But fear had fought for it when it slew its other victims and Conan was not afraid (но страх боролся за него = был на его стороне, когда оно убивало свои остальные жертвы, а Конан не боялся). He knew that any being clothed in material flesh can be slain by material weapons (он знал, что любое существо, одетое в материальную плоть, может быть убито = можно убить вещественным оружием), however grisly its form may be (каким бы мерзким оно ни было: «какой бы мерзкой его форма может быть»).
fear [fɪə], fought [fɔ: t], knew [nju:]
But fear had fought for it when it slew its other victims and Conan was not afraid. He knew that any being clothed in material flesh can be slain by material weapons, however grisly its form may be.
One flailing talon-armed limb knocked his helmet from his head (одна метнувшаяся вооруженная когтями конечность сбила /его/ шлем с его головы). A little lower and it would have decapitated him (немного ниже, и оно sword sank deep in the monster's groin (но сильный восторг охватил его, когда его беспощадно направленный меч погрузился глубоко в пах чудовища). He bounded backward from a flailing stroke, tearing his sword free as he leaped (он отпрыгнул назад от размашистого удара, вырывая свой меч, когда он прыгнул = в прыжке). The talons raked his breast, ripping through mail-links as if they had been cloth (когти царапнули его грудь, разрывая кольчугу, как будто она была /простой/ тканью). But his return spring was like that of a starving wolf (но его ответный выпад был как таковой = прыжок голодного волка; spring — прыжок, бросок). He was inside the lashing arms and driving his sword deep in the monster's belly (он был внутри = между стегающих рук и вгонял свой меч глубоко в брюхо монстра) — felt the arms lock about him and the talons ripping the mail from his back as they sought his vitals (почувствовал, /как/ руки смыкаются вокруг него, а когти рвут кольчугу с /его/ спины, когда они искали его жизненно важные органы = в поисках его жизненно важных органов) — he was lapped and dazzled by blue flame that was chill as ice (он был скручен и ослеплен голубым пламенем, которое было холодное, как лед) — then he had torn fiercely away from the weakening arms and his sword cut the air in a tremendous swipe (затем он яростно рванулся из слабеющих рук, а его меч разрезал воздух в страшном ударе).
limb [lɪm], tear [tɛə], vitals [vaɪtlz]
One flailing talon-armed limb knocked his helmet from his head. A little lower and it would have decapitated him. But fierce joy surged through him as his savagely driven sword sank deep in the monster's groin. He bounded backward from a flailing stroke, tearing his sword free as he leaped. The talons raked his breast, ripping through mail-links as if they had been cloth. But his return spring was like that of a starving wolf. He was inside the lashing arms and driving his sword deep in the monster's belly — felt the arms lock about him and the talons ripping the mail from his back as they sought his vitals — he was lapped and dazzled by blue flame that was chill as ice — then he had torn fiercely away from the weakening arms and his sword cut the air in a tremendous swipe.
The demon staggered and fell sprawling sidewise, its head hanging only by a shred of flesh (демон зашатался и упал растянувшись вбок, его голова висела лишь на лоскуте мяса). The fires that veiled it leaped fiercely upward, now red as gushing blood, hiding the figure from view (огни, которые скрывали его, взметнулись яростно вверх, теперь красные, как хлещущая кровь, скрывая фигуру из виду). A scent of burning flesh filled Conan's nostrils (запах горелой плоти заполнил ноздри Конана). Shaking the blood and sweat from his eyes, he wheeled and ran staggering through the woods (стряхнув кровь и пот из /его/ глаз, он повернулся и побежал, спотыкаясь, через лес). Blood trickled down his limbs (кровь стекала по его конечностям). Somewhere, miles to the south, he saw the faint glow of flames that might mark a burning cabin (где-то, в милях к югу, он увидел слабое зарево пламени, которое могло обозначать горящую хижину). Behind him, toward the road, rose a distant howling that spurred him to greater efforts (позади него, в сторону дороги, поднялся далекий вой, который побудил его к большим усилиям = который заставил его поднапрячься).
demon [ˈdi: mən], only [ˈəunlɪ], spur [spə:]
The demon staggered and fell sprawling sidewise, its head hanging only by a shred of flesh. The fires that veiled it leaped fiercely upward, now red as gushing blood, hiding the figure from view. A scent of burning flesh filled Conan's nostrils. Shaking the blood and sweat from his eyes, he wheeled and ran staggering through the woods. Blood trickled down his limbs. Somewhere, miles to the south, he saw the faint glow of flames that might mark a burning cabin. Behind him, toward the road, rose a distant howling that spurred him to greater efforts.
8. Conajohara No More
(Конаджохары больше нет)
There had been fighting on Thunder River; fierce fighting before the walls of Velitrium (на Громовой реке была битва, жестокая битва перед стенами Велитриума); ax and torch had been plied up and down the bank (топор и факел поработали выше и ниже по берегу), and many a settler's cabin lay in ashes before the painted horde was rolled back (и много хижин поселенцев лежали в пепле, прежде чем раскрашенная орда откатилась назад).
A strange quiet followed the storm, in which people gathered and talked in hushed voices (необычная тишина последовала за бурей, в которой люди собирались и беседовали приглушенными голосами), and men with red-stained bandages drank their ale silently in the taverns along the river bank (а люди в повязках с красными пятнами пили молча свой эль в тавернах вдоль берега реки).
cabin [ˈkæbɪn], horde [hɔ: d], bandage [ˈbændɪʤ]
There had been fighting on Thunder River; fierce fighting before the walls of Velitrium; ax and torch had been plied up and down the bank, and many a settler's cabin lay in ashes before the painted horde was rolled back.
