Английский язык с Э. Р. Берроузом. Принцесса Марса / Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars

The chill of the Martian night was upon us, and removing my silks I threw them across the shoulders of Dejah Thoris. As my arm rested for an instant upon her I felt a thrill pass through every fiber of my being such as contact with no other mortal had even produced; and it seemed to me that she had leaned slightly toward me, but of that I was not sure. Only I knew that as my arm rested there across her shoulders longer than the act of adjusting the silk required she did not draw away, nor did she speak. And so, in silence, we walked the surface of a dying world, but in the breast of one of us at least had been born that which is ever oldest, yet ever new.

I loved Dejah Thoris. The touch of my arm upon her naked shoulder had spoken to me in words I would not mistake, and I knew that I had loved her since the first moment that my eyes had met hers that first time in the plaza of the dead city of Korad.

CHAPTER XIV

A DUEL TO THE DEATH (дуэль до смерти)

My first impulse was to tell her of my love (моим первым побуждением было сказать ей о моей любви), and then I thought of the helplessness of her position (а затем я подумал о ее беспомощном положении) wherein I alone could lighten the burdens of her captivity (при котором только я мог облегчить бремя ее плена), and protect her in my poor way (и защищать ее по мере моих скромных сил: «моим скромным способом») against the thousands of hereditary enemies she must face upon our arrival at Thark (от тысяч врожденных врагов, с которыми ей придется столкнуться, когда мы прибудем в Тарк). I could not chance causing her additional pain or sorrow (я не мог рисковать и причинить ей дополнительную боль и печаль) by declaring a love which, in all probability, she did not return (объявив ей о любви, на которую она, по всей вероятности, не отвечала взаимностью; to return — возвращать; отвечать тем же). Should I be so indiscreet (если бы я был настолько неблагоразумным; indiscreet — нескромный; опрометчивый), her position would be even more unbearable than now (ее положение стало бы еще более невыносимым, чем сейчас; to bear — носить; выносить, терпеть), and the thought that she might feel that I was taking advantage of her helplessness (и мысль о том, что у нее может возникнуть чувство, что я пытаюсь воспользоваться ее беспомощностью), to influence her decision (чтобы повлиять на ее решение) was the final argument which sealed my lips (стала последним доводом, который наложил печать на мои уста).

hereditary [hI'redItrI], unbearable [An'beqrqbl], influence ['Influqns]

My first impulse was to tell her of my love, and then I thought of the helplessness of her position wherein I alone could lighten the burdens of her captivity, and protect her in my poor way against the thousands of hereditary enemies she must face upon our arrival at Thark. I could not chance causing her additional pain or sorrow by declaring a love which, in all probability, she did not return. Should I be so indiscreet, her position would be even more unbearable than now, and the thought that she might feel that I was taking advantage of her helplessness, to influence her decision was the final argument which sealed my lips.