The wind shrieked down on them, driving snow down his neck - thwarts and bottom boards were thick with snow. He felt the boat swing round under the thrust of the wind, which was in his face now instead of on his cheek. | Ветер завывал, наталкивал за шиворот снега (банки и дно лодки уже покрывал густой белый слой), разворачивал лодку и дул Хорнблауэру уже не в щеку, а в лицо. |
"Turn her head to wind, Brown," he ordered, "and pull slowly into it." | - Разверни ее носом к ветру, - приказал он Брауну,- и легонько греби. |
The surest way of allowing the current a free hand with them was to try to neutralize the effect of the wind - a gale like this would soon blow them on shore, or even possibly blow them upstream; in this blackness it was impossible to guess what was happening to them. | Чтобы течение несло их быстрее, нужно уравновесить действие ветра, иначе он погонит их к берегу или даже вверх по реке, в такой тьме ничего не разберешь. |
"Comfortable, Mr Bush?" he asked. | - Удобно вам, мистер Буш? - спросил Хорнблауэр. |
"Aye, aye, sir." | -Так точно, сэр. |
Bush was faintly visible now, for the snow had driven up already against the grey blankets that swathed him and could just be seen from where Hornblower sat, a yard away. | Буша было еле видно. Серые одеяла уже занесло снегом. |
"Would you like to lie down?" | - Хотите лечь? |
"Thank you, sir, but I'd rather sit." | - Спасибо, сэр, я лучше посижу. |
Now that the excitement of the actual escape was over, Hornblower found himself shivering in the keen wind without his cloak. | Волнение схлынуло, и Хорнблауэр начал мерзнуть. |
He was about to tell Brown that he would take one of the sculls when Bush spoke again. | Он ухе собирался сказать Брауну, что возьмет весло, когда Буш снова заговорил: |
"Pardon, sir, but d'you hear anything?" | - Простите, сэр, но вы ничего не слышите? |
Brown rested on his oars, and they sat listening. | Браун перестал грести, все трое прислушались. |
"No," said Hornblower. "Yes, I do, by God!" Underlying the noise of the wind there was a distant monotonous roaring. | В шуме ветра угадывался далекий монотонный рев. |
"H'm," said Hornblower, uneasily. | - Хм, - сказал Хорнблауэр встревоженно. |
The roar was growing perceptibly louder; now it rose several notes in the scale, suddenly, and they could distinguish the sound of running water. | Рев нарастал, и внезапно они различили шум бегущей воды. |
Something appeared in the darkness beside the boat; it was a rock nearly covered, rendered visible in the darkness by the boiling white foam round it. | Что-то возникло во тьме совсем рядом с лодкой -то был полускрытый водой камень, различимый лишь по кипению белой пены вокруг. |
It came and was gone in a flash, the clearest proof of the speed with which the boat was travelling. | Он возник и тут же скрылся за кормой, подтверждая, что лодка и впрямь несется стремительно. |
"Jesus!" said Brown in the bows. | - Черт! - выговорил Браун. |
Now the boat was spinning round, lurching, jolting. | Лодка закружилась, задергалась. |
All the water was white overside, and the bellowing of the rapid was deafening. | Вся вода вокруг была белая, стремнина оглушительно ревела. |