on, a ya. On presledoval menya neuklyuzhe, no ves'ma provorno i byl vsego v dvuh shagah, kogda ya prygnul v shlyupku. YA ottolknulsya ot berega veslom, no on uspel vcepit'sya v nego zubami. Krepkoe derevo hrustnulo i raskololos', kak yaichnaya skorlupa. My s Mod byli oshelomleny. A sekach nyrnul pod shlyupku i prinyalsya s siloj tryasti ee, uhvativshis' zubami za kil'. "My!" said Maud. "Let's go back." -- Bozhe moj! -- vskrichala Mod. -- Luchshe vernemsya. I shook my head. "I can do what other men have done, and I know that other men have clubbed seals. But I think I'll leave the bulls alone next time." YA pokachal golovoj. -- To, chto delayut drugie, mogu sdelat' i ya, a ya znayu navernoe, chto kotikov b'yut dubinkami. No sekachej pridetsya ostavit' v pokoe. "I wish you wouldn't," she said. -- Luchshe by vam ih vseh ostavit' v pokoe! -- skazala Mod. "Now don't say, 'Please, please,'" I cried, half angrily, I do believe. -- Tol'ko ne vzdumajte govorit': "Pozhalujsta, proshu vas!" -- voskliknul ya i, boyus', dovol'no serdito. She made no reply, and I knew my tone must have hurt her. Ona promolchala, no ya ponyal, chto moj ton zadel ee. "I beg your pardon," I said, or shouted, rather, in order to make myself heard above the roar of the rookery. "If you say so, I'll turn and go back; but honestly, I'd rather stay." -- Prostite! -- skazal ili, vernee, prokrichal ya, chtoby pokryt' stoyavshij nad lezhbishchem rev. -- Esli vy budete nastaivat', my, konechno, vernemsya, no, chestno govorya, ya by etogo ne hotel. "Now don't say that this is what you get for bringing a woman along," she said. She smiled at me whimsically, gloriously, and I knew there was no need for forgiveness. -- Tol'ko ne vzdumajte govorit': "Vot chto znachit brat' s soboyu zhenshchinu!" -- skazala ona s obvorozhitel'noj lukavoj ulybkoj, i ya ponyal, chto proshchen. I rowed a couple of hundred feet along the beach so as to recover my nerves, and then stepped ashore again. Proplyv eshche nemnogo vdol' berega, chtoby sobrat'sya s duhom, ya snova prichalil i vyshel iz shlyupki. "Do be cautious," she called after me. -- Bud'te ostorozhny! -- kriknula mne vsled Mod. I nodded my head and proceeded to make a flank attack on the nearest harem. All went well until I aimed a blow at an outlying cowls head and fell short. She snorted and tried to scramble away. I ran in close and struck another blow, hitting the shoulder instead of the head. YA kivnul ej i predprinyal flangovuyu ataku na blizhajshij garem. Vse shlo horosho, poka ya, podobravshis' k odnoj iz samok, lezhavshej v storone, ne sdelal popytku udarit' ee po golove. YA promahnulsya, a ona zafyrkala i provorno popolzla proch'. YA podbezhal blizhe, zamahnulsya vtorichno, no ugodil ne v golovu, a v plecho. "Watch out!" I heard Maud scream. -- Beregites'! -- uslyshal ya otchayannyj krik Mod. In my excitement I had not been taking notice of other things, and I looked up to see the lord of the harem charging down upon me. Again I fled to the boat, hotly pursued; but this time Maud made no suggestion of turning back. Uvlechennyj ohotoj, ya ne glyadel po storonam i, obernuvshis', uvidel, chto menya atakuet sam vladyka garema. Presleduemyj po pyatam, ya snova brosilsya k shlyupke. No na etot raz Mod uzhe ne predlagala mne otkazat'sya ot moej zatei. "It would be better, I imagine, if you let harems alone and devoted your attention to lonely and inoffensive-looking seals," was what she said. "I think I have read something about them. Dr. Jordan's book, I believe. They are the young bulls, not old enough to have harems of their own. He called them the holluschickie, or something like that. It seems to me if we find where they haul out - " -- YA dumayu, vam luchshe ne trogat' garemy, a zanyat'sya odinokimi kotikami, -- skazala ona. -- |ti kak-to bezobidnee. Pomnitsya, ya dazhe gde-to chitala pro eto. U doktora Dzhordana kak budto. |to molodye samcy, nedostatochno vozmuzhavshie, chtoby imet' svoi garemy. Dzhordan, kazhetsya, nazyvaet ih "holostyakami". Nuzhno tol'ko najti, gde u nih lezhbishche, i togda... "It seems to me that your fighting instinct is aroused," I laughed. -- V vas, ya vizhu, probudilsya ohotnichij instinkt! -- rassmeyalsya ya. She flushed quickly and prettily. "I'll admit I don't like defeat any more than you do, or any more than I like the idea of killing such pretty, inoffensive creatures." Ona milo vspyhnula. -- YA, tak zhe kak i vy, ne lyublyu priznavat' sebya pobezhdennoj, hotya mne i ochen' ne po dushe, chto vy budete ubivat' etih krasivyh bezobidnyh sozdanij. "Pretty!" I sniffed. "I failed to mark anything pre-eminently pretty about those foamy-mouthed beasts that raced me." -- Krasivyh! -- usmehnulsya ya. -- CHto-to ya ne zametil nichego krasivogo v etih chudovishchah, kotorye gnalis' za mnoj, oskaliv klyki. "Your point of view," she laughed. "You lacked perspective. Now if you did not have to get so close to the subject - " -- Vse zavisit ot