Читать «Английский язык с Р. Брэдбери. И грянул гром» онлайн - страница 11

"So what?" Travis snorted quietly. "Well, what about the foxes that'll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies. For want of ten foxes a lion starves. For want of a lion, all manner of insects, vultures, infinite billions of life forms are thrown into chaos and destruction. Eventually it all boils down to this: fifty-nine million years later, a caveman, one of a dozen on the entire world, goes hunting wild boar or saber-toothed tiger for food. But you, friend, have stepped on all the tigers in that region. By stepping on one single mouse. So the caveman starves. And the caveman, please note, is not just any expendable man, no! He is an entire future nation. From his loins would have sprung ten sons. From their loins one hundred sons, and thus onward to a civilization. Destroy this one man, and you destroy a race, a people, an entire history of life. It is comparable to slaying some of Adam's grandchildren. The stomp of your foot, on one mouse, could start an earthquake, the effects of which could shake our earth and destinies down through Time, to their very foundations. With the death of that one caveman, a billion others yet unborn are throttled in the womb. Perhaps Rome never rises on its seven hills. Perhaps Europe is forever a dark forest, and only Asia waxes healthy and teeming. Step on a mouse and you crush the Pyramids. Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a Grand Canyon, across Eternity. Queen Elizabeth might never be born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off!"

"I see," said Eckels. "Then it wouldn't pay for us even to touch the grass (тогда не пройдет даром для нас даже касание травы)?"

"Correct (правильно). Crushing certain plants could add up infinitesimally (раздавливание неких растений может очень мало изменить окружающее: to add up — подытоживать, infinitesimally — крайне мало). A little error here would multiply in sixty million years (маленькая ошибка здесь приумножится за шестьдесят миллионов лет), all out of proportion (совершенно из/вне пропорции — здесь игра слов: пропорционально/выходит за грани понимания). Of course maybe our theory is wrong (конечно, может быть, наша теория неверна). Maybe Time can't be changed by us (возможно, время не может быть изменено нами). Or maybe it can be changed only in little subtle ways (или, возможно, оно может быть изменено только очень незначительно: subtle — едва различимый). A dead mouse here makes an insect imbalance there, a population disproportion later (мертвая мышь здесь производит диспропорцию популяции позже), a bad harvest further on (плохой урожай дальше), a depression, mass starvation (депрессию, массовый голод), and finally, a change in social temperament in far-flung countries (и, наконец, изменения в социальном характере в обширных странах). Something much more subtle (/или/ что-то намного более тонкое), like that (/например,/ таким образом). Perhaps only a soft breath, a whisper, a hair, pollen on the air (возможно, только нежное дуновение, шепот, волосок, пыльца в воздухе), such a slight, slight change that unless you looked close you wouldn't see it (такое легкое, незначительное изменение, что пока не посмотрите близко, не увидите его). Who knows (кто знает)? Who really can say he knows (кто действительно может сказать, что он знает)? We don't know (мы не знаем). We're guessing (мы /только/ гадаем). But until we do know for certain (но пока мы не знаем наверняка) whether our messing around in Time can (может ли наше шатание во времени: to mess around — слоняться), make a big roar or a little rustle in history (произвести большой рев или маленький шелест в истории), we're being damned careful (мы должны быть чертовски осторожны). This Machine, this Path, your clothing and bodies (эта Машина, эта Тропа, ваша одежда и тела), were sterilized, as you know, before the journey (были стерилизованы, как вы знаете, перед путешествием). We wear these oxygen helmets (мы носим эти кислородные шлемы) so we can't introduce our bacteria into an ancient atmosphere (так что мы не можем внести наши бактерии в древнюю атмосферу)."