When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.

@темы: английский

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Для запоминания последовательности цветов радуги:

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain - Акростих

Roy G. Biv - акроним

red
orange
yellow
green
blue
indigo
violet

@темы: английский

---

Complexion -
1) цвет кожи (dark, pale, rosy complexion);
2) вид, характер:
the complexion of the war was changed by two great victories — две решающие победы изменили ход войны.


If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.

Будь у него нрав святого, а лицо дьявола, так лучше бы он взял меня в духовные дочери, чем в жены (перевод Щепкиной-Куперник).


Девушка Порция в "Венецианском купце" -  узнав, что среди претендентов на ее руку, помимо английского барона, немецкого герцога и французского вельможи, есть чернокожий принц из Марокко.

@темы: английский, ремесло перевода

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Dear Prince, I must leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away. The ruby shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea.'

Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince

Все-таки прилагательные цвета можно употреблять в сравнительной степени.

@темы: английский

---

Nice tune!
Been a while since I heard it last.
Folk have forgotten it.
Got other things on their mind.
Things like me?
They paid me for you.
Times past no amount of coin would convince a witcher to take this contract.
Times have changed.

Song

Wolves asleep amidst the trees
Bats all a swaying in the breeze
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths
For your dolly Polly sleep has flown
Don't dare let her tremble alone
For the witcher, heartless, cold
Paid in coin of gold

He comes he'll go leave naught behind
But heartache and woe
Deep, deep woe

Birds are silent for the night
Cows turned in as daylight dies
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths

My dear dolly Polly shut your eyes
Lie still, lie silent, utter no cries
As the witcher, brave and bold
Paid in coin of gold
He'll chop and slice you
Cut and dice you
Eat you up whole
Eat you whole

@темы: английский, сказать почти то же самое

---

"Зима тревоги нашей..."

Richard III Monologue Act 1 Scene 1

bold = Stressed
Unbold = Unstressed
(F) = Feminine Ending

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. (F)
Grim-visaged war hath smooth’d his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber (F)
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, (F)
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other: (F)
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew’d up,
About a prophecy, which says that ‘G‘
Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here (F)
Clarence comes.

Отсюда (оригинальный и современный тексты, комментарий, разметка для чтения)

@темы: стихи, английский

---

"Учась в берлинской гимназии, бедняга настолько пропитался местным бытом, что и в английской речи делал те же невытравимые ошибки, которые сделал бы кегелеголовый немец. Не было, например, такой силы, которая могла бы заставить его перестать употреблять несовершенный вид прошедшего времени вместо совершенного, что придавало всякому его вчерашнему случайному действию какое-то идиотское постоянство".

Владимир Набоков "Дар"

@темы: книги, английский

---

SALIERI Are you sure you can't leave that  music, and come back again? I have  other things you might like. 
 CONSTANZE That's very tempting, but it's  impossible, I'm afraid. Wolfi would  be frantic if he found those were  missing. You see, they're all  originals. 
 SALIERI  Originals? 
 CONSTANZE  Yes. 
 SALIERI  These are originals? 
 CONSTANZE  Yes, sir. He doesn't make copies.

OLD SALIERI  Astounding! It was actually beyond  belief. These were first and only  drafts of music yet they showed no  corrections of any kind. Not one.  Do you realize what that meant? He'd simply put down music already  finished in his head. Page after  page of it, as if he was just taking  dictation. And music finished as no  music is ever finished. 

The music begins  to sound under the following:

 OLD SALIERI Displace one note and there would be  diminishment. Displace one phrase,  and the structure would fall. It was  clear to me. That sound I had heard  in the Archbishop's palace had been  no accident. Here again was the very  voice of God! I was staring through  the cage of those meticulous ink-  strokes at an absolute, inimitable  beauty. 

 CONSTANZE  Is it no good? 
 SALIERI  It is miraculous. 
 CONSTANZE  Oh yes. He's really proud of his  work. 
 CONSTANZE  So, will you help us?

@темы: фильмы, английский

---

Темза

Выставка предметов, найденных в иле  Темзы.

Среди них потерянная кем-то 500 лет назад вязаная шапка, кинжал эпохи викингов, золотое кольцо с надписью "For love I am given" и прочее.

Дно реки - это капсула времени.

A major exhibition, opening 4 April 2025, that showcases fascinating finds from the Thames foreshore and explores the role of mudlarks in uncovering thousands of years of human history.

The River Thames has been a centre of human activity for over 10,000 years. Below its waters lay lost or discarded items, from the ordinary to extraordinary, that paint a picture of Britain’s past. From prehistoric communities that camped, hunted and farmed along the foreshore, to the arrival of Romans who founded Londinium, and Vikings who travelled by water to expand their territory into Britain.

Here lies evidence of Britain’s early days of exploration and exploitation as London burgeoned into the country’s first port of empire. Each new departure and arrival has left traces behind relating to all aspects of human life. A living time capsule that tells stories of the ways people have survived, made a living, or enjoyed their leisure time in the city.

