Английский язык с Шерлоком Холмсом. Первый сборник рассказов (ASCII-IPA)

"Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple cooking and keeps the place clean — that's all I have in the house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads and pay our debts, if we do nothing more.

"The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says:

"'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.'

"'Why’s that?' I asks.

"'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men (ну вот, появилась новая вакансия в Союзе рыжих). It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets it (она стоит = даст вполне небольшой достаток тому, кто ее займет: «получит»), and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men (и /как/ я понимаю, там больше вакансий, чем кандидатов), so that the trustees are at their wits' end what to do with the money (и что доверенные лица = душеприказчики ломают себе голову: «на краю их разума», что сделать с деньгами). If my hair would only change color (если бы мои волосы только могли изменить цвет), here's a nice little crib all ready for me to step into (я бы воспользовался этим выгодным местом: «здесь хорошая маленькая кормушка, полностью готовая, чтобы я пришел к ней»; to step into — входить, войти).'

vacancy ['veIk@nsI], worth [w@:T], trustees [trV'sti:z], ready ['redI]

"'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home man (я большой домосед; to stay — оставаться), and as my business came to me instead of my having to go to it (так как мое дело приходило ко мне, вместо того, чтобы мне приходилось идти к нему = клиенты сами приходили ко мне), I was often weeks on end (часто по целым неделям; on end — подряд, кряду) without putting my foot over the doormat (не переступал порога: «без переступания ногой через половик»). In that way (таким образом) I didn't know much of what was going on outside (я почти не знал о том, что происходило снаружи), and I was always glad of a bit of news (был всегда рад /получить/ немного новостей).

"'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change color, here's a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.'

"'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over the doormat. In that way I didn't know much of what was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news.

"'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men (/разве/ вы никогда не слышали о Союзе рыжих)?' he asked with his eyes open (спросил он со своими открытыми глазами = широко открыв глаза).

"'Never (никогда).'

"'Why, I wonder at that (ну, я удивлен на это = это меня удивляет), for you are eligible yourself for one of the vacancies (так как вы сами подходите, чтобы занять одну из вакансий).'

"'And what are they worth (и чего они стоят = а много ли можно заработать)?' I asked.

"'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year (о, всего лишь пару сотен /фунтов/ в год), but the work is slight (но работа незначительная = пустяковая), and it need not interfere very much with one's other occupations (и не отвлекает очень сильно от других занятий).'

merely ['mI@lI], couple [kVpl], interfere [Int@'fI@]

"'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he asked with his eyes open.

"'Never.'