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44
We fixed the courses,
12
and I rushed back to the kitchen.
It didn't occur to me in those days to wash up as I went along, not that I would have had time,
13
as
cooking took me quite twice as long as it should. I kept doing things wrong and having to rush to cookery
books for help, and everything I wanted at a moment's notice had always disappeared.
Every saucepan in the place was dirty; the sink was piled high with them. On the floor lay the plates and
dishes that couldn't be squeezed on to the table or dresser, already cluttered up with peelings, pudding
basins, and dirty little bits of butter.
I started listlessly on the washing-up. At eleven o'clock I was still at it and my back and head were aching
in unison. The washing-up was finished, but the stove was in a hideous mess.
Miss Faulkener came in to get some glasses and was horrified to see me still there.
'Goodness, Monica, I thought you'd gone hours ago. Run off now, anyway; you can leave that till
tomorrow.'
She wafted back to the drawing-room and I thought: 'If it was you, you'd be thinking of how depressing it
will be tomorrow morning to arrive at crack of dawn and find things filthy. People may think that by telling
you to leave a thing till the next day it will get done magically, all by itself overnight. But no, that is not so,
in fact quite the reverse, in all probability it will become a mess of an even greater magnitude."
4
At last I had finished. I arrived home in a sort of coma. My mother helped me to undress and brought me
hot milk, and as I burrowed into the yielding familiarity of my own dear bed, my last thought was
thankfulness that I was a "Daily" and not a "Liver-in".
15
Proper Names
Monica Dickens ['m
n
k
'd
k
nz] — Моника Дикенс
Cattermole ['k
t
m
l] — Кэтермоул
Robertson ['r
b
tsn] — Робертсон
Mary ['me
r
] — Мэри
Faulkener ['f
kn
] — Фокнер
Chelsea ['
els
] — Челси
Baker [be
k
] — Бейкер
Vocabulary Notes
1. ... that I was the world's worst ironer.— ... что я хуже всех в мире глажу.
2. ... it doesn't matter if one doesn't hit it off with one or two of them. — неважно, если с кем-то из них
не поладишь.
3. I pinned my faith in the woman in the agency ... — Я возложила свои надежды на женщину из
агентства...
4. ... to do the work of a very small flat — убирать очень маленькую квартиру.
5. 'You come after the job?'
— «Вы насч¸т работы?» (Прим.: неправильное грамматическое
построение фразы, характерное для разговорного стиля).
6. ... groomed to the last eyebrow ... — ... ухоженная до кончиков ногтей ...
7. ... to have the run of a kitchen to mess in to my heart's content. — ... вволю похозяйничать на кухне
и устроить там полный беспорядок.
8. Its strident note terrified me right out of bed into the damp chill of a November morning.
— Его
резкий звонок испугал меня и заставил сразу вскочить с кровати; ноябрьское утро было холодным и
промозглым.
9. ... since my girl-guide days ... — ... с того времени, когда я была членом организации «Г¸л-Гайдз».
(Прим.: «Г¸л-Гайдз» — организация для девочек, аналогичная организации бой-скаутов).
10. ... to leave it to its fate ... — ... оставить вс¸ как есть ...
11. 'Grosher'
— бакалейщик. (Прим.: неправильное написание слова grocer, передающее
особенности речи персонажа. См. далее 'Yesh, mish.'- 'Yes, miss.').
12. We fixed the courses ... — Мы обсудили, что готовить ...
13. It didn't occur to me in those days to wash up as I went along, not that I would have had time ... —
Тогда мне и в голову не приходило мыть посуду, пока я готовила, да у меня и времени-то не было ...
14. ... in all probability it will become a mess of an even greater magnitude. — ... скорее всего,
беспорядка станет еще больше.
15. ... that I was a "Daily" and not a "Liver-in". — ... что я бььла домработница приходящая, а не
живущая в доме постоянно.
Comprehension Check