Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке
Редьярд Джозеф Киплинг

Ирина Владимировна Ширяева

Чтение в оригинале (Каро)Classical Literature (Каро)
Сборник «Просто сказки», написанный английским писателем Р. Киплингом для его собственных детей, включает занимательные истории-ответы на вопросы детей. Откуда у слонов хобот, почему у леопарда пятнистая шерсть или почему верблюд горбатый, и как появился алфавит? Книга не только даст увлекательные ответы на эти каверзные вопросы, но и позволит обогатить словарный запас и знания по грамматике английского языка. Тексты пособия не адаптированы и снабжены лексическим комментарием, упражнениями и словарем.

Rudiard Kipling / Редьярд Киплинг

Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке

© КАРО, 2018

Предисловие

Вы знаете или изучаете английский язык? Вы хотите узнать ответы на вопросы, откуда у верблюда горб, а у слона – хобот; как появился алфавит и почему кошки гуляют сами по себе; что произойдет, если мотылек топнет ногой? И вас, конечно, интересует, как выглядело первое на Земле письмо и почему у носорога такая кожа? В таком случае это пособие для вас!

Сборник английского писателя Редьярда Киплинга, куда вошли сказки, рассказанные писателем его собственным детям, не только унесет вас в чудесный и удивительный мир прошлого и ответит вам и вашим детям на эти каверзные вопросы, но и поможет обогатить ваш лексический запас новыми словами и выражениями. В пособии объяснены некоторые трудности английской грамматики. В конце каждого рассказа предлагается выполнить ряд заданий, которые помогут запомнить новые встретившиеся в процессе чтения слова и выражения, а также лучше понять содержание рассказов.

Занимательные, знакомые с раннего детства сказки Киплинга создадут веселую атмосферу на занятиях по английскому языку и зарубежной литературе, а комментарии помогут с легкостью преодолеть трудности грамматики английского языка, возникающие при чтении неадаптированных текстов.

How the Whale Got His Throat

In the sea, once upon time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale[1 - whale – кит], and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth – so! Till at least there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ’Stute Fish[2 - ’Stute = Astute Fish – Мудрая Рыба], and he swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, ‘I’m hungry’. And the small ’Stute Fish said in a small ’stute voice[3 - in astute voice – лукавым голосом], ‘Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?’

‘No’, said the Whale. ‘What is it like?[4 - What is it like? – Какой он? На что он похож?]’

This is the picture of the Whale swallowing[5 - to swallow – глотать, проглатывать (т.ж. to swallow down)] the Mariner with his infinite-resource-and-sagacity, and the raft and the jack-knife and his suspenders, which you must not forget. The buttony-things are the Mariner’s suspenders, and you can see the knife close by them. He is sitting on the raft, but it has tilted up sideways, so you don’t see much of it. The whity thing by the Mariner’s left hand is a piece of wood that he was trying to row the raft with when the Whale came along. The piece of wood is called the jaws-of-a-gaff. The Mariner left it outside when he went in. The Whale’s name was Smiler, and the Mariner was called Mr. Henry Albert Bivvens, A. B. The little ’Stute Fish is hiding under the Whale’s tummy, or else I would have drawn him. The reason that the sea looks so ooshy-skooshy is because the Whale is sucking it all into his mouth so as to suck in Mr. Henry Albert Bivvens and the raft and the jack-knife and the suspenders. You must never forget the suspenders.

‘Nice,’ said the small ‘Stute Fish. ‘Nice but nubbly.’

‘Then fetch me some,’ said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail[6 - he made the sea froth up with his tail – море вспе-нилось под его хвостом. to make smb do smth – застав-лять/побуждать кого/что-либо сделать что-л.].

