Presently the Parsee came by and found the skin, and he smiled one smile that ran all round his face two times. Then he danced three times round the skin and rubbed his hands.

Then he went to his camp and filled his hat with cake-crumbs, for the Parsee never ate anything but cake, and never swept out his camp. He took that skin, and he shook that skin, and he scrubbed that skin, and he rubbed that skin just as full of old, dry, stale, tickly cake-crumbs and some burned currants as ever it could possibly hold. Then he climbed to the top of his palm-tree and waited for the Rhinoceros to come out of the water and put it on.

And the Rhinoceros did (и Носорог надел). He buttoned it up with the three buttons (он застегнул ее на три пуговицы), and it tickled like cake-crumbs in bed (и она защекотала, как крошки в постели). Then he wanted to scratch (тогда он захотел почесаться), but that made it worse (но это еще больше ухудшило дело); and then he lay down on the sands and rolled and rolled and rolled (и тогда он лег на песок и катался, и катался, и катался), and every time he rolled the cake crumbs tickled him worse and worse and worse (и каждый раз, как он перекатывался, крошки пирога щекотали его хуже, и хуже, и хуже). Then he ran to the palm-tree and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed himself against it (тогда он побежал к пальме и терся, и терся, и терся о нее). He rubbed so much and so hard (он терся так много и так сильно) that he rubbed his skin into a great fold over his shoulders (что он натер на своей шкуре большую складку над плечами), and another fold underneath (и еще одну складку внизу), where the buttons used to be (где раньше были пуговицы) (but he rubbed the buttons off (но он стер пуговицы)), and he rubbed some more folds over his legs (и он натер еще несколько складок над /своими/ ногами). And it spoiled his temper (и это испортило его нрав), but it didn’t make the least difference to the cake-crumbs (но это не имело ни малейшего значения для крошек; to make no difference — не иметь значения: «не делать разницы»). They were inside his skin and they tickled (они были внутри его шкуры и /они/ щекотали). So he went home, very angry indeed and horribly scratchy (и он пошел домой, воистину очень сердитый и со страшным зудом; to scratch — чесать(ся)); and from that day to this (и с того дня до сего(дня) / и поныне) every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper (у каждого носорога большие складки на /его/ шкуре и очень скверный нрав), all on account of the cake-crumbs inside (исключительно из-за крошек от пирога внутри; account — счет; on account — в счет чего-либо, из-за чего-либо).

button ['bAtn], worse [wWs], account [q'kaunt]

And the Rhinoceros did. He buttoned it up with the three buttons, and it tickled like cake-crumbs in bed. Then he wanted to scratch, but that made it worse; and then he lay down on the sands and rolled and rolled and rolled, and every time he rolled the cake crumbs tickled him worse and worse and worse. Then he ran to the palm-tree and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed himself against it. He rubbed so much and so hard that he rubbed his skin into a great fold over his shoulders, and another fold underneath, where the buttons used to be (but he rubbed the buttons off), and he rubbed some more folds over his legs. And it spoiled his temper, but it didn’t make the least difference to the cake-crumbs. They were inside his skin and they tickled. So he went home, very angry indeed and horribly scratchy; and from that day to this every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper, all on account of the cake-crumbs inside.

But the Parsee came down from his palm-tree (а Парс спустился с /своей/ пальмы), wearing his hat (нося свою шляпу = в шляпе), from which the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendour (от которой лучи солнца отражались в более-чем-восточном великолепии), packed up his cooking-stove (упаковал свою кухонную плитку), and went away in the direction of Orotavo, Amygdala, the Upland Meadows of Anantarivo, and the Marshes of Sonaput (и ушел в направлении Оротаво, Миндалины, Горных Лугов Антананариву и Болот Сонапута[24]).

wear [wFq], reflect [rI'flekt], oriental ["LrI'entql]

But the Parsee came down from his palm-tree, wearing his hat, from which the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendour, packed up his cooking-stove, and went away in the direction of Orotavo, Amygdala, the Upland Meadows of Anantarivo, and the Marshes of Sonaput.

THIS Uninhabited Island (этот Необитаемый Остров)
Is off Cape Gardafui (в стороне от Мыса Гвардафуй[25]).
By the Beaches of Socotra (у Берегов Сокотры)
And the Pink Arabian Sea (и Розового Аравийского моря):
But it’s hot — too hot from Suez (но жарко — слишком жарко от Суэца)
For the likes of you and me (для таких, как вы и я)
Ever to go (когда-либо плыть)
In a P. and O.[26] (пароходом компании П.О.)
And call on the Cake-Parsee (и навестить Парса с пирогом)!

uninhabited ['AnIn'hxbItId], beach [bJC], Suez ['sHIz]

THIS Uninhabited Island
Is off Cape Gardafui.
By the Beaches of Socotra
And the Pink Arabian Sea:
But it’s hot — too hot from Suez
For the likes of you and me
Ever to go
In a P. and O.
And call on the Cake-Parsee!

Необитаемый остров[27]

Лежит в стороне от путей.

К нему добраться непросто

Особенно для детей.

А за Суэцким каналом

Уж очень жарко для нас,

Чтоб плыть пароходом

По кипящим водам

И узнать, как поживает Парс.

