nxCrqlI], necessity [nq'sesItI]
Yet she was not without assistance and someone to fall back on in case of emergency in the person of her friend and alter ego Mrs. Violet Butterfield, like herself a widow and a char, and inclined to take the gloomy aspect of life and affairs wherever there was any choice.
Mrs. Butterfield, who was as large and stout as Mrs. Harris appeared to be thin and frail, naturally had her own set of clients, fortunately likewise in the same neighborhood. But they helped one another out with a nice bit of teamwork whenever the necessity arose.
If either one of them was ill or had pressing business elsewhere (если одна из них была больна или имела срочные дела где-либо в другом месте;
either ['aI'Dq], enough [I'nAf], worry ['wArI], malaise [mq'leIz]
If either one of them was ill or had pressing business elsewhere, the other would manage to pinch enough time from her clients to make the rounds of the other's customers sufficiently to keep them quiet and satisfied. Were Mrs. Harris to be bedded with some malaise, as rarely happened, she would telephone her clients to advise them of this catastrophe and add: "But don't you worry my friend Mrs. Butterfield will look in on you and I'll be around again tomorrow," and vice versa.
Although they were different as night and day in character (хотя они были разными как день и ночь по характеру), they were firm (они были надежными), loving and loyal friends (любящими и верными друзьями), and considered covering one another a part of their duty in life (и считали взаимовыручку частью своего долга в жизни:
although [Ll'Dqu], exchange [Iks'CeInG], confidence ['kOnfIdqns]
Although they were different as night and day in character, they were firm, loving and loyal friends, and considered covering one another a part of their duty in life. A friend was a friend and that was that. Mrs. Harris' basement flat was at No. 5 Willis Gardens, Mrs. Butterfield lived in No. 7, and rare was the day that they did not meet or visit one another to exchange news or confidences.
The taxicab crossed a big river (такси пересекло большую реку), the one Mrs. Harris had seen from the air (ту, которую миссис Харрис видела с воздуха), now gray instead of blue (теперь серую, а не голубую;
altercation ["Lltq'keISqn], chauffeur ['Squfq], neglected [nI'glektId]
The taxicab crossed a big river, the one Mrs. Harris had seen from the air, now gray instead of blue. On the bridge the driver got himself into a violent altercation with another chauffeur. They shouted and screamed at one another. Mrs. Harris did not understand the words but guessed at the language and the import and smiled happily to herself. This time her thoughts returned to Miss Pamela Penrose and the fuss she had kicked up when informed of Mrs. Harris' intention to take a day off. Mrs. Harris had made it a special point with Mrs. Butterfield to see that the aspiring actress was not neglected.
Curiously, for all her shrewdness and judgment of character (странно, несмотря на всю прозорливость и рассудительность характера;
The girl (девушка) — whose real name, as Mrs. Harris had gleaned from superficially inspecting letters (чье настоящее имя, как миссис Харрис выяснила из беглого осмотра писем;
curiously ['kjuqrIqslI], shrewdness ['SrHdnIs], occasionally [q'keIZnqlI]
Curiously, for all her shrewdness and judgment of character, Mrs. Harris' favorite of all her clients was Miss Penrose.
The girl — whose real name, as Mrs. Harris had gleaned from superficially inspecting letters that occasionally came so addressed, was Enid Snite — lived untidily in a one-story walk-up mews flat, the headquarters for her precarious existence.
She was a small, smooth blonde (она была невысокой, привлекательной блондинкой:
curiously ['kjuqrIqslI], exquisite ['ekskwIzIt], abominable [q'bOmInqbl]
She was a small, smooth blonde with a tight mouth and curiously static eyes that seem fixed greedily upon but one thing — herself. She had an exquisite figure and clever tiny feet that never once had tripped upon the corpses she had climbed over on her way up the ladder of success. There was nothing she would not do to further what she was pleased to call her career, which up to that time had included a year or two in the chorus line, some bit parts in a few pictures and several appearances on television. She was mean, hard, selfish and ruthless, and, of course, her manners were abominable as well.
One would have thought (можно было подумать;
penetrate ['penItreIt], through [TrH], certain [sWtn]
One would have thought that Mrs. Harris would have penetrated the false front of this little beast and abandoned her, for it was so that when something about a client displeased Mrs. Harris she simply dropped the key through the mailbox and did not return. Like so many of her sisters who did not char for charring's sake alone, even though it was her living, she also brought a certain warmth to it. She had to like either the person or the person's home where she worked.
But it was just the fact (в действительности: «это было просто фактом») that Mrs. Harris had pierced the front of Miss Snite to a certain extent that made her stick to her (миссис Харрис проникла за внешний вид мисс Снайт в некоторой степени, что привязало ее к ней), for she understood the fierce (потому что она поняла неистовое), wild (необузданное), hungry craving of the girl to be something, to be somebody (страстное желание девушки быть чем-то, быть кем-то;
pierce [pIqs], fierce [fIqs], acquire [qk'waIq]
But it was just the fact that Mrs. Harris had pierced the front of Miss Snite to a certain extent that made her stick to her, for she understood the fierce, wild, hungry craving of the girl to be something, to be somebody, to lift herself out of the ruck of everyday struggle and acquire some of the good things of life for herself.
Prior to her own extraordinary craving which had brought her to Paris (до того, как ее собственное незаурядное страстное желание привело ее в Париж:
extraordinary [Iks'trLdnrI], experienced [Iks'pIqrIqnst], endeavor [In'devq]
Prior to her own extraordinary craving which had brought her to Paris, Mrs. Harris had not experienced this in herself though she understood it very well. With her it had not been so much the endeavor to make something of herself as it had been the battle to survive, and in that sense these two were not unalike.
When Mrs. Harris' husband had died some twenty years past and left her penniless (когда муж миссис Харрис умер около двадцати лет назад и оставил ее без гроша: «без пенни»), she simply had to make a go of things (она просто должна была справиться с положением;
And then too there was the glamour of the theater (а еще ведь было очарование театра;
husband ['hAzbqnd], glamour ['glxmq], irresistible ["IrI'zIstqbl]
When Mrs. Harris' husband had died some twenty years past and left her penniless, she simply had to make a go of things, her widow's pension being insufficient.
And then too there was the glamour of the theater which surrounded Miss Snite, or rather Penrose, as Mrs. Harris chose to think of her, and this was irresistible.
Mrs. Harris was not impressed by titles (миссис Харрис не впечатляли звания), wealth (богатство), position (положение), or family (или родство), but she was susceptible to the enchantment that enveloped anything or anyone that had to do with the stage (но она была чувствительна/восприимчива к очарованию, которое окружало все или всякого, кто имел дело со сценой), the television (телевидением), or the flicks (или кино).
She had no way of knowing how tenuous and sketchy was Miss Penrose's connection with these (у нее не было возможности знать = она не представляла, как незначительна и поверхностна была связь миссис Пенроуз с ними;
susceptible [sq'septqbl], tenuous ['tenjuqs], mediocre ['mJdIqukq]
Mrs. Harris was not impressed by titles, wealth, position, or family, but she was susceptible to the enchantment that enveloped anything or anyone that had to do with the stage, the television, or the flicks.
She had no way of knowing how tenuous and sketchy was Miss Penrose's connection with these, that she was not only a bad little girl but a mediocre actress.