Blue & Green. Virginia Woolf

Words: 262
Level: Intermediate(with a dictionary) / Upper-Intermediate

GREEN

The pointed fingers of glass hang downwards. The light slides down the glass, and drops a pool of green. All day long the ten fingers of the lustre drop green upon the marble. The feathers of parakeets — their harsh cries — sharp blades of palm trees — green, too; green needles glittering in the sun. But the hard glass drips on to the marble; the pools hover above the desert sand; the camels lurch through them; the pools settle on the marble; rushes edge them; weeds clog them; here and there a white blossom; the frog flops over; at night the stars are set there unbroken. Evening comes, and the shadow sweeps the green over the mantle piece; the ruffled surface of ocean. No ships come; the aimless waves sway beneath the empty sky. It's night; the needles drip blots of blue. The green's out.

BLUE

The snub-nosed monster rises to the surface and spouts through his blunt nostrils two columns of water, which, fiery-white in the centre, spray off into a fringe of blue beads. Strokes of blue line the black tarpaulin of his hide. Slushing the water through mouth and nostrils he sings, heavy with water, and the blue closes over him dowsing the polished pebbles of his eyes. Thrown upon the beach he lies, blunt, obtuse, shedding dry blue scales. Their metallic blue stains the rusty iron on the beach. Blue are the ribs of the wrecked rowing boat. A wave rolls beneath the blue bells. But the cathedral's different, cold, incense laden, faint blue with the veils of madonnas.

lustre	люстра, украшение со стеклянными подвесами
parakeet	длиннохвостый попугай
hover above	парить над чем-либо
lurch	идти, пошатываясь
edge	заострять
clog	препятствовать, затруднять движение
the mantle piece	кусочек мантии
drip blots of blue	капает синими кляксами
snub-nosed	курносый
spouts through the blunt nostrils	разливает из своих четко очерченных ноздрей
fiery-white	огненно-белый
a fringe of blue beads	бахрома из голубых бусин
Strokes of blue	мазки синего
tarpaulin	брезент, парусина
Slush	обливать, обрызгивать, окатывать
dowsing the polished pebbles of his eyes	показывая отполированные камушки его глаз
obtuse	бестолковый
shedding dry blue scales	отбрасывая тень сухо-голубыми чешуйками
rusty iron	цвет ржавого железа
wrecked rowing boat	потерпевшая крушение весельная лодка
incense laden	нагруженный запахом (цветом) ладана