tochki zreniya, -- rassmeyalas' ona. -- Vam ne hvataet perspektivy. K nablyudaemomu predmetu ne rekomenduetsya podhodit' slishkom blizko... "The very thing!" I cried. "What I need is a longer club. And there's that broken oar ready to hand." -- Vot imenno! -- voskliknul ya. -- CHto mne nuzhno -- tak eto dubinku podlinnee. Kstati, mozhno vospol'zovat'sya slomannym veslom. "It just comes to me," she said, "that Captain Larsen was telling me how the men raided the rookeries. They drive the seals, in small herds, a short distance inland before they kill them." -- YA pripominayu... -- skazala ona. -- Kapitan Larsen rasskazyval, kak ohotyatsya na lezhbishchah. Zagonyayut nebol'shuyu chast' stada podal'she ot berega i tam ubivayut. "I don't care to undertake the herding of one of those harems," I objected. -- Nu, u menya net osobogo zhelaniya zagonyat' "nebol'shuyu chast' stada", -- vozrazil ya. "But there are the holluschickie," she said. "The holluschickie haul out by themselves, and Dr. Jordan says that paths are left between the harems, and that as long as the holluschickie keep strictly to the path they are unmolested by the masters of the harem." -- Est' eshche "holostyaki", -- skazala ona. -- Oni derzhatsya osobnyakom. Doktor Dzhordan govorit, chto mezhdu garemami ostayutsya dorozhki, i, poka "holostyaki" ne shodyat s etih dorozhek, poveliteli garemov ne trogayut ih. "There's one now," I said, pointing to a young bull in the water. "Let's watch him, and follow him if he hauls out." -- Vot kak raz plyvet odin iz nih, -- ukazal ya na molodogo "holostyaka", podplyvavshego k beregu. -- Budem nablyudat' za nim, i, esli on vyjdet iz vody, ya pojdu sledom. He swam directly to the beach and clambered out into a small opening between two harems, the masters of which made warning noises but did not attack him. We watched him travel slowly inward, threading about among the harems along what must have been the path. Kotik vybralsya na bereg v svobodnom prostranstve mezhdu dvumya garemami, poveliteli kotoryh grozno zavorchali, no ne tronuli ego, i stal medlenno udalyat'sya, probirayas' po "dorozhke". "Here goes," I said, stepping out; but I confess my heart was in my mouth as I thought of going through the heart of that monstrous herd. -- Nu popytaemsya! -- bodro skazal ya, vyskakivaya iz shlyupki, no, priznayus', serdce u menya ushlo v pyatki pri mysli o tom, chto mne pridetsya projti skvoz' vse eto gromadnoe stado. "It would be wise to make the boat fast," Maud said. -- Ne meshalo by zakrepit' shlyupku, -- skazala Mod. She had stepped out beside me, and I regarded her with wonderment. Ona uzhe stoyala na beregu ryadom so mnoj, i ya s izumleniem posmotrel na nee. She nodded her head determinedly. "Yes, I'm going with you, so you may as well secure the boat and arm me with a club." Ona reshitel'no kivnula. -- Nu da, ya pojdu s vami. Vtashchite shlyupku povyshe na bereg i vooruzhite menya kakoj-nibud' dubinkoj. "Let's go back," I said dejectedly. "I think tundra grass, will do, after all." -- Davajte luchshe vernemsya nazad, -- unylo progovoril ya. -- Obojdemsya v konce koncov i travoj. "You know it won't," was her reply. "Shall I lead?" -- Vy zhe znaete, chto trava ne goditsya, -- posledoval otvet. -- Mozhet byt', mne pojti vpered? With a shrug of the shoulders, but with the warmest admiration and pride at heart for this woman, I equipped her with the broken oar and took another for myself. It was with nervous trepidation that we made the first few rods of the journey. Once Maud screamed in terror as a cow thrust an inquisitive nose toward her foot, and several times I quickened my pace for the same reason. But, beyond warning coughs from either side, there were no signs of hostility. It was a rookery which had never been raided by the hunters, and in consequence the seals were mild-tempered and at the same time unafraid. YA pozhal plechami, no v glubine dushi byl voshishchen ee smelost'yu i gord za nee. YA dal ej slomannoe veslo, a sam vzyal drugoe. Ne bez straha dvinulis' my vpered. Mod ispuganno vskriknula, kogda kakaya-to lyubopytnaya samka potyanulas' nosom k ee noge, da i ya ne raz uskoryal shagi po toj zhe prichine. Iz oboih garemov donosilos' predosteregayushchee vorchanie, no drugih priznakov vrazhdebnosti my ne zamechali. |to lezhbishche eshche ne vidalo ohotnikov, i poetomu kotiki zdes' byli ne napugany i dovol'no dobrodushny. In the very heart of the herd the din was terrific. It was almost dizzying in its effect. I paused and smiled reassuringly at Maud, for I had recovered my equanimity sooner than she. I could see that she was still badly frightened. She came close to me and shouted: V gushche stada shum stoyal neimovernyj. Ot nego golova shla krugom. YA priostanovilsya i obodryayushche ulybnulsya Mod. Mne udalos' bystree preodolet' svoyu boyazn', ona zhe vse eshche ne mogla poborot' straha i, podojdya ko mne blizhe, kriknula: "I'm dreadfully afraid!" -- YA