Английский язык с П. Треверс. Мэри Поппинс / P. L. Travers: Mary Poppins

All her days were exactly the same (все ее дни были в точности одинаковые). One Red Calf grew up (одна Рыжая Телочка вырастала) and went away (и уходила) and another came in its place (а другая приходила на ее место). And it was natural (и было естественно) that the Red Cow should imagine (что Рыжая Корова представляла) that her life would always be the same (что ее жизнь будет всегда одинаковой) as it had always been (какой всегда была) — indeed (в самом деле), she felt (она чувствовала) that she could ask for nothing better (что она не могла просить ничего лучше) than for all her days to be alike (чем то, что все свои дни были бы похожими) till she came to the end of them (пока она не придет к концу их).

But at the very moment she was thinking these thoughts (но в тот самый момент, когда она думала эти мысли), adventure (приключение), as she afterwards told my Mother (как она впоследствии рассказывала моей матери), was stalking her (подкралось к ней; tostalk — подкрадываться, выслеживать). It came upon her one night (оно напало на нее одной ночью; tocomeupon — охватывать, нападать) when the stars themselves looked like dandelions in the sky (когда звезды сами по себе выглядели, как одуванчики в небе) and the moon a great daisy among the stars (а луна — огромной ромашкой/маргариткой среди звезд).

bounded ['baundId] sour [sauq] adventure [qd'venʧq]

She had lived there always — she often told my Mother that she couldn’t remember the time when she hadn’t lived in that field. Her world was bounded by green hedges and the sky and she knew nothing of what lay beyond these.

The Red Cow was very respectable, she always behaved like a perfect lady and she knew What was What. To her a thing was either black or white — there was nothing in between. Dandelions were either sweet or sour — there were never any moderately nice ones.

She led a very busy life. Her mornings were taken up in giving lessons to the Red Calf, her daughter, and in the afternoon she taught the little one deportment and mooing and all the things a really well brought up calf should know. Then they had their supper, and the Red Cow showed the Red Calf how to select a good blade of grass from a bad one; and when her child had gone to sleep at night she would go into a corner of the field and chew the cud and think her own quiet thoughts.

All her days were exactly the same. One Red Calf grew up and went away and another came in its place. And it was natural that the Red Cow should imagine that her life would always be the same as it had always been — indeed, she felt that she could ask for nothing better than for all her days to be alike till she came to the end of them.

But at the very moment she was thinking these thoughts, adventure, as she afterwards told my Mother, was stalking her. It came upon her one night when the stars themselves looked like dandelions in the sky and the moon a great daisy among the stars.

On this night (в эту ночь), long after the Red Calf was asleep (давно после того, как Рыжая Телочка уснула), the Red Cow stood up suddenly and began to dance (Рыжая Корова встала неожиданно и начала танцевать). She danced wildly and beautifully and in perfect time (она танцевала неистово и красиво, и в идеальном ритме), though she had no music to go by (хотя у нее не было сопровождающей музыки). Sometimes it was a polka (иногда это была полька), sometimes a Highland Fling (иногда горский флинг; Highlandfling — шотландская удалая, флинг /танец, в котором совершаются энергичные движения рук и ног/; tofling — бросаться, кидаться, ринуться /энергично или поспешно двигаться по направлению к объекту или от него; стремительно или поспешно идти или бежать/) and sometimes a special dance (а иногда особенный танец) that she made up out of her own head (который она придумала из своей собственной головы). And in between these dances (и между этими танцами) she would curtsey (она делала реверансы) and make sweeping bows (и делала широкие/размашистые поклоны; tosweep — мести) and knock her head against the dandelions (и стукалась своей головой об одуванчики).