ONE STAIR UP

Campbell Nairne [nεən]

(Fragment)

Nairne, Campbell, a Scottish novelist, the author of two books "One Stair Up" (1932) and "Stony Ground" (1934). "One Stair Up" deals with the life of an Edinburgh working-class family and is characterized by realism, a fine style and a sense of humour.

They went up a short marble мраморную staircase лестницу, treading ступая without sound on a rich carpet of some green material that yielded пружинил like springing пружинистый turf дёрн, and moved across a salon гостиную hung украшенную everywhere with the coloured and signed подписанными portraits of film stars. Back in this dim тусклом region царстве of luxury , quite still except for the soft whirring жужжания of fans вентиляторов they could hear a tea-spoon chink звяканье, a cup grate скрежет on a saucer блюдце, a voice rise above another voice and sink again into voluptuous чувственную stillness неподвижность. Out of a door marked "Circle" амфитеатр over the bull's-eye круглое слуховое окно in each of its two folding складных partitions перегородок, a trim нарядная girl in a chocolate uniform with blue pipings кантами silently emerged, glanced at the tickets, and admitted them, flashing her torch фонарик into a hot darkness lit освещённую here and there by red lamps and speared diagonally by a shaft лучом of white light falling on the rounded oblong продолговатость of the screen. "Gee вот здорово baby, you're a swell отличный kid."¹ There was a murmur приглушённый шум голосов in the audience, and a man's face came surprisingly out of shadow as he struck зажёг a match in the lower part of the gallery. Still flashing her torch фонарик, the girl hopped прыгнула in front of them down the steps of the circle амфитеатра, picked out выбрала a couple of vacant seats, and stood back to let them squeeze протиснуться past her into the row. "Thank you," Andrew said huskily сипло. Several faces glared свирепо глянули at them as they sat down. "This a comedy?" Rosa took off her gloves and surveyed осмотрела the dim amphitheatre in the hope of recognizing some of her acquaintances знакомых. It pleased her to be seen in the dress circle бельэтаж, even with Andrew. But her eyes were still unaccustomed непривычный to the obscurity темноте. She noted that the cinema, as usual, was nearly full, and looked for the first time at the screen. Two shadowy неясных faces, enormous on the white background, moved together and kissed.

"It isn't the big picture широкоэкранный фильм,"² Andrew said. "That doesn't come on расти (увеличиваться) till eight-forty. You see all right?"

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She nodded. He risked no further inquiries, knowing how often she had forbidden him to talk to her in a cinema. He promised him­self that to-night he would resist сопротивляться that awful temptation соблазну to explain the story in a whisper when he fancied предполагал he saw the end of it. Nor также не would he even say: "Liking it, Rosa ?" — "No bored, are you? 'Cos³ if you are we'll go out." — "It's hot stuff прекрасное исполнение, isn't it?" No, he would say noth­ing and enjoy himself... Ah, this was better. Nice and warm in a cin­ema, and dark; you couldn't see anybody else, and they couldn't see you. Prefer cinemas to theatres any day.

