The second wet season (второй влажный сезон) began about the middle of August and lasted till the middle October.
The second dry season began about the middle of October and lasted till the middle of February.
I could not have kept track of these thing easily if it had not been for my calendar (я не смог бы вести учет этому так легко, если бы не мой календарь).
Just before the first rainy season began I was one day rummaging among the shelves in my cave (как раз перед тем, как начался первый сезон дождей, я одним днем копался среди полок в пещере; to rummage — тщательно разыскивать что-л.).
There I found the little bag (там я нашел небольшую сумку) that I had brought from the ship with some barley in it (которую я принес с корабля, с некоторым количеством ячменя в ней), as I have already told you (как я уже говорил вам).
I lifted it; it was almost empty (я поднял ее, она была почти пуста).
I looked inside (я заглянул внутрь). I saw nothing there but some dust and chaff (я не увидел там ничего, кроме пыли и мякины). The rats had been there (крысы побывали там), and had eaten the grains of barley (и съели зерна ячменя).
The bag would be useful for something else (сумка могла бы быть полезна для чего-нибудь другого). I took it outside and shook the dust and chaff upon he ground (я вынес ее наружу и вытряс пыль и мякину на землю). It was a sunny place (это было солнечное место), close by the great rock (близко к большой скале).
About a month after this (примерно /через/ месяц после этого), I saw that something green was starting to grow at that place (я увидел, что что-то зеленое начинало расти на том месте). I wondered what it was (я задался вопросом, что это было). It could not be grass (это не могла быть трава), for the stalks were larger and stronger (так как стебли были больше и крепче).
I had forgotten about the barley (я забыл о ячмене; to forget). But I took care that nothing should break the stalks down (но я позаботился, чтобы ничто не сломало стебли).
They grew fast (они росли быстро; to grow — расти), and were soon as high as my waist (и вскоре были такими высокими, как моя талия = стали мне по пояс). Then I was surprised to see ten or twelve heads of green barley come out (затем я был удивлен увидеть = с удивлением увидел, как появились десять или двенадцать головок = колосьев зеленого ячменя).
You cannot think how glad I was (вы не можете подумать = представить себе, как я был рад). I remembered, then, how I had shaken the bag of dust and chaff over that very spot (я вспомнил тогда, как я вытряс сумку пыли и мякины над тем самым местом; to shake — трясти).
But there was another surprise for me (но был и другой сюрприз/другая неожиданность для меня). I noticed in the wet ground (я заметил в мокрой земле) a little nearer the rock some other green plants (немного ближе к скале, несколько других зеленых растений). These were not so tall as the barley stalks (они не были такими высокими, как стебли ячменя), and they did not seem to be the same (и не казались быть тем же = и казалось, что это не ячмень).
I watched them for several days (я наблюдал за ними несколько дней). Then I saw that they were stalks of rice (затем я увидел, что они /эти ростки/ были стеблями риса). No doubt some grains of rice had been in the bag with the barley (без сомнения, несколько зерен риса было в сумке с ячменем), and had fallen out with the dust and chaff (и вывалились вместе с пылью и мякиной).
You may be sure that I took good care of the grain (можете быть уверены, я хорошо позаботился о зерне). As soon as the barley was ripe I harvested it (как только ячмень был созревшим = созрел, я собрал урожай; to harvest — собирать урожай). There was only a handful or two (это было всего лишь горсть или две); but I put it away where no rats could get to it (но я убрал его подальше, где никакие крысы не могли добраться до него). I wished to keep it safe and plant it again the next season (я хотел сохранить его и посадить вновь в следующем сезоне).
I did the same way with the rice (то же самое я проделал с рисом).
There was so little to begin with that it took a long time to grow a big crop (/его/ было так мало для того, чтобы начать /выращивать/ = пришлось начать со столь малого количества, что заняло долгое время вырастить большой урожай). It was not until the fourth harvest that I could keep some of the barley for bread (только с четвертым урожаем я смог сберечь/оставить немного ячменя для хлеба; until — до /какого-л. времени/).
I found that the best place to plant the grain was not on the hillside (я обнаружил, что лучшее место сажать зерно было не на склоне холма), but in a moist spot not far from my summer home (а во влажном месте недалеко от моего летнего дома).
One day, as soon as the wet season was at an end (однажды, как только влажный сезон закончился: «был при конце»), I made a visit to the country to see how my crops were growing (я совершил визит = поход вглубь острова, чтобы посмотреть, как растет мой урожай).
There I saw something that surprised me (там я увидел что-то, что поразило меня).
You will remember the fence that I built around my summer house (вы помните забор, который я построил вокруг моего летнего дома), or bower as I called it (или беседки, как я называл его). It was made of two rows of tall stakes, with brush between (он был сделан из двух рядов длинных кольев с ветками между /ними/).