‘One at a time is enough,’ said the ’Stute Fish. ‘If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West[7 - latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West – пятьдесят градусов север-ной широты, сорок градусов восточной долготы] (that is Magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders[8 - with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders – на нем были толь-ко холщевые голубые брюки и пара подтяжек (на нем не было ничего, кроме холщевых голубых брюк и пары подтяжек)] (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife[9 - jack-knife – большой складной нож], one shipwrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity[10 - man-of-infinite-resource-and-sagacity – прони-цательный человек с безграничными возможностями; a man of a great sagacity [– очень проница-тельный человек].’

So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as fast as he could swim, and on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing to wear except a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must particularly remember the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwrecked Mariner, trailing his toes in the water. (He had his Mummy’s leave to paddle[11 - He had his Mummy’s leave to paddle – Мама разрешила ему плавать на лодке; to have leave to do smth – иметь разрешение делать что-либо; to ask leave to do smth – просить позволения сделать что-либо], or else he would never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)

Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched his tail, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and the raft he was sitting on, and his blue canvas breeches, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the jack-knife. He swallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cupboards, and then he smacked his lips – so, and turned round three times on his tail.

Here is the Whale looking for the little ’Stute Fish, who is hiding under the Door-sills of the Equator. The little ’Stute Fish’s name was Pingle. He is hiding among the roots of the big seaweed that grows in front of the Doors of the Equator. I have drawn the Doors of Equator. They are shut. They are always kept shut, because a door ought always to be kept shut. The ropy thing right across is the Equator itself; and the things that look like rocks are the two giants Moar and Koar, that keep the Equator in order. They drew the shadow-pictures on the Doors of the Equator, and they carved all those twisty fishes under the Doors. The beaky fish are called Beaked Dolphins, and the other fish with the queer heads are called Hammer-headed Sharks. The Whale never found the little ’Stute Fish till he got over his temper, and then they became good friends again.

But as soon as the Mariner, who was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, found himself truly inside the Whale’s warm, dark, inside cupboards, he stumped and he jumped and he thumped and he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and he clanged, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and he prowled and he howled, and he hopped and he dropped, and he cried and he sighed, and he crawled and he bawled, and he stepped and he lepped, and he danced hornpipes[12 - to stump – тяжело ступать, ковылять; to jump – прыгать; to thump – наносить тяжелый удар, стучать; to bump – толкать, пихать (очень сильно); to prance – прыгать, скакать, резвиться; to dance – танцевать; to bang – грохотать, колотить, стучать; to clang – брен-чать, звенеть; to hit – ударять(ся); to bite – кусать(ся); to leap – прыгать, вскакивать; to creep – ползать; to prowl – бродить, идти крадучись; to howl – выть, реветь; to hop – прыгать, скакать на одной ноге; to drop – зд. падать, валиться; to cry – кричать; to sigh – вздыхать; to crawl – ползать; to bawl – орать во всю глотку; to step – шагать; делать па (в танце); to lep – проказничать; to dance hornpipe – танцевать хорнпайп (английский матросский танец, обычно сольный)] where he shouldn’t, and the Whale felt most unhappy indeed. (Have you forgotten the suspenders?)

So he said to the ’Stute Fish, ‘This man is very nubbly, and besides he is making me hiccough[13 - he is making me hiccough [́– из-за него я икаю (букв: он заставляет меня икать)]. What shall I do?’

‘Tell him to come out,’ said the ’Stute Fish.

So the Whale called down his own throat to the shipwrecked Mariner, ‘Come out and behave yourself. I’ve got the hiccoughs.’

‘Nay, nay!’ said the Mariner. ‘Not so, but far otherwise. Take me to my natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and I’ll think about it.’ And he began to dance more than ever.

