otherwise ['ʌðǝwaɪz], atmosphere ['ætmǝsfɪǝ], earnest ['ɜ:nɪst]
He told it to me with such a direct simplicity of conviction that I could not do otherwise than believe in him. But in the morning, in my own flat, I woke to a different atmosphere, and as I lay in bed and recalled the things he had told me, stripped of the glamour of his earnest slow voice, denuded of the focussed shaded table light, the shadowy atmosphere that wrapped about him and the pleasant bright things, the dessert and glasses and napery of the dinner we had shared, making them for the time a bright little world quite cut off from everyday realities, I saw it all as frankly incredible. “He was mystifying!” I said, and then: “How well he did it!.. It isn't quite the thing I should have expected him, of all people, to do well.”
Afterwards, as I sat up in bed and sipped my morning tea (потом, когда я сидел в кровати и пил: «пил мелкими глотками» свой утренний чай), I found myself trying to account for the flavour of reality (я обнаружил, что пытаюсь объяснить тот налет реальности; to account for – объяснять) that perplexed me in his impossible reminiscences (который озадачил меня в его невероятных воспоминаниях), by supposing they did in some way suggest, present, convey (предположив, что они каким-то образом внушают, передают, выражают) – I hardly know which word to use (я вряд ли знаю, какое слово использовать) – experiences it was otherwise impossible to tell (впечатления, которые иначе невозможно высказать).
account [ǝ'kaʋnt], reminiscence [,remɪ'nɪsns], experience [ɪk'spɪǝrɪǝns]
Afterwards, as I sat up in bed and sipped my morning tea, I found myself trying to account for the flavour of reality that perplexed me in his impossible reminiscences, by supposing they did in some way suggest, present, convey – I hardly know which word to use – experiences it was otherwise impossible to tell.
Well, I don't resort to that explanation now (ну, теперь я не прибегаю к этому объяснению). I have got over my intervening doubts (я преодолел возникающие сомнения). I believe now (теперь я считаю), as I believed at the moment of telling (как я считал в момент рассказа), that Wallace did to the very best of his ability strip the truth of his secret for me (что Уоллес старался изо всех сил обнажить правду своей тайны для меня). But whether he himself saw (но то ли он сам понимал; to see – видеть; понимать), or only thought he saw (или лишь думал, что понимает), whether he himself was the possessor of an inestimable privilege (то ли он был обладателем неоценимой привилегии), or the victim of a fantastic dream (или жертвой фантастического сна), I cannot pretend to guess (я не осмеливаюсь гадать; to pretend – пытаться, прилагать усилия, стараться; отваживаться, решаться). Even the facts of his death (даже факты его смерти), which ended my doubts forever (которые навсегда уничтожили мои сомнения), throw no light on that (не проливают: «бросают» света на это). That much the reader must judge for himself (именно это читатель должен оценить сам; to judge – сделать вывод; оценивать, судить; that much = so much – столько-то, это-то).
intervening [,ɪntǝ'vi:nɪŋ], possessor [pǝ'zesǝ], privilege ['prɪvɪlɪʤ]
Well, I don't resort to that explanation now. I have got over my intervening doubts. I believe now, as I believed at the moment of telling, that Wallace did to the very best of his ability strip the truth of his secret for me. But whether he himself saw, or only thought he saw, whether he himself was the possessor of an inestimable privilege, or the victim of a fantastic dream, I cannot pretend to guess. Even the facts of his death, which ended my doubts forever, throw no light on that. That much the reader must judge for himself.
I forget now what chance comment or criticism of mine moved so reticent a man to confide in me (я уже не помню, какое мое случайное критическое замечание подвигло такого сдержанного человека довериться мне; to forget – забывать).