Английский язык с Л. Ф. Баумом - Волшебник страны Оз

The farms were not nearly so well cared for here as they were farther back. There were fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, and the farther they went the more dismal and lonesome the country became.

At noon they sat down by the roadside, near a little brook, and Dorothy opened her basket and got out some bread. She offered a piece to the Scarecrow, but he refused.

"I am never hungry (я никогда /не/ голоден)," he said, "and it is a lucky thing I am not (удачная вещь = и это удачно, что я не /голоден/), for my mouth is only painted (так как мой рот только нарисован), and if I should cut a hole in it so I could eat (и если я прорежу в нем дырку, чтобы я смог есть), the straw I am stuffed with would come out (то солома, которой я набит, вывалится наружу)

, and that would spoil the shape of my head (а это испортит форму моей головы)."

Dorothy saw at once that this was true (Дороти сразу же увидела, что это было правдой), so she only nodded and went on eating her bread (поэтому она только кивнула головой и продолжила есть хлеб; to go on — продолжать путь; продолжать /делать что-либо/).

lucky [ˈlʌkɪ], painted [ˈpeɪntɪd], spoil [spɔɪl], bread [bred]

"I am never hungry," he said, "and it is a lucky thing I am not, for my mouth is only painted, and if I should cut a hole in it so I could eat, the straw I am stuffed with would come out, and that would spoil the shape of my head." Dorothy saw at once that this was true, so she only nodded and went on eating her bread.

"Tell me something about yourself and the country you came from (расскажи мне что-нибудь о себе и о той стране, откуда ты прибыла)," said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner (сказал Страшила, когда она закончила свой обед). So she told him all about Kansas (поэтому она рассказала ему все о Канзасе), and how gray everything was there (и о том, каким серым там все было), and how the cyclone had carried her to this queer Land of Oz (и о том, как ураган принес ее в эту странную Страну Оз).

The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said (Страшила выслушал внимательно и сказал), "I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country (я не могу понять, почему ты желаешь покинуть эту прекрасную страну)

and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas (и вернуться в то засушливое серое место, которое ты называешь Канзасом; dry — сухой, обезвоженный; засушливый /о месте, климате/)."

"That is because you have no brains (это потому, что у тебя нет мозгов)," answered the girl.

listen [ˈlɪs(ə)n], understand [ˌʌndəˈstænd], dry [draɪ], because [bɪˈkɔːz]

"Tell me something about yourself and the country you came from," said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner. So she told him all about Kansas, and how gray everything was there, and how the cyclone had carried her to this queer Land of Oz.

The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, "I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas."

"That is because you have no brains," answered the girl.

"No matter how dreary and gray our homes are (неважно, насколько унылы и серы наши дома; dreary — мрачный, безотрадный), we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country (мы, люди из плоти и крови, будем лучше жить там, чем в любой другой стране; flesh — плоть), be it ever so beautiful (какой бы красивой она ни была). There is no place like home (нет места, подобного /родному/ дому = в гостях хорошо, а дома лучше)."

The Scarecrow sighed (Страшила вздохнул).