Endless Night / Бесконечная ночь. Книга для чтения на английском языке

I went up the winding road that led out of the village and wound up through the dark trees and came at last to the top of the hill so that I could see out to sea and the ships. It was a marvellous view and I thought, just as one does think things: I wonder how it would be if Gipsy’s Acre was my acre… Just like that… It was only a ridiculous thought. When I passed my hedge clipper again, he said:

�If you want gipsies, there’s old Mrs Lee of course. The Major, he gives her a cottage to live in.’

�Who’s the Major?’ I asked.

He said, in a shocked voice, �Major Phillpot, of course.’ He seemed quite upset that I should ask! I gathered that Major Phillpot was God locally. Mrs Lee was some kind of dependant of his, I suppose, whom he provided for. The Phillpots seemed to have lived there all their lives and more or less to have run the place.

As I wished my old boy good day and turned away he said:

�She’s got the last cottage at the end of the street. You’ll see her outside, maybe.

Doesn’t like the inside of houses. Them as has got gipsy blood don’t.’

So there I was, wandering down the road, whistling and thinking about Gipsy’s Acre. I’d almost forgotten what I’d been told when I saw a tall black-haired old woman staring at me over a garden hedge. I knew at once it must be Mrs Lee. I stopped and spoke to her.

�I hear you can tell me about Gipsy’s Acre up there,’ I said.

She stared at me through a tangled fringe of black hair[5 - tangled fringe of black hair – (зд.

) запутанный край черных волос] and she said:

�Don’t have nought[6 - nought = nothing] to do with it, young man. You listen to me. Forget about it. You’re a good-looking lad. Nothing good comes out of Gipsy’s Acre and never will.’

�I see it’s up for sale,’ I said.

�Aye, that’s so, and more fool he who buys it.’

�Who’s likely to buy it?’

�There’s a builder after it.

More than one. It’ll go cheap. You’ll see.’

�Why should it go cheap?’ I asked curiously. �It’s a fine site.’

She wouldn’t answer that.

�Supposing a builder buys it cheap, what will he do with it?’

She chuckled to herself. It was malicious, unpleasant laughter.

�Pull down the old ruined house and build, of course. Twenty – thirty houses, maybe – and all with a curse on them.’ I ignored the last part of the sentence.