The woman was old (женщина была старой). Her face was handsome and grim and white and lined (ее лицо было привлекательным и суровым, бледным и морщинистым). Her grey hair swirled about her and she was dressed in a red cloak such as the warriors had worn, mounted on a similar horned beast (седые волосы завивались; она была одета в красный плащ, такой, что носили воины, и сидела верхом на таком же рогатом животном). She was a Vadhagh woman and very frail (она была вадагской женщиной, /к тому же/ очень хрупкой). Where her eyes had been were white, filmy pools of pain (/там/, где были /раньше/ ее глаза, /теперь находились/ белые, подернутые дымкой озера боли;
`I am Corum Jhaelen Irsei, lady. Why are you blind (почему ты слепа)?
`I am blind through choice (я слепа по /своему собственному/ выбору). Rather than witness what had become of my land, I plucked my eyes from my head (вместо того, чтобы видеть, что стало с моей страной, я вырвала свои глаза). I am Oorese, Queen of Cira-an-Venl, and my people number twenty (я Оорес, королева Кира-ан-Венла, а моих подданных /лишь/ двадцать;
Corum's lips were dry (губы Корума были сухими = пересохли).
The woman was old. Her face was handsome and grim and white and lined. Her grey hair swirled about her and she was dressed in a red cloak such as the warriors had worn, mounted on a similar horned beast. She was a Vadhagh woman and very frail. Where her eyes had been were white, filmy pools of pain.
`I am Corum Jhaelen Irsei, lady. Why are you blind?
`I am blind through choice. Rather than witness what had become of my land, I plucked my eyes from my head. I am Oorese, Queen of Cira-an-Venl, and my people number twenty.
Corum's lips were dry.
`I have slain your people, lady (я убил твоих подданных, госпожа). That is why I weep (поэтому я плачу).
Her face did not alter (/выражение/ ее лица не изменилось).
`They were doomed (они были обречены), she said, `to die (на смерть). It is better that they are dead (лучше, что они погибли). I thank you, stranger, for releasing them (благодарю тебя, чужестранец, /за то/, что освободил их). Perhaps you would care to release me also (может быть, ты захочешь освободить и меня тоже;
`Why do you use a Vedragh name (почему ты используешь ведрагское имя)?
`I am of the Vadhagh — the Vedragh, as you call them (я из /племени/ вадагов — ведрагов, как ты их называешь) — I am from the lands far to the South (я из земель, /лежащих/ далеко к югу).
alter [`Lltq] release [rI`lJs] South [sauT]
`I have slain your people, lady. That is why I weep.
Her face did not alter.
`They were doomed, she said, `to die. It is better that they are dead. I thank you, stranger, for releasing them. Perhaps you would care to release me also. I only live so that the memory of Cira-an-Venl may live. She paused.
`Why do you use a Vedragh name?
`I am of the Vadhagh — the Vedragh, as you call them — I am from the lands far to the South.
`So Vedragh did go South (значит, ведраги действительно пошли на юг). And is their land sweet (красива ли их страна;
`It is very sweet.
`And are you folk happy, Prince Corum in the Scarlet Robe (а счастлив ли твой народ, принц Корум а Алом Плаще)?
`They are dead, Queen Oorese (они мертвы, королева Оорес). They are dead.
`All dead, then, now? Save you (кроме тебя)?
`And save yourself, my queen (и кроме тебя, моя королева).
A smile touched her lips (улыбка тронула ее губы).
`So Vedragh did go South. And is their land sweet?
`It is very sweet.
`And are you folk happy, Prince Corum in the Scarlet Robe?
`They are dead, Queen Oorese. They are dead.
`All dead, then, now? Save you?
`And save yourself, my queen.
A smile touched her lips.
`He said we should all die, wherever we were, on whichever plane we existed (он сказал, мы все должны умереть, где бы мы ни были, в какой бы плоскости ни существовали). But there was another prophecy — that when we died, so did he (но было и другое пророчество — когда мы умрем, умрет и он). He chose to ignore it, as I remember (он решил не заметить его, насколько я помню).
`Who said that, lady (кто сказал это, госпожа)?
`The Knight of the Swords. Duke Arioch of Chaos (Герцог Ариох Хаоса). He who inherited these five planes for his part in that long-ago battle between Order and Chaos (тот, кто унаследовал эти пять плоскостей в качестве своей доли после той давней битвы между Порядком и Хаосом). Who came here and willed that smooth rock cover our pretty hills (/тот/, кто пришел сюда и пожелал, чтобы эта гладкая скала = камни покрыли наши прекрасные холмы), that boiling lava run in our gentle streams (чтобы кипящая лава текла в наших тихих ручьях;
prophecy [`prOfIsI] prediction [prI`dIkS (q) n]
`He said we should all die, wherever we were, on whichever plane we existed. But there was another prophecy — that when we died, so did he. He chose to ignore it, as I remember.
`Who said that, lady?
`The Knight of the Swords. Duke Arioch of Chaos. He who inherited these five planes for his part in that long-ago battle between Order and Chaos. Who came here and willed that smooth rock cover our pretty hills, that boiling lava run in our gentle streams, that flame spring where green forests had been. Duke Arioch, prince, made that prediction. But, before he departed to the place of his banishment, Lord Arkyn made another.
`Lord Arkyn?
`Lord of Law, who ruled here before Arioch ousted him (Владыка Закона, который правил здесь до того, как Ариох изгнал его;
`A pleasant wish (славное желание = неплохо сказано), murmured Hanafax, `but I doubt if that is true (но сомневаюсь, что это правда).
`Perhaps we do deceive ourselves with happy lies, you who speak with the accent of a Mabden (возможно,