@темы: история, английский, вода

---

INT. SMAUG’S LAIR, LONELY MOUNTAIN - DUSK
ANGLE ON: BILBO pauses to control his BREATHING, which is getting LOUD. SWEAT runs down his FACE - it’s clearly getting HOT down there.
ANGLE ON: a FAINT GLOW emanates from the CAVERNS ahead – not from fire, but a DULL GOLD COLOUR.
MOONLIGHT is seeping into the CAVERNS, but not enough to show their true SIZE ... the SPACES open up and fade into DARKNESS.

BILBO marvels at the VAST CAVERN DWARF-HALLS rising above his head.
BILBO’s voice echoes faintly through the VAST CAVERN.

BILBO
(relieved whisper)
Not at home ... good, good, good.

CLOSE ON: BILBO’S FEET step onto GOLD COINS, and he attempts to avoid them ... but very soon that is IMPOSSIBLE. The FLOOR is covered in HILLS of GOLD ... not just COINS, but CUPS, TRINKETS, and TREASURE of all KINDS.
WIDE ON: The TINY FIGURE of BILBO quietly scrambles across a SEA of GOLD. BILBO moves SLOWLY, barely allowing his WEIGHT to move the GOLD MOUNTAIN.

BILBO (CONT’D)
(muttering to himself)
The Arkenstone ... the Arkenstone ...
(reciting under his breath)
A large, white jewel ... very helpful!

ANGLE ON: BILBO reaching out he pulls out a SMALL GOLD CUP unwittingly setting off a SMALL LANDSLIDE of GOLDEN COINS.
CLOSE ON: the last few PIECES OF GOLD fall away, to reveal:
THE BULBOUS LIDDED EYE of a HUGE SLEEPING DRAGON! BILBO FREEZES IN HORROR!
SMAUG is lying ASLEEP, burrowed under a mountain of GOLD ... A VAPOUR of STEAM gently RISES through a mound of SHIMMERING TREASURE. BILBO can now hear the SOFT SOUND OF THE DRAGON’S BREATH. The SLEEPING BEAST, almost entirely hidden, is just a few FEET away.
BILBO stares up at the GOLDEN MOUNTAIN towering above him and comes to realize that SMAUG is indeed a MASSIVE size!
SMAUG exhales and SHIFTS in his sleep; BILBO watches as MOUNTAINS of GOLD subtly heave and resettle throughout the huge GALLERY.
CLOSE ON: SMAUG’S BULBOUS EYELID flickers and TWITCHES!
BILBO, still clutching the small GOLDEN CUP, is in SHOCK.
Keeping his eyes trained on the DRAGON, BILBO moves towards the NARROW TUNNEL ENTRANCE, clutching the CUP in his hand.
ANGLE ON: A THIN, PIERCING RAY of RED, which emanates from beneath the DROOPING LID of SMAUG’S LEFT EYE.
CLOSE ON: BILBO reaches into his POCKET and pulls out THE RING as ... the EVIL LIGHT of SMAUG’S RED EYE sweeps across him.
BILBO stands poised with THE RING, too scared to move, as the LIGHT of SMAUG’S EYE suddenly returns ... it fixes on the little HOBBIT just as: BILBO jams THE RING on his FINGER and instantly DISAPPEARS!
SMAUG’S SLY, SONOROUS VOICE fills the chamber.

SMAUG
(musing to himself)
Well, thief ...

SMAUG’S GREAT HEAD swings just above BILBO, his reptilian EYES sliding from SIDE TO SIDE.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
I smell you - I hear your breath - I feel your air ...

CLOSE ON: BILBO frozen in FEAR as SMAUG’s ENORMOUS HEAD looms over him.
SMAUG (CONT’D)
(to himself)
Where are you? Where are you? ...
SUDDENLY BILBO turns and RUNS, skidding & sliding down the MOUNDS of GOLD, the GIANT DRAGON following the MOVEMENT of the precious COINS. BILBO flattens himself against the TUNNEL ENTRANCE. The great EYE of SMAUG scans the ROOM.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
Come now, don’t be shy ... step into the light....

SMAUG (CONT’D)
There is something about you ... something you carry? Something made of gold, but far more ... precious.

ANGLE ON: BILBO stares into the eyes of the GREAT BEAST as if hypnotised...
FLASH IMAGE: THE EYE OF SAURON! BILBO rips off the RING and hides behind another PILLAR.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
(snide laugh)
There you are, thief in the Shadows!

BILBO is frozen on the spot, finding himself eye to eye with the HUGE DRAGON.


BILBO
(quaking with fear)
I did not come here to steal from you, O Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy, I merely wanted to gaze upon your magnificence ... to see if you were as great as the old tales say. I did not believe them.

ANGLE ON: The GREAT DRAGON rises up ... his massive chest, encrusted in jewels, glints in the LIGHT ...

SMAUG
And do you now?

BILBO
Truly the tales and songs fall utterly short of your enormity, O Smaug, the Stupendous!

SMAUG
Do you think flattery will keep you alive?

BILBO
No ...?

SMAUG
No, indeed. You seem familiar with my name, but I don’t remember smelling your kind before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?

