"Who comes (кто идет)?" he queried in a thin, tremulous voice (спросил он тонким, дрожащим голосом).
"Negore (Негор)," said the young woman (сказала молодая женщина), scarcely looking up from her task (едва подняв взор от своего занятия;
sign [saIn], thread [Tred], scarcely ['skFqslI]
Black anger ate at his heart; but he gave no sign, threading his way among the camp-fires until he came to one where sat an old man. A young woman was kneading with skilful fingers the tired muscles of his legs. He raised a sightless face and listened intently as Negore's foot crackled a dead twig.
"Who comes?" he queried in a thin, tremulous voice.
"Negore," said the young woman, scarcely looking up from her task.
Negore's face was expressionless (лицо Негора было невыразительно = бесстрастно). For many minutes he stood and waited (много минут он стоял и ждал). The old man's head had sunk back upon his chest (голова старика снова опустилась на грудь;
"Is there no greeting for Negore (/разве/ нет приветствия для Негора), who has been long gone and has but now come back (которого долго не было, и он вернулся только сейчас)?"
wealth [welT], stalk [stLk], yearn [jWn]
Negore's face was expressionless. For many minutes he stood and waited. The old man's head had sunk back upon his chest. The young woman pressed and prodded the wasted muscles, resting her body on her knees, her bowed head hidden as in a cloud by her black wealth of hair. Negore watched the supple body, bending at the hips as a lynx's body might bend, pliant as a young willow stalk, and, withal, strong as only youth is strong. He looked, and was aware of a great yearning, akin in sensation to physical hunger. At last he spoke, saying:
"Is there no greeting for Negore, who has been long gone and has but now come back?"
She looked up at him with cold eyes (она подняла на него холодный взгляд). The old man chuckled to himself after the manner of the old (старик хихикнул про себя по-стариковски).
"Thou art my woman, Oona (ты моя женщина, Уна)," Negore said, his tones dominant and conveying a hint of menace (/при этом/ его тон возвышался и выражал оттенок угрозы = при этом он возвысил тон, который нес оттенок угрозы;
She arose with catlike ease and suddenness to her full height (она поднялась с кошачьей легкостью и внезапностью в полный рост), her eyes flashing, her nostrils quivering like a deer's (ее глаза сверкали, а ноздри подрагивали, как у оленя).
"I was thy woman to be, Negore (я должна была стать твоей женщиной, Негор), but thou art a coward (но ты трус); the daughter of Old Kinoos mates not with a coward (дочь Старого Кинуса не выйдет замуж за труса;
She silenced him with an imperious gesture (она заставила его замолчать повелительным жестом) as he strove to speak (когда он попытался заговорить;
quiver ['kwIvq], coward ['kauqd], imperious [Im'pIqrIqs]
She looked up at him with cold eyes. The old man chuckled to himself after the manner of the old.
"Thou art my woman, Oona," Negore said, his tones dominant and conveying a hint of menace.
She arose with catlike ease and suddenness to her full height, her eyes flashing, her nostrils quivering like a deer's.