He had the habit of soliloquy. His quick-changing facial expressions might tell every thought and mood, but the tongue, perforce, ran hard after, repeating, like a second Boswell.
The man lay down on the lip of the pool and drank long and deep of its water
(человек лег на край озера и пил долго и глубоко его воду; lip – губа; край). “Tastes good to me (по мне так вкусно),” he murmured, lifting his head and gazing across the pool at the side-hill (пробормотал он, поднимая голову и вглядываясь в склон на той стороне озера), while he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand (пока он вытирал = вытирая рот тыльной стороной руки). The side-hill attracted his attention (этот склон привлек его внимание). Still lying on his stomach (все еще лежа на животе), he studied the hill formation long and carefully (он изучал строение /изгибы/ холмов долго и внимательно; formation – строение; формация). It was a practised eye that travelled up the slope to the crumbling canyon-wall and back and down again to the edge of the pool (это был опытный глаз, который перемещался вверх по склону до края стены каньона и снова вниз к краю заводи; to travel – путешествовать; перемещаться). He scrambled to his feet and favored the side-hill with a second survey (он вскарабкался на ноги и почтил склон вторичным осмотром; to favor – оказывать внимание, любезность).“Looks good to me
(по мне выглядит хорошо),” he concluded, picking up his pick and shovel and gold-pan (заключил он, поднимая кирку, лопату и лоток).
The man lay down on the lip of the pool and drank long and deep of its water. “Tastes good to me,” he murmured, lifting his head and gazing across the pool at the side-hill, while he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The side-hill attracted his attention. Still lying on his stomach, he studied the hill formation long and carefully. It was a practised eye that travelled up the slope to the crumbling canyon-wall and back and down again to the edge of the pool. He scrambled to his feet and favored the side-hill with a second survey.
“Looks good to me,” he concluded, picking up his pick and shovel and gold-pan.