Well, I now found that the stakes were still green (так вот теперь я обнаружил, что колья были все еще зелеными), and that long shoots or twigs were growing from them (и что длинные побеги, или ветки, росли на них). Some of these branches were already two or three feet long (некоторые из веток были уже два-три фута длиной).
This pleased me very much (это меня очень порадовало; to please — нравиться). I cut and trained the growing branches into just such shapes as I wished (я подрезал и согнул растущие ветки как раз в такую форму, как я хотел).
They grew very fast (они росли очень быстро; to grow — расти), and soon the whole fence was covered with green leaves (и вскоре весь забор был покрыт зелеными листьями). Then I trained the long branches toward the top of a pole which I set up in the center of my bower (затем я загнул длинные ветки к верхушке шеста, который я установил в центре беседки).
In a few months the whole inclosure was covered with a green roof (через несколько месяцев все огороженное пространство было покрыто зеленой крышей).
You cannot think how beautiful it was (вы не можете себе представить, насколько это было красиво). The place was shady and cool (место было тенистым и прохладным; shade — тень), the pleasantest spot one could wish to have (самое приятное место, /которое/ кто-либо мог желать иметь).
I did not know what kind of tree it was that grew in this wonderful way (я не знал, какой вид дерева это был, что рос таким удивительным способом). But I cut some more stakes of the same sort and carried them home to my castle (но я срезал несколько еще кольев этого же вида и принес их домой в мой замок).
I set these stakes in a double row (я воткнул эти колья в двойной ряд), about twenty inches outside of my first wall (примерно в двадцати дюймах снаружи от моей первой стены). In a few weeks they began to grow (через несколько недель они начали расти). They grew so fast that in two years they covered the whole space in front of my castle (они росли столь быстро, что через два года они покрыли все пространство перед моим замком).
They were not only handsome to look at (на них не только было приятно смотреть; handsome — красивый), but they helped to protect my castle (но они /к тому же/ помогали защищать мой замок).
February [ˈfebru(ǝ)rɪ], April [ˈeɪpr(ǝ)l], August [ˈɔ:ɡ ǝst], October [ɔkˈtǝubǝ], dust [dʌst], chaff [tʃɑ:f], stalk [stɔ:k], surprised [sǝˈpraɪzd], notice [ˈnǝutɪs], several [ˈsev(ǝ)r(ǝ)l], cover [ˈkʌvǝ], handsome [ˈhæn(d)sǝm], protect [prǝˈtekt]
I SOW SOME GRAIN
THE first wet season began about the middle of February and lasted till the middle April. The first dry season began about the middle of April and lasted till the middle of August.
The second wet season began about the middle of August and lasted till the middle October.
The second dry season began about the middle of October and lasted till the middle of February.
I could not have kept track of these thing easily if it had not been for my calendar.
Just before the first rainy season began I was one day rummaging among the shelves in my cave.
There I found the little bag that I had brought from the ship with some barley in it, as I have already told you.
I lifted it; it was almost empty.
I looked inside. I saw nothing there but some dust and chaff. The rats had been there, and had eaten the grains of barley.
The bag would be useful for something else. I took it outside and shook the dust and chaff upon the ground. It was a sunny place, close by the great rock.
About a month after this, I saw that something green was starting to grow at that place. I wondered what it was. It could not be grass, for the stalks were larger and stronger.
I had forgotten about the barley. But I took care that nothing should break the stalks down.
They grew fast, and were soon as high as my waist. Then I was surprised to see ten or twelve heads of green barley come out.
You cannot think how glad I was. I remembered, then, how I had shaken the bag of dust and chaff over that very spot.
But there was another surprise for me. I noticed in the wet ground a little nearer the rock some other green plants. These were not so tall as the barley stalks, and they did not seem to be the same.
I watched them for several days. Then I saw that they were stalks of rice. No doubt some grains of rice had been in the bag with the barley, and had fallen out with the dust and chaff.
You may be sure that I took good care of the grain. As soon as the barley was ripe I harvested it. There was only a handful or two; but I put it away where no rats could get to it. I wished to keep it safe and plant it again the next season.
I did the same way with the rice.
There was so little to begin with that it took a long time to grow a big crop. It was not until the fourth harvest that I could keep some of the barley for bread.
I found that the best place to plant the grain was not on the hillside, but in a moist spot not far from my summer home.
One day, as soon as the wet season was at an end, I made a visit to the country to see how my crops were growing.
There I saw something that surprised me.
You will remember the fence that I built around my summer house, or bower as I called it. It was made of two rows of tall stakes, with brush between.
