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The next morning, before Lord Canterville went up to town, Mr. Otis had an interview with him on the subject of the jewels the ghost had given to Virginia. They were perfectly magnificent, especially a certain ruby necklace with old Venetian setting, which was really a superb specimen of sixteenth-century work, and their value was so great that Mr. Otis felt considerable scruples about allowing his daughter to accept them.

“My lord,” he said, “I know that in this country mortmain is held to apply to trinkets as well as to land (я знаю, что в этой стране существует право юридического лица, применимое к безделушкам, так же как и к земле) and it is quite clear to me (и мне совершенно ясно) that these jewels are (что эти драгоценности являются), or should be (или должны быть), heirlooms in your family (предметами наследства вашей семьи). I must beg you, accordingly (соответственно, я должен попросить вас), to take them to London with you (взять их с собой в Лондон), and to regard them simply as a portion of your property (и рассматривать их просто как часть вашей собственности) which has been restored to you under certain strange conditions (которая была возвращена вам при определенных странных условиях). As for my daughter (что касается моей дочери), she is merely a child (она еще совсем ребенок), and has as yet, I am glad to say (и пока что проявляет, я рад сказать), but little interest in such appurtenances of idle luxury (мало интереса к предметам праздной роскоши).

“My lord,” he said, “I know that in this country mortmain is held to apply to trinkets as well as to land, and it is quite clear to me that these jewels are, or should be, heirlooms in your family. I must beg you, accordingly, to take them to London with you, and to regard them simply as a portion of your property which has been restored to you under certain strange conditions. As for my daughter, she is merely a child, and has as yet, I am glad to say, but little interest in such appurtenances of idle luxury.

I am also informed by Mrs. Otis (я также был проинформирован миссис Отис), who, I may say, is no mean authority upon Art (которая, я могу сказать, является неплохим знатоком искусства) – having had the privilege of spending several winters in Boston (после того, как она провела несколько зим в Бостоне) when she was a girl (когда она была молодой девушкой), – that these gems are of great monetary worth (что эти драгоценности имеют высокую стоимость; monetary – монетный, денежный; worth – цена, стоимость, ценность), and if offered for sale would fetch a tall price (и будучи выставлены на продажу, могли бы принести много денег; a tall price – высокая цена).