| Once he's grabbed you with his pincers, he won't let go till you croak.' | Кого рак клешнёй схватит - то уж до смерти. |
| Pavel Nikolayevich did not have the strength to protest, and Yefrem set off again. | Не было сил Павла Николаевича возражать - и Ефрем опять занялся ходить. |
| In fact, there was no one in the room to rein him in. All the others there seemed either apathetic wrecks or non-Russians. | Да и кому было в комнате его осадить! - все лежали какие-то прибитые или нерусские. |
| Along the other wall there were only four beds because the stove jutted out. The one directly opposite Rusanov's, foot to foot with his across the gangway, was Yefrem's. The other three were occupied by youngsters: a simple, rather swarthy boy next to the stove, a young Uzbek with a crutch, and by the window, thin as a tape-worm and doubled up on his bed, a youth whose skin had turned quite yellow and who lay groaning continuously. | По той стене, где из-за печного выступа помещалось только четыре койки, одна койка -прямо против русановской, ноги к ногам через проход, была Ефремова, а на трёх остальных совсем были юнцы: простоватый смуглявый хлопец у печки, молодой узбек с костылём, а у окна - худой, как глист, и скрюченный на своей койке пожелтевший стонущий парень. |
| In Pavel Nikolayevich's row there were two Asians on his left, then a young Russian lad by the door, tall with short-cropped hair. He was sitting reading. Next to Pavel Nikolayevich in the last bed by the window lay, it seemed, another Russian, but being this man's neighbour was hardly a matter for rejoicing. He had a villainous cut-throat's mug. | В этом же ряду, где был Павел Николаевич, налево лежали два нацмена, потом у двери русский пацан, рослый, стриженный под машинку, сидел читал, - а по другую руку на последней приоконной койке тоже сидел будто русский, но не обрадуешься такому соседству: морда у него была бандитская. |
| It was probably the scar that made him look that way: it started by the corner of his mouth and ran along the bottom of his left cheek almost to his neck. Or perhaps it was his black, uncombed hair standing up on end in all directions, or else his coarse, tough expression. The cutthroat had pretensions to culture, however. | Так он выглядел, наверно, от шрама (начинался шрам близ угла рта и переходил по низу левой щеки почти на шею); а может быть от непричёсанных дыбливых чёрных волос, торчавших и вверх и вбок; а может вообще от грубого жёсткого выражения. |
| He was reading a book, and had almost finished it. | Бандюга этот туда же тянулся к культуре -дочитывал книгу. |
| The lights were switched on, two bright lamps hanging from the ceiling. | Уже горел свет - две ярких лампы с потолка. |
| It was already dark outside. | За окнами стемнело. |
| They were waiting for supper. | Ждали ужина. |
| 'There's an old chap here.' Yefrem would not let up. 'He's lying downstairs, he's being operated on tomorrow. | - Вот тут старик есть один, - не унимался Ефрем, -он внизу лежит, операция ему завтра. |
| Back in 42 they cut a tiny cancer out of him and said, "Fine! It's nothing! Off you go!" | Так ему ещё в сорок втором году рачок маленький вырезали и сказали - пустяки, иди гуляй. |
| See?' | Понял? |
| Yefrem seemed to be rattling on but his voice sounded as though he was the one being cut open. | - Ефрем говорил будто бойко, а голос был такой, как самого бы резали. |
| 'Thirteen years went by and he forgot about that clinic, drank vodka, screwed women - he's a bit of a lad, wait till you meet him. |
