От автора-составителя

Настоящий сборник рассказов и историй на английском языке, во-первых, развлечёт вас, во-вторых, значительно расширит ваш словарный запас и поможет активизировать его, в-третьих, поможет развить навыки устной речи (при пересказе и ответах на послетекстовые вопросы). Каждый рассказ сопровождается списком трудных или непонятных слов и выражений, а также послетекстовыми вопросами и заданиями, которые можно использовать как для самостоятельной работы, так и в учебной группе (если вы преподаватель или репетитор). Под названием рассказов в скобках указано количество слов.

Кроме этого, в книге имеется специальное приложение, в котором даны русские переводы большинства рассказов сборника (эти рассказы помечены значком*).

Каждый читатель может попробовать свои силы в письменном переводе любого из этих рассказов и сравнить свой перевод с приведенным в книге.

Книга адресована всем, кто желает усовершенствовать навыки чтения и перевода, расширить словарный запас и получить удовольствие от чтения на английском языке.

Aliens in the City

(1037 words)

I know it’s hard to believe, but I have seen something that cannot be explained reasonably.

I still don’t know whether it was a UFO or something else. I just saw it with my own eyes and I want to tell you about it.

It all happened in Siberia in the middle of the 80-ies. I was visiting my namesake and friend Alexander who was a journalist. I stayed at his place in a big Siberian city. He had a very funny dog called Piggy. My friend said that he gave that name to his fox-terrier because she had looked like a little pig when he had bought her. So every day Alexander took Piggy for a walk two or three times. Piggy was so friendly that she took an instant liking to me and very often woke me up in the morning hinting that I should take her for a walk. Well, I like animals in general and dogs in particular so I was never against taking Piggy out.

My visit was almost coming to an end, when Piggy decided it was my turn to take her for an evening stroll. Sometimes, I think that it is dogs that take their owners for a walk rather than otherwise. It was spring-time (I’m sure some of you imagined blooming trees and flowers. Well, I’m afraid you forget where I was.). It was March in Siberia. The snow still covered the city. The temperature was about minus 10-15 Celsius. In a word, it was a usual Siberian spring.

Anyway, Piggy took me out and we headed for her favorite place in the nearby park. Piggy liked her walks to be physical, what I mean is that she always carried a small tennis ball in her mouth. Whoever took Piggy for a walk was supposed to throw the ball as far as he could and Piggy would run for it, bring it back and put it right in front of your feet. She hinted that you could either pick it up and throw it again or just kick it. This kind of activity could go on and on until both parties felt quite exhausted and were looking forward to coming back home.

That evening Piggy was especially in a sporting mood and made me throw the ball a million times. I think it was quite good for me too as the weather was cold. We’d been walking for an hour or so when I noticed a strange looking cloud. It was hanging at a distance of no more than 150 yards (about 130 meters). And it drew my attention because it looked like a huge ball, an absolutely perfect round ball. The size of that ball was about 10-15 yards (about 12 meters) in diameter.

As the poet said I stood in my shoes and I wondered ^1*I couldn’t quite make out what it was. Actually, that “cloud” was hanging too low, perhaps ten yards (nine meters) above the ground level. I knew it because the “cloud” was hanging in front of a building. The “cloud” was so thick that I couldn’t see part of the building (a balcony, a window, and part of the roof). The building was not tall, only four stories high that was why I knew an approximate size and the altitude of that object.

I can imagine the reader probably thinking, “Why do other people see something strange and unusual? Why don’t I ever see anything of the kind?” I was like you, dear reader. I’d never seen anything like that before and my inner self told me that it simply couldn’t be true.

Do you know what I did? I decided it was a greasy spot on my glasses (I always wear glasses). I took them off and wiped them thoroughly. Then I put them on again and looked up. The round object was still hanging there. Only then did I realize that it could not be a cloud. Clouds do not hang that low. It was something else. I was standing there staring at the ball-like object and I still couldn’t believe my own eyes. I looked round trying to find a witness. Thank God, there was a woman coming in my direction with her back to the object. When she came close enough I said to her, (I was learning Russian at that time, and actually, I’d come to my friend to practice my Russian). “Excuse me! Do you see anything over there?” And I pointed in the direction of the object. Mind you, I didn’t mention the object. Her answer killed all of my doubts. She said, “Oh! What a strange round cloud!”

