Английский язык с Дж. Р. Р. Толкиеном. Хоббит

At first they had passed through hobbit-lands (сначала они проехали через земли хоббитов), a wide respectable country (просторную респектабельную страну) inhabited by decent folk (населенную порядочным народом), with good roads (с хорошими дорогами), an inn or two (одной или двумя тавернами), and now and then (и время от времени) a dwarf or a farmer (/они видели/ гнома или фермера) ambling by on business (семенящего по своим делам; to amble — идти иноходью; идти легким шагом). Then they came to lands (затем они приехали в земли) where people spoke strangely (где люди говорили странно), and sang songs Bilbo had never heard before (и пели песни, которые Бильбо никогда раньше не слышал). Now they had gone on (теперь они заехали) far into the Lone-lands (глубоко в Заброшенные Земли), where there were no people left (где не осталось ни людей), no inns (ни таверн), and the roads grew steadily worse (и дороги становились постепенно все хуже; to grow (grew, grown) — расти, увеличиваться; зд. как глагол-связка в составном именном сказуемом — делаться). Not far ahead were dreary hills (не далеко впереди были мрачные холмы), rising higher and higher (поднимающиеся все выше и выше), dark with trees (темные от /растущих на них/ деревьев). On some of them were old castles (на некоторых из них были старые замки) with an evil look (с зловещим видом), as if they had been built by wicked people (словно были они построены дурными людьми). Everything seemed gloomy (все казалось мрачным), for the weather that day (так как погода в тот день) had taken a nasty turn (испортилась: «приняла отвратительный оборот»).

respectable [r'spektb l] inhabited [n'haebtd] castle ['k: s l]

These didn’t come quite as often as Bilbo would have liked them, but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all.

At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, a wide respectable country inhabited by decent folk, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf or a farmer ambling by on business. Then they came to lands where people spoke strangely, and sang songs Bilbo had never heard before. Now they had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse. Not far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and higher, dark with trees. On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people. Everything seemed gloomy, for the weather that day had taken a nasty turn.

Mostly it had been (по большей части /погода/ была) as good as May can be (такой хорошей, какой она может быть в мае), even in merry tales (даже в веселых историях), but now it was cold and wet (но теперь она была холодной и сырой; wet — мокрый; дождливый). In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could (в Заброшенных Землях им пришлось ночевать, где придется: «где они могли»), but at least it had been dry (но, по меньшей мере, было сухо).