Taffy took a marrow-bone and sat mousy-quiet for ten whole minutes, while her Daddy scratched on pieces of birch-bark with a shark’s tooth. Then she said, ‘Daddy, I’ve thinked of a secret surprise. You make a noise — any sort of noise.’
‘Ah!’ said Tegumai. ‘Will that do to begin with?’
‘Yes,’ said Taffy (да, — сказала Тэффи). ‘You look just like a carp-fish with its mouth open (ты похож в точности на карпа с открытым ртом). Say it again, please (повтори это, пожалуйста).’
‘Ah! ah! ah!’ said her Daddy (а! а! а! — сказал Папочка). ‘Don’t be rude, my daughter (дочка, не будь грубой =
‘I’m not meaning rude, really and truly (да право же, я и намереваюсь /вести себя/ прилично;
‘What for (для чего)?’ said her Daddy (спросил Папочка).
open ['qup(q)n], rude [rHd], keep [kJp]
‘Yes,’ said Taffy. ‘You look just like a carp-fish with its mouth open. Say it again, please.’
‘Ah! ah! ah!’ said her Daddy. ‘Don’t be rude, my daughter.’
‘I’m not meaning rude, really and truly,’ said Taffy. ‘It’s part of my secret-surprise-think.
‘What for?’ said her Daddy.
‘Don’t you see (разве ты не понимаешь)?’ said Taffy (спросила Тэффи), scratching away on the bark (продолжая черкать на коре). ‘That will be our little secret s’prise (это будет наш маленький секретный сюприз[113]). When I draw a carp-fish with his mouth open in the smoke at the back of our Cave (когда я нарисую карпа с открытым ртом копотью в задней части нашей Пещеры) — if Mummy doesn’t mind (если Мамочка не будет возражать) — it will remind you of that ah-noise (это напомнит тебе об этом звуке А). Then we can play (тогда мы можем притвориться =
our [auq], remind [rI'maInd], last [lRst]
‘Don’t you see?’ said Taffy, scratching away on the bark. ‘That will be our little secret s’prise. When I draw a carp-fish with his mouth open in the smoke at the back of our Cave — if Mummy doesn’t mind — it will remind you of that ah-noise. Then we can play that it was me jumped out of the dark and s’prised you with that noise — same as I did in the beaver-swamp winter.’
‘Really?’ said her Daddy (правда? — спросил Папочка), in the voice that grown-ups use when they are truly attending (/таким/ голосом, каким пользуются =