boyus', uzhasno boyus'! And I was not. Though the novelty had not yet worn off, the peaceful comportment of the seals had quieted my alarm. Maud was trembling. A ya ne boyalsya. Mne eshche bylo ne po sebe, odnako mirnoe povedenie kotikov znachitel'no umerilo moyu trevogu. No Mod vsya drozhala. "I'm afraid, and I'm not afraid," she chattered with shaking jaws. "It's my miserable body, not I." -- YA boyus' i ne boyus', -- lepetala ona tryasushchimisya gubami. -- |to moe zhalkoe telo boitsya, a ne ya. "It's all right, it's all right," I reassured her, my arm passing instinctively and protectingly around her. -- Nichego, nichego! -- obodryal ya ee, instinktivno obnyav za plechi v stremlenii zashchitit'. I shall never forget, in that moment, how instantly conscious I became of my manhood. The primitive deeps of my nature stirred. I felt myself masculine, the protector of the weak, the fighting male. And, best of all, I felt myself the protector of my loved one. She leaned against me, so light and lily-frail, and as her trembling eased away it seemed as though I became aware of prodigious strength. I felt myself a match for the most ferocious bull in the herd, and I know, had such a bull charged upon me, that I should have met it unflinchingly and quite coolly, and I know that I should have killed it. Nikogda ne zabudu, kakoj priliv muzhestva ya togda oshchutil. Iznachal'nye instinkty zagovorili vo mne, i ya pochuvstvoval sebya muzhchinoj, zashchitnikom slabyh, boryushchimsya samcom. No dragocennee vsego bylo soznanie, chto ya zashchishchayu lyubimoe sushchestvo. Mod opiralas' na menya, nezhnaya i hrupkaya, kak cvetok, i drozh' ee utihala, a ya chuvstvoval, kak krepnut moi sily. YA gotov byl srazit'sya s samym svirepym samcom iz stada, i esli by v tu minutu on nabrosilsya na menya, ya vstretil by ego bestrepetno i navernyaka odolel by. "I am all right now," she said, looking up at me gratefully. "Let us go on." -- Vse v poryadke, -- progovorila Mod, s blagodarnost'yu podnyav na menya glaza. -- Pojdemte dal'she! And that the strength in me had quieted her and given her confidence, filled me with an exultant joy. The youth of the race seemed burgeoning in me, over-civilized man that I was, and I lived for myself the old hunting days and forest nights of my remote and forgotten ancestry. I had much for which to thank Wolf Larsen, was my thought as we went along the path between the jostling harems. I soznanie, chto ona pocherpnula sily vo mne i polagaetsya na menya, napolnilo moe serdce likovaniem. Skvoz' vse nasloeniya civilizacii vo mne vse otchetlivee zvuchalo chto-to unasledovannoe ot moih dalekih i zabytyh predkov, zhivshih na zare chelovechestva, bivshih zverya i spavshih pod otkrytym nebom. A ved' mne, pozhaluj, sleduet blagodarit' za eto Volka Larsena, podumal ya, probirayas' vmeste s Mod po dorozhke mezhdu garemami. A quarter of a mile inland we came upon the holluschickie - sleek young bulls, living out the loneliness of their bachelorhood and gathering strength against the day when they would fight their way into the ranks of the Benedicts. Uglubivshis' na chetvert' mili ot berega, my doshli do lezhbishcha "holostyakov" -- molodyh samcov s gladkoj losnyashchejsya sherst'yu, -- kotorye v odinochestve kopili zdes' sily v ozhidanii togo dnya, kogda oni s boem prolozhat sebe dorogu v ryady schastlivcev. Everything now went smoothly. I seemed to know just what to do and how to do it. Shouting, making threatening gestures with my club, and even prodding the lazy ones, I quickly cut out a score of the young bachelors from their companions. Whenever one made an attempt to break back toward the water, I headed it off. Maud took an active part in the drive, and with her cries and flourishings of the broken oar was of considerable assistance. I noticed, though, that whenever one looked tired and lagged, she let it slip past. But I noticed, also, whenever one, with a show of fight, tried to break past, that her eyes glinted and showed bright, and she rapped it smartly with her club. Teper' u menya vse srazu poshlo na lad. Mozhno bylo podumat', chto ya vsyu zhizn' tol'ko tem i zanimalsya, chto bil kotikov. Kricha, ugrozhayushche razmahivaya dubinkoj i dazhe podtalkivaya eyu bolee medlitel'nyh, ya bystro otognal v storonu desyatka dva "holostyakov". Kogda kakoj-libo iz nih pytalsya prorvat'sya nazad k moryu, ya pregrazhdal emu put'. Mod prinimala v etom samoe deyatel'noe uchastie i pomogala mne, kricha i razmahivaya slomannym veslom. YA zametil, odnako, chto naibolee tshchedushnym i nepovorotlivym ona pozvolyala uskol'znut'. No ya videl takzhe, chto, kogda kakoj-nibud' osobenno voinstvenno nastroennyj zver' delal popytku prorvat'sya, glaza u nee vspyhivali i ona lovko udaryala ego dubinkoj. "My, it's exciting!" she cried, pausing from sheer weakness. "I think I'll sit down." -- A ved' eto uvlekaet! -- voskliknula ona, ostanavlivayas' v iznemozhenii, chtoby peredohnut'. -- No