The neighbourhood of the upper Thames is rich in Roman relics, and my surmise seemed to me a very probable one; but our serious young man, who is a bit of a geologist, pooh-poohed my Roman relic theory, and said it was clear to the meanest intellect (in which category he seemed to be grieved that he could not conscientiously include mine) that the thing the boy had found was the fossil of a whale; and he pointed out to us various evidences proving that it must have belonged to the preglacial period.

To settle the dispute, we appealed to the boy (чтобы разрешить спор, мы обратились к мальчику). We told him not to be afraid, but to speak the plain truth (сказали ему не бояться и сказать нам чистую правду): Was it the fossil of a pre-Adamite whale, or was it an early Roman coffin (было ли это ископаемыми останками доисторического кита или древнеримским гробом; Adamite — потомок Адама, человек)?

The boy said it was The Pride of the Thames (мальчик сказал, что это «Гордость Темзы»).

We thought this a very humorous answer on the part of the boy at first (сначала мы сочли это очень забавным ответом /со стороны/ мальчика), and somebody gave him twopence as a reward for his ready wit (и кто-то дал ему два пенса в качестве награды за его остроумие; ready — готовый; легкий, быстрый; wit — остроумие, ум); but when he persisted in keeping up the joke, as we thought, too long, we got vexed with him (но когда он упорно продолжал повторять эту шутку, то он начал раздражать нас; to keep up — поддерживать; продолжать; to vex — досаждать, раздражать).

"Come, come, my lad (ну, ну, мой мальчик)!" said our captain sharply (сказал резко наш капитан), "don't let us have any nonsense (довольно глупостей). You take your mother's washing-tub home again, and bring us a boat (унеси корыто своей мамы обратно домой и приведи нам лодку; tub — кадка, бадья; бочонок, бочка)."

reward [r'w:d] captain ['kaeptn]

To settle the dispute, we appealed to the boy. We told him not to be afraid, but to speak the plain truth: Was it the fossil of a pre-Adamite whale, or was it an early Roman coffin?

The boy said it was The Pride of the Thames.

We thought this a very humorous answer on the part of the boy at first, and somebody gave him twopence as a reward for his ready wit; but when he persisted in keeping up the joke, as we thought, too long, we got vexed with him.

"Come, come, my lad!" said our captain sharply, "don't let us have any nonsense. You take your mother's washing-tub home again, and bring us a boat."

The boat-builder himself came up then (тогда подошел сам человек, построивший лодку; builder — строитель; изготовитель; плотник), and assured us, on his word, as a practical man, that the thing really was a boat (и заверил нас честным словом как специалист, что эта вещь — действительно лодка; upon my word — честное слово; practical man — практик) — was, in fact, the boat, the "double sculling skiff" selected to take us on our trip down the river (более того, та самая лодка, четырехвесельный ялик, выбранный для нашего путешествия вниз по реке).

We grumbled a good deal (мы много = долго ворчали). We thought he might, at least, have had it whitewashed or tarred (сказали, что он мог бы, по крайней мере, выбелить или просмолить ее; tar — смола, деготь) — had something done to it to distinguish it from a bit of a wreck (хоть что-нибудь сделать с ней, чтобы /можно было/ отличить ее от обломка затонувшего судна); but he could not see any fault in it (но он не видел в ней никаких недостатков).