The quartermaster had slipped Sharkey’s pistols away from him, for it was an old joke with him to fire them cross-handed under the table, and see who was the luckiest man. It was a pleasantry which had cost his boatswain his leg, so now, when the table was cleared, they would coax Sharkey’s weapons away from him on the excuse of the heat, and lay them out of his reach.
The Captain’s cabin of the Ruffling Harry was in a deck-house upon the poop, and a sternchaser gun was mounted at the back of it.
Round shot were racked round the wall (ядра были сложены у стены; to rack – помещать на полку, подставку; round – вокруг; повсюду, на всем протяжении), and three great hogsheads of powder made a stand for dishes and for bottles (а три больших бочонка с порохом служили подставками для блюд и бутылок). In this grim room the five pirates sang and roared and drank (в этой мрачной каюте пятеро пиратов пели, орали и пили; to sing; to drink), while the silent steward still filled up their glasses (а безмолвный стюард продолжал наполнять их стаканы; still – до сих пор, по-прежнему), and passed the box and the candle round for their tobacco-pipes (и подносить коробку с табаком и свечу, /чтобы они раскуривали/ свои трубки; to pass round – передавать по кругу).
Hour after hour the talk became fouler, the voices hoarser (час за часом /темы для/ разговоров становились все непристойнее, голоса все грубее), the curses and shoutings more incoherent (ругань и выкрики все бессвязнее), until three of the five had closed their blood-shot eyes (пока трое из пяти не закрыли свои налившиеся кровью глаза), and dropped their swimming heads upon the table (и не уронили свои мотающиеся /из стороны в сторону/ головы на стол; to swim – плавать; кружиться /о голове/).
Round shot were racked round the wall, and three great hogsheads of powder made a stand for dishes and for bottles. In this grim room the five pirates sang and roared and drank, while the silent steward still filled up their glasses, and passed the box and the candle round for their tobacco-pipes.
Hour after hour the talk became fouler, the voices hoarser, the curses and shoutings more incoherent, until three of the five had closed their blood-shot eyes, and dropped their swimming heads upon the table.