Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. Мистер Всезнайка. Рассказы / W. S. Maugham. Mr. Know-All. Stories

"I don’t regret what I did, for from that day, all the time I was in prison awaiting my trial, and since, while I’ve been here, I’ve ceased to worry about Riri. If I believed in ghosts I’d be inclined to say that Marie-Louise’s death had laid Riri’s. Anyhow, my conscience is at rest, and after all the torture I suffered I can assure you that everything I’ve gone through since is worth it; I feel I can now look the world in the face again."

I know that this is a fantastic story (я знаю, что это странная/фантастическая история); I am by way of being a realist (я считаюсь реалистом/я в своем роде реалист; to be by way of being smb. — считатьсякем-либо; относитьсяккакой-либокатегориилюдей), and in the stories I write I see verisimilitude (и в тех историях что я пишу, я нахожу достоверность; verisimilitude — вероятность, правдоподобие; лит. иск. жизненность, правдивость; to see — видеть; находить, обнаруживать). I eschew the bizarre as scrupulously as I avoid the whimsical (я старательно сторонюсь странного, так же тщательно, как я избегаю фантастического/неестественного; scrupulously— честно, добросовестно; тщательно, скрупулезно;whimsical— причудливый, эксцентричный; прихотливый; фантастический;toeschew— воздерживаться, избегать, остерегаться, сторониться). If this had been a tale that I was inventing (если бы это была история, которую придумывал я; toinvent— изобретать; выдумывать, сочинять) I would certainly have made it more probable (я, конечно бы, сделал ее более правдоподобной; probable— вероятный, возможный; правдоподобный). As it is (в действительности), unless I had heard it with my own ears (если бы я не услышал ее своими собственными ушами) I am not sure that I should believe it (я не уверен, что я бы поверил в нее). I do not know whether Jean Charvin told me the truth (я не знаю, сказал ли Жан Шарвен мне правду), and yet the words with which he closed his final visit to me had a convincing ring (и все же те слова, которые он /произнес/ в свое последнее посещение, звучали убедительно; toconvince— убеждать, уверять;ring— звон, звяканье; звук, звучание). I had asked him what were his plans for the future (я спросил у него, каковы его планы на будущее).

fantastic [fxn'txstIk], verisimilitude ["verIsI'mIlItju: d], eschew [I'stSu: ], bizarre [bI'zQ: ], scrupulously ['skru: pjulqslI], whimsical ['wImzIk(q)l]

I know that this is a fantastic story; I am by way of being a realist, and in the stories I write I see verisimilitude. I eschew the bizarre as scrupulously as I avoid the whimsical. If this had been a tale that I was inventing I would certainly have made it more probable. As it is, unless I had heard it with my own ears I am not sure that I should believe it. I do not know whether Jean Charvin told me the truth, and yet the words with which he closed his final visit to me had a convincing ring. I had asked him what were his plans for the future.