THIS is the picture of the Parsee (это изображение Парса) beginning to eat his cake on the Uninhabited Island in the Red Sea on a very hot day (начинающего есть свой пирог на Необитаемом Острове в Красном море в очень жаркий день); and of the Rhinoceros coming down from the Altogether Uninhabited Interior (и Носорога, спускающегося из Совершенно Необитаемой Глубины /острова/), which, as you can truthfully see, is all rocky (который, как вы достоверно видите, очень скалистый; truthful — безошибочный, верный, правильный, точный; truth — истина). The Rhinoceros’s skin is quite smooth (шкура Носорога совершенно гладкая), and the three buttons that button it up are underneath (а три пуговицы, которые застегивают ее, находятся внизу), so you can’t see them (поэтому вы не видите их = поэтому вам их не видно). The squiggly things on the Parsee’s hat (волнообразные штуковины на шляпе Парса) are the rays of the sun (это лучи солнца) reflected in more-than-oriental splendour (отражающиеся в более-чем-восточном великолепии), because if I had drawn real rays (потому что если бы я нарисовал настоящие лучи) they would have filled up all the picture (они бы заполнили всю картинку). The cake has currants in it (в пироге есть коринки); and the wheel-thing lying on the sand in front (а вещица, похожая на колесо на песке спереди) belonged to one of Pharaoh’s chariots (принадлежала одной из колесниц Фараона) when he tried to cross the Red Sea (когда он попытался пересечь Красное море[28]). The Parsee found it, and kept it to play with (Парс нашел ее и хранил, чтобы играть с ней). The Parsee’s name was Pestonjee Bomonjee (Парса звали Пестонджи Бомонджи[29]), and the Rhinoceros was called Strorks (а Носорога звали Строркс[30]), because he breathed through his mouth instead of his nose (потому что он дышал через рот, вместо того чтобы дышать через нос[31]). I wouldn’t ask anything about the cooking-stove if I were you (на твоем месте я не стал бы спрашивать ничего о кухонной плите).

altogether ["Lltq'geDq], smooth [smHD], breathe [brJD]

THIS is the picture of the Parsee beginning to eat his cake on the Uninhabited Island in the Red Sea on a very hot day; and of the Rhinoceros coming down from the Altogether Uninhabited Interior, which, as you can truthfully see, is all rocky. The Rhinoceros’s skin is quite smooth, and the three buttons that button it up are underneath, so you can’t see them. The squiggly things on the Parsee’s hat are the rays of the sun reflected in more-than-oriental splendour, because if I had drawn real rays they would have filled up all the picture. The cake has currants in it; and the wheel-thing lying on the sand in front belonged to one of Pharaoh’s chariots when he tried to cross the Red Sea. The Parsee found it, and kept it to play with. The Parsee’s name was Pestonjee Bomonjee, and the Rhinoceros was called Strorks, because he breathed through his mouth instead of his nose. I wouldn’t ask anything about the cooking-stove if I were you.

THIS is the Parsee Pestonjee Bomonjee (это Парс Пестонджи Бомонджи) sitting in his palm tree (сидящий на своей пальме) and watching the Rhinoceros Strorks (и наблюдающий за Носорогом Строрком) bathing near the beach of the Altogether Uninhabited Island (купающимся возле берега Совершенно Необитаемого Острова) after Strorks had taken off his skin (после того как Строркс снял свою шкуру). The Parsee has put the cake-crumbs into the skin (Парс положил крошки от пирога в шкуру), and he is smiling to think (и он /сейчас/ улыбается при мысли /о том/) how they will tickle Strorks (как они будут щекотать Строркса) when Strorks puts it on again (когда Строркс снова ее наденет[32]). The skin is just under the rocks below the palm-tree in a cool place (шкура как раз под скалами ниже пальмы в прохладном месте); that is why you can’t see it (поэтому вы не видите ее). The Parsee is wearing a new more-than-oriental-splendour hat of the sort that Parsees wear (на Парсе сейчас новая шляпа более-чем-восточного великолепия, такая, как носят Парсы); and he has a knife in his hand to cut his name on palm trees (и у него в /его/ руке нож, чтобы вырезать на пальмах свое имя[33]). The black things on the islands out at sea (черные предметы на островах в открытом море) are bits of ships (это кусочки кораблей) that got wrecked going down the Red Sea (которые потерпели крушение на пути в Красном море); but all the passengers were saved and went home (но все пассажиры были спасены и отправились домой).

watch [wOC], below [bI'lqu], wreck [rek]

THIS is the Parsee Pestonjee Bomonjee sitting in his palm tree and watching the Rhinoceros Strorks bathing near the beach of the Altogether Uninhabited Island after Strorks had taken off his skin. The Parsee has put the cake-crumbs into the skin, and he is smiling to think how they will tickle Strorks when Strorks puts it on again. The skin is just under the rocks below the palm-tree in a cool place; that is why you can’t see it. The Parsee is wearing a new more-than-oriental-splendour hat of the sort that Parsees wear; and he has a knife in his hand to cut his name on palm trees. The black things on the islands out at sea are bits of ships that got wrecked going down the Red Sea; but all the passengers were saved and went home.

The black thing in the water close to the shore is not a wreck at all (черная штука в воде возле берега вовсе не остаток кораблекрушения). It is Strorks the Rhinoceros bathing without his skin (это Носорог Строркс купается без своей шкуры). He was just as black underneath his skin as he was outside (он был в точности таким же черным под шкурой, каким он был снаружи). I wouldn’t ask anything about the cooking-stove if I were you (на твоем месте я бы не спрашивал ничего о кухонной плите).

close [klqus], shore [SL], stove [stquv]

The black thing in the water close to the shore is not a wreck at all. It is Strorks the Rhinoceros bathing without his skin. He was just as black underneath his skin as he was outside. I wouldn’t ask anything about the cooking-stove if I were you.