In (но почему вы не загребли его: «втянули его внутрь»)?"

"Zero hour is almost here (час Ч: «нулевой час» есть почти здесь)," I said (я сказал).

Kurtz was a great step forward (Куртц был большой шаг вперед), for Kurtz was in direct

communication with Lime (ибо Куртц был в прямой связи с Лаймом; communication –

(со)общение)—he had a small outside job (он имел небольшую внештатную работу) in

connection with relief work (в связи с общественными работами для безработных; relief –

облегчение; work – работа). With Kurtz (с Куртцем), Lime sometimes put things on paper

(Лайм иногда записывал вещи на бумагу; to put – класть)—if he was pressed (если он был

вынужден, вынуждаем). I showed Martins the Photostat of a note (я показал Мартинсу

фотокопию записки). "Can you identify that (можете вы идентифицировать это)?"

"It's Harry's hand (это рука Гарри)." He read it through (он прочитал ее до конца; through –

сквозь). "I don't see anything wrong (я не вижу чего-либо плохого)."

"No (нет), but now read this note from Harbin to Kurtz (но теперь прочтите эту записку от

Харбина к Куртцу)—which we dictated (которую мы продиктовали). Look at the date

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(посмотрите на дату). This is the result (это есть результат)."

He read them both through twice (он прочитал их обе дважды). "You see what I mean (вы

видите что я имею в виду)?" If one watched a world come to an end (если человек бы

смотрел как мир приходит к концу: «смотрел мир приходить к концу»), a plane dive from

its course (самолет падающий со своего курса), I don't suppose one would chatter (я не

предполагаю (что) кто-нибудь бы болтал), and a world for Martins had certainly come to an

end (а мир для Мартинса точно пришел к концу), a world of easy friendship (мир легкой

дружбы), hero-worship (преклонения: «герою поклонения»), confidence (доверия) that had

begun twenty years before (которые начались двадцать лет прежде; to begin – начинать) ...

in a school corridor (в школьном коридоре). Every memory (каждое воспоминание)—

afternoons in the long grass (дни в длинной траве), the illegitimate shoots on Brickworth

Common (недозволенные выстрелы на Брикуорт Коммон), the dreams, the walks (мечты,

прогулки), every shared experience was simultaneously tainted (каждый разделенный опыт

был одновременно заражен), like the soil of an atomised town (как почва города

испытавшего ядерный удар: «атомизированного города»). One could not walk there with

safety for a long while (человек не мог ходить там в безопасности в течение долгого

времени). While he sat there (пока он сидел там), looking at his hands and saying nothing

(смотря на свои руки и (не) говоря ничего), I fetched a precious bottle of whisky out of a

cupboard (я принес драгоценную бутылку виски из шкафа) and poured out two large doubles

(и налил «наружу» два больших двойных). "Go on (давайте)," I said (я сказал), "drink that

(выпейте это)," and he obeyed me as though I were his doctor (и он послушался меня как

будто я был его доктором). I poured him out another (я налил ему еще один: «другой»).

realise [`rıəlaız], relief [rı`li:f], cupboard [`kΛbəd]

"Just wait," I said. For some reason Harry Lime had grown careless: he may have realised that

we suspected him and got rattled. He held a quite distinguished position and a man like that is

the more easily rattled. We put one of our agents as an orderly in the British Military Hospital:

we knew by this time the name of our go-between, but we had never succeeded in getting the

line right back to the source. Anyway I am not going to bother the reader now, as I bothered

Martins then, with all the stages—the long tussle to win the confidence of the go-between—a

man called Harbin. At last we had the screws on Harbin, and we twisted them until he squealed.

This kind of police work is very similar to secret service work: you look for a double agent

whom you can really control, and Harbin was the man for us. But even he only led us as far as

Kurtz.

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136

"Kurtz," Martins exclaimed. "But why haven't you pulled him in?"

"Zero hour is almost here," I said.

Kurtz was a great step forward, for Kurtz was in direct communication with Lime—he had a

small outside job in connection with relief work. With Kurtz, Lime sometimes put things on

paper—if he was pressed. I showed Martins the Photostat of a note. "Can you identify that?"

"It's Harry's hand." He read it through. "I don't see anything wrong."

"No, but now read this note from Harbin to Kurtz —which we dictated. Look at the date. This is

the result."

He read them both through twice. "You see what I mean?" If one watched a world come to an

end, a plane dive from its course, I don't suppose one would chatter, and a world for Martins had

certainly come to an end, a world of easy friendship, hero-worship, confidence that had begun

twenty years before ... in a school corridor. Every memory—afternoons in the long grass, the