Три сказки из «Тысячи и одной ночи»

DjVu

      THE STORY OF THE LITTLE HUNCHBACK

      The Little Hunchback in the Tailor's House
     
      Once upon a time there lived1 a tailor who had a very beautiful wife whom he loved very much. One day, when the tailor was working in his shop, a little hunchback sat down at the door and began to sing and play on a tambourine [даетЬэ'гип]. The tailor liked his singing very much. He decided to invite him home to amuse his wife with his pleasant songs.
      It was already supper-time when they reached the tailor’s house, and his wife put before them a nice dish of fish. While the little hunchback was eating his piece of fish, a fish-bone stuck fast in his throat,1 2 and in a moment he was dead. The tailor and his wife were both terribly frightened. As the man had died in their house, they were afraid of being taken for murderers.3 So they decided to get rid of the body.4
     
      The Little Hunchback in the Physician’s House
     
      Now, the tailor and his wife knew that in the next house there lived a physician [fi'zijn]. They decided to carry the body of the little hunchback to the physician’s house. They
     
      1 Once [wAns] u'pon a time there lived... — Однажды жил-был...
      2 a fish-bone stuck fast in his throat [Grout] — у него в горле застряла рыбная кость.
      3 of being taken for murderers — что будут приняты за убийц.
      4 to get rid of the body — отделаться от тела.
     
      took up the body, he by the head and she by the feet, and carried it to the door of the physician’s house. The tailor knocked at the door. A servant-girl opened the door and asked him what he wanted.
      “Be so kind as to tell your master,”1 said the tailor, “that we have brought him a man who is very ill and needs his help.”
      Then the tailor gave the girl some money, saying, “Give the physician this money for his help.”
      When the girl went back to her master, the tailor and his wife took up the body and carried it upstairs. They placed it at the top of the stairs against the door of the physician’s apartment. Then they walked back home as fast as they could.
      Meanwhile the girl told the physician that a man and a woman were waiting for him downstairs. “They have brought with them a man who is very ill and needs your help,” she said. “Here is some money for you.”
      “Quickly get a light and follow me,”1 2 said the physician.
      But he ran towards the door without waiting for the light.3 When he opened the door, the body rolled down from the top of the stairs to the bottom.4 The physician called out to the servant-girl, telling her to come quickly with the light. Then they both went downstairs. There, to his terror, the physician found that the man who had rolled downstairs was dead.
      “Why did I not wait for a light!” he cried. “Why did I go in the dark! I have killed the man. I am a lost man!5 I shall be arrested as his murderer!”
     
      1 Be so kind [kaind] as to tell your master — Будьте добры (любезны) сказать своему хозяину.
      2 Quickly get a light and follow t'folou] me — Быстро достань огонь и следуй за мной.
      3 without [wid'aut] waiting for the light — не дожидаясь огня.
      4 from the top of the stairs to the bottom — сверху лестницы вниз
      5 I am a lost man — Я погибший человек.
     
      Then he said to the servant-girl, “Please help me to carry the body upstairs.”
      They took up the body and carried it into the physician’s apartment. His wife was terribly frightened when she saw the body of the little hunchback.
      “Alas! we are lost!”1 she cried. “We must get rid of this dead man before to-morrow morning.” Then she asked her husband, “How ever did you kill him?”1 2
      “Never mind3 how it happened,” answered the husband. “We must try to find a way out of this terrible situation.”4
     
      The Little Hunchback in the House of the Sultan’s Purveyor
     
      The physician and his wife discussed the situation5 for a long time, and at last the wife said,
      “I have a good idea. Let us take the body up to the roof of our house and let it down6 the chimney into the apartment of our neighbour, the Sultan’s purveyor.”
      The husband decided to follow his wife’s plan. So they took up the little hunchback and carried him to the roof of the house. They tied a rope under his arms and let him down the chimney into the purveyor’s apartment. Then they pulled up the rope and walked back to their apartment as fast as they could.
      Soon the Sultan’s purveyor came home. As it was dark, he had a lantern in his hand. He was very much surprised
     
