Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. На окраине империи. Рассказы

The engineer did not answer, and they ate their supper in silence. The cabin was lit by a dim oil-lamp. When they had eaten the canned apricots with which the meal finished the Chink brought them a cup of tea. The skipper lit a cigar and went on the upper deck. The island now was only a darker mass against the night. The stars were very bright. The only sound was the ceaseless breaking of the surf. The skipper sank into a deck-chair and smoked idly. Presently three or four members of the crew came up and sat down. One of them had a banjo and another a concertina. They began to play, and one of them sang. The native song sounded strange on these instruments. Then to the singing a couple began to dance. It was a barbaric dance, savage and primeval, rapid, with quick movements of the hands and feet and contortions of the body; it was sensual, sexual even, but sexual without passion. It was very animal, direct, weird without mystery, natural in short, and one might almost say childlike. At last they grew tired. They stretched themselves on the deck and slept, and all was silent.

The skipper lifted himself heavily out of his chair (шкипер поднялся тяжело из своего шезлонга) and clambered down the companion (и спустился вниз по лестнице; to clamber — карабкаться; companion — лестница, ведущая с палубы к каютам). He went into his cabin and got out of his clothes (он пошел в свою каюту и разделся: «вылез из своей одежды»). He climbed into his bunk and lay there (он взобрался на свою койку и лег там). He panted a little in the heat of the night (он задыхался немного от ночной духоты; heat — жара, тепло).