Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. На окраине империи. Рассказы / W. S. Maugham: Stories

His failing was too obvious not soon to become notorious, but its extravagance saved it from being merely despicable. The great whom he adored laughed at him, but in their hearts felt his adoration not unnatural. Poor Warburton was a dreadful snob, of course, but after all he was a good fellow. He was always ready to back a bill for an impecunious nobleman, and if you were in a tight corner you could safely count on him for a hundred pounds. He gave good dinners. He played whist badly, but never minded how much he lost if the company was select. He happened to be a gambler, an unlucky one, but he was a good loser, and it was impossible not to admire the coolness with which he lost five hundred pounds at a sitting.

His passion for cards, almost as strong as his passion for titles, was the cause of his undoing (его страсть к картам, почти такая же сильная, как и страсть к титулам, стала: «была» причиной его падения; undoing — развязывание, расстегивание; уничтожение; гибель;to undo— расстегивать /об одежде/; уничтожать результат труда; возвращать к прежнему положению вещей). The life he led was expensive and his gambling losses were formidable (жизнь, которую он вел, была дорогой, а его проигрыши — огромными). He began to plunge more heavily, first on horses, and then on the Stock Exchange (он увлекался: «начал вовлекаться» все сильнее, сначала скачками: «/ставил/ на лошадей», а потом — фондовой биржей; London Stock Exchange — Лондонская фондовая биржа; to plunge — нырять, погружаться). He had a certain simplicity of character, and the unscrupulous found him an ingenuous prey (у него былая некоторая простота характера = он был простодушен, и /люди/ недобросовестные находили в нем легкую добычу; ingenuous — простодушный, наивный). I do not know if he ever realized that his smart friends laughed at him behind his back (я не знаю, осознавал/понимал ли он когда-либо, что его светские друзья смеются над ним за его спиной), but I think he had an obscure instinct that he could not afford to appear other than careless of his money (но я думаю, у него была скрытая интуиция/чутье, что он не может позволить себе производить другое впечатление, чем впечатление безразличия к своим деньгам; to appear — казаться; производить впечатление). He got into the hands of money-lenders (он попал в руки = лапы ростовщиков). At the age of thirty-four he was ruined (в тридцать четыре года он был разорен; to ruin— разрушать, уничтожать; разорять).

formidable [`fO: mIdqbl], unscrupulous [An`skru: pjulqs], ingenuous [In`dZenjuqs]

His passion for cards, almost as strong as his passion for titles, was the cause of his undoing. The life he led was expensive and his gambling losses were formidable. He began to plunge more heavily, first on horses, and then on the Stock Exchange. He had a certain simplicity of character, and the unscrupulous found him an ingenuous prey. I do not know if he ever realized that his smart friends laughed at him behind his back, but I think he had an obscure instinct that he could not afford to appear other than careless of his money. He got into the hands of money-lenders. At the age of thirty-four he was ruined.