Halston nodded, his hand automatically stroking the cat in his lap. It was asleep, still purring. Halston liked cats. They were the only animals he did like, as a matter of fact. They got along on their own. God — if there was one — had made them into perfect, aloof killing machines. Cats were the hitters of the animal world, and Halston gave them his respect.
“I need not explain anything, but I will (я не обязан объяснять что-либо, но я объясню),” Drogan said. “Forewarned is forearmed, they say (говорят, предупрежден — значит, вооружен;
“Drogan Pharmaceuticals (фармацевтическая компания Дрогана).”
“Yes. One of the biggest drug companies in the world (одна из крупнейших фармацевтических компаний в мире;
без этикетки
compound — соединение; смесь, состав; строение, структура
). It's extremely habit-forming, you see (понимаете, оно очень быстро вызывает привыкание;
mild — мягкий, кроткий; умеренный, легкий
to face — стоять лицом к чему-либо; встречать смело; to adjust — приводить в порядок; приспосабливать/ся/
“I need not explain anything, but I will,” Drogan said. “Forewarned is forearmed, they say, and I would not want you to go into this lightly. And I seem to need to justify myself. So you'll not think I'm insane.”
Halston nodded again. He had already decided to make this peculiar hit, and no further talk was needed. But if Drogan wanted to talk, he would listen. “First of all, you know who I am? Where the money comes from?”
“Drogan Pharmaceuticals.”
“Yes. One of the biggest drug companies in the world. And the cornerstone of our financial success has been this.” From the pocket of his robe he handed Halston a small, unmarked vial of pills. “Tri-Dormal-phenobarbin, compound G. Prescribed almost exclusively for the terminally ill. It's extremely habit-forming, you see. It's a combination painkiller, tranquilizer, and mild hallucinogen. It is remarkably helpful in helping the terminally ill face their conditions and adjust to them.”
“Do you take it (вы принимаете его)?” Halston asked.
Drogan ignored the question (Дроган проигнорировал вопрос). “It is widely prescribed throughout the world (он широко распространен по всему миру: «его широко прописывают по всему миру»). It's a synthetic, was developed in the fifties at our New Jersey labs (это — синтетическое вещество, /оно/ было разработано в пятидесятых /годах/ в наших лабораториях, в Нью-Джерси;
to wipe out — стереть /с лица земли/; уничтожить; истребить
prejudice — предубеждение, предвзятое мнение; way — путь; манера; способ; to put — класть; выражать /каким-либо образом/; излагать
предшествовал
).”
throughout [Tru(:)'aVt], synthetic [sIn'TetIk], solely ['sqVllI], unique [jH'nJk],
quality ['kwOlItI], feline ['fJlaIn], nervous ['nWvqs], prejudicial ["preGV'dIS(q)l]
“Do you take it?” Halston asked.
Drogan ignored the question. “It is widely prescribed throughout the world. It's a synthetic, was developed in the fifties at our New Jersey labs. Our testing was confined almost solely to cats, because of the unique quality of the feline nervous system.”
“How many did you wipe out?”
Drogan stiffened. “That is an unfair and prejudicial way to put it.”
Halston shrugged.
“In the four-year testing period which led to FDA approval of Tri-Dormal-G, about fifteen thousand cats...uh, expired.”
Halston whistled (Хэлстон присвистнул). About four thousand cats a year (примерно четыре тысячи кошек в год). “And now you think this one's back to get you, huh(а теперь вы думаете, что эта /кошка/ вернулась, чтобы расправиться с вами;
снова появилась в его голосе; to quaver — дрожать, вибрировать; to be back — вернуться). “Fifteen thousand test animals died so that hundreds of thousands of human beings (пятнадцать тысяч подопытных животных умерли, чтобы сотни тысяч людей) — ”
“Never mind that (это не важно/это не имеет значения),” Halston said. Justifications bored him (оправдания наводили на него скуку).
“That cat came here seven months ago (эта кошка пришла сюда семь месяцев назад). I've never liked cats (я никогда не любил кошек). Nasty, disease-bearing animals (отвратительные животные, разносчики болезней: «разносящие болезни животные»;
germ — зародыш; бактерия, микроб; fur — мех
to pay — платить; поплатиться
нескрываемой
nasty ['nRstI], disease [dI'zJz]
Halston whistled. About four thousand cats a year. “And now you think this one's back to get you, huh?”
“I don't feel guilty in the slightest,” Drogan said, but that quavering, petulant note was back in his voice. “Fifteen thousand test animals died so that hundreds of thousands of human beings — ”
“Never mind that,” Halston said. Justifications bored him.
“That cat came here seven months ago. I've never liked cats. Nasty, disease-bearing animals... always out in the fields...crawling around in barns...picking up God knows what germs in their fur... always trying to bring something with its insides falling out into the house for you to look at... it was my sister who wanted to take it in. She found out. She paid.” He looked at the cat sleeping on Halston's lap with dead hate.
“You said the cat killed three people (вы сказали, что /этот/ кот убил трех человек).”
Drogan began to speak (Дроган начал говорить = рассказывать;
to scratch — царапать; чесать; to stroke — гладить, поглаживать
с треском лопался
кошку
Drogan began to speak. The cat dozed and purred on Halston's lap under the soft, scratching strokes of Halston's strong and expert killer's fingers.
Occasionally a pine knot would explode on the hearth, making it tense like a series of steel springs covered with hide and muscle. Outside the wind whined around the big stone house far out in the Connecticut countryside. There was winter in that wind's throat. The old man's voice droned on and on.
Seven months ago there had been four of them here (семь месяцев назад их было здесь четверо) — Drogan, his sister Amanda, who at seventy-four was two years Drogan's elder (Дроган, его сестра Аманда, которая в /свои/ семьдесят четыре была старше Дрогана на два года = которая была на два года старше своего семидесятидвухлетнего брата), her lifelong friend Carolyn Broadmoor (ее давняя подруга Кэролайн Бродмур;
badly — плохо; оченьсильно; to afflict — причинятьболь, страдания/кому-либо/; беспокоить, донимать
вечером
компания
pleasure — удовольствие; развлечение; The Hollywood Squares /”Голливудские квадраты”/ — одноименные телевикторина и комедийный сериал на американском ТВ
Seven months ago there had been four of them here — Drogan, his sister Amanda, who at seventy-four was two years Drogan's elder, her lifelong friend Carolyn Broadmoor (“of the Westchester Broadmoors,” Drogan said), who was badly afflicted with emphysema, and Dick Gage, a hired man who had been with the Drogan family for twenty years. Gage, who was past sixty himself, drove the big Lincoln Mark IV, cooked, served the evening sherry. A day maid came in. The four of them had lived this way for nearly two years, a dull collection of old people and their family retainer. Their only pleasures were The Hollywood Squares and waiting to see who would outlive whom.