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“Hey, you, Mr. Pocket (эй ты, мистер Карман)!” he called down into the canyon (крикнул он вниз каньона). “Stand out from under (вылезай оттуда; to stand out – выделяться /на фоне чего-либо/)! I’m a-comin’, Mr. Pocket! I’m a-comin’ (я иду, Мистер Карман, я иду)!”
And in all that mighty sweep of earth he saw no sign of man nor of the handiwork of man – save only the torn bosom of the hillside at his feet. The man looked long and carefully. Once, far down his own canyon, he thought he saw in the air a faint hint of smoke. He looked again and decided that it was the purple haze of the hills made dark by a convolution of the canyon wall at its back.
“Hey, you, Mr. Pocket!” he called down into the canyon. “Stand out from under! I’m a-comin’, Mr. Pocket! I’m a-comin’!”
The heavy brogans on the man’s feet made him appear clumsy-footed (тяжелые башмаки на ногах человека придавали его ногам неуклюжий вид; brogan – грубый башмак), but he swung down from the giddy height as lightly and airily as a mountain goat (но он спускался с головокружительной высоты так же легко и воздушно, как горный козел; to swing – качаться; идти мерным шагом). A rock, turning under his foot on the edge of the precipice, did not disconcert him (камень, вывернувшийся = выскочивший из-под его ног на краю пропасти, не смутил его; to disconcert – сбивать с толку; смущать). He seemed to know the precise time required for the turn to culminate in disaster (он, казалось, знал точное время, необходимое для поворота, чтобы /тот мог/ закончиться катастрофой; to culminate – достигать кульминации; завершать), and in the meantime he utilized the false footing itself for the momentary earth-contact necessary to carry him on into safety (и в то же время он использовал неверную опору для кратковременного контакта с землей, необходимого, чтобы перенести его в безопасность; to utilize – использовать, употреблять). Where the earth sloped so steeply that it was impossible to stand for a second upright, the man did not hesitate (/там/, где земля опускалась так наклонно, что было невозможно и секунду простоять прямо, человек не колебался). His foot pressed the impossible surface for but a fraction of the fatal second (его нога ступала на невозможную поверхность лишь на долю роковой секунды) and gave him the bound that carried him onward (и сообщала ему прыжок, который выносил его вперед). Again, where even the fraction of a second’s footing was out of the question (опять же, /там/, где даже опора на долю секунды была невозможна; out of the question – вне обсуждения; невозможно, исключено), he would swing his body past by a moment’s hand-grip on a jutting knob of rock (он перебрасывал тело вперед секундным сжатием руками выдающегося выступа скалы), a crevice (расщелины), or a precariously rooted shrub (или непрочно пустившего корни куста; root – корень; to root – пускать корни). At last (наконец), with a wild leap and yell (неистовым прыжком и с криком), he exchanged the face of the wall for an earth-slide (он сменил переднюю часть скалы на оползень; earth – земля; to slide – скользить) and finished the descent in the midst of several tons of sliding earth and gravel (и завершил спуск посреди кучи сыплющейся земли и гальки; several – несколько; tons – куча, множество).
The heavy brogans on the man’s feet made him appear clumsy-footed, but he swung down from the giddy height as lightly and airily as a mountain goat. A rock, turning under his foot on the edge of the precipice, did not disconcert him. He seemed to know the precise time required for the turn to culminate in disaster, and in the meantime he utilized the false footing itself for the momentary earth-contact necessary to carry him on into safety. Where the earth sloped so steeply that it was impossible to stand for a second upright, the man did not hesitate. His foot pressed the impossible surface for but a fraction of the fatal second and gave him the bound that carried him onward. Again, where even the fraction of a second’s footing was out of the question, he would swing his body past by a moment’s hand-grip on a jutting knob of rock, a crevice, or a precariously rooted shrub. At last, with a wild leap and yell, he exchanged the face of the wall for an earth-slide and finished the descent in the midst of several tons of sliding earth and gravel.
His first pan of the morning washed out over two dollars in coarse gold (его первый лоток утром намыл более двух долларов необработанного золота; coarse – грубый, необработанный). It was from the centre of the “V” (это была /проба/ из центра «V»). To either side the diminution in the values of the pans was swift (по обеим сторонам снижение ценности лотков было стремительным). His lines of cross-cutting holes were growing very short (его ряды поперечных ям становились очень короткими; to grow – расти; делаться, становиться). The converging sides of the inverted “V” were only a few yards apart (сходящиеся стороны перевернутой «V» были только в нескольких ярдах друг от друга; apart – отдельно, на расстоянии). Their meeting-point was only a few yards above him (их точка встречи была только несколькими ярдами выше его: «над ним»). But the pay-streak was dipping deeper and deeper into the earth (но золотой след погружался глубже и глубже в землю). By early afternoon he was sinking the test-holes five feet before the pans could show the gold-trace (к раннему вечеру он выкапывал пробные ямы /на/ пять футов, прежде чем лотки могли показать золотой след; to sink – опускать/ся/, погружать/ся/).
His first pan of the morning washed out over two dollars in coarse gold. It was from the centre of the “V.” To either side the diminution in the values of the pans was swift. His lines of cross-cutting holes were growing very short. The converging sides of the inverted “V” were only a few yards apart. Their meeting-point was only a few yards above him. But the pay-streak was dipping deeper and deeper into the earth. By early afternoon he was sinking the test-holes five feet before the pans could show the gold-trace.
For that matter (впрочем/и все же; for that matter, for the matter of that – что касается этого; в этом отношении; коли на то пошло), the gold-trace had become something more than a trace (золотой след становился чем-то большим, чем след); it was a placer mine in itself (это был прииск по сути: «в самом себе»), and the man resolved to come back after he had found the pocket and work over the ground (и человек решил вернуться после того, как он обнаружит карман, и обследовать землю; to work over – обследовать; обрабатывать). But the increasing richness of the pans began to worry him (но возрастающее богатство лотков начало беспокоить его). By late afternoon the worth of the pans had grown to three and four dollars (к вечеру ценность лотков взросла до трех и четырех долларов). The man scratched his head perplexedly (человек недоуменно почесал голову; to perplex – ставить в тупик, приводить в недоумение; смущать; ошеломлять, сбивать с толку) and looked a few feet up the hill at the manzanita bush that marked approximately the apex of the “V” (и взглянул несколькими футами вверх по холму на куст толокнянки, который отмечал приблизительно вершину «V»). He nodded his head and said oracularly (он покачал головой и сказал пророчески; oracular – пророческий; загадочный):