‘You had better take him home,’ said the ’Stute Fish to the Whale. ‘I ought to have warned you[14 - I ought to have warned you – Я должен был тебя предупредить.] that he is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’

So the Whale swam and swam and swam, with both flippers and his tail, as hard as he could for the hiccoughs; and at last he saw the Mariner’s natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and he rushed half-way up the beach, and opened his mouth wide and wide and wide, and said, ‘Change here for Winchester, Ashuelot, Nashua, Keene, and stations on the Fitchburg Road’; and just as he said ‘Fitch’ the Mariner walked out of his mouth. But while the Whale had been swimming, the Mariner, who was indeed a person of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, had taken his jack-knife[15 - But while the Whale had been swimming, the Mariner … had taken his jack-knife – Но пока Кит плыл, моряк взял свой большой складной нож] and cut up the raft into a little square grating[16 - grating – решетка, сетка] all running criss-cross, and he had tied it firm with his suspenders (now you know why you were not to forget the suspenders!), and he dragged that grating good and tight into the Whale’s throat, and there it stuck! Then he recited the following Sloka[17 - Sloka – шлока (слока) – жанр поэзии, двусти-шие или трехстишие], which, as you have not heard it, I will now proceed to relate[18 - to proceed to do smth – зд. приступать, перехо-дить к чему-либо, приняться за что-либо]:

By means of a grating
have stopped your ating.’

For the Mariner he has also an Hi-ber-ni-an. And he stepped out on the shingle, and went home to his Mother, who had given him leave to trail his toes in the water; and he married and lived happily ever afterward. So did the Whale. But from that day on, the grating in his throat, which he could neither cough up nor swallow down[19 - he could neither cough up nor swallow down – он не мог ни выплюнуть, ни проглотить.], prevented him eating anything except very, very small fish; and that is the reason why whales nowadays never eat men or boys or little girls.

The small ’Stute Fish went and hid himself in the mud under the Door-sills of the Equator. He was afraid that the Whale might be angry with him.

The Sailor took the jack-knife home. He was wearing the blue canvas breeches when he walked out on the shingle. The suspenders were left behind, you see, to tie the grating with; and that is the end of that tale.

When the cabin port-holes are dark and green
Because of the seas outside;
When the ship goes wop (with a wiggle between)
And the steward falls into the soup-tureen[20 - soup-tureen – супница],
And the trunks[21 - trunks – во мн. ч. короткие штаны, спортивные трусы] begin to slide;
When Nursey lies on the floor in a heap,
And Mummy tells you to let her sleep,
And you aren’t walked or washed or dressed,
Why, then you will know (if you haven’t guessed)
You’re ‘Fifty North and Forty West!’

Questions and tasks

1. How did the story begin? Why did the Whale want to find the Mariner?

2. Describe the Mariner.

3. What did the Mariner do after the Whale had swallowed him?

4. Why did the Whale have to take the Mariner home?

5. According to the story why were you not to forget the suspenders?

6. Retell the story.

How the Camel Got His Hump[22 - hump – горб]

Now this is the next tale, and it tells how the Camel got his big hump.

In the beginning of years, when the world was so new-and-all, and the Animals were just beginning to work for Man, there was a Camel, and he lived in the middle of a Howling Desert because he did not want to work; and besides, he was a Howler himself. So he ate sticks and thorns and tamarisks and milkweed and prickles, most ’scruciating idler[23 - scruciating = excruciating – мучи-тельный, ужасный; idler – лентяй, лежебока]; and when anybody spoke to him he said ‘Humph![24 - Humph! – Гм!] ’ Just ‘Humph!’ and no more.

Presently the horse came to him on Monday morning, with a saddle on his back and a bit[25 - bit – зд. удила] in his mouth, and said, ‘Camel, O Camel, come out and trot[27 - to trot – cпешить, торопиться; …trot like the rest of us – …поспеши, как остальные (как мы)] like the rest of us.’

This is the picture of the Djinn making the beginnings of the Magic that brought the Humph to the Camel. First he drew a line in the air with his finger, and it became solid; and then he made a cloud, and then he made an egg – you can see them at the bottom of the picture – and then there was a magic pumpkin that turned into a big white flame. Then the Djinn took his magic fan and fanned that flame till that flame turned into a Magic by itself. It was a good Magic and a very kind Magic really, though it had to give the Camel a Humph because the Camel was lazy. The Djinn in charge of[26 - in charge of – ответственный за] all Deserts was one of the nicest of the Djinns, so he would never do anything really unkind.