«Высшая мера» и другие рассказы на английском языке

One day the commander of the occupation troops came to the mayor of the village and said: ‘We know you are hiding a traitor. You should give him up to us or you will pay a dear price for it.’

The village was, indeed, hiding a man who seemed good and innocent. Everyone in the village loved him. But what could the mayor do now that the welfare of the whole village was at stake?

The Village council discussed the situation for a few days but all the discussions led to no conclusion. Finally, the mayor took the matter up with the priest.

They stayed at the mayor’s office and spent there a whole sleepless night searching the scriptures. When the sun went up they found a text that said: ‘You had better sacrifice one man to save the nation.’

So, when the commander came to the village the mayor handed over the innocent man. Later the man was put to death.

Years passed and one day a prophet came to that village. He immediately went to the mayor and said: ‘How could you have done that? The man was sent by God to be the savior of this country.

‘But where did I go wrong?’ pleaded the mayor. ‘The priest and I looked at the scriptures and did what they commanded.’

‘That’s where you went wrong,’ said the prophet. ‘You looked at the scriptures. You should have also looked into his eyes.’

Well, I liked that story and since the day I heard it I have been retelling it very many times. And you know what? Every time I feel like I retell it for the first time.

Словарик

priest здесь местный священник

kind of разг. как бы

insight здесь смысл, прозрение

put it down on paper здесь записать это

traitor предатель

give somebody up сдавать, выдавать

innocent невиновный

welfareздесь благополучие

at stake здесь на кону, на карте

led to no conclusionздесь не привело к решению

took the matter up взял дело в свои руки

the scriptures здесь святые писания

sacrifice жертвовать

hand over передавать, сдавать

put to death приговорить к смерти, расстрелять

prophet пророк

immediately немедленно, сразу же

could you have done this могли так поступить

go wrong ошибаться

plead умолять, просить

should have looked следовало посмотреть

Вопросы и задания

Where did the storyteller hear the story?

Can you explain the meaning of the word insight?

Retell the legend.

Read aloud and translate any paragraph you like.