ya, kazhetsya, dolzhna prisest'. I drove the little herd (a dozen strong, now, what of the escapes she had permitted) a hundred yards farther on; and by the time she joined me I had finished the slaughter and was beginning to skin. An hour later we went proudly back along the path between the harems. And twice again we came down the path burdened with skins, till I thought we had enough to roof the hut. I set the sail, laid one tack out of the cove, and on the other tack made our own little inner cove. Poka ona otdyhala, ya otognal malen'koe stado, v kotorom, po myagkoserdechiyu Mod, ostalos' okolo dvenadcati golov, shagov na sto dal'she. Kogda ona prisoedinilas' ko mne, ya uzhe konchil boj i nachal svezhevat' tushi. CHas spustya, nagruzhennye shkurami, my gordo shestvovali nazad po dorozhke mezhdu garemami i dvazhdy eshche spuskalis' k moryu, sgibayas' pod tyazhest'yu svoej noshi, posle chego ya reshil, chto na kryshu nam teper' shkur hvatit. YA podnyal parus, vyvel shlyupku iz buhty, leg na drugoj gals i vvel sudno v nashu buhtochku. "It's just like home-coming," Maud said, as I ran the boat ashore. -- Tochno v rodnoj dom vozvrashchaemsya! -- progovorila Mod, kogda shlyupka vrezalas' v bereg. I heard her words with a responsive thrill, it was all so dearly intimate and natural, and I said: Ee slova vzvolnovali menya -- oni prozvuchali tak estestvenno i vmeste s tem intimno, -- i ya skazal: "It seems as though I have lived this life always. The world of books and bookish folk is very vague, more like a dream memory than an actuality. I surely have hunted and forayed and fought all the days of my life. And you, too, seem a part of it. You are - " I was on the verge of saying, "my woman, my mate," but glibly changed it to - "standing the hardship well." -- A mne uzhe kazhetsya, chto ya nikogda i ne zhil drugoj zhizn'yu. Mir knig i knizhnikov pripominaetsya mne sejchas tak smutno, slovno eto byl son, a na samom dele ya vsyu zhizn' tol'ko i delal, chto ohotilsya i sovershal nabegi na lezhbishcha zverej. I slovno vy tozhe vsegda uchastvovali v etoj zhizni. Vy... -- ya chut' ne proiznes: "moya zhena, moya podruga", no vovremya spohvatilsya i zakonchil: -- otlichno perenosite trudnosti. But her ear had caught the flaw. She recognized a flight that midmost broke. She gave me a quick look. No chutkoe uho Mod ulovilo fal'sh' v moem golose. Ona ponyala, chto ya dumal o chem-to drugom, i brosila na menya bystryj vzglyad. "Not that. You were saying - ?" -- |to ne to. Vy hoteli skazat'... "That the American Mrs. Meynell was living the life of a savage and living it quite successfully," I said easily. -- ...chto amerikanskaya missis Mejnell vedet zhizn' dikarki, i pritom dovol'no uspeshno, -- neprinuzhdenno proiznes ya. "Oh," was all she replied; but I could have sworn there was a note of disappointment in her voice. -- O! -- protyanula ona, no ya mog by poklyast'sya, chto vid u nee byl razocharovannyj. But "my woman, my mate" kept ringing in my head for the rest of the day and for many days. Yet never did it ring more loudly than that night, as I watched her draw back the blanket of moss from the coals, blow up the fire, and cook the evening meal. It must have been latent savagery stirring in me, for the old words, so bound up with the roots of the race, to grip me and thrill me. And grip and thrill they did, till I fell asleep, murmuring them to myself over and over again. Slova eti -- "moya zhena, moya podruga" -- zvuchali v moej dushe ves' den' i eshche mnogo dnej. No nikogda ne zvuchali oni tak nastojchivo, kak v tot vecher, kogda ya, sidya u ochaga, nablyudal, kak Mod snimaet moh s uglej, razduvaet ogon' i gotovit uzhin. Verno, krepka byla moya svyaz' s moim pervobytnym predkom, esli eti drevnie slova, prozvuchavshie vpervye v glubine vekov, tak zahvatili i vzvolnovali menya. A oni zvuchali vo mne vse gromche i gromche, i, zasypaya, ya povtoryal ih pro sebya. CHAPTER XXXI GLAVA XXXI "It will smell," I said, "but it will keep in the heat and keep out the rain and snow." -- Da, ot shkur budet popahivat', -- skazal ya, -- zato oni sohranyat v hizhine teplo i ukroyut vas ot dozhdya i snega. We were surveying the completed seal-skin roof. My stoyali i rassmatrivali kryshu iz kotikovyh shkur, kotoraya nakonec byla gotova. "It is clumsy, but it will serve the purpose, and that is the main thing," I went on, yearning for her praise. -- Ona nekazista, no svoej celi posluzhit, a eto glavnoe, -- prodolzhal ya, zhazhdaya uslyshat' pohvalu iz ust Mod. And she clapped her hands and declared that she was hugely pleased. Ona zahlopala v ladoshi i ob®yavila, chto strashno dovol'na. "But it is dark in here," she said the next moment, her shoulders shrinking with a little involuntary shiver. -- No ved' vnutri sovsem temno, -- dobavila ona sekundu spustya i nevol'no peredernula plechami. "You might have suggested a window when the walls were going up," I said. "It was for you, and you should have seen