Английский для смелых. Истории о духах и привидениях / Great Ghost Stories

 He went down as usual to the prison next morning, and once again he was strangely beset with the feeling that there was some unseen presence there. He had before now had some odd psychical experiences, and knew that he was a ‘sensitive’ – one, that is, who is capable, under certain circumstances, of receiving supernormal impressions, and of having glimpses of the unseen world that lies about us. And this morning the presence of which he was conscious was that of the man who had been executed yesterday morning. It was local, and he felt it most strongly in the little prison yard, and as he passed the door of the condemned cell. So strong was it there that he would not have been surprised if the figure of the man had been visible to him, and as he passed through the door at the end of the passage, he turned round, actually expecting to see it. All the time, too, he was aware of a profound horror at his heart; this unseen presence strangely disturbed him. And the poor soul, he felt, wanted something done for it. Not for a moment did he doubt that this impression of his was objective, it was no imaginative phantom of his own invention that made itself so real. The spirit of Linkworth was there.

He passed into the infirmary, and for a couple of hours busied himself with his work (он прошел в лазарет и пару часов занимался своей работой). But all the time he was aware that the same invisible presence was near him (но все это время он осознавал поблизости то же незримое присутствие), though its force was manifestly less here than in those places which had been more intimately associated with the man (хотя проявлялось оно здесь значительно слабее: «хотя его сила была явно меньше здесь», чем в тех местах, что были теснее связаны с этим человеком; to associate – объединять, соединять). Finally, before he left, in order to test his theory he looked into the execution shed (наконец, перед уходом: «перед тем как он ушел», чтобы проверить свою теорию, он заглянул в пристройку, где проводились казни; shed – навес, сарай). But next moment with a face suddenly stricken pale, he came out again, closing the door hastily (но через мгновение, с внезапно побледневшим лицом, он снова вышел и торопливо закрыл за собой дверь; to strike – ударять; поражать; pale – бледный). At the top of the steps stood a figure hooded and pinioned (наверху: «на вершине лестницы» стоял силуэт в капюшоне и со связанными руками; step – шаг; ступень, ступенька; steps – стремянка, трап; to pinion – подрезать или связывать крылья; связывать /руки/), but hazy of outline and only faintly visible (с размытыми очертаниями и с трудом различимый: «и только слабо видимый»; hazy – неясный, смутный; haze – легкий туман, дымка). But it was visible, there was no mistake about it (но он был видим, отрицать это было невозможно: «в этом не было ошибки»).