Now it is over (теперь все кончено), he thought. They will probably hit me again (они, вероятно, нападут на меня снова). But what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon (но что человек может сделать против них в темноте и без оружия)?
recognize ['rekqgnaIz], perceptible [pq'septqbl], dark [dRk]
I must not think nonsense, he thought. Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her? I would take some though in any form and pay what they asked. I wish I could see the glow from the lights, he thought. I wish too many things. But that is the thing I wish for now. He tried to settle more comfortably to steer and from his pain he knew he was not dead.
He saw the reflected glare of the lights of the city at what must have been around ten o'clock at night. They were only perceptible at first as the light is in the sky before the moon rises. Then they were steady to see across the ocean which was rough now with the increasing breeze. He steered inside of the glow and he thought that now, soon, he must hit the edge of the stream.
Now it is over, he thought. They will probably hit me again. But what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon?
He was stiff and sore now (все его тело ломило и саднило; stiff — жесткий, тугой; sore — больной) and his wounds and all of the strained parts of his body (и его раны и все измученные /напряжением/ части его тела; to strain — натягивать; растягивать; напрягать; strained — растянутый; /туго/ натянутый) hurt with the cold of the night (болели от холода ночи). I hope I do not have to fight again (надеюсь, мне не придется снова драться), he thought. I hope so much I do not have to fight again (я очень сильно надеюсь, что мне не придется снова драться).
But by midnight he fought (но в полночь он дрался) and this time he knew the fight was useless (и на этот раз он знал, что драка бесполезна). They came in a pack (они пришли стаей) and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made (он видел только следы в воде, которые оставляли их плавники) and their phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish (и их свечение, когда они бросались на рыбу). He clubbed at heads (он бил дубиной по головам) and heard the jaws chop (слышал, как щелкают челюсти) and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below (и чувствовал, как тряслась лодка, когда они хватали рыбу снизу: «брали хватку/захват внизу»). He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear (он отчаянно бил дубиной по всему, что чувствовал или слышал; desperately — отчаянно, безрассудно) and he felt something seize the club and it was gone (и он почувствовал, как что-то схватило дубину, и она пропала; to seize — хватать).
He jerked the tiller free from the rudder (он выдернул румпель из руля) and beat and chopped with it (бил и рубил им), holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again (держа его двумя руками и опуская вниз = нанося удары снова и снова). But they were up to the bow now (но акулы теперь были у носа лодки) and driving in one after the other (и набрасывались /на рыбу/ одна за другой) and together, tearing off the pieces of meat that showed glowing below the sea (и вместе, отрывая куски мяса, которые сияли под водой) as they turned to come once more (когда они разворачивались, чтобы приплыть еще раз).
sore [sL], desperately ['desp(q)rqtlI], seize [sJz]
He was stiff and sore now and his wounds and all of the strained parts of his body hurt with the cold of the night. I hope I do not have to fight again, he thought. I hope so much I do not have to fight again.
But by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless. They came in a pack and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made and their phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish. He clubbed at heads and heard the jaws chop and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below. He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone.
He jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it, holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again. But they were up to the bow now and driving in one after the other and together, tearing off the pieces of meat that showed glowing below the sea as they turned to come once more.
One came, finally, against the head itself (наконец, одна подошла прямо к голове рыбы) and he knew that it was over (и он знал, что все кончено). He swung the tiller across the shark's head (он изо всех сил ударил по голове акулы) where the jaws were caught in the heaviness of the fish's head (туда, где застряли: «были пойманы» челюсти /акулы/ в крепких костях: «в вязкости» головы рыбы; heavy — тяжелый; вязкий) which would not tear (которая не разрывалась). He swung it once and twice and again (он бил ее снова и снова). He heard the tiller break (он услышал, как ломается румпель) and he lunged at the shark with the splintered butt (и он ударил акулу расщепленной рукояткой;