the need of a window." -- Pochemu zhe vy ne predlozhili sdelat' okno, kogda my skladyvali steny? -- skazal ya. -- Hizhina stroilas' dlya vas, i vy mogli by podumat' o tom, chto vam nuzhen svet. "But I never do see the obvious, you know," she laughed back. "And besides, you can knock a hole in the wall at any time.' -- No ya kak-to ne privykla zadumyvat'sya nad tem, chto kazhetsya ochevidnym, -- zasmeyalas' ona v otvet. -- A krome togo, v stene ved' mozhno probit' dyru v lyuboe vremya. "Quite true; I had not thought of it," I replied, wagging my head sagely. "But have you thought of ordering the window-glass? Just call up the firm, - Red, 4451, I think it is, - and tell them what size and kind of glass you wish." -- Sovershenno verno. Vot ob etom ya ne podumal, -- otozvalsya ya, glubokomyslenno pokachivaya golovoj. -- Nu, a vy pozabotilis' uzhe zakazat' okonnye stekla? Pozvonite v magazin -- Red-44-51, esli ne oshibayus', -- i skazhite, kakoj sort i razmer vam nuzhen. "That means - " she began. -- |to znachit?.. -- nachala ona. "No window." -- |to znachit, chto okna ne budet. It was a dark and evil-appearing thing, that hut, not fit for aught better than swine in a civilized land; but for us, who had known the misery of the open boat, it was a snug little habitation. Following the housewarming, which was accomplished by means of seal-oil and a wick made from cotton calking, came the hunting for our winter's meat and the building of the second hut. It was a simple affair, now, to go forth in the morning and return by noon with a boatload of seals. And then, while I worked at building the hut, Maud tried out the oil from the blubber and kept a slow fire under the frames of meat. I had heard of jerking beef on the plains, and our seal-meat, cut in thin strips and hung in the smoke, cured excellently. Temno i nepriglyadno bylo v etoj hizhine. V civilizovannyh usloviyah takoe sooruzhenie moglo by posluzhit' razve lish' svinym hlevom, no nam, poznavshim vse tyagoty skitanij na shlyupke, ono kazalos' ves'ma uyutnym pristanishchem. Otprazdnovav novosel'e pri svete pen'kovogo fitilya, plavavshego v vytoplennom kotikovom zhire, my zanyalis' zagotovleniem myasa na zimu i postrojkoj vtoroj hizhiny. Ohota kazalas' nam teper' prostym delom. S utra my vyezzhali na shlyupke, a k poludnyu vozvrashchalis' s gruzom kotikovyh tush. Zatem, poka ya trudilsya nad postrojkoj hizhiny. Mod vytaplivala zhir i podderzhivala ogon' v ochage, nad kotorym koptilos' myaso. YA slyshal o tom, kak koptyat govyadinu v central'nyh shtatah, i my delali tak zhe: narezali myaso kotikov dlinnymi tonkimi lomtyami, podveshivali ih nad kostrom, i oni prevoshodno koptilis'. The second hut was easier to erect, for I built it against the first, and only three walls were required. But it was work, hard work, all of it. Maud and I worked from dawn till dark, to the limit of our strength, so that when night came we crawled stiffly to bed and slept the animal-like sleep exhaustion. And yet Maud declared that she had never felt better or stronger in her life. I knew this was true of myself, but hers was such a lily strength that I feared she would break down. Often and often, her last- reserve force gone, I have seen her stretched flat on her back on the sand in the way she had of resting and recuperating. And then she would be up on her feet and toiling hard as ever. Where she obtained this strength was the marvel to me. Skladyvat' vtoruyu hizhinu bylo legche, tak kak ya pristraival ee k pervoj i dlya nee trebovalos' tol'ko tri steny. No i na eto nado bylo upotrebit' mnogo upornogo, tyazhelogo truda. My s Mod rabotali ves' den' dotemna, ne shchadya sil, a s nastupleniem nochi ele dobiralis' do svoih postelej i zasypali kak ubitye. I vse zhe Mod uveryala menya, chto nikogda v zhizni ne chuvstvovala sebya takoj zdorovoj i sil'noj. Pro sebya ya mog skazat' to zhe samoe, no Mod byla hrupkaya, kak cvetok, i ya vse vremya boyalsya, chto ee zdorov'e ne vyderzhit takogo napryazheniya. Skol'ko raz videl ya, kak ona v polnom iznemozhenii lozhilas' navznich' na pesok, raskinuv ruki, chtoby luchshe otdohnut', a potom vskakivala i trudilas' s prezhnim uporstvom, i ne perestaval divit'sya, otkuda tol'ko berutsya u nee sily. "Think of the long rest this winter," was her reply to my remonstrances. "Why, we'll be clamorous for something to do." -- Nu, nam eshche nadoest otdyhat' zimoj, -- otvechala ona na vse moi ugovory poberech' sebya. -- Da my budem iznyvat' ot bezdel'ya i radovat'sya lyuboj rabote! We held a housewarming in my hut the night it was roofed. It was the end of the third day of a fierce storm which had swung around the compass from the south-east to the north-west, and which was then blowing directly in upon us. The beaches of the outer cove were thundering with the surf, and even in our land-locked inner cove a respectable sea was breaking. No high backbone of island sheltered us from the wind, and it whistled and