Английский с улыбкой. Брет Гарт, Стивен Ликок. Дефективный детектив / Bret Harte, Stephen Leacock

They rose as I entered and curtseyed.

“Sir,” said Tompkins, the bosun’s mate, “I think it my duty to tell you that there is a great deal of dissatisfaction among the men.”

Several of the men nodded.

“They don’t like the way the men keep going overboard,” he continued, his voice rising to a tone of uncontrolled passion. “It is positively absurd, sir, and if you will allow me to say so, the men are far from pleased.”

“Tompkins,” I said sternly (Томпкинс, – твердо сказал я), “you must understand that my position will not allow me to listen to mutinous language of this sort (вы должны понимать, что мое положение не позволяет мне выслушивать мятежные речи подобного рода; language – язык; речь).”

I returned to the Captain (я вернулся к капитану). “I think the men mean mutiny,” I said (думаю, матросы затевают бунт, – сказал я; to mean – намереваться, иметь в виду).

“Good,” said Captain Bilge, rubbing his hands (хорошо, – сказал капитан Днище, потирая руки), “that will get rid of a lot of them, and of course (это избавит нас от многих из них, и конечно же; to get rid of smth. – отделываться, избавляться),” he added musingly, looking out of the broad old-fashioned port-hole at the stern of the cabin (добавил он задумчиво, поглядывая в широкий, на старинный манер, иллюминатор в задней стенке каюты; port-hole – орудийный порт; бортовой иллюминатор; stern – корма; задняя часть /какого-л. предмета/), at the heaving waves of the South Atlantic (на вздымающиеся волны Южной Атлантики), “I am expecting pirates at any time (в любой момент я ожидаю /появления/ пиратов), and that will take out quite a few of them (что изрядно сократит их число: «уничтожит немало из них»; to take out – удалять, уничтожать; quite – вполне, совсем; довольно; a few – несколько).

“Tompkins,” I said sternly, “you must understand that my position will not allow me to listen to mutinous language of this sort.”

I returned to the Captain. “I think the men mean mutiny,” I said.

“Good,” said Captain Bilge, rubbing his hands, “that will get rid of a lot of them, and of course,” he added musingly, looking out of the broad old-fashioned port-hole at the stern of the cabin, at the heaving waves of the South Atlantic, “I am expecting pirates at any time, and that will take out quite a few of them.

However” – and here he pressed the bell for a cabin-boy (как бы то ни было, – и тут он нажал /кнопку/ звонка, чтобы /вызвать/ вахтенного; cabin-boy – юнга) – “kindly ask Mr. Tompkins to step this way (будьте любезны, попросите мистера Томпкинса прийти сюда; kindly – доброжелательно, сердечно; любезно /в формулах вежливости/).”