Дракула / Dracula

The driver helped me with a hand which caught my arm in a grip of steel;[18 - a grip of steel – стальная хватка] his strength was prodigious. Without a word he shook his reins, the horses turned, and we ran into the darkness of the Pass.

The driver said in excellent German, “The night is chill, mein Herr,[19 - mein Herr – мой господин (нем.)] there is a flask of slivovitz[20 - slivovitz – сливовица] (the plum brandy of the country) underneath the seat.”

The carriage went straight along, then we made a complete turn and went along another straight road.

I felt suspense. Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road – a long wailing, as if from fear.[21 - as if from fear – как будто от страха] Another dog took the sound, and then another and another, till a wild howling began.

The driver suddenly turned down a narrow roadway. Soon we entered the wood, and again great rocks guarded us boldly on either side. The wind carried the howling of the dogs, though the baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer.

I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear. The driver, however, was not disturbed at all; he was turning his head to left and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.

Suddenly, I saw a faint blue flame. The driver saw it at the same moment; he jumped to the ground and disappeared into the darkness. I did not know what to do, as the howling of the wolves grew closer; but while I wondered the driver suddenly appeared again, and without a word took his seat.

There appeared a strange optical effect: when he stood between me and the flame he did not obstruct it, for I could see the flame through him. It was like a sort of awful nightmare. I decided that my eyes deceived me.

The wolves began to howl. The driver stopped the carriage and stood in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, the wolves fell back and back further. Then a heavy cloud passed across the face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.

The wolves had disappeared and the driver climbed back on.

This was all so strange that a dreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no light.

Same day, later. – In the gloom the courtyard looked considerable. Several dark ways led from it under great round arches. It perhaps seemed bigger than it really is. I have not seen it by daylight.