Генрих Бёлль (1917 - 1985) - немецкий прозаик и переводчик, лауреат Нобелевской премии. Писатель, выдержавший испытание войной, он пришёл к литературе, которая не для человека, а за человека. Ясный, “чеховский” язык его произведений, повествуя, не информирует, а разоблачает истину вещизма и приобщает к истине любви.
(...) On Miss Woltersheim now reading the relevant passages from the
“Sunday News” aloud to him [Blorna] over the telephone, he could not - as they say - believe his ears. He asked her to read that again, after which he had not much choice but to believe it, and - as they say - he hit the roof.
He shouted, roared, and rushed into the kitchen for an empty bottle, found one, ran off with it to the garage where, fortunately, he was intercepted by his wife and prevented from rigging up a Molotov cocktail that he intended to throw into the editorial offices
of the “News”, to be followed by a second one into Straubleder’s town house.
One must picture the scene: a man of forty-two, a university graduate, the object for the past seven years of Luding’s admiration and Straubleder’s respect for his sober, clear-headed negotiating abilities - and this on an international level, i.e., in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Northern Ireland, in other words not one of your provincial types but a thoroughgoing man of the world: this is the
man who wanted to rig up a Molotov cocktail!
Mrs.Blorna dismissed this instantly as spontaneous petit-bourgeois romantic anarchism, “charmed away” his impulse the way one “charms away” disease or pain from some part of the body, went to the telephone herself and had Miss Woltersheim read the relevant passages to her.
I cannot be denied that she, even she, turned somewhat pale, and she did something that may have been worse than any Molotov cocktail: she reached for
the phone, called Luding (who happened to be enjoying his strawberries with whipped cream plus vanilla ice cream), and simply said to him: “You bastard, you miserable little bastard!”.
She did not give her name, but it is safe to assume that all who knew the Blornas knew the voice of Mrs. Blorna, who was notorious for the asperity and deadly aim of her remarks.
This, in her husband’s opinion, was in turn going too far: he thought she was calling Straubleder.
Well, the result was one row after another, between the Blornas, and between the Blornas and other people, but since nobody was killed we must be allowed to pass over them.
We mention these trifling, even if deliberate, consequences of the “Sunday News” reporting merely to point out how even well-educated, well-established people can be so carried away by their indignation that they consider resorting to violence of the crudest kind.
(...) -------------------------------------------- aloud: [э’laud] - вслух; во весь голос, громко, громогласно; разг. сильно, заметно, очень; ощутимо
to hit the roof: - разг. прийти в ярость, вспылить
to roar: [rO:] - реветь, орать; рычать; храпеть (о лошади)
to rush: [rAш] - бросаться, мчаться, нестись, устремляться прям. и перен.; тараторить, говорить быстро; увлекать, стремительно тащить; подгонять, торопить; нахлынуть (о чувствах, воспоминаниях и т. п.); спорт.
бежать с мячом в руках (в регби, американском футболе); дуть порывами (о ветре); быстро доставлять (кого-л. / что-л. куда-л.); разг. обдирать, "грабить"; амер. разг. приударять, ухаживать
to intercept: [,intэ’sept] - служить помехой, препятствием; останавливать, задерживать; отрезать, преграждать путь; перехватить (сигнал); добыть незаконным путем (информацию); прерывать, выключать (свет, ток, воду)
to rig up: - производить сборку основных узлов (самолёта); укладывать такелаж (на судне); строить наспех, из подручных материалов
Molotov cocktail: - коктейль Молотова, общее название простейших жидкостных зажигательных бомб
town house: [‘taunhaus] - городская квартира; городской дом
admiration: [,Edmэ’reiш(э)n] - восторг; изумление, восхищение; то, чем восхищаются; предмет поклонения
respect for his sober, clear-headed negotiating abilities:
- уважение за его способности к бесстрастному, рассудительному ведению переговоров
(При подготовке выпуска была использована работа А.Н.Леонтьева
“Некоторые проблемы психологии искусства” из книги Леонтьев А.Н. Избранные психологические произведения: В 2-х т. Т. II - Москва, 1983)
