место). He made a clutch as startled as was the rise of the ptarmigan (он хватанул так же испуганно, как взлетела куропатка; clutch – сжатие; захват; to clutch – схватить; зажать), and there remained in his hand three tail-feathers (и в его руке остались три хвостовых пера). As he watched its flight he hated it (наблюдая за ее полетом, он ненавидел ее), as though it had done him some terrible wrong (как будто она сделала = причинила ему какое-то ужасное зло; wrong – зло, несправедливость). Then he returned and shouldered his pack (потом он вернулся и взвалил на плечи свой вьюк).
As the day wore along he came into valleys or swales (по мере продвижения дня он вступал в долины или болотистые низины; to wear – тянуться, проходить /о времени/) where game was more plentiful (где дичь была более обильна = которые более изобиловали дичью). A band of caribou passed by (стадо карибу прошло мимо), twenty and odd animals (двадцать с лишним животных), tantalizingly within rifle range (дразняще в пределах дальности /выстрела из/ ружья). He felt a wild desire to run after them (он почувствовал дикое желание побежать за ними), a certitude that he could run them down (уверенность, что он сможет догнать их; to run down – догнать, настигнуть). A black fox came toward him (черный песец бежал в его сторону), carrying a ptarmigan in his mouth (неся в пасти куропатку). The man shouted (человек закричал). It was a fearful cry (это был страшный крик), but the fox, leaping away in fright (но песец, отпрыгнув в испуге), did not drop the ptarmigan (не выронил куропатку).
Once he crawled upon one that must have been asleep. He did not see it till it shot up in his face from its rocky nook. He made a clutch as startled as was the rise of the ptarmigan, and there remained in his hand three tail-feathers. As he watched its flight he hated it, as though it had done him some terrible wrong. Then he returned and shouldered his pack.
As the day wore along he came into valleys or swales where game was more plentiful. A band of caribou passed by, twenty and odd animals, tantalizingly within rifle range. He felt a wild desire to run after them, a certitude that he could run them down. A black fox came toward him, carrying a ptarmigan in his mouth. The man shouted. It was a fearful cry, but the fox, leaping away in fright, did not drop the ptarmigan.
Late in the afternoon he followed a stream (в конце второй половины дня он пошел за ручьем), milky with lime (мутным от осадка; lime – известь; накипь, осадок, окалина /от жесткой воды/), which ran through sparse patches of rush-grass (который бежал через = среди редких участков тростника). Grasping these rushes firmly near the root (крепко схватив этот тростник у корня), he pulled up what resembled a young onion-sprout no larger than a shingle-nail (он вырвал то, что походило на молодой побег лука величиной не более гонтового гвоздя; to pull up – вытягивать, выдергивать наверх). It was tender (он был мягким; tender – мягкий, нежный), and his teeth sank into it with a crunch that promised deliciously of food (и его зубы погрузились в него с хрустом, который восхитительно сулил пищу; to promise – подавать надежды; сулить, предвещать; to sink – погружаться). But its fibers were tough (но его волокна были жесткими). It was composed of stringy filaments saturated with water (он состоял из жилистых волокон, насыщенных водой), like the berries (как ягоды), and devoid of nourishment (и /был/ лишен питательных веществ; devoid of – лишенный, не имеющий). He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass on hands and knees (он сбросил тюк и влез в тростник на четвереньках: «на руках и коленях»), crunching and munching (хрустя и чавкая), like some bovine creature (как какая-то корова; bovine – коровий, бычий; creature – создание; животное, тварь; to create – творить).
Late in the afternoon he followed a stream, milky with lime, which ran through sparse patches of rush-grass. Grasping these rushes firmly near the root, he pulled up what resembled a young onion-sprout no larger than a shingle-nail. It was tender, and his teeth sank into it with a crunch that promised deliciously of food. But its fibers were tough. It was composed of stringy filaments saturated with water, like the berries, and devoid of nourishment. He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass on hands and knees, crunching and munching, like some bovine creature.
He was very weary and often wished to rest (он очень устал и часто хотел отдохнуть) – to lie down and sleep (лечь и поспать); but he was continually driven on (но его постоянно гнало вперед; driven – гонимый; to drive – гнать) – not so much by his desire to gain the land of little sticks as by his hunger (не столько желание добраться до земли «прутиков», сколько голод). He searched little ponds for frogs (он обыскивал маленькие запруды в поисках лягушек) and dug up the earth with his nails for worms (и рыл землю ногтями в поисках червей; to dig up – выкапывать, вырывать), though he knew in spite that neither frogs nor worms existed so far north (несмотря
