Английские волшебные сказки / English Fairy Tales

And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now, the miller’s daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, and she called out, ‘Father! father! draw your dam. There’s something white – a merrymaid or a milk-white swan – coming down the stream.’ So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy, cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank.

Fair and beautiful (светлой и прекрасной; fair – красивый, прекрасный /обычно о женщинах/; светлый, белокурый) she looked as she lay there (она выглядела, пока она лежала = лежа там; to lie – лежать). In her golden hair were pearls and precious stones (в ее золотых волосах были жемчуга и драгоценные камни); you could not see her waist for her golden girdle (ты не мог = невозможно было видеть ее талию за ее золотым поясом), and the golden fringe of her white dress (и золотая кайма ее белого платья) came down over her lily feet (спускалась над ее лилейными ножками; foot – нога /ступня/). But she was drowned, drowned (но она была утонувшая, утонувшая)!

And as she lay there in her beauty (и когда она лежала там в своей красоте) a famous harper passed by the mill-dam of Binnorie (знаменитый арфист проходил мимо мельничной запруды Биннори), and saw her sweet pale face (и увидел ее нежное, бледное лицо). And though he travelled on far away (и хотя он продолжал путешествовать очень далеко: «далеко прочь»), he never forgot that face (он никогда/вовсе не забыл это лицо), and after many days he came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie (и после многих дней = много дней спустя он вернулся к прекрасному мельничному потоку Биннори). But then all he could find of her (но тогда все, что он мог найти от нее) where they had put her to rest (где они положили ее на покой) were her bones and her golden hair (были ее кости и ее золотые волосы).

precious

[‘pres], girdle [‘:dl], fringe [frn]

Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden girdle, and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily feet. But she was drowned, drowned!

And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he travelled on far away, he never forgot that face, and after many days he came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her golden hair.