bellowed about the hut till at times I feared for the strength of the walls. The skin roof, stretched tightly as a drumhead, I had thought, sagged and bellied with every gust; and innumerable interstices in the walls, not so tightly stuffed with moss as Maud had supposed, disclosed themselves. Yet the seal-oil burned brightly and we were warm and comfortable. V tot vecher, kogda i nad moej hizhinoj poyavilas' krysha, my vtorichno otprazdnovali novosel'e. Tretij den' yarostno busheval shtorm; on shel s yugo-vostoka, postepenno peremeshchayas' k severo-zapadu, i sejchas dul na nas pryamo s morya. Priboj grohotal na otlogom beregu vneshnej buhty, i dazhe v nashem malen'kom glubokom zalivchike gulyali izryadnye volny. Skalistyj hrebet ostrova ne zashchishchal nas ot vetra, kotoryj tak revel i zavyval vokrug hizhiny, chto ya opasalsya za ee steny. Krysha, natyanutaya, kazalos' mne, tugo, kak baraban, progibalas' i hodila hodunom pri kazhdom poryve vetra; v stenah, plotno, kak polagala Mod, prokonopachennyh mhom, otkrylis' beschislennye shcheli. No vnutri yarko gorela ploshka s kotikovym zhirom, i nam bylo teplo i uyutno. It was a pleasant evening indeed, and we voted that as a social function on Endeavour Island it had not yet been eclipsed. Our minds were at ease. Not only had we resigned ourselves to the bitter winter, but we were prepared for it. The seals could depart on their mysterious journey into the south at any time, now, for all we cared; and the storms held no terror for us. Not only were we sure of being dry and warm and sheltered from the wind, but we had the softest and most luxurious mattresses that could be made from moss. This had been Maud's idea, and she had herself jealously gathered all the moss. This was to be my first night on the mattress, and I knew I should sleep the sweeter because she had made it. |to byl udivitel'no priyatnyj vecher, i my s Mod edinoglasno reshili, chto ni odno iz nashih svetskih meropriyatij na Ostrove Usilij eshche ne prohodilo stol' uspeshno. Na dushe u nas bylo spokojno. My ne tol'ko primirilis' s mysl'yu o predstoyavshej nam surovoj zime, no i podgotovilis' k nej. Kotiki mogli teper' v lyuboj den' otpravlyat'sya v svoe tainstvennoe puteshestvie na yug -- chto nam do togo! Da i buri nas ne strashili. My ne somnevalis', chto nam budet suho i teplo pod nashim krovom, a u nas k tomu zhe imelis' eshche roskoshnye, myagkie tyufyaki, izgotovlennye iz mha. |to bylo izobretenie Mod, i ona sama revnostno sobirala dlya nih moh. Mne predstoyalo segodnya vpervye za mnogo nochej spat' na tyufyake, i ya znal, chto son moj budet eshche slashche ottogo, chto tyufyak etot sdelan rukami Mod. As she rose to go she turned to me with the whimsical way she had, and said: Napravlyayas' k sebe v hizhinu. Mod obernulas' ko mne i neozhidanno proiznesla sleduyushchie zagadochnye slova: "Something is going to happen - is happening, for that matter. I feel it. Something is coming here, to us. It is coming now. I don't know what, but it is coming." -- CHto-to dolzhno proizojtiVernee, uzhe proishodit. YA chuvstvuyu. CHto-to priblizhaetsya syuda, k nam. Vot v etu samuyu minutu. YA ne znayu, chto eto, no ono idet syuda. "Good or bad?" I asked. -- Horoshee ili plohoe? -- sprosil ya. She shook her head. "I don't know, but it is there, somewhere." Ona pokachala golovoj. -- Ne znayu, no ono gde-to tam. She pointed in the direction of the sea and wind. I ona ukazala v tu storonu, otkuda veter rvalsya k nam s morya. "It's a lee shore," I laughed, "and I am sure I'd rather be here than arriving, a night like this." -- Tam more i shtorm, -- rassmeyalsya ya, -- i ne pozaviduesh' tomu, kto vzdumaet vysadit'sya na etot bereg v takuyu noch'. "You are not frightened?" I asked, as I stepped to open the door for her. -- Vy ne boites'? -- sprosil ya, provozhaya ee do dveri. Her eyes looked bravely into mine. Vmesto otveta ona smelo i pryamo posmotrela mne v glaza. "And you feel well? perfectly well?" -- A kak vy sebya chuvstvuete? Vpolne horosho? "Never better," was her answer. -- Nikogda ne chuvstvovala sebya luchshe, -- otvechala ona. We talked a little longer before she went. My pogovorili eshche nemnogo, i ona ushla. "Good-night, Maud," I said. -- Spokojnoj nochi. Mod! -- kriknul ya ej vsled. "Good-night, Humphrey," she said. -- Spokojnoj nochi, Hemfri! -- otkliknulas' ona. This use of our given names had come about quite as a matter of course, and was as unpremeditated as it was natural. In that moment I could have put my arms around her and drawn her to me. I should certainly have done so out in that world to which we belonged. As it was, the situation stopped there in the only way it could; but I was left alone in my little but, glowing warmly through and through with a pleasant satisfaction; and I knew that a tie, or a tacit something, existed between us which had not existed before. Ne sgovarivayas', my nazvali drug druga po imeni, i eto vyshlo sovsem prosto i