Английский язык с Р. Брэдбери. И грянул гром

It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs. It towered thirty feet above half of the trees, a great evil god, folding its delicate watchmaker's claws close to its oily reptilian chest. Each lower leg was a piston, a thousand pounds of white bone, sunk in thick ropes of muscle, sheathed over in a gleam of pebbled skin like the mail of a terrible warrior. Each thigh was a ton of meat, ivory, and steel mesh. And from the great breathing cage of the upper body those two delicate arms dangled out front, arms with hands which might pick up and examine men like toys, while the snake neck coiled. And the head itself, a ton of sculptured stone, lifted easily upon the sky. Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth like daggers. Its eyes rolled, ostrich eggs, empty of all expression save hunger. It closed its mouth in a death grin. It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feet clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight.

It ran with a gliding ballet step (он бежал скользящим балетным шагом), far too poised and balanced for its ten tons (слишком уравновешенным и сбалансированным для его десяти тонн: far — слишком, too — слишком). It moved into a sunlit area warily (он осторожно переместился в освещенную солнцем область), its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air (его красивые ручки рептилии прощупали воздух).

"Why, why," Eckels twitched his mouth (подергивал ртом = губы дрожали). "It could reach up and grab the moon (он мог бы вытянуться вверх и схватить луну)."

"Sh!" Travis jerked angrily (бросил сердито: to jerk — говорить отрывисто). "He hasn't seen us yet (он нас еще не видел)."

"It can't be killed (его нельзя убивать)," Eckels pronounced this verdict quietly (произнес свой вердикт тихо), as if there could be no argument (как будто бы не могло возникнуть доводов). He had weighed the evidence and this was his considered opinion (он взвесил факты и это было его обоснованное мнение: evidence — очевидность, доказательство, факты). The rifle in his hands seemed a cap gun (ружье в его руках казалось игрушечным: cap gun — пугач). "We were fools to come (мы были дураками, что приехали). This is impossible (это невозможно)."

"Shut up (замолчите)!" hissed (прошипел) Travis.

"Nightmare (кошмар)."

"Turn around (повернитесь кругом)," commanded Travis (скомандовал Тревис). "Walk quietly to the Machine (идите спокойно к Машине). We'll remit half your fee (мы вернем половину платы: to remit — освобождать, уменьшать)."

"I didn't realize it would be this big (я не осознавал, что он будет таким большим)," said Eckels. "I miscalculated, that's all (я просчитался, вот и все). And now I want out (а сейчас я хочу уйти: out — наружу)."

"It sees us (он нас видит)!"

"There's the red paint on its chest (вон красная краска на его груди)!"

It ran with a gliding ballet step, far too poised and balanced for its ten tons. It moved into a sunlit area warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.

"Why, why," Eckels twitched his mouth. "It could reach up and grab the moon."

"Sh!" Travis jerked angrily. "He hasn't seen us yet."

"It can't be killed," Eckels pronounced this verdict quietly, as if there could be no argument. He had weighed the evidence and this was his considered opinion. The rifle in his hands seemed a cap gun. "We were fools to come. This is impossible."

"Shut up!" hissed Travis.

"Nightmare."

"Turn around," commanded Travis. "Walk quietly to the Machine. We'll remit half your fee."

"I didn't realize it would be this big," said Eckels. "I miscalculated, that's all. And now I want out."

"It sees us!"

"There's the red paint on its chest!"