Английский в картинках: привет из 70-х

Разбирала старые книжки на этих выходных и нашла вот это чудо :) По ней занималась английским моя мама в далеком детстве. Эти парадоксальных цветов развороты с наивными фразами и странными картинками меня почему-то до ужаса умиляют :)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Roald Dahl

Привет всем! Тем, кто читает этот блог постоянно, тем, кто подписан на расслыку моих постов и тем, кто просто сюда забрел из поисковика или еще откуда-то.Надеюсь, вы останетесь тут надолго и еще не раз вернетесь.

С осенью вас, ladies and gentlemen. Желаю вам, чтобы погода, какой бы промозглой и мерзкой она ни была, не портила настроения. А, ну и тяги к знаниям вам, конечно же =)

А для поднятия настороения познакомлю вас с одним из произведений замечательного английского писателя, чье имя Roald Dahl. Это стихотворение из цикла Revolting rhymes - эдаких "сказок на иной лад", известных всем историй, очень оригинально пересказанных автором. Сказок этих в сборнике шесть, и все они великолепны - некоторые немного...хм... жестковаты (вряд ли вы захотите читать их маленьким детям), но при этом все стихотворения невероятно смешные.

Одно из них - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Если помните, я уже упоминала о нем, рассказывая об идиоме the cat's pajamas . А вот и, собственно, само произведение - наслаждайтесь :)

When little Snow-White's mother died,
The king, her father, up and cried,
'Oh, what a nuisance! What a life!
'Now I must find another wife!'
(It's never easy for a king
To find himself that sort of thing.)
He wrote to every magazine
And said, 'I'm looking for a Queen.'
At least ten thousand girls replied
And begged to be the royal bride.
The king said with a shifty smile,
'I'd like to give each one a trial.'
However, in the end he chose
A lady called Miss Maclahose,
Who brought along a curious toy
That seemed to give her endless joy --
This was a mirror framed in brass,
A MAGIC TALKING LOOKING GLASS.
Ask it something day or night,
It always got the answer right.
For instance, if you were to say,
'Oh Mirror, what's for lunch today?'
The thing would answer in a trice,
'Today it's scrambled eggs and rice.'

Now every day, week in week out,
The spoiled and stupid Queen would shout,
'Oh Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
'Who is the fairest of them all?'
The Mirror answered every time,
'Oh Madam, you're the Queen sublime.
'You are the only one to charm us,
'Queen, you are the cat's pyjamas.'
For ten whole years the silly Queen
Repeated this absurd routine.
Then suddenly, one awful day,
She heard the Magic Mirror say,
'From now on, Queen, you're Number Two.
'Snow-White is prettier than you!'
The Queen went absolutely wild.
She yelled, 'I'm going to scrag that child!
'I'll cook her flaming goose! I'll skin 'er!
'I'll have her rotten guts for dinner!'
She called the Huntsman to her study.
She shouted at him, 'Listen buddy!
'You drag that filthy girl outside,
'And see you take her for a ride!
'Thereafter slit her ribs apart
'And bring me back her bleeding heart!'
The Huntsman dragged the lovely child
Deep, deep into the forest wild.
Fearing the worst, poor Snow-White spake.
She cried, 'Oh please give me a break!'
The knife was poised, the arm was strong,
She cried again, 'I've done no wrong!'
The Huntsman's heart began to flutter.
It melted like a pound of butter.
He murmured, 'Okay, beat it, kid,'
And you can bet your life she did

Later, the Huntsman made a stop
Within the local butcher's shop,
And there he bought, for safety's sake,
A bullock's heart and one nice steak.
'Oh Majesty! Oh Queen!' he cried,
'That rotten little girl has died!
'And just to prove I didn't cheat,
'I've brought along these bits of meat.'
'The Queen cried out, 'Bravissimo!
'I trust you killed her nice and slow.'
Then (this is the disgusting part)
The Queen sat down and ate the heart!
(I only hope she cooked it well.
Boiled heart can be as tough as hell

While all of this was going on,
Oh where, oh where had Snow-White gone?
She'd found it easy, being pretty,
To hitch a ride in to the city,
And there she'd got a job, unpaid,
As general cook and parlour-maid
With seven funny little men,
Each one not more than three foot ten,
Ex horse-race jockeys, all of them

These Seven Dwarfs, though awfully nice,
Were guilty of one shocking vice --
They squandered all of their resources
At the race-track backing horses.
(When they hadn't backed a winner,
None of them got any dinner.)
One evening, Snow-White said,
'Look here, 'I think I've got a great idea.
'Just leave it all to me, okay?
'And no more gambling till I say.'
That very night, at eventide,
Young Snow-White hitched another ride,
And then, when it was very late,
She slipped in through the Palace gate.
The King was in his counting house
Counting out his money,
The Queen was in the parlour
Eating bread and honey,
The footmen and the servants slept
So no one saw her as she crept
On tip-toe through the mighty hall
And grabbed the mirror off the wall.
As soon as she had got it home,
She told the Senior Dwarf (or Gnome)
To ask it what he wished to know.
'Go on!' she shouted. 'Have a go!'
He said, 'Oh Mirror, please don't joke!
'Each one of us is stony broke!
'Which horse will win tomorrow's race,
'The Ascot Gold Cup Steeplechase?'
The Mirror whispered sweet and low,
'The horse's name is Mistletoe.'
The Dwarfs went absolutely daft,
They kissed young Snow-White fore and aft,
Then rushed away to raise some dough
With which to back old Mistletoe.
They pawned their watches, sold the car,
They borrowed money near and far,
(For much of it they had to thank
The manager of Barclays Bank.)
They went to Ascot and of course
For once they backed the winning horse

Thereafter, every single day,
The Mirror made the bookies pay.
Each Dwarf and Snow-White got a share,
And each was soon a millionaire,
Which shows that gambling's not a sin
Provided that you always win.

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

Дочитала сегодня "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman. Классная книга. И с образовательной точки зрения - красивый английский, море полезных оборотов и слов - и просто как хорошо написанная сказка, помогающая отдохнуть. Книга читается очень легко, все образы такие живые и так здорово выписаны, что незнакомые слова не становятся препятствием. Диалогов тоже немало, что еще больше облегчает чтение. С другой стороны - язык очень красочный и поэтичный, с множеством метафор. Привожу для примера один из наиболее понравившихся мне отрывков.  И ироничный, и изящный. Он не имеет большого значения для сюжета, но читать его - истинное удовольствие.

"There are no whores in Scaithe's Ebb, or none that consider themselves as such, although there have always been many women who, if pressed, would describe themselves as much-married, with one husband on this ship here every six months, and another husband on that ship, back in port for a month or so every nine months. [...] The sailors do not mind the arrangement, for they know that this way there will, at the least, be one person who, at the last, will notice when they do not come back from the sea, and will mourn their loss; and their wives content themselves with the certain knowledge that their husbands are also unfaithful, for there is no competing with the sea in a man's affections, since she is both mother and mistress, and she will wash his corpse also, in time to come, wash it to coral and ivory and pearls. "

М. Голденков, "Свежий Hot-Dog"

Была несказанно рада, когда наткнулась в магазине на эту книгу. Первое издание, "Осторожно! Hot-Dog!" я читала в электронном варианте. (Если желаете, скачать его можно здесь. Содержанием эти две книги различаются, но форма примерно одинаковая: небольшие заметки об особенностях современного английского, примеры использования различных оборотов, море идиом, забавных историй и шуток. Рекомендую)