Nick stood up. He had never had a towel in his mouth before

“Say,” he said. “What the hell?” He was trying to swagger it off.

“They were going to kill Ole Andreson,” George said. “They were going to shoot him when he came in to eat.”

“Ole Andreson?”

“Sure.”

The cook felt the corners of his mouth with his thumbs.

“They all gone?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said George. “They’re gone now.”

“I don’t like it,” said the cook. “I don’t like any of it at all.”

“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Andreson.”

“All right.”

“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said. “You better stay way out of it.”

“Don’t go if you don’t want to,” George said.

“Mixing up in this ain’t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”

“I’ll go see him,” Nick said to George. “Where does he live?”

The cook turned away.

“Little boys always know what they want to do,” he said.

“He lives up at Hirsch’s rooming-house,” George said to Nick.

“I’ll go up there.”

thumb [θLm]

Outside the arc-light shone through the bare branches of a tree (на улице дуговой фонарь светил сквозь голые ветки дерева). Nick walked up the street beside the car-tracks (возле трамвайных путей) and turned at the next arc-light down a side-street (и свернул у следующего фонаря в боковую улицу, в переулок). Three houses up the street (через три дома) was Hirsch’s rooming-house. Nick walked up the two steps (поднялся на две ступеньки) and pushed the bell (и надавил кнопку звонка). A woman came to the door.

“Is Ole Andreson here?”

“Do you want to see him?”

“Yes, if he’s in (если он дома).”

Nick followed the woman up a flight of stairs (последовал за женщиной вверх по пролету лестницы) and back to the end of a corridor. She knocked on the door (она постучала в дверь).

“Who is it (кто там: «кто это»)?”

“It’s somebody to see you (тут вас спрашивают: «кто-то к вам»), Mr. Andreson,” the woman said.

“It’s Nick Adams.”

“Come in.”

Nick opened the door and went into the room. Ole Andreson was lying on the bed (лежал на кровати) with all his clothes on (одетый: «с одеждой на нем»). He had been a heavyweight prize-fighter (боксером-тяжеловесом; heavy – тяжелый; weight – вес; prize – награда, премия; to fight – драться, биться) and he was too long for the bed (слишком длинный для кровати). He lay with his head on two pillows (с головой на двух подушках). He did not look at Nick.

Outside the arc-light shone through the bare branches of a tree. Nick walked up the street beside the car-tracks and turned at the next arc-light down a side-street. Three houses up the street was Hirsch’s rooming-house. Nick walked up the two steps and pushed the bell. A woman came to the door.

“Is Ole Andreson here?”

“Do you want to see him?”

“Yes, if he’s in.”