AT HOME
The bus I catch doesn't go up the hill and when I get off at the corner I catch the smell of fish and chips and I cross the road and call at the shop and buy a fish and four penn'orth2 of chips. I eat them out of the paper as I'm going up the hill. I really like fish and chips and there's no better way of eating them than in the open air. They last me till I get to the gate. It's half past ten and the Old Lady and the Old Man3 are sitting with the table-lamp on watching television when I go in. " Do you want some supper? " the Old Lady asks me. " I've had some fish and chips on my way." " You'll want a drink of something, I suppose? " " It's all right; don't bother; I'll make some cocoa." I go into the kitchen and make the cocoa and bring it back into the living-room and sit down on the sofa at the back and light a cigarette. I'm thinking about Ingrid as I watch the picture4 that's on TV. I'm wondering what happened that she didn't come to meet me. " Where've you been? " the Old Lady says in a minute. " Pictures." " By yourself? " " With Willy Lomas." " Willy Lomas? I don't think I know him, do I? " " I used to6 go to school with him." " I don't know why you pay good money to go to the pictures when you can see them at home for nothing, " says the Old Man. " You can't show colour6 and Cinemascope on TV." " Cinemascope? " " Wide screen..... bigger." " But they're pictures, just the same, aren't they? " I don't bother to argue about it. The picture's finished and there's a toothpaste ad7 on and I get up and throw my cig-end8 in the fire.9 " Going up? " 10 the Old Lady says. " Yes, I'm ready for it. Had a busy day today." I say good night and go upstairs. There's a light in Jim's room. I go into our bathroom and wash my face and clean my teeth as quickly as I can. As I'm coming out Jim calls me. " What is it? " " A letter for you." I take it and look at it. I look at my name on the envelope and all at once I begin to get excited. " Where did you get this? " " I found it behind the front door. Somebody pushed it in while we were watching television. There's no stamp on it." There's no address on it, either; just my name. I shut the door behind me11 before I open the letter. " Dear Vie, " 12 it says. " My cousin decided to catch a later train and I went with her to the station to see her off. The train was late and it was after half past seven when I got back. I went to where we'd arranged to meet but of course you'd gone. I'm going to be at the same place tomorrow night. (Sunday). I hope you can come. Love, 13 Ingrid." (Adapted) NOTES 1. Stan Barstow was born in 1928 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the family of a coal-miner. " A Kind of Loving" was his first published novel, and came out in 1960. He has also written " Ask Me Tomorrow", published in 1962. 2. four penn'orth: four pennyworth на четыре пенса eg She bought two roubles' worth of apples. Она купила на два рубля яблок. 3. the Old Lady and the Old Man: a familiar way of speaking of one's parents 4. picture: a cinematograph film; pictures (BrE) =movies (AmE); the cinema 5. (used (followed by to+Infinitive): бывало; когда-то (знал, работал и т. д.) We use this for repeated action in the past, generally with the idea that the action is finished now. Eg I used to go to school with him (but I don't now). 6. colour: technicolour цветной (о фильме) 7. ad: advertisement реклама 8. cig-end: cigarette-end окурок 9. fire: here огонь камина Many English homes still have fireplaces with open fires to warm up the room in cold weather. 10. Going up?: Going upstairs? Going to bed? The traditional English one-family house has two storeys: upstairs and downstairs. The bedrooms and bathroom are always upstairs. Downstairs are the living room, dining room and kitchen. 11. I shut the door behind me: Я закрываю за собой дверь. Note that in English this construction with behind will always have a personal pronoun in the objective case. 12. Vic: short for " Victor". The boy's full name is Victor Brown. 13. Love: this is usually written at the end of a letter to a friend. Corresponds to the Russian с приветом.
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