Accordingly at Zenda I got out, and as the train passed where I stood on the platform, I saw my friend Madame de Mauban in her place; clearly she was going through to Strelsau, having, with more providence than I could boast, secured apartments there. I smiled to think how surprised George Featherly would have been to know that she and I had been fellow travellers for so long.
I was very kindly received at the hotel – it was really no more than an inn – kept by a fat old lady and her two daughters. They were good, quiet people, and seemed very little interested in the great doings at Strelsau. The old lady’s hero was the duke, for he was now, under the late King’s will, master of the Zenda estates and of the Castle, which rose grandly on its steep hill at the end of the valley a mile or so from the inn. The old lady, indeed, did not hesitate to express regret that the duke was not on the throne, instead of his brother.
“We know Duke Michael,” said she (мы знаем герцога Михаэля). “He has always lived among us (он всегда жил среди нас); every Ruritanian knows Duke Michael (каждый руританин знает герцога Михаэля). But the King is almost a stranger (но король – почти чужак; stranger – незнакомец; чужестранец); he has been so much abroad (он так долго: «много» находился за границей), not one in ten knows him even by sight (что вряд ли даже один из десяти знает его в лицо; to know by sight – знать в лицо; sight – зрение; взгляд).”
“And now,” chimed in one of the young women (а теперь, – вмешалась одна из девушек: «одна из молодых женщин»; to chime in – вступать, вмешиваться в разговор; to chime – выбивать мелодию /на колоколах, курантах/; звонить, звенеть), “they say he has shaved off his beard (говорят, что он сбрил бороду), so that no one at all knows him (так что вообще никто его не узнает).”
“Shaved his beard!” exclaimed her mother (сбрил бороду! – воскликнула ее мать). “Who says so (кто говорит такое)?”
“Johann, the duke’s keeper (Иоганн, лесничий герцога; keeper – хранитель; лесник). He has seen the King (он видел короля).”
“Ah, yes (ах, да). The King, sir, is now at the duke’s hunting-lodge in the forest here (король, сэр, сейчас в охотничьем домике герцога здесь в лесу); from here he goes to Strelsau to be crowned on Wednesday morning (отсюда он поедет в Стрелсо, чтобы короноваться в среду утром).”
I was interested to hear this (мне было интересно это слышать), and made up my mind to walk next day in the direction of the lodge (и /я/ решил на следующий день прогуляться в направлении /этого/ домика; mind – ум, разум; намерение, желание; to make up one’s mind – решить/ся/), on the chance of coming across the King (надеясь повстречать короля; to come across – случайно встретиться с /кем-л./; on the chance – на случай, если; в надежде).
“We know Duke Michael,” said she. “He has always lived among us; every Ruritanian knows Duke Michael. But the King is almost a stranger; he has been so much abroad, not one in ten knows him even by sight.”
“And now,” chimed in one of the young women, “they say he has shaved off his beard, so that no one at all knows him.”
“Shaved his beard!” exclaimed her mother. “Who says so?”
“Johann, the duke’s keeper. He has seen the King.”
“Ah, yes. The King, sir, is now at the duke’s hunting-lodge in the forest here; from here he goes to Strelsau to be crowned on Wednesday morning.”
I was interested to hear this, and made up my mind to walk next day in the direction of the lodge, on the chance of coming across the King.
The old lady ran on garrulously (пожилая дама словоохотливо продолжала; to run on – говорить не переставая; garrulous – болтливый, словоохотливый):
“Ah, and I wish he would stay at his hunting (ах, и было бы здорово: «хотелось бы», чтобы он задержался на охоте) – that and wine (and one thing more) are all he loves, they say (это = охота, вино (и еще кое-что: «одна вещь») – вот все, что он любит, как говорят) – and suffer our duke to be crowned on Wednesday (и позволил бы нашему герцогу короноваться в среду; to suffer smb. to do smth. – позволить кому-л. сделать что-л.). That I wish, and I don’t care who knows it (вот чего я желаю, и мне безразлично, кто об этом знает).”
“Hush, mother!” urged the daughters (тише, мама! – уговаривали /ее/ дочери; to urge – понуждать, подгонять; убеждать, уговаривать).
“Oh, there’s many to think as I do (о, многие думают, как я)!” cried the old woman stubbornly (упрямо восклицала пожилая женщина).