Alice in Wonderland. Книга для чтения на английском языке

“Not like cats!” cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice. “Would you like cats if you were me?”

“Well, perhaps not,” said Alice in a soothing tone: “don’t be angry about it. And yet |Но все же| I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you’d take a fancy |полюбили бы| to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,” Alice went on, half to herself |продолжила задумчиво|, as she swam lazily about in the pool, “and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face – and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse |поласкать| – and she’s such a capital one for catching mice |как она превосходно ловит мышей| – oh, I beg your pardon!” cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over |вся взъерошилась|, and she felt certain it must be really offended |оскорблена|. “We won’t talk about her any more if you’d rather not.”

“We indeed!” cried the Mouse, who was trembling |дрожала| down to the end of his tail. “As if I would talk |Как будто это я заговорила| on such a subject! Our family always hated cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don’t let me hear the name again!”

“I won’t indeed!” said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation. “Are you – are you fond – of – of dogs?” The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly |нетерпеливо|: “There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed |блестящие| terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it’ll fetch |ловит| things when you throw them, and it’ll sit up and beg |просит| for its dinner, and all sorts of things – I can’t remember half of them – and it belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it’s so useful, it’s worth a hundred pounds |фунтов стерлингов|! He says it kills all the rats and – oh dear!” cried Alice in a sorrowful tone, “I’m afraid I’ve offended it again!” For the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in the pool as it went |волнение в луже от движения|.

So she called softly after it, “Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won’t talk about cats or dogs either, if you don’t like them!” When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its face was quite pale (with passion |от эмоций|, Alice thought), and it said in a low trembling voice, “Let us get to the shore, and then I’ll tell you my history, and you’ll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.”

It was high time |Было самое время| to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded |перенаселен| with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet |птица додо, попугай и орленок|, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way |поплыла вперед|, and the whole party swam to the shore.

Chapter III. A Caucus-Race |Бег по кругу| and a Long Tale

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank |собрались на берегу| – the birds with draggled feathers |с взъерошенными перьями|, the animals with their fur clinging |прилипшим мехом| close to them, and all dripping wet, cross | промокшим, спутанным|, and uncomfortable.

The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly |непринужденно общаясь| with them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory |спор с попугаем Лори|, who at last turned sulky |в конце концов надулся|, and would only say, “I am older than you, and must know better;” and this Alice would not allow |буквально – не позволяла. Лучше – не принимала в расчет| without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively |решительно| refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said.