Английский с Г. К. Честертоном. Рассказы об отце Брауне / Gilbert Keith Chesterton. The Innocence of Father Brown

There was still no reply, and the priest added still more mildly and quietly (ответа опять не последовало, и священник добавил еще мягче и тише):

“And if a man had to hide a dead body, he would make a field of dead bodies to hide it in (а если бы надо было спрятать мертвое тело, он бы спрятал его под грудой мертвых тел; body – тело).”

 The other did not answer.

“If there were no forest, he would make a forest. And if he wished to hide a dead leaf, he would make a dead forest.”

There was still no reply, and the priest added still more mildly and quietly:

“And if a man had to hide a dead body, he would make a field of dead bodies to hide it in.”

Flambeau began to stamp forward with an intolerance of delay in time or space (Фламбо зашагал вперед, /как будто испытывая/ нетерпимость к задержке во времени или пространстве; to stamp – штамповать; клеймить; чеканить; space – пространство; космос); but Father Brown went on as if he were continuing the last sentence (а отец Браун продолжил: «продолжил, как будто он заканчивал последнее предложение»):

“Sir Arthur St. Clare, as I have already said, was a man who read his Bible (как я уже говорил, сэр Артур Сент-Клэр был одним из тех людей, кто читает свою Библию). That was what was the matter with him (вот в чем было дело с ним; matter – вещество; сущность, содержание; вопрос, дело). When will people understand that it is useless for a man to read his Bible unless he also reads everybody else’s Bible (когда же люди поймут, что бесполезно читать только свою Библию, если при этом не читать Библии других людей; use – употребление, применение, использование)? A printer reads a Bible for misprints (наборщик читает свою Библию, чтобы найти опечатки; printer – печатник; типограф; типографщик). A Mormon reads his Bible, and finds polygamy (мормон читает свою Библию и находит многобрачие); a Christian Scientist reads his, and finds we have no arms and legs (приверженец секты «Христианская наука» читает свою и обнаруживает, что у нас нет рук и ног; science – наука; scientist – ученый). St. Clare was an old Anglo-Indian Protestant soldier (Сент-Клэр был старым солдатом и англо-индийским протестантом).

 Flambeau began to stamp forward with an intolerance of delay in time or space; but Father Brown went on as if he were continuing the last sentence:

“Sir Arthur St. Clare, as I have already said, was a man who read his Bible. That was what was the matter with him. When will people understand that it is useless for a man to read his Bible unless he also reads everybody else’s Bible? A printer reads a Bible for misprints. A Mormon reads his Bible, and finds polygamy; a Christian Scientist reads his, and finds we have no arms and legs. St. Clare was an old Anglo-Indian Protestant soldier.