|
| "I'm ready," he said through his clenched teeth. | - Я готов, - произнес он сквозь зубы. |
| The surgeon drew firmly on one of the threads and Bush writhed a little. | Лекарь сильно потянул за нить, Буш дернулся. |
| He drew on the other. | Лекарь потянул за вторую. |
| "A-ah," gasped Bush, with sweat on his face. | -А-а-а... - выдохнул Буш. Лицо его покрылось потом. |
| "Nearly free," commented the surgeon. | - Почти свободны, - заключил лекарь. |
| "I could tell by the feeling of the threads. Your friend will soon be well. | - Ваш друг скоро поправится. |
| Now let us replace the dressings. | Сейчас мы его опять забинтуем. |
| So. | Так. |
| And so." | Так. |
| His dexterous plump fingers rebandaged the stump, replaced the wicker basket, and drew down the bed coverings. | - Ловкими короткими пальцами он перевязал обрубок, надел на место корзинку и прикрыл одеялом. |
| "Thank you, gentlemen," said the surgeon, rising to his feet and brushing his hands one against the other. | - Спасибо, господа, - сказал он, вставая и обтирая руки одна о другую. |
| "I will return in the morning." | - Я зайду утром. - И вышел. |
| "Hadn't you better sit down, sir," came Brown's voice to Hornblower's ears as though from a million miles away, after the surgeon had withdrawn. | - Может, вам лучше сесть, сэр? - Голос Брауна доносился как бы издалека. Комната плыла. Хорнблауэр сел. |
| The room was veiled in grey mist which gradually cleared away as he sat, to reveal Bush lying back on his pillow and trying to smile, and Brown's homely honest face wearing an expression of acute concern. | Туман перед глазами начал рассеиваться. Хорнблауэр увидел, что Буш, откинувшись на подушку, пытается улыбнуться, а честное лицо Брауна выражает крайнюю озабоченность. |
| "Rare bad you looked for a minute, sir. | - Ужас как вы выглядели, сэр. |
| You must be hungry, I expect, sir, not having eaten nothing since breakfast, like." | Небось проголодались, сэр, еще бы, не ели с самого утра. |
| It was tactful of Brown to attribute this faintness to hunger, to which all flesh might be subject without shame, and not merely to weakness in face of wounds and suffering. | Браун тактично приписал его обморок голоду, а не постыдной боязни ран и страданий. |
| "That sounds like supper coming now," croaked Bush from the stretcher, as though one of a conspiracy to ignore their captain's feebleness. | - Похоже, ужин несут, - прохрипел с носилок Буш, словно тоже участвовал в заговоре. |
| The sergeant of gendarmerie came clanking in, two women behind him bearing trays. | Звеня шпорами, вошел сержант, за ним две служанки с подносами. |
| The women set the table deftly and quickly, their eyes downcast, and withdrew without looking up, although one of them smiled at the corner of her mouth in response to a meaning cough from Brown which drew a gesture of irritation from the sergeant. |