estestvenno. YA znal, chto v etu minutu ya mog by obnyat' ee i privlech' k sebe. V privychnoj dlya nas oboih obstanovke ya by, nesomnenno, tak i postupil. No zdes' nashi otnosheniya ne mogli perejti izvestnoj grani, i ya ostalsya odin v svoej malen'koj hizhine, sogretyj soznaniem, chto mezhdu mnoyu i Mod voznikli kakie-to novye uzy, kakoe-to novoe molchalivoe vzaimoponimanie. CHAPTER XXXII GLAVA XXXII I awoke, oppressed by a mysterious sensation. There seemed something missing in my environment. But the mystery and oppressiveness vanished after the first few seconds of waking, when I identified the missing something as the wind. I had fallen asleep in that state of nerve tension with which one meets the continuous shock of sound or movement, and I had awakened, still tense, bracing myself to meet the pressure of something which no longer bore upon me. Moe probuzhdenie soprovozhdalos' strannym gnetushchim oshchushcheniem bespokojstva. Slovno mne chego-to nedostavalo, slovno ischezlo chto-to privychnoe. No eto oshchushchenie skoro proshlo, i ya ponyal, chto nichto ne izmenilos', -- ne bylo tol'ko vetra. Kogda ya zasypal, nervy u menya byli napryazheny, kak byvaet vsegda pri dlitel'nom vozdejstvii na nih zvuka ili dvizheniya, i, probudyas', ya v pervoe mgnovenie vse eshche nahodilsya v etom sostoyanii napryazheniya, starayas' protivostoyat' sile, kotoraya uzhe perestala dejstvovat'. It was the first night I had spent under cover in several months, and I lay luxuriously for some minutes under my blankets (for once not wet with fog or spray), analysing, first, the effect produced upon me by the cessation of the wind, and next, the joy which was mine from resting on the mattress made by Maud's hands. When I had dressed and opened the door, I heard the waves still lapping on the beach, garrulously attesting the fury of the night. It was a clear day, and the sun was shining. I had slept late, and I stepped outside with sudden energy, bent upon making up lost time as befitted a dweller on Endeavour Island. Vpervye za dolgie mesyacy ya provel noch' pod krovlej, i mne hotelos' ponezhit'sya eshche pod suhimi odeyalami, ne oshchushchaya na lice ni tumana, ni morskih bryzg. YA lezhal, razmyshlyaya nad tem, kak stranno podejstvovalo na menya prekrashchenie vetra, i ispytyvaya blazhenstvo ot soznaniya, chto ya pokoyus' na tyufyake, sdelannom rukami Mod. Odevshis' i vyglyanuv naruzhu, ya uslyshal shum priboya, kotoryj vse eshche bilsya o bereg i svidetel'stvoval o nedavno pronesshemsya shtorme. Den' byl yarkij i solnechnyj. YA izryadno zaspalsya i teper' s vnezapnym prilivom energii shagnul za porog. YA byl ispolnen reshimosti naverstat' upushchennoe vremya, kak i podobalo obitatelyu Ostrova Usilij. And when outside, I stopped short. I believed my eyes without question, and yet I was for the moment stunned by what they disclosed to me. There, on the beach, not fifty feet away, bow on, dismasted, was a black-hulled vessel. Masts and booms, tangled with shrouds, sheets, and rent canvas, were rubbing gently alongside. I could have rubbed my eyes as I looked. There was the home-made galley we had built, the familiar break of the poop, the low yacht-cabin scarcely rising above the rail. It was the Ghost. No, vyjdya iz hizhiny, ya ostanovilsya kak vkopannyj. YA ne mog poverit' svoim glazam; to, chto ya uvidel, oshelomilo menya. Na beregu, v kakih-nibud' pyatidesyati futah ot hizhiny, utknuvshis' nosom v pesok, lezhal lishennyj macht chernyj korpus sudna. Machty i giki, pereputavshis' s vantami i razodrannymi parusami, svisali s ego borta. YA byl porazhen i glyadel vo vse glaza. Vot on, kambuz, kotoryj my sami postroili, a vot i znakomyj ustup yuta i nevysokaya paluba rubki, edva vozvyshayushchayasya nad bortom. |to byl "Prizrak". What freak of fortune had brought it here - here of all spots? what chance of chances? I looked at the bleak, inaccessible wall at my back and know the profundity of despair. Escape was hopeless, out of the question. I thought of Maud, asleep there in the hut we had reared; I remembered her "Good-night, Humphrey"; "my woman, my mate," went ringing through my brain, but now, alas, it was a knell that sounded. Then everything went black before my eyes. Possibly it was the fraction of a second, but I had no knowledge of how long an interval had lapsed before I was myself again. There lay the Ghost, bow on to the beach, her splintered bowsprit projecting over the sand, her tangled spars rubbing against her side to the lift of the crooning waves. Something must be done, must be done. Kakoj kapriz sud'by zanes ego imenno syuda, v etot krohotnyj ugolok zemli? CHto za chudovishchnoe sovpadenie? YA oglyanulsya na nepristupnuyu kamennuyu stenu za moej spinoj, i bezyshodnoe otchayanie ohvatilo menya. Bezhat' bylo nekuda, absolyutno nekuda. YA podumal o Mod, spyashchej v hizhine, postroennoj nashimi rukami, vspomnil, kak ona skazala: "Spokojnoj nochi, Hemfri", i slova "moya