Трое в лодке, не считая собаки / Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

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“How are you?”

“Well, to tell you the truth, my man has thrown me out.”

“So has mine! It’s an awful inn!”

We turned in at ten that night, and I thought I should sleep well, being tired; but I didn’t. As a rule, I undress and put my head on the pillow, and then somebody hits at the door, and says it is half-past eight. But tonight everything seemed against me; the hardness of the boat, the cramped position[99 - the cramped position – неудобная поза] (I was lying with my feet under one seat, and my head on another), the sound of the water round the boat, and the wind among the branches disturbed me.

I did get to sleep for a few hours. I slept through it for a while, dreaming that I had swallowed a sovereign, and that they were cutting a hole in my back with a gimlet, so as to get it out. I thought it very unkind of them, and I told them I would owe them the money, and they should have it at the end of the month. But they would not hear of that, and said it would be much better if they had it then, because otherwise the interest would accumulate so.[100 - otherwise the interest would accumulate so – в противном случае накопятся большие проценты] I told them what I thought of them, and then they pushed me so hard that I woke up.

The boat seemed stuffy, and my head ached; so I stepped out into the cool night air. I put on what clothes I could find about – some of my own, and some of George’s and Harris’s – and crept under the canvas on to the bank.

It was a glorious night. The moon had sunk, and left the quiet earth alone with the stars. They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear.

Chapter XI

I woke at six the next morning; and found George awake too. We tried to go to sleep again, but we could not.