A strange quiet followed the storm, in which people gathered and talked in hushed voices, and men with red-stained bandages drank their ale silently in the taverns along the river bank.
There, to Conan the Cimmerian, moodily quaffing from a great wine-glass (там, к Конану-киммерийцу, угрюмо пьющего из большого бокала), came a gaunt forester with a bandage about his head and his arm in a sling (подошел сухопарый лесник с повязкой на /его/ голове и /его/ рукой на перевязи). He was the one survivor of Fort Tuscelan (он был единственным уцелевшим из Форта Тусцелан).
"You went with the soldiers to the ruins of the fort (ты ходил с солдатами к руинам форта; to go — ходить, идти)?" Conan nodded (Конан кивнул).
"I wasn't able," murmured the other (я не смог, — пробормотал другой). "There was no fighting (не было боя)?"
moodily [ˈmu: dɪlɪ], quaff [kwɑ:f], murmur [ˈmə: mə]
There, to Conan the Cimmerian, moodily quaffing from a great wine-glass, came a gaunt forester with a bandage about his head and his arm in a sling. He was the one survivor of Fort Tuscelan.
"You went with the soldiers to the ruins of the fort?" Conan nodded.
"I wasn't able," murmured the other. "There was no fighting?"
"The Picts had fallen back across Black River (пикты отступили за Черную реку). Something must have broken their nerve, though only the devil who made them knows what (что-то, должно быть, подорвало их уверенность, хотя только дьявол, который создал их, знает что)."
The woodsman glanced at his bandaged arm and sighed (лесной житель посмотрел на /его/ перевязанную руку и вздохнул).
"They say there were no bodies worth disposing of (/они/ говорят, /там/ не было тел, стоящих убирания = которые можно было убрать = захоронить; to dispose of — завершать, избавляться, убирать, удалять, уничтожать)." Conan shook his head (Конан покачал /своей/ головой = кивнул).[50] "Ashes (пепел). The Picts had piled them in the fort and set fire to the fort before they crossed the river (пикты сложили их в кучу в форте и подожгли форт, перед тем как /они/ пересекли реку; to pile — складывать в кучу). Their own dead and the men of Valannus (своих собственных мертвецов и людей Валаннуса)."
fallen [fɔ: ln], worth [wə: Ɵ], shook [ʃʋk]
"The Picts had fallen back across Black River. Something must have broken their nerve, though only the devil who made them knows what."
The woodsman glanced at his bandaged arm and sighed. "They say there were no bodies worth disposing of."
Conan shook his head. "Ashes. The Picts had piled them in the fort and set fire to the fort before they crossed the river. Their own dead and the men of Valannus."
"Valannus was killed among the last — in the hand-to-hand fighting when they broke the barriers (Валаннус был убит среди последних — в рукопашном бою, когда они сломали ограждения). They tried to take him alive, but he made them kill him (они попытались взять его живым, но он заставил их убить его). They took ten of the rest of us prisoners when we were so weak from fighting we could fight no more (они взяли десять из нас оставшихся в плен, когда мы были так слабы от боя, /что/ мы больше не могли сражаться). They butchered nine of us then and there (они забили девятерых из нас тогда и там). It was when Zogar Sag died that I got my chance to break free and run for it (это /было/, когда умер Зогар Саг, /что/ я получил свой шанс освободиться = на свободу и помчался изо всех сил; to break free — вырваться на свободу, освободиться; to run for it — бежать изо всех сил, удирать со всех ног)."
"Zogar Sag's dead?" ejaculated Conan (Зогар Саг мертв? — воскликнул Конан).
among [əˈmʌŋ], weak [wi: k], ejaculate [ɪˈʤækjuleɪt]
"Valannus was killed among the last — in the hand-to-hand fighting when they broke the barriers. They tried to take him alive, but he made them kill him. They took ten of the rest of us prisoners when we were so weak from fighting we could fight no more. They butchered nine of us then and there. It was when Zogar Sag died that I got my chance to break free and run for it."
"Zogar Sag's dead?" ejaculated Conan.
"Aye (да = ага). I saw him die (я видел, /как/ он умер). That's why the Picts didn't press the fight against Velitrium as fiercely as they did against the fort (поэтому пикты не наседали в битве против Велитриума так ожесточенно, как /они делали = сражались/ против форта). It was strange (это было странно). He took no wounds in battle (он не получил ран в битве). He was dancing among the slain, waving an ax with which he'd just brained the last of my comrades (он плясал среди убитых, размахивая топором, которым он только что размозжил мозги последнему из моих товарищей). He came at me, howling like a wolf (он набросился на меня, завывая как волк) — and then he staggered and dropped the ax (и потом он споткнулся и уронил топор), and began to reel in a circle screaming as I never heard a man or beast scream before (и начал вертеться = завертелся по кругу, вопя так, как я никогда прежде не слышал, чтобы вопили человек или животное). He fell between me and the fire they'd built to roast me (он упал между мной и костром, /который/ они возвели, /чтобы/ поджарить меня), goggling and frothing at the mouth (выпучив глаза и с пеной: «пенясь» у рта), and all at once he went rigid and the Picts shouted that he was dead (и внезапно он окоченел, а пикты закричали, что он мертв; rigid — жесткий, негнущийся). It was during the confusion that I slipped my cords and ran for the woods (это было во время замешательства, что = именно во время замешательства я выскользнул из моих пут / развязал веревки и убежал в лес).
