Travels with my aunt / Путешествие с тетушкой. Книга для чтения на английском языке

”

I don’t like to hear such adjectives on the lips of an attractive young girl, but her words reminded me sharply that I had left all that remained of my mother in Aunt Augusta’s kitchen. I went back to the street door. There was a row of bells with a kind of microphone above each of them. I touched the right one and heard Wordsworth’s voice. “Who be there?”

I said, “It’s Henry Pulling.”

“Don know anyone called that name.”

“I’ve only just left you. I’m Aunt Augusta’s nephew.

“Oh, that guy,” the voice said.

“I left a parcel with you in the kitchen.”

“You wan it back?”

“Please, if it’s not too much trouble…”

Human communication, it sometimes seems to me, involves an exaggerated amount of time. How briefly and to the point people always seem to speak on the stage or on the screen, while in real life we stumble from phrase to phrase with endless repetition.

“A brown-paper parcel?” Wordsworth’s voice asked.

“Yes.”

“You wan me bring it down right away?”

“Yes, if it’s not too much…”

“It’s a bloody lot of trouble,” Wordsworth said.

I was prepared to be very cold to him when he brought the parcel, but he opened the street door wearing a friendly grin[25 - wearing a friendly grin – (разг.) добродушно ухмыляясь].

“Thank you,” I said, with as much coldness as I could muster, “for the great trouble you have taken.”

I noticed that the parcel was no longer sealed.

“Ar jus wan to see what you got there.”

“You might have asked me.”

“Why, man,” he said, “you not offended at Wordsworth?”

“I didn’t like the way you spoke just now.”

“Man, it’s jus that little mike there. Ar wan to make it say all kind of rude things. There ar am up there, and down there ma voice is, popping out into the street where no one see it’s only old Wordsworth. It’s a sort of power, man.

One day it was the parson come from Saint George’s in the square. An he says in a dear brethren sort of voice, �I wonder, Miss Bertram, if I could come up and have a little chat about our bazaar.’ �Sure, man,’ ar say, �you wearing your dog collar?’ �Why, yes,’ he say, �of course, who is that?’ �Man,’ ar say, �you better put on a muzzle too before you go come up here.