The film ended a few minutes after they had come in. Down swung качнулась a looped петельная (спиральная) curtain , pot-plants and palms leapt up подпрыгнули under the stage apron авансценой, one row of lights and then another shed излучали a pink radiance сияние over the exits, in the domed куполообразной roof a shower of small stars twinkled мерцающих and glit­tered сверкающих and three bowls вазы flushed вспыхнули suddenly to ruby colour. A dozen or so of the audience got up and pushed out выдавалась вперёд to the exits. Swiftly скоро the light dimmed потускнел again. The curtain rattled затрещали back and the white oblong продолговатость emerged from folds already caught by lines линиями of flickering колеблющихся grey print букв. A draped girl swam вплыла into view and began to blow bubbles out of a long pipe. One of these expanded увеличивался and expanded until it filled the whole screen. It then burst into the letters "All Next Week", which in turn dissolved and announced a film called "Mothers of Broadway" as a forthcoming предстоящий attraction показ.⁴ The film seemed to have smashed all records побил рекорд по кассовым сборам. It drew tears from the hardest hearts. It sent thrills трепет down the spine позвоночника. It was a rapid-fire короткометражная (?) drama . It was a heart-searing душераздирающая tale of studio parties, million-dollar prize fights, and supercharged automobiles гоночных автомобилях. It was, according to other statements that rushed out слетали of the screen, packed with heart-throbs сердечными ритмами, tingling звеня with от reality, vibrant вибрирующий with от love and hate — and what a story it had! "You will love it," the screen confi­dently уверенно asserted утверждал. "You must see it: the film you'll never forget." Beau­tiful blondes evidently abounded изобилующие in this tale рассказе of thrill-thirsty трепещуще-жаждущей young bloods.⁵ One of them, it seemed, was to find after rushing through стремительного натиска "gaiety весёлости, temptation соблазна, and sorrow печали" that motherhood is the greatest of all careers. "A film that plucks собирает the heart-strings глубочайшие чувства. Bewitching очаровательный Minnie Haha in the mightiest мощнейшая drama of Broadway."

"Not much good, I expect," Andrew said, "Hullo" — the lights dimmed and a chorus of metallic jazz broke out разразился — "I think that's the big picture on now."

He had now a pleasant feeling that he was going to enjoy himself.

There was some rare fun in this picture. That fat man with the beard бородой — you had to laugh! First of all you saw a shelf with a basket of eggs on it, then a cat moved along, then the eggs tumbled падает one by

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one on the man's head. Oh dear! the way he squeezed выжал that yolk желток out of his eyes and staggered пошатнулся forward and plumped бухнулся headfirst вперёд головой into a wa­ter-butt бочку для дождевой воды. And then the lean тощий chap, coming into the corridor, didn't look where he was going and hit a cook who was marching out выходящий of the kitch­en with a tray of custards заварного крема. What a mix-up неразбериха. Custards all over the place. Holding his seat tight to control his laughter, Andrew wondered whether these chaps really allowed themselves to be knocked down сбит с ног and swamped залит with custards заварным кремом. No wonder they got big salaries if they had to put up терпеть with that kind of thing every day of their lives. Perhaps they faked симулировали some of it. Anyhow it was too funny for' words. And now here was that dog — must be a hard-worked dog, for you saw it, or another like it, in dozens of these comic films — and of course it was carrying something in its mouth. Oh yes, a stick of dynamite . Where was it going to put that? Under the fat man's bed. Andrew wriggled ёрзал with enjoyment, then started and laughed gleefully радостно the dialogue was cut short by a sudden loud explosion взрыв. Haha! There was the fat man with a black eye, no beard бороды, half a collar, and no trousers. Oh, this was good! Rosa [′rəuze] must be liking this.

What a baby he is, Rosa was thinking. You can't really be angry with him. He doesn't seem to have grown up at all. Talk about Peter Pan.⁶ He's just a big hulking неуклюжий kid. Faintly слегка contemptuous презрительно, she watched his blunt притупленный nose and chin подбородок silhouetted вырисовывающиеся in the darkness. Is he really so stupid, she wondered. Yes, I suppose he is. Oh, for heaven's sake stop that cackling хихикание! The explosion shattered разбил its way into the half. She started вздрогнула.

"Good, isn't it?" he broke out разразился, forgetful забывчивый in his excitement.

She tossed резко мотнула her head.

"I don't see anything funny in that."

"Och [ɒkh],⁷Rosa !"

His hands dropped; all the joy died out of his face and eyes. He looked so abject жалким that she was sorry for him against her will воли.

"I thought — it was quite funny, you know — I mean, people laughed. I wasn't the only one. But if you don't like it — "

She tried hard, still moved by pity, to reply with gentleness, but the retort возражение shaped itself and was uttered произнесено before she had command власть of it.

"I haven't your sense of humour, that's all."

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