Well, my dear reader, what would you have thought after hearing such an answer?

I was just standing there staring at the object. For a moment I had forgotten about the Russian woman, about Piggy, and even about my friend Alexander. And suddenly, something even more inexplicable happened. The object began disappearing. It did not move away. It was still hanging in the same place but it was becoming thinner, more and more transparent until it simply disappeared in the air. Then, I was able to see the whole building again. That was unbelievable.

“And where did it go?” the woman asked as if she’d been reading my thoughts. She was still standing near me and looking at the object. “I don’t know” I said. And that was true. I really didn’t know where the object had gone. I heard Piggy give an impatient woof at me. She was drawing my attention to her own round object that she’d put in front of my feet long ago.

When I came back to Alexander’s apartment, I couldn’t help telling him about the wonderful thing I’d seen. At that time I didn’t care whether he believed me or not I just couldn’t hold it.

Three days later, right on the day of my departure, Alexander brought me a local paper. “This is for you” he said. “Read the last page”. I unfolded the paper and looked at the last page.

Huge letters across the top of the page screamed:

“Aliens in the city! Two witnesses (to say nothing of the dog)!”²

Словарик

alien здесь инопланетянин, пришелец

UFO (unidentified flying object) НЛО (неопознанный летающий объект)

namesake тезка

instant мгновенный

to take a liking to somebody полюбить кого-то

dogs in particular здесь особенно собак

to hint намекать

stroll прогулка

to head for направляться (куда-либо)

otherwise наоборот

liked her walks to be physical чтобы её прогулки были с упражнениями

both parties felt quite exhausted здесь пока обе стороны не обессилят

to make out разглядеть, понять

thick здесь густой

inner self здесь внутреннее я

thoroughly тщательно

that low разг. так низко

killed all of my doubts здесь развеял все мои сомнения

heard Piggy give an impatient woof Услышал, как Пигги нетерпеливо тявкнула

paper разг. газета

Вопросы и задания

Have you ever seen a UFO?

Have you been to Siberia?

Would you write about the incident if you were the story-teller’s friend and a journalist? Why?/Why not?

Do you have a pet? What is it?

Do you believe in aliens? Why?/Why not?

Read aloud and translate any paragraph you like.

Balalaikas in Syria*

(746 words)

I am Alexander and I am Russian. I’d like to tell you an interesting story about a trip I made to Damascus, in Syria, back in the 80eies. I worked in a city in the heart of Siberia as a translator. Once I was asked to interpret for a dancing group, composed of boys and girls aged between fourteen and seventeen as the group was going on a two-week tour to Syria.

They were a very professional dancing group, as they’d all started dancing at about the age of six, and had been training intensively almost every day since then. They learnt many different types of dances, so it was very impressive to see them. It was a real pleasure for my friend to work with the group, and to see them dance so often. Every time I saw them performing I couldn’t help admiring them, as they danced so magnificently, better than many adult dancing groups that I’d seen.

Anyway, we travelled to Damascus in July, in the middle of summer. It was unusually hot in Siberia at that time, about twenty-nine degrees Celsius, so everybody was sweating. I said to the group before we left, “Don’t forget, we’re going, to Damascus, very close to the desert, and it’s going to be something like forty-seven or even fifty degrees Celsius.”

When we arrived at the airport, however, and got out of the plane, we couldn’t believe we were in a desert region, as we all felt a bit chilly! It turned out that the temperature was only eighteen degrees Celsius!

The next day, however, there was a heat wave and it was blistering hot. The temperature reached forty-seven degrees, and during the day it was almost impossible for me and the group to go anywhere without staying in the shade. We had to walk under covered walkways, or stay under the canvas awnings of shops and cafes, as it was absolutely unbearable in the sun.

I remember that Damascus was dead during the day-time, with nearly empty streets and no other signs of life. But when the sun went down at about nine o’clock in the evening, the city came alive. People would come out into the streets, the cafes and restaurants would open, and social life would start. They’d go to parties, visit each other, buy and sell things, go to the cinemas and so on. This carried on until about three or four in the morning.

It was like an upside-down world for my friend, as in Siberia everything closed at about eight, the day finished and everybody went home and stayed there watching TV or rather going to bed.