Negore looked, and he looked with two men by his side, their guns resting against his breast. He saw that the little birds were all gone, and once he saw the glint of sunlight on a rifle-barrel. And he thought of Oona, and of her words: "And when the fighting begins, it is for thee, Negore, to crawl secretly away so that thou be not slain."

He felt the two guns pressing on his breast (он чувствовал, как два ружья давят на его грудь). This was not the way she had planned (она планировала не так). There would be no crawling secretly away (скрытно не отползешь). He would be the first to die (он умрет первым) when the fighting began (когда начнется бой). But he said, and his voice was steady (и его голос был тверд; steady — твердый; ровный; спокойный), and he still feigned to see with dull eyes and to shiver from his sickness (и он все еще делал вид, что видит унылыми глазами и трясется от болезни; to feign — притворяться, делать вид):

"The way is clear (путь свободен)."

And they started up (и они пустились вверх), Ivan and his forty men from the far lands beyond the Sea of Bering (Иван и его сорок воинов из далеких земель за Беринговым морем). And there was Karduk, the man from Pastolik (и там был Кардук, человек из Пастолика), and Negore, with the two guns always upon him (и Негор, /на которого/ все время /были направлены/ два ружья). It was a long climb (это было долгое восхождение), and they could not go fast (и они не могли идти быстро); but very fast to Negore they seemed to approach the midway point (но Негору казалось, что очень быстро они приближаются к точке посредине пути) where top was no less near than bottom (где вершина была не менее близка, чем подножие).

steady ['stedI], feign [feIn], climb [klaIm]

He felt the two guns pressing on his breast. This was not the way she had planned. There would be no crawling secretly away. He would be the first to die when the fighting began. But he said, and his voice was steady, and he still feigned to see with dull eyes and to shiver from his sickness:

"The way is clear."

And they started up, Ivan and his forty men from the far lands beyond the Sea of Bering. And there was Karduk, the man from Pastolik, and Negore, with the two guns always upon him. It was a long climb, and they could not go fast; but very fast to Negore they seemed to approach the midway point where top was no less near than bottom.

A gun cracked among the rocks to the right (среди скал справа выстрелило ружье; to crack — стрелять, палить; трещать; также о звуке пушечного, ружейного, пистолетного выстрела), and Negore heard the war-yell of all his tribe (и Негор услышал боевой крик всего своего племени), and for an instant saw the rocks and bushes bristle alive with his kinfolk (и на мгновение он увидел, как скалы и кусты ощетинились и ожили его родней; to bristle — ощетиниться; alive — живой, в живых). Then he felt torn asunder by a burst of flame hot through his being (затем он ощутил, как вспышка обжигающего пламени рвет его на куски и проникает сквозь его плоть и кровь; to tear — рвать, разрывать; asunder — в куски, на куски, на части; being — существо, суть; плоть и кровь), and as he fell he knew the sharp pangs of life (и падая, он познал острую боль жизни) as it wrenches at the flesh to be free (которой она терзает плоть, вырываясь на свободу: «чтобы освободиться»; to wrench — мучить, причинять страдание, боль).

war [wL], bristle [brIsl], being ['bJIN]

A gun cracked among the rocks to the right, and Negore heard the war-yell of all his tribe, and for an instant saw the rocks and bushes bristle alive with his kinfolk. Then he felt torn asunder by a burst of flame hot through his being, and as he fell he knew the sharp pangs of life as it wrenches at the flesh to be free.

But he gripped his life with a miser's clutch and would not let it go (но он схватил свою жизнь хваткой скупца и не отпускал ее; to let go — отпустить). He still breathed the air (он все еще дышал воздухом), which bit his lungs with a painful sweetness (который жег его легкие болезненной свежестью); and dimly he saw and heard (и смутно он видел и слышал), with passing spells of blindness and deafness (с мимолетными приступами слепоты и глухоты), the flashes of sight and sound again (снова вспышки образов и звуков) wherein he saw the hunters of Ivan falling to their deaths (в которых он видел, как охотники Ивана падают мертвыми), and his own brothers fringing the carnage and filling the air with the tumult of their cries and weapons (а его собственные братья окружают побоище и наполняют воздух шумом криков и оружия; carnage — резня, кровавая бойня, побоище), and, far above (и далеко вверху), the women and children loosing the great rocks (женщины и дети высвобождают огромные скалы) that leaped like things alive and thundered down (которые прыгают, как живые существа, и с грохотом летят вниз; to thunder — греметь, грохотать).

breathe [brJD], deafness ['defnIs], carnage ['kRnIG]

But he gripped his life with a miser's clutch and would not let it go. He still breathed the air, which bit his lungs with a painful sweetness; and dimly he saw and heard, with passing spells of blindness and deafness, the flashes of sight and sound again wherein he saw the hunters of Ivan falling to their deaths, and his own brothers fringing the carnage and filling the air with the tumult of their cries and weapons, and, far above, the women and children loosing the great rocks that leaped like things alive and thundered down.

The sun danced above him in the sky (солнце плясало над ним в небе), the huge walls reeled and swung (огромные стены кружились и качались; to swing), and still he heard and saw dimly (и все же он смутно слышал и видел). And when the great Ivan fell across his legs (и когда через его ноги упал большой Иван), hurled there lifeless and crushed by a down-rushing rock (которого швырнул туда бездыханным и раздавленным несшийся вниз камень), he remembered the blind eyes of Old Kinoos and was glad (он вспомнил слепые глаза Старого Кинуса и был рад).

Then the sounds died down (потом звуки замерли; to die down — замирать /о звуке/), and the rocks no longer thundered past (и камни больше с грохотом не проносились мимо; rock — скала; камень), and he saw his tribespeople creeping close and closer (и он увидел своих соплеменников, медленно приближающихся ближе и ближе; to creep — медленно двигаться), spearing the wounded as they came (добивавших копьями раненых по мере того, как они шли; to spear — пронзать, протыкать /копьём или чем-либо, похожим на копьё/; spear — копье). And near to him he heard the scuffle of a mighty Slavonian hunter (и рядом с собой он услышал стычку с могучим славянским охотником), loath to die (нежелающим умирать), and, half uprisen (и наполовину поднявшимся = и когда он наполовину поднялся), borne back and down by the thirsty spears (/он был/ отброшен назад и сломлен жаждущими копьями; to bear back — отбросить назад; to bear down — сломить; нападать).

thunder ['TAndq], loath [lquT], thirsty ['TWstI]

The sun danced above him in the sky, the huge walls reeled and swung, and still he heard and saw dimly. And when the great Ivan fell across his legs, hurled there lifeless and crushed by a down-rushing rock, he remembered the blind eyes of Old Kinoos and was glad.

Then the sounds died down, and the rocks no longer thundered past, and he saw his tribespeople creeping close and closer, spearing the wounded as they came. And near to him he heard the scuffle of a mighty Slavonian hunter, loath to die, and, half uprisen, borne back and down by the thirsty spears.