CLOSE ON: BILBO as he backs toward the safety of a pillar, something catches his eye.
ANGLE ON: a RADIANT light emanates from within a mound of TREASURE.

BILBO
(scrambling to answer)
I ... I ... I ...

BILBO edges towards the GLIMMERING LIGHT. Finally he can see it clearly ... a beautiful jewel, it is the most MAGNIFICENT thing he has ever seen. The ARKENSTONE!

BILBO (CONT’D)
(playing for time)
Well ... I come from Under the Hill.

SMAUG
Underhill ...

BILBO
And under hills and over hills my path has led.
(growing confidence)
And through the air ... I am he who walks unseen ...

SMAUG
Impressive ... what else do you claim to be?

BILBO
I am Luck-wearer; Riddle-maker.

SMAUG
Lovely titles ... go on.

BILBO
Barrel-rider ...

SMAUG
Barrels ... Now, that is interesting.


CLOSE ON: BILBO starts backing away down the steep hill of gold as SMAUG’S movements get more and more agitated creating landslides of TREASURE.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
And what about your little Dwarf friends. Where are they hiding?

BILBO
(panicked)
Dwarves?! There’s no Dwarves here. You’ve got it all wrong!

SMAUG
Oh, I don’t think so, Barrel-rider. They sent you in here to do their dirty work while they skulk about outside.

SUDDENLY the ARKENSTONE slides away as SMAUG’S huge body slides under the cloisters.

BILBO
(panicked)
Truly, you are mistaken, O Smaug, Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.

SMAUG
You have nice manners for a thief and liar!

BILBO edges along the MOUND of GOLD trying to reach THE ARKENSTONE - SMAUG casts around wildly ... the ARKENSTONE slides further away.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
I know the smell and taste of Dwarf - noone better ... It’s the gold - they are drawn to treasure, like flies to dead flesh.

ANGLE ON: SMAUG is starting to get enraged!

SMAUG (CONT’D)
(roaring with fury)
Did you think I did not know this day would come ... that a pack of canting Dwarves would come crawling back to the Mountain?

Thin REDDISH FLAMES escape from SMAUG’S mouth and nostrils as he LAUGHS ... a devastating sound which shakes the very foundations of the MOUNTAIN. He smashes COLUMNS.

SMAUG
The King Under the Mountain is dead! I took his throne! I ate his people like a wolf among sheep. I kill where I wish, when I wish! My armour is iron. No blade can pierce me.

SMAUG suddenly whirls back around, his TAIL lashes furiously.
SMASHING into columns bringing them crashing down!

ANGLE ON: SMAUG moves stealthily through the CHAMBER ... his voice low and full of menace.

SMAUG (ADR PICK-UP)
It’s Oakensheild - that filthy, Dwarvish usurper! He sent you in here for the Arkenstone, didn’t he?

BILBO
No, no - I came of my own accord.

SMAUG
Don’t bother denying it - I guessed his foul purpose some time ago. But it matters not ... Oakenshield’s quest will fail ...

ANGLE ON: BILBO, hiding behind a pillar, as he listens to the sly voice of SMAUG.

SMAUG
You are being used, Thief in the Shadows... you were only ever a means to an end. The coward Oakensheild has weighed the value of your life and found it worth nothing.

ANGLE ON: BILBO as he tries to shake of the thought.

BILBO
No ... no ... you’re lying.

SMAUG
What did he promised you? A share of the treasure - as if it was his to give! I will not part with a single coin, not one piece of it.

ANGLE ON: BILBO races towards THE ARKENSTONE as SMAUG flicks his tail ... his massive body moves like lighting ... TREASURE erupts in all directions, sending THE ARKENSTONE flying away from BILBO.

SMAUG (CONT’D)
My teeth are swords! My claws are spears! My wings are a hurricane!

SMAUG flexes his WINGS, rising up on his haunches, in an awesome DISPLAY of POWER ...
BILBO stares in awe, then looks again ...
CLOSE ON: There, under one wing, is a bare patch of DRAGON SKIN.

BILBO
(under his breath)
So it is true. The black arrow found it’s mark.

SMAUG (ADR PICK-UP)
What did you say?

BILBO
(to SMAUG)
I was just saying your reputation precedes you, O Smaug the Tyrannical, truly you have no equal on this earth!

SMAUG‘s eyes fall to the FLOOR ... to something that lies near.
BILBO. The HOBBIT follows the DRAGON’s gaze ... it is the ARKENSTONE.

SMAUG
(soft laugh)
I am almost tempted to let you take it, if only to see Oakenshield suffer - watch
it destroy him, watch it corrupt his heart and drive him mad.

CLOSE ON: BILBO listening intently to SMAUG’s words ...

SMAUG (CONT’D)
But I think not ... I think our little game ends here ... so tell me, Thief, how do you choose to die?

BILBO jams on the RING and disappears!
SMAUG roars and swats the spot where BILBO was just standing.
Enraged, he blasts the HALL with withering FLAMES!

@темы: видео, фильмы, английский