| Мундиры на солдатах - не лучше, чем их строй -лохмотья, да и те разномастные - белые, серые, коричневые, в зависимости от того, что нашлось на складе. |
| They were half starved, poor devils, as well. | К тому же они голодают, бедолаги. |
| Of the five or six thousand men based on Rosas the ones he could see were all that could be spared for military duty; the others were all out scouring the countryside for food - Bonaparte never dreamed of trying to feed the men whom he compelled to serve him, just as he only paid them, as an afterthought, a year or two in arrears. | Из пяти-шести тысяч расквартированных в Росасе солдат этот полк единственный занят строевой подготовкой - остальные рыщут по окрестностям в поисках пропитания, Бонапарт не намерен кормить людей, чьими руками завоевывает мир, равно как и платит от случая к случаю, с опозданием годика этак на два. |
| It was amazing that his ramshackle Empire had endured so long - that was the clearest proof of the incompetence of the various kingdoms who had pitted their strength against it. | Хорнблауэр дивился, как эта прогнившая империя еще не рухнула. Вероятно, потому, что ее соперники, эти европейские короли и князьки, являют собой полнейшее ничтожество. |
| Over on the other side of the Peninsula the French Empire was at this very minute putting out all its strength against a man of real ability and an army which knew what discipline was. | В эту самую минуту на другом конце Пиренейского полуострова ей преградил путь настоящий военачальник с армией, которая знает, что такое дисциплина. |
| On the issue of that struggle depended the fate of Europe. | Это противостояние решит судьбу Европы. |
| Hornblower was convinced that the redcoats with Wellington to lead them would be successful; he would have been just as certain even if Wellington were not his beloved Lady Barbara's brother. | Хорнблауэр не сомневался, что победят красные мундиры Веллингтона - он был бы в этом уверен, даже не будь Веллингтон братом обожаемой леди Барбары. |
| Then he shrugged his shoulders. | Тут он пожал плечами. |
| Not even Wellington would destroy the French Empire quickly enough to save him from trial and execution. | Даже Веллингтон не победит Французскую Империю так быстро, чтоб спасти его от суда и расстрела. |
| Moreover, the time allowed him for his day's exercise was over now. | Мало того, время, отпущенное ему для прогулки, истекало. |
| The next items in his monotonous programme would be to visit the sick in the casemate, and then the prisoners in the storeroom - by the courtesy of the commandant he was allowed ten minutes for each, before being shut up again in his room, drearily to attempt to re-read the half-dozen books which were all that the garrison of Rosas possessed, or to pace up and down, three steps each way, or to lie huddled on his bed wondering about Maria and the child that was to be born in the New Year, and torturing himself with thoughts of Lady Barbara. |
