Английские волшебные сказки / English Fairy Tales

There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning, which they carried to the market and sold. But one morning Milky-white gave no milk, and they didn’t know what to do.

‘What shall we do, what shall we do?’ said the widow, wringing her hands.

‘Cheer up, mother, I’ll go and get work somewhere,’ said Jack.

‘We’ve tried that before, and nobody would take you,’ said his mother; ‘we must sell Milky-white and with the money start a shop, or something.’

‘All right, mother (хорошо, мама),’ says Jack; ‘it’s market-day today (сегодня рыночный день), and I’ll soon sell Milky-white (и я скоро продам Молочно-белую), and then we’ll see what we can do (и тогда мы увидим, что мы можем сделать).’

So he took the cow’s halter in his hand (так что он взял недоуздок коровы в свою руку), and off he started (и прочь он пошел = и отправился /на рынок/). He hadn’t gone far (он не ушел далеко = не успел он пройти совсем немного) when he met a funny-looking old man (когда он встретил забавно выглядящего старого человека), who said to him (который сказал ему): ‘Good morning, Jack (доброе утро, Джек).’

‘Good morning to you (доброе утро вам),’ said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name (сказал Джек и удивился, как тот узнал его имя; to know – знать).

‘Well, Jack, and where are you off to (ну, Джек, и куда ты собрался)?’ said the man.

‘I’m going to market to sell our cow there (я иду на рынок, чтобы продать там нашу корову).’

‘Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows (ты выглядишь правильным сортом парня = ты кажешься очень подходящим парнем, чтобы продавать коров),’ said the man; ‘I wonder if you know (я интересуюсь = интересно, знаешь ли ты) how many beans make five (сколько бобов составляют: «делают» пять).’

‘Two in each hand (два в каждой руке) and one in your mouth (и один в твоем рту),’ says Jack, as sharp as a needle (сказал Джек, проницательный: «острый» как иголка).

halter

[‘h:lt], wondered [‘wndd], mouth [ma]

‘All right, mother,’ says Jack; ‘it’s market-day today, and I’ll soon sell Milky-white, and then we’ll see what we can do.’

So he took the cow’s halter in his hand, and off he started. He hadn’ t gone far when he met a funny-looking old man, who said to him: ‘Good morning, Jack.’

‘Good morning to you,’ said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name.

‘Well, Jack, and where are you off to?’ said the man.

‘I’m going to market to sell our cow there.’

‘Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,’ said the man; ‘I wonder if you know how many beans make five.’

‘Two in each hand and one in your mouth,’ says Jack, as sharp as a needle.