zhena, moya podruga" vnov' zazveneli v moem mozgu, no teper' -- uvy! -- oni zvuchali pogrebal'nym zvonom. U menya potemnelo v glazah. Byt' mozhet, eto prodolzhalos' lish' dolyu sekundy -- ne znayu. Kogda ya ochnulsya, peredo mnoyu po-prezhnemu chernel korpus shhuny; ee raskolotyj bushprit torchal nad peschanym beregom, a oblomannye chasti rangouta so skripom terlis' o bort pri kazhdom vspleske volny. YA ponyal, chto nado chto-to predprinyat'. Nado bylo nemedlenno chto-to predprinyat'! It came upon me suddenly, as strange, that nothing moved aboard. Wearied from the night of struggle and wreck, all hands were yet asleep, I thought. My next thought was that Maud and I might yet escape. If we could take to the boat and make round the point before any one awoke? I would call her and start. My hand was lifted at her door to knock, when I recollected the smallness of the island. We could never hide ourselves upon it. There was nothing for us but the wide raw ocean. I thought of our snug little huts, our supplies of meat and oil and moss and firewood, and I knew that we could never survive the wintry sea and the great storms which were to come. Vnezapno menya porazilo, chto na shhune nezametno nikakih priznakov zhizni. |to bylo stranno. Vidimo, komanda, izmuchennaya bor'boj so shtormom i perenesennym korablekrusheniem, vse eshche spit. U menya mel'knula mysl', chto my s Mod mozhem spastis', esli uspeem sest' na shlyupku i obognut' mys, prezhde chem na shhune kto-nibud' prosnetsya. Nado razbudit' Mod i totchas dvinut'sya v put'! YA uzhe gotov byl postuchat'sya k nej, no tut zhe vspomnil, kak nichtozhno mal nash ostrovok. Nam negde budet ukryt'sya na nem. Net, u nas ne bylo vybora -- tol'ko bezbrezhnyj, surovyj okean. YA podumal o nashih uyutnyh malen'kih hizhinah, o nashih zapasah myasa i zhira, mha i drov i ponyal, chto my ne vyderzhim puteshestvie po okeanu zimoj v burnuyu shtormovuyu pogodu. So I stood, with hesitant knuckle, without her door. It was impossible, impossible. A wild thought of rushing in and killing her as she slept rose in my mind. And then, in a flash, the better solution came to me. All hands were asleep. Why not creep aboard the Ghost, - well I knew the way to Wolf Larsen's bunk, - and kill him in his sleep? After that - well, we would see. But with him dead there was time and space in which to prepare to do other things; and besides, whatever new situation arose, it could not possibly be worse than the present one. V nereshitel'nosti, s podnyatoj rukoj, ya zastyl u dveri Mod. Net, eto nevozmozhno, sovershenno nevozmozhnoBezumnaya mysl' proneslas' v moem mozgu -- vorvat'sya k Mod i ubit' ee vo sne. I sejchas zhe voznikla drugaya: na shhune vse spyat; chto meshaet mne proniknut' tuda -- pryamo v kayutu k Volku Larsenu -- i ubit' ego? A tam... Tam vidno budet. Glavnoe -- ubrat' ego s dorogi, posle chego mozhno budet podumat' i ob ostal'nom. Vse ravno, chto by ni sluchilos' potom, huzhe, chem sejchas, ne budet. My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for the shot-gun, made sure it was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard. The forecastle scuttle was open. I paused to listen for the breathing of the men, but there was no breathing. I almost gasped as the thought came to me: What if the Ghost is deserted? I listened more closely. There was no sound. I cautiously descended the ladder. The place had the empty and musty feel and smell usual to a dwelling no longer inhabited. Everywhere was a thick litter of discarded and ragged garments, old sea-boots, leaky oilskins - all the worthless forecastle dunnage of a long voyage. Nozh visel u menya na poyase. YA vernulsya v hizhinu za drobovikom, proveril, zaryazhen li on, i napravilsya k shhune. Ne bez truda, promoknuv po poyas, vzobralsya ya na bort. Lyuk matrosskogo kubrika byl otkryt. YA prislushalsya, no snizu ne donosilos' ni zvuka -- ya ne uslyshal dazhe dyhaniya spyashchih lyudej. Neozhidannaya mysl' porazila menya: neuzheli komanda brosila korabl'? YA snova napryazhenno prislushalsya. Net, ni zvuka. YA nachal ostorozhno spuskat'sya po trapu. Kubrik byl pust, i v nem stoyal zathlyj zapah pokinutogo zhil'ya. Krugom v besporyadke valyalas' rvanaya odezhda, starye rezinovye sapogi, dyryavye kleenchatye kurtki -- ves' tot negodnyj hlam, kotoryj skoplyaetsya v kubrikah za dolgoe plavanie. Abandoned hastily, was my conclusion, as I ascended to the deck. Hope was alive again in my breast, and I looked about me with greater coolness. I noted that the boats were missing. The steerage told the same tale as the forecastle. The hunters had packed their belongings with similar haste. The Ghost was deserted. It was Maud's and mine. I thought of the ship's stores and the lazarette beneath the cabin, and the idea came to me of surprising Maud with something nice for breakfast. YA podnyalsya na palubu, ne somnevayas' bol'she v tom, chto komanda pokinula shhunu vtoropyah. Nadezhda vnov' ozhila v