      1 Alas! [9'la:s] we are lost — Увы, мы погибли.
      2 How ever Leva] did you kill him? — Как же ты убил его?
      3 Never mind ['nevo 'maind]... — He важно (Всё равно)...
      4 to find a way out of this terrible situation [.sitju'ei/n] — найти выход из этого ужасного положения.
      5... dis'cussed the.situ'ation —... обсуждали положение.
      6 let it down — спустим его.
     
      when, by the light of his lantern, he saw a man in his apartment. He took him for a thief,1 and ran at him1 2 with a stick.
      Then he beat the body with his stick till at last it fell down face to the ground.3 When the purveyor saw that the man he was beating did not move, he bent down to examine his enemy. When he saw that the man was dead, he was terribly frightened.
      “What have I done, unhappy man that I am!”4 he cried. “I have killed the man. I am a lost man! I shall be arrested as his murderer.”
      Then he decided to get rid of the body. He took up the body of the hunchback and carried it out of his house into the street. There he placed it against a shop and walked back to his house as fast as he could.
     
      The Little Hunchback Beaten by the Merchant
     
      Next morning a rich merchant stopped near the shop against which the Sultan’s purveyor had placed the hunchback’s body. The merchant knocked against the body,5 and it fell on his back. The merchant thought that a thief had attacked him. He turned round and gave the body a blow on the head with his fist. It fell down face to the ground. The merchant began to beat it, shouting, “Thief, thief!” A guard, who was standing at the corner, heard the cries and came up. When he saw a man beating a hunchback, he asked him, “What are you beating him for?”
      “He wanted to rob me,” answered the merchant. “He is a thief.”
      “Let him go,”6 said the guard. And he held out his hand
     
      1 He took him for a thief [0i:f] — Он принял его за вора.
      2 and ran at him — и набросился на него.
      3 face to the ground — лицом вниз.
      4 'un'happy man that I am — несчастный я человек.
      5 knocked [nokt] a'gainst the body —... наткнулся на тело.
      6 Let him go — Отпусти его.
     
      to help the hunchback to get up. When he saw that the hunchback was dead, he cried,
      “You have killed this man, and you shall answer for it.”1 Then he put th merchant in prison1 2 and left him there, till the judge came.
     
      The Little Hunchback and His Murderers
     
      When the judge came, he examined the body and questioned the merchant. The merchant told him how he had killed the little hunchback. As the hunchback belonged to the Sultan, the judge decided to hang the merchant.
      The merchant was taken out of prison. He was just going to be hanged,3 when the voice of the Sultan’s purveyor was heard. “Stop, stop!” he cried. “It was not he who killed the man, it was me.” The judge questioned the purveyor, and the purveyor told him how he had killed the hunchback. He finished his story by saying, “I am the cause of the little hunchback’s death. The merchant could not kill a man who was not alive.”
      When the judge heard who was the real murderer, he ordered the guards to set the merchant free.4
      “Let the merchant go,” he said, “and hang this man instead of him. He is the real murderer.”
      So the merchant was set free, and the Sultan’s purveyor was going to be hanged instead of him. But at that moment the voice of the physician was heard. “Stop hanging the Sultan’s purveyor,” he cried. “I must take his place.5 Hang me instead of him.”
     
      1 you shall answer for it — ты ответишь за это (здесь глагол shall выражает угрозу).
      2 put in prison ['prizn] — посадить в тюрьму.
      3 Не was just going to be hanged... — Его как раз собирались повесить...
      4 set free — освободить.
      5 I must take his place — Я должен занять его место.
     
      “Sir, I killed this man,” he explained to the judge. “Last night a man and a woman, who are strangers to me, came and knocked at my door. They brought with them a man who was very ill and needed my help. My servant-girl went downstairs to open the door. The man gave her some money and said that he wanted me to help the man.1 While she was telling me all this, they brought the man to the top of the stairs and went away. I came out without waiting for a light. When I opened the door, the man rolled down from the top of the stairs to the bottom. Then my servant-girl brought a light, and I saw that the man was dead. My wife and I took up the body and carried it to the roof of our house and let it down the chimney into the apartment of our neighbour, the Sultan’s purveyor. When the Sultan’s purveyor saw the hunchback, he took him for a thief.1 2 He knocked him down3 and then he thought he had killed him. But that is not so, as you now understand. He could not kill a man who was not alive. Set him free and let me take his place. I alone am the cause of the hunchback’s death.”
      When the judge heard that the physician was the real murderer, he ordered his guards to hang him. The rope was put round his neck. He was just going to be hanged, when the voice of the tailor was heard. The tailor pushed his way4 to the judge and said,
      “Listen to me, and you shall hear5 who is the real murderer. As I was at work in my shop yesterday evening, a little before dark, this little hunchback came to my door, sat down and began to sing and play on a tambourine.
     
