Самые лучшие английские легенды / The Best English Legends

“O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, “and you shall have half of all I’ve got or shall get.[25 - half of all I’ve got or shall get – половина всего того, что есть у меня и что будет]”

“No, sister, I’ll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come ’twixt[26 - ’twixt = betwixt, between] me and my own heart’s love.[27 - that has come ’twixt me and my own heart’s love – которая разлучила меня с любимым]”

“O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she floated further away, “and you shall have your William again.”

“Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you’ll touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” And she turned and went home to the king’s castle.

And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller’s daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam.[28 - Draw your dam. – Опусти створки.] There’s something white – a merrymaid[29 - merrymaid – русалка] or a milk-white swan – coming down the stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank.

Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily feet. But she was drowned, drowned!

And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he travelled on far away[30 - far away – далеко] he never forgot that face, and after many days he came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her golden hair. So he made a harp out of her breastbone and her hair, and travelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to the castle of the king her father.

That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great harper – king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy[31 - making them joy – заставляя их радоваться] and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked.[32 - just as he liked – повинуясь его желанию] But while he sang he put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and all were hushed.[33 - all were hushed – все затаили дыхание]

And this was what the harp sung:

“O yonder sits my father, the king,
Binnorie, O Binnorie;
And yonder sits my mother, the queen;
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie,[34 - o’ Binnorie = of Binnorie]
And yonder stands my brother Hugh,[35 - Hugh – Хью]
Binnorie, O Binnorie;
And by him, my William, false and true;
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie.”

Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and breastbone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what it sang out loud and clear:

“And there sits my sister who drowned me
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie.”

And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. But later this story became a ballad called “The Twa Sisters[36 - The Twa Sisters – Две сестры]”. It goes like this:

There lived a lady by the North Sea shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom[37 - Lay the bent to the bonnie broom. – Приложи полевицу к ведьминой метле. (В древности считалось, что перекрестье стебля полевицы с прутиком домашней метлы приносит удачу. Такие небольшие связки делались в качестве оберегов).])
Two daughters were the babes she bore
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

As one grew bright as is the sun,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
So coal black grew the elder one.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

A knight came riding to the lady’s door,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
He’d travelled far to be their wooer.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

He courted one with gloves and rings,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But he loved the other above all things.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

“Oh sister, will you go with me
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
To watch the ships sail on the sea?”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

She took her sister by the hand
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And led her down to the North Sea strand.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

And as they stood on the windy shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The dark girl threw her sister o’er.[38 - threw her sister o’er – столкнула сестру вниз]
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Crying, “Sister, reach to me your hand!
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

“Oh Sister, Sister, let me live,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And all that’s mine I’ll surely give.”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

“It’s your own true love that I’ll have and more,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But thou shalt never come ashore.[39 - thou shalt never come ashore = you’ll never come ashore – тебе никогда не выбраться на берег]”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

And there she floated like a swan,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The salt sea bore her body on.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

Two minstrels walked along the strand
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And saw the maiden float to land.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

They made a harp of her breastbone,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Whose sound would melt a heart of stone.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)

They took three locks of her yellow hair,