Мистер Всезнайка. Рассказы

I had no notion what her age was. When I was quite a young man she was a married woman a good deal older than I, but now she treated me as her contemporary. She constantly said that she made no secret of her age, which was forty, and then added with a smile that all women took five years off. She never sought to conceal the fact that she dyed her hair (it was a very pretty brown with reddish tints), and she said she did this because hair was hideous while it was going grey; as soon as hers was white she would cease to dye it.

"Then they’ll say what a young face I have."

Meanwhile it was painted (а пока лицо было накрашено: «нарумянено»), though with discretion (хотя и с осторожностью = ненавязчиво), and her eyes owed not a little of their vivacity to art (а своей живостью ее глаза немало были обязаны художеству: «искусству»; toowe— быть должным; быть обязанным). She was a handsome woman (она была красивой женщиной), exquisitely gowned (изысканно одетой; gown— платье /женское/;togown— одеваться, надевать), and in the sombre glow of the alabaster lamps (и в темном = тусклом свете алебастровых ламп) did not look a day more than the forty she gave herself (не выглядела ни на день старше тех сорока, которые она сама себе давала).

"It is only at my dressing-table (только у своего туалетного столика) that I can suffer the naked brightness of a thirty-two-candle electric bulb (я могу вытерпеть открытую яркость = незащищенный яркий свет электрической лампочки мощностью в тридцать две свечи)," she added with smiling cynicism (улыбаясь, добавила она цинично: «с улыбающимся цинизмом»). "There I need it to tell me first the hideous truth (там он мне нужен для того, чтобы он мне сначала сказал отвратительную правду) and then to enable me to take the necessary steps to correct it (а затем дал мне возможность предпринять необходимые шаги = сделать все необходимое, чтобы ее исправить)."

vivacity [vI'vxsItI], exquisitely ['ekskwIzitlI], cynicism ['sInIsIzm]

Meanwhile it was painted, though with discretion, and her eyes owed not a little of their vivacity to art. She was a handsome woman, exquisitely gowned, and in the sombre glow of the alabaster lamps did not look a day more than the forty she gave herself.

"It is only at my dressing-table that I can suffer the naked brightness of a thirty-two-candle electric bulb," she added with smiling cynicism. "There I need it to tell me first the hideous truth and then to enable me to take the necessary steps to correct it."