      1 he wanted me to help the man — он хотел, чтобы я помог этому человеку.
      2 he took him for a thief [6i:f] — он принял его за вора.
      3 Не knocked him down — Он свалил его с ног.
      4 push [pu/] one’s way — протолкнуться.
      5 you shall hear — ты услышишь (здесь глагол shall выражает обещание).
     
      I invited him to come and pass the evening1 in my house. When we came home, we sat down to table, and my wife gave the hunchback a piece of fish. While he was eating, a bone stuck fast in his throat, and he died at once. We were terribly frightened at his death. We were afraid of being taken for murderers, and decided to get rid of the body. We took up the body and carried it to the door of the physician’s house. I knocked at the door and told the servant-girl who let me in1 2 to go back to her master at once and ask him to come down to see a man who was very ill and needed his help. Then 1 gave the girl some money for her master. As soon as she had gone,3 my wife and I carried the body of the hunchback to the top of the stairs and placed it against the door leading to the physician’s apartment. Then we walked back home as fast as we could. When the physician opened the door to go downstairs, the body rolled down from the top of the stairs to the bottom. This made the physician think that he had killed the hunchback. But he could not kill a man who was not alive. Now let the physician go, and hang me instead of him.”
      The judge was very much surprised when he heard that the tailor was the real murderer.
      “Set the physician free,” he ordered, “and hang the tailor, for he is the real murderer.”
      When the physician was set free, the rope was put round the tailor’s neck.
     
      1 pass the evening — провести вечер.
      2 who let me In — которая впустила меня.
      3 as soon as she had gone [gon] как только она ушла.
     
     
      The Little Hunchback in the Sultan’s Palace
     
      Meanwhile the Sultan, who wanted to see his little hunchback, ordered his servants to call him. One of them answered,
      “Yesterday evening the little hunchback left the palace to walk about the city, and this morning he was found dead. A man was brought before the judge as his murderer, and the judge decided to hang him. The man was just going to be hanged, when another man came up to the judge, and then a third man. Each of them said that he had killed the hunchback. At this moment the judge is questioning the third of these men, who says he is the real murderer.”
      When the Sultan heard that, he sent one of his servants to the judge.
      “Go,” he said, “and order the judge to bring all these persons before me. Order him also to bring the body of the poor little hunchback, I want to see him once more.”
      The servant came to the judge when the tailor was just going to be hanged. “Stop, stop!” he cried out as loud as he could. Then he gave the judge the Sultan’s orders. And the judge went to the palace with the tailor, the physician, the Sultan’s purveyor and the merchant. Four guards carried the body of the little hunchback to the palace.
      When they came to the palace, the judge told the whole story to the Sultan. Suddenly the Sultan’s barber, an old man of about ninety years of age, threw himself on the ground at the Sultan’s feet.
      “Oh, great Sultan, allow me to examine the body of the hunchback,” he said. Then he went over to the body and sat down on the ground. He took the hunchback’s head between his knees and examined it. Suddenly he began to laugh, quite forgetting that he was in the Sultan’s palace.
      “You may very well say that no man dies without a cause,” he said.
      Everyone looked at the barber, and the Sultan said,
      “Oh, Barber, answer me. Why are you laughing?”
      “Oh, great Sultan!” answered the barber. “I say that this hunchback is not dead. There is still life in him, and I shall prove it to you.”
     
      The Little Hunchback Alive Again
     
      The barber opened a box and took out a small pair of pincers. He put the pincers into the hunchback’s throat and took out the fish-bone. He held it up for all to see.1 Suddenly the hunchback stretched out his arms and legs and opened his eyes.
      The Sultan was so happy to see his little hunchback alive, that he ordered his own historian to write down the story of his adventures.
      1 He held it up for all to see — Он поднял её, чтобы все её видели.