Чтение онлайн

solely ['soullI], entirely [In'taIqlI], devolve [dI'vOlv]

I saw that the ceremony, if it could be dignified by such a name, was over, and seeking out Sola I found her in our chariot with a hideous little creature held tightly in her arms.

The work of rearing young, green Martians consists solely in teaching them to talk, and to use the weapons of warfare with which they are loaded down from the very first year of their lives. Coming from eggs in which they have lain for five years, the period of incubation, they step forth into the world perfectly developed except in size. Entirely unknown to their mothers, who, in turn, would have difficulty in pointing out the fathers with any degree of accuracy, they are the common children of the community, and their education devolves upon the females who chance to capture them as they leave the incubator.

Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator (их приемные матери могли даже не иметь /собственного/ яйца в инкубаторе), as was the case with Sola (как это было в случае с Солой), who had not commenced to lay (которая еще не начала откладывать яиц), until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring (когда менее года назад она стала матерью отпрыска другой женщины; offspring — отпрыск, потомок). But this counts for little among the green Martians (но это не имеет большого значения для зеленых марсиан; to count for — иметь значение; to count for little — не иметь большого значения), as parental and filial love is as unknown to them (так как родительская и сыновняя любовь так же неизвестна им; filial love — любовь детей к родителям) as it is common among us (как обычна среди нас). I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages (я полагаю, что эта ужасная система, которая соблюдалась веками; to carry on — продолжать) is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings (является прямой причиной утраты всех утонченных эмоций) and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures (и высоких гуманных чувств у этих бедных созданий). From birth they know no father or mother love (с рождения они не знают ни отцовской, ни материнской любви), they know not the meaning of the word home (они не знают значения слова «дом»); they are taught that they are only suffered to live (и их учат, что им просто позволяют жить; to suffer — страдать; позволять, допускать) until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live (до тех пор, пока они не смогут доказать физической силой и жестокостью, что они достойны жить; to demonstrate — показывать; доказывать; physique — физические данные; fit — пригодный, подходящий). Should they prove deformed or defective in any way (если же они окажутся уродливыми или неполноценными в каком-либо отношении; to deform — уродовать; deformed — изуродованный) they are promptly shot (то их немедленно пристреливают; to shoot — стрелять); nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy (и никогда они не видят ни единой пролитой слезинки хотя бы из-за одного из множества жестоких испытаний, через которые они проходят, начиная с самого раннего детства).

humanitarian [hju: "mxnI'terIqn], taught [tO: t], promptly ['prOmptlI], infancy ['InfqnsI]

Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and filial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live. Should they prove deformed or defective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy.

I do not mean that the adult Martians are unnecessarily or intentionally cruel to the young (я не имею в виду, что взрослые марсиане излишне или намеренно жестоки по отношению к молодым; unnecessary — ненужный, излишний), but theirs is a hard and pitiless struggle for existence upon a dying planet (но их /жизнь/ — это тяжелая и безжалостная борьба за выживание на умирающей планете), the natural resources of which have dwindled to a point (природные ресурсы которой истощились до такой степени; to dwindle — сокращаться, истощаться) where the support of each additional life (что поддержание каждой дополнительной жизни) means an added tax upon the community into which it is thrown (означает дополнительное бремя для общины, в которую он попал; tax — налог; бремя, испытание; to throw — направлять, посылать).

By careful selection they rear only the hardiest specimens of each species (путем тщательного отбора они выращивают только самых крепких представителей каждого вида), and with almost supernatural foresight (и почти со сверхъестественным предвидением) they regulate the birth rate to merely offset the loss by death (они регулируют уровень рождаемости так, чтобы только лишь компенсировать потерю от смертности; to offset — возмещать, компенсировать; to merely offset the loss — возмещать потерю).

unnecessarily [An'nesI'serIlI], dwindle [dwIndl], specimen ['spesImqn], foresight ['fO: saIt]

I do not mean that the adult Martians are unnecessarily or intentionally cruel to the young, but theirs is a hard and pitiless struggle for existence upon a dying planet, the natural resources of which have dwindled to a point where the support of each additional life means an added tax upon the community into which it is thrown.

By careful selection they rear only the hardiest specimens of each species, and with almost supernatural foresight they regulate the birth rate to merely offset the loss by death.

Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year (каждая взрослая женщина на Марсе производит около тринадцати яиц каждый год), and those which meet the size, weight, and specific gravity tests (и тех, которые соответствуют размеру, весу и особым тестам на гравитацию; to meet — удовлетворять, соответствовать) are hidden in the recesses of some subterranean vault (прячут в тайниках некого подземного хранилища; recess — углубление; тайник, укромный уголок; vault — подвал, пещера; хранилище); where the temperature is too low for incubation (где температура слишком низкая для инкубации). Every year these eggs are carefully examined by a council of twenty chieftains (каждый год эти яйца тщательно обследуются советом из двадцати вождей), and all but about one hundred of the most perfect (и все, за исключением примерно сотни самых совершенных) are destroyed out of each yearly supply (уничтожаются из каждого ежегодного поступления). At the end of five years (в конце пятилетнего срока) about five hundred almost perfect eggs have been chosen from the thousands brought forth (около пяти сотен почти совершенных яиц отбирается из тысяч произведенных; to bring forth — порождать, производить). These are then placed in the almost air-tight incubators (их затем помещают в практически воздухонепроницаемые инкубаторы; tight — плотный, непроницаемый) to be hatched by the sun's rays after a period of another five years (и там под действием солнечных лучей они выводятся за период последующих пяти лет). The hatching which we had witnessed today (вылупливание, которое мы наблюдали сегодня) was a fairly representative event of its kind (было совершенно типичным событием этого рода; representative — показательный, типичный), all but about one per cent of the eggs hatching in two days (все, за исключением одного процента яиц, вылупились за два дня). If the remaining eggs ever hatched (/даже/ если оставшиеся яйца все же вылупились; ever — всегда, вечно; когда-либо, в какой-либо ситуации, в каком-либо случае) we knew nothing of the fate of the little Martians (мы ничего не узнали о судьбе маленьких марсиан). They were not wanted, as their offspring might inherit and transmit the tendency to prolonged incubation (они были нежеланными, ибо их потомство могло унаследовать и передать тенденцию к более длительной инкубации; prolonged — длительный, продленный), and thus upset the system which has maintained for ages (и таким образом нарушить систему, которая сохранялась веками; to upset — расстраивать, нарушать) and which permits the adult Martians to figure the proper time (и которая позволяет взрослым марсианам определить правильное время; to figure — представлять себе; считать) for return to the incubators, almost to an hour (для возвращения к инкубаторам /с точностью/ почти до часа).

subterranean ["sAbtq'reInIqn], representative ["reprI'zentqtIv], inherit [In'herIt], proper ['prOpq]

Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and specific gravity tests are hidden in the recesses of some subterranean vault where the temperature is too low for incubation. Every year these eggs are carefully examined by a council of twenty chieftains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect are destroyed out of each yearly supply. At the end of five years about five hundred almost perfect eggs have been chosen from the thousands brought forth. These are then placed in the almost air-tight incubators to be hatched by the sun's rays after a period of another five years. The hatching which we had witnessed today was a fairly representative event of its kind, all but about one per cent of the eggs hatching in two days. If the remaining eggs ever hatched we knew nothing of the fate of the little Martians. They were not wanted, as their offspring might inherit and transmit the tendency to prolonged incubation, and thus upset the system which has maintained for ages and which permits the adult Martians to figure the proper time for return to the incubators, almost to an hour.

The incubators are built in remote fastnesses (инкубаторы строятся в отдаленных крепостях; fastness — крепость, твердыня), where there is little or no likelihood of their being discovered by other tribes (там, где существует малая вероятность или нет /вероятности/ их обнаружения другими племенами). The result of such a catastrophe would mean no children in the community for another five years (результат такой катастрофы означал бы, что у общины не будет детей в течение следующих пяти лет). I was later to witness the results of the discovery of an alien incubator (позже мне придется стать свидетелем результатов такого обнаружения чужого инкубатора).

The community of which the green Martians, with whom my lot was cast, formed a part (община, часть которой составляли зеленые марсиане, с которыми меня свела судьба; lot — жребий, судьба; to cast — бросать, кидать; to cast lot with — разделить судьбу; lot — жребий) was composed of some thirty thousand souls (состояла примерно из тридцати тысяч душ). They roamed an enormous tract of arid and semi-arid land (они скитались по огромному пространству засушливых или полузасушливых земель; tract — участок, пространство; arid — сухой, безводный) between forty and eighty degrees south latitude (между сороковым и восьмидесятым градусами южной широты), and bounded on the east and west by two large fertile tracts (которые граничили с востока и запада с двумя большими участками плодородной земли; to bound — ограничивать, служить границей). Their headquarters lay in the southwest corner of this district (их штаб-квартира располагалась в юго-западной части этого района; corner — угол; часть, район), near the crossing of two of the so-called Martian canals (возле пересечения двух так называемых Марсианских каналов).

likelihood ['laIklIhud], latitude ['lxtItju: d], headquarter ['hed" kwO: tq]

The incubators are built in remote fastnesses, where there is little or no likelihood of their being discovered by other tribes. The result of such a catastrophe would mean no children in the community for another five years. I was later to witness the results of the discovery of an alien incubator.

The community of which the green Martians, with whom my lot was cast, formed a part was composed of some thirty thousand souls. They roamed an enormous tract of arid and semi-arid land between forty and eighty degrees south latitude, and bounded on the east and west by two large fertile tracts. Their headquarters lay in the southwest corner of this district, near the crossing of two of the so-called Martian canals.