Английский детектив. Джон Бакен. Тридцать девять ступеней / John Buchan. The Thirty-Nine Steps

 Then suddenly I thought of another probability. Supposing I went out now and called in the police, or went to bed and let Paddock find the body and call them in the morning. What kind of a story was I to tell about Scudder? I had lied to Paddock about him, and the whole thing looked desperately fishy. If I made a clean breast of it and told the police everything he had told me, they would simply laugh at me. The odds were a thousand to one that I would be charged with the murder, and the circumstantial evidence was strong enough to hang me. Few people knew me in England; I had no real pal who could come forward and swear to my character. Perhaps that was what those secret enemies were playing for. They were clever enough for anything, and an English prison was as good a way of getting rid of me till after June 15th as a knife in my chest.

Besides, if I told the whole story (кроме того, если бы я рассказал всю эту историю), and by any miracle was believed (и, каким-то чудом, мне бы поверили), I would be playing their game (я бы все равно играл им на руку: «в их игру»). Karolides would stay at home, which was what they wanted (Каролидес остался бы дома, что было /как раз/ тем, чего они желали). Somehow or other the sight of Scudder’s dead face had made me a passionate believer in his scheme (так или иначе, вид мертвого лица Скаддера сделал меня страстным защитником его плана; sight – зрение; вид, зрелище; believer – верующий; верящий /во что-л./, сторонник, защитник). He was gone, but he had taken me into his confidence (он погиб, но он доверил мне свою тайну: «но он взял меня в свой секрет/в свое доверие»), and I was pretty well bound to carry on his work (и я был просто вынужден продолжить его работу; to bind – связывать; обязывать).

 Besides, if I told the whole story, and by any miracle was believed, I would be playing their game. Karolides would stay at home, which was what they wanted. Somehow or other the sight of Scudder’s dead face had made me a passionate believer in his scheme. He was gone, but he had taken me into his confidence, and I was pretty well bound to carry on his work.

You may think this ridiculous for a man in danger of his life (вы можете подумать, что это смешно для человека, чья жизнь /находится/ в опасности), but that was the way I looked at it (но именно так: «таким образом» я смотрел на это /дело/). I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people (я обычный малый, не храбрее, чем другие люди), but I hate to see a good man downed (но мне очень не нравится: «я ненавижу», когда я вижу, как разделываются с хорошим человеком; to down – опускать, спускать; прикончить, разделываться), and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place (и тот длинный нож не стал бы концом Скаддера, если бы я смог сыграть эту игру вместо него: «на его месте»; end – конец, окончание; смерть, кончина, конец).

 You may think this ridiculous for a man in danger of his life, but that was the way I looked at it. I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people, but I hate to see a good man downed, and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place.