Копи царя Соломона/King Solomon's Mines (Генри Хаггард). Страница 15 из 166

Понятно

Понятно

Для того чтобы воспользоваться закладками, необходимо

Войти или зарегистрироваться

Отмена

Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо

Войти или зарегистрироваться

Отмена

Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа

Купить PRO-доступ

Отмена

Предыдущая страница

"

Yes

,

gentlemen

,

"

I

said

,

sitting

down

again

,

"

I

will

go

,

and

by

your

leave

I

will

tell

you

why

,

and

on

what

conditions

.

First

for

the

terms

which

I

ask

.

"

1

.

You

are

to

pay

all

expenses

,

and

any

ivory

or

other

valuables

we

may

get

is

to

be

divided

between

Captain

Good

and

myself

.

"

2

.

That

you

give

me

#

500

for

my

services

on

the

trip

before

we

start

,

I

undertaking

to

serve

you

faithfully

till

you

choose

to

abandon

the

enterprise

,

or

till

we

succeed

,

or

disaster

overtakes

us

.

Отключить рекламу

"

3

.

That

before

we

trek

you

execute

a

deed

agreeing

,

in

the

event

of

my

death

or

disablement

,

to

pay

my

boy

Harry

,

who

is

studying

medicine

over

there

in

London

,

at

Guy

's

Hospital

,

a

sum

of

#

200

a

year

for

five

years

,

by

which

time

he

ought

to

be

able

to

earn

a

living

for

himself

if

he

is

worth

his

salt

.

That

is

all

,

I

think

,

and

I

daresay

you

will

say

quite

enough

too

.

"

"

No

,

"

answered

Sir

Henry

,

"

I

accept

them

gladly

.

I

am

bent

upon

this

project

,

and

would

pay

more

than

that

for

your

help

,

considering

the

peculiar

and

exclusive

knowledge

which

you

possess

.

"

"

Pity

I

did

not

ask

it

,

then

,

but

I

wo

n't

go

back

on

my

word

.

And

now

that

I

have

got

my

terms

I

will

tell

you

my

reasons

for

making

up

my

mind

to

go

.

First

of

all

,

gentlemen

,

I

have

been

observing

you

both

for

the

last

few

days

,

and

if

you

will

not

think

me

impertinent

I

may

say

that

I

like

you

,

and

believe

that

we

shall

come

up

well

to

the

yoke

together

.

That

is

something

,

let

me

tell

you

,

when

one

has

a

long

journey

like

this

before

one

.

"

And

now

as

to

the

journey

itself

,

I

tell

you

flatly

,

Sir

Henry

and

Captain

Good

,

that

I

do

not

think

it

probable

we

can

come

out

of

it

alive

,

that

is

,

if

we

attempt

to

cross

the

Suliman

Mountains

.

What

was

the

fate

of

the

old

Dom

da

Silvestra

three

hundred

years

ago

?

What

was

the

fate

of

his

descendant

twenty

years

ago

?

What

has

been

your

brother

's

fate

?

I

tell

you

frankly

,

gentlemen

,

that

as

their

fates

were

so

I

believe

ours

will

be

.

"

Отключить рекламу

I

paused

to

watch

the

effect

of

my

words

.

Captain

Good

looked

a

little

uncomfortable

,

but

Sir

Henry

's

face

did

not

change

.

"

We

must

take

our

chance

,

"

he

said

.

"

You

may

perhaps

wonder

,

"

I

went

on

,

"

why

,

if

I

think

this

,

I

,

who

am

,

as

I

told

you

,

a

timid

man

,

should

undertake

such

a

journey

.

It

is

for

two

reasons

.

First

I

am

a

fatalist

,

and

believe

that

my

time

is

appointed

to

come

quite

without

reference

to

my

own

movements

and

will

,

and

that

if

I

am

to

go

to

Suliman

's

Mountains

to

be

killed

,

I

shall

go

there

and

shall

be

killed

.

God

Almighty

,

no

doubt

,

knows

His

mind

about

me

,

so

I

need

not

trouble

on

that

point

.

Secondly

,

I

am

a

poor

man

.

For

nearly

forty

years

I

have

hunted

and

traded

,

but

I

have

never

made

more

than

a

living

.

Well

,

gentlemen

,

I

do

n't

know

if

you

are

aware

that

the

average

life

of

an

elephant

hunter

from

the

time

he

takes

to

the

trade

is

between

four

and

five

years

.

So

you

see

I

have

lived

through

about

seven

generations

of

my

class

,

and

I

should

think

that

my

time

can

not

be

far

off

,

anyway

.

Now

,

if

anything

were

to

happen

to

me

in

the

ordinary

course

of

business

,

by

the

time

my

debts

are

paid

there

would

be

nothing

left

to

support

my

son

Harry

whilst

he

was

getting

in

the

way

of

earning

a

living

,

whereas

now

he

will

be

set

up

for

five

years

.

There

is

the

whole

affair

in

a

nutshell

.

"

"

Mr.

Quatermain

,

"

said

Sir

Henry

,

who

had

been

giving

me

his

most

serious

attention

,

"

your

motives

for

undertaking

an

enterprise

which

you

believe

can

only

end

in

disaster

reflect

a

great

deal

of

credit

on

you

.

Whether

or

not

you

are

right

,

of

course

time

and

the

event

alone

can

show

.

But

whether

you

are

right

or

wrong

,

I

may

as

well

tell

you

at

once

that

I

am

going

through

with

it

to

the

end

,

sweet

or

bitter

.

If

we

are

to

be

knocked

on

the

head

,

all

I

have

to

say

is

,

that

I

hope

we

get

a

little

shooting

first

,

eh

,

Good

?

"

Предыдущая страница

Предыдущая

Следующая

Следующая страница

Следующая страница