The bidarka turned broadside and the ripple of surf threatened to swamp it, only a naked boy ran into the water and pulled the bow high up on the sand. The man stood up and sent a questing glance along the line of villagers. A rainbow sweater, dirty and the worse for wear, clung loosely to his broad shoulders, and a red cotton handkerchief was knotted in sailor fashion about his throat. A fisherman's tam-o'-shanter on his close-clipped head, and dungaree trousers and heavy brogans, completed his outfit.

But he was none the less a striking personage to these simple fisherfolk of the great Yukon Delta (но, тем не менее, он был поразительной личностью для этого простого народа рыболовов с огромной дельты Юкона; none the less — тем не менее), who, all their lives, had stared out on Bering Sea and in that time seen but two white men (которые всю свою жизнь вглядывались в Берингово море и в то время повидали лишь двух белых людей), — the census enumerator and a lost Jesuit priest (счетчика по переписи населения и заблудившегося священника-иезуита). They were a poor people (они были бедным народом), with neither gold in the ground nor valuable furs in hand (/у них не было/ ни золота в земле, ни ценных мехов в наличии; in hand — в руках; в наличии, в собственном распоряжении; под контролем), so the whites had passed them afar (поэтому белые проходили вдали от них). Also, the Yukon, through the thousands of years (и Юкон тоже на протяжении тысяч лет), had shoaled that portion of the sea with the detritus of Alaska (обмелел на этом участке моря из-за наносов с Аляски; detritus — наносы, шлам; shoal — мелкое место, мелководье) till vessels grounded out of sight of land (пока суда не стали садиться на мель за пределами видимости суши). So the sodden coast (поэтому влажное побережье), with its long inside reaches and huge mud-land archipelagoes (с его обширными внутренними пространствами и огромными архипелагами суши из ила), was avoided by the ships of men (было избегаемо кораблями людей), and the fisherfolk knew not that such things were (и рыбачий народ не знал, что такие существуют = об их существовании).

But he was none the less a striking personage to these simple fisherfolk of the great Yukon Delta, who, all their lives, had stared out on Bering Sea and in that time seen but two white men, — the census enumerator and a lost Jesuit priest. They were a poor people, with neither gold in the ground nor valuable furs in hand, so the whites had passed them afar. Also, the Yukon, through the thousands of years, had shoaled that portion of the sea with the detritus of Alaska till vessels grounded out of sight of land. So the sodden coast, with its long inside reaches and huge mud-land archipelagoes, was avoided by the ships of men, and the fisherfolk knew not that such things were.

Koogah, the Bone-Scratcher, retreated backward in sudden haste (Куга-Косторез вдруг поспешно: «в неожиданной спешке» отступил назад; to scratch — царапать; гравировать; in haste — в спешке), tripping over his staff and falling to the ground (споткнувшись о свой посох и упав на землю). "Nam-Bok!" he cried (воскликнул он), as he scrambled wildly for footing (отчаянно цепляясь в поисках опоры). "Nam-Bok, who was blown off to sea, came back (Нам-Бок, которого снесло в море, вернулся; to blow off — сдувать)!"

The men and women shrank away (мужчины и женщины сжались; to shrink away — сжиматься, уменьшаться), and the children scuttled off between their legs (а дети сбежали /укрывшись/ между их ног = у их ног). Only Opee-Kwan was brave (лишь Опи-Кван был смел), as befitted the head man of the village (как подобает главе поселка; headman — глава, начальник, руководитель, шеф, вождь). He strode forward and gazed long and earnestly at the new-comer (он шагнул вперед и вглядывался долго и серьезно в пришельца; to stride — шагать /большими шагами/).

Koogah, the Bone-Scratcher, retreated backward in sudden haste, tripping over his staff and falling to the ground. "Nam-Bok!" he cried, as he scrambled wildly for footing. "Nam-Bok, who was blown off to sea, came back!"

The men and women shrank away, and the children scuttled off between their legs. Only Opee-Kwan was brave, as befitted the head man of the village. He strode forward and gazed long and earnestly at the new-comer.

"It is Nam-Bok (это — Нам-Бок)," he said at last (сказал он наконец), and at the conviction in his voice the women wailed apprehensively and drew farther away (и при убежденности в его голосе женщины малодушно запричитали и отошли дальше; apprehensively — трусливо, малодушно).

The lips of the stranger moved indecisively (губы незнакомца неуверенно зашевелились; decisive — решающий; решительный), and his brown throat writhed and wrestled with unspoken words (а его загорелая гортань скорчилась и напряглась от невысказанных слов; to writhe — корчиться /от боли/; to wrestle — корчиться, извиваться; бороться).

"La, la, it is Nam-Bok (ля-ля, это — Нам-Бок)," Bask-Wah-Wan croaked (прокаркала Баск-Уа-Уан; to croak — каркать; квакать; издавать хриплые звуки), peering up into his face (вглядываясь вверх в его лицо). "Ever did I say Nam-Bok would come back (я всегда говорила, что Нам-Бок вернется)."

"It is Nam-Bok," he said at last, and at the conviction in his voice the women wailed apprehensively and drew farther away.

The lips of the stranger moved indecisively, and his brown throat writhed and wrestled with unspoken words.

"La, la, it is Nam-Bok," Bask-Wah-Wan croaked, peering up into his face. "Ever did I say Nam-Bok would come back."

"Ay, it is Nam-Bok come back (да, это вернулся Нам-Бок)." This time it was Nam-Bok himself who spoke (на этот раз заговорил сам Нам-Бок), putting a leg over the side of the bidarka and standing with one foot afloat and one ashore (перебросив ногу через борт байдарки и стоя одной ногой на борту /лодки/, а одной — на берегу; afloat — на борту, на борт /судна/). Again his throat writhed and wrestled as he grappled after forgotten words (опять его горло = кадык скорчился и задергался, словно он хватался за забытые слова; to grapple — зацепить, схватить, ухватить). And when the words came forth (а когда слова вышли; to come forth — выходить вперед, выступать, выдвигаться) they were strange of sound and a spluttering of the lips accompanied the gutturals (они оказались странными по звучанию, а гортанные звуки сопровождал какой-то всплеск = какое-то пришлепывание губ). "Greeting, O brothers (приветствую: «приветствие», о братья)," he said, "brothers of old time before I went away with the off-shore wind (братья прежнего времени, /которое было/ до того как я ушел с ветром с берега)."

"Ay, it is Nam-Bok come back." This time it was Nam-Bok himself who spoke, putting a leg over the side of the bidarka and standing with one foot afloat and one ashore. Again his throat writhed and wrestled as he grappled after forgotten words. And when the words came forth they were strange of sound and a spluttering of the lips accompanied the gutturals. "Greeting, O brothers," he said, "brothers of old time before I went away with the off-shore wind."

He stepped out with both feet on the sand (он шагнул обеими ногами на песчаный берег), and Opee-Kwan waved him back (а Опи-Кван махнул ему назад = чтобы он вернулся).

"Thou art dead, Nam-Bok (ты мертв, Нам-Бок)," he said.