Text:         RED HAND LINE* (A legend)

We came to Antwerp early in the morning.

“Do you want to see the port?” Kovalenko asked me. “Of course, I do,” I answered. “Then let’s begin with the ships. Look at their emblems!”

I examined the emblems with great interest. I saw different stars and letters, flags, and golden keys…

Suddenly I noticed a very strange emblem. We stopped in front of it to examine it better. It was a picture of a cut-off hand. “It’s the emblem of the British Company Red Hand Line,” Kovalenko said. “There is a legend that explains the origin of this terrible emblem¹. I can tell you this legend if you like²”.

“Certainly,” I answered. “It must be very interesting!” “It ʹhappened very ʹlong a_↘go,” Kovalenko began. “There ʹlived an ʹold _↘shipowner in England. ʹOnce he ʹfell _↘ill. He ʹcalled his ʹtwo _↗sons | and _↘said, | ‘I ʹfeel that I shall ʹsoon _↘die. I am ʹnot _↘rich. I can ʹleave you ʹonly ʹone _↘ship, | but she³ must beʹlong to ʹonly _↘one of you. If you ʹown her to_↗gether, | you ʹwon’t be ʹable to ʹlive in _↘peace. _↘Listen to me! You will ʹhave to ʹgo to the _↗seashore, | jump into the _↗water | and ʹswim towards the _↘ship. As ʹsoon as ʹone of you ʹtouches her ʹside with his _↗hand, | he will beʹcome her _↘owner!’

The two brothers went to the shore and jumped into the water. When the ship was already near, the elder brother got tired and could no longer swim quickly. The younger brother was already reaching the ship. His brother saw this and a wild idea came to his mind. With a quick movement of his right hand he drew out his knife, cut off his left hand and threw it in the direction of the ship! His hand fell on the deck and a few moments later the sailors lifted him on board and greeted him.

While the sailors were dressing his wound, he looked terribly pale, his lips hardly moved, but one could see triumph in his eyes and make out the words: ‘I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I am her owner!’

For a while all those⁴ on board the ship forgot about the younger brother who was still down in the sea. He was so tired that he could not swim any longer.

‘Let me have a rest on board the ship!’ he cried out.

‘No,’ answered his brother. ‘You cannot have a rest on board my ship! ‘I am her owner and I shall own her alone!’

‘I don’t want anything!’ the younger brother continued. ‘I am tired, help me, I shan’t be able to get back if I don’t have a rest!’

‘No,’ repeated his brother. ‘I don’t want you on board my ship’.

The younger brother had nothing to do but turn back. It became more and more difficult for him to swim and soon his head disappeared under the water…

The elder brother became rich. He bought many ships and made a picture of a cut-off hand the emblem of his company.”

Kovalenko thought a little and added, “This story isn’t true of course, but it shows what greediness does to people.”

(After The Right Course by Klimtchenko)

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

1. There is a legend that explains the origin of this terrible emblem. — Существует легенда, которая объясняет происхождение этой страшной фирменной марки (пароходной компании).

Слово that который, которая, которое, которые в данном предложении является относительным местоимением, вводящим определительное придаточное предложение. В данном предложении местоимение that является подлежащим определительного придаточного предложения. Оно может также употребляться и в функции дополнения. В последнем случае местоимение that часто опускается:

Bring me the book that I gave you yesterday. Принесите мне книгу, ко- Bring me the book I gave you yesterday.         торую я дал вам вчера.

2. I can tell you this legend if you like. — Я могу рассказать тебе эту легенду, если хочешь.

3. I can leave you only one ship, but she must belong to only one of you. — Я могу оставить вам только один корабль, но он должен принадлежать только одному из вас.

В английском языке некоторые имена существительные, обозначающие неодушевленные предметы и животных, заменяются не местоимением среднего рода it , а местоимениями мужского или женского рода. Так, существительное ship корабль заменяется местоимением женского рода she .

4. For a while all those on board the ship forgot about the younger brother … — На некоторое время все me , кто находился (все находившиеся) на борту корабля, забыли о младшем брате …

Обратите внимание на употребление словосочетания all those в следующих выражениях:

      all those present    все присутствующие

      all those absent все отсутствующие

ACTIVE WORDS AND WORD COMBINATIONS

A line                                             tired