68 15. A ROYAL TROUBLE `But he is the king!` `I know

68 15. A ROYAL TROUBLE `But he is the king!` `I know

15. A ROYAL TROUBLE
‘But he is the king!’
‘I know he’s the king, but he was also born on the wrong side of the blanket.
Fortunately, no-one except for us, knows that yet, but if people found out…’
‘Well, you were the one who helped him to the throne. If someone starts asking
questions, you’ll have a hard nut to crack. On the other hand, I remember you
saying that you had covered all the bases. I didn’t want to know then what you
meant. I thought you’d explain things to me in due course. But out of curiosity, how
did you find out about the king’s origin?’
‘The other day I was coming back to my castle, and I decided to stay for the night
in an inn by the track. There I saw an elderly woman sitting at one of the tables. She
was complaining about her miserable life, the cruelty of people, and all that stuff.
She was saying something to me too, but I thought she was just crying into her
beer. At first I decided to cut her dead, but she got louder and louder. I took a closer
look at her and you wouldn’t believe it, in her face I found close resemblance to our
beloved king.’
‘You are not trying to tell me that the woman is a relative to our king or something,
are you? Oh, cut that crap! Merlin must have put a curse upon you because you see
strange things.’
‘Why don’t you let me finish? I paid the innkeeper. He charged me two pieces of
silver (that was robbery in broad daylight, but I couldn’t care less at that moment).
I moved to the woman’s table and offered her a glass of wine to gain / win her
confidence. Quite unexpectedly, I got a cold reception but you know me, I never
give up and I didn’t this time either. It paid off. Some money changed hands and the
woman started to talk. She cast light on many things concerning King Arthur that
Merlin kept us in the dark about. To my surprise, I learned that someone else takes
credit for King Arthur’s rising to power. Not me, and not you either.’
‘Let me ask you, did you do DNA tests of that woman?’
‘Such things I do by default. She’s the natural mother of our king. It would be a
course of nature to do something with this information, but I don’t think we will. I
made a short simulation of what would have happened if King Arthur had been
overthrown by Sir Lancelot, for instance, and the result sent chills down my spine.
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It is common knowledge that if you seriously tamper with the past events, the
outcome can be catastrophic. Do you know what consequences we’d have to take /
face / suffer? Hitler would have won World War II, and we ourselves wouldn’t have
been born at all. This is the other side of the coin, you see. We are just scientists
transported in time for a purpose, and we have to do our jobs.’
‘How about the woman from the inn? What if she makes trouble?’
‘Don’t you worry. Her days are numbered. There is a guy, a great specialist and a
very efficient one, too. I put a contract on her. For four pieces of gold she will be
eliminated at our convenience.’
Explanations:
be born on the wrong side of the
blanket
helped him to the throne
have a hard nut to crack
cover all the bases
in due course
out of curiosity
origin
the other day
castle
inn by the track
miserable
cruelty
and all that stuff
cry into one’s beer
cut sb dead
close resemblance
relative
cut that crap
put a curse upon
innkeeper
charged me
robbery in broad daylight
być z nieprawego łoŜa
pomógł mu wstąpić na tron
mieć twardy orzech do zgryzienia
zabezpieczyć się ze wszystkich stron
w odpowiednim czasie
tak z ciekawości
pochodzenie
pewnego dnia
zamek
zajazd przy drodze
nędzny
okrucieństwo
i takie tam rzeczy
uŜalać się nad sobą
ignorować kogoś
bliskie podobieństwo
krewny
przestań pieprzyć głupoty
nałoŜyć klątwę na
karczmarz
policzył mi
rozbój w biały dzień
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I couldn’t care less
gain / win sb’s confidence
get a cold reception
it paid off
cast light on
keep sb in the dark about
take credit
do by default
course of nature
overthrow
send chills down one’s spine
it is common knowledge
tamper with
outcome
take / face / suffer consequences
the other side of the coin
her days are numbered
put a contract on sb
at our convenience
zupełnie mnie to nie obchodziło
zdobyć czyjeś zaufanie
zostać chłodno przyjętym
opłaciło się
rzucić światło na
utrzymywać kogoś w niewiedzy
być czyjąś zasługą
robić coś standardowo
naturalna kolej rzeczy
obalić
przyprawić o dreszcze
powszechnie wiadomo
majstrować przy
wynik
ponieść konsekwencje
druga strona medalu
jej dni są policzone
wynająć płatnego mordercę do zabicia
kogoś
w dogodnym dla nas momencie
I. Answer the following questions with full sentences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Have you ever had a hard nut to crack? What happened?
What do you think of people who cry into their beer?
What kind of people cut you dead?
When is it necessary to cover all the bases?
What couldn’t you care less about?
Whose confidence would you like to gain? Why?
When do people get a cold reception?
Is there anything you take credit for?
What things send chills down your spine?
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II. Fill in the gaps with the right phrase / idiom from the text:
1. I can assure you that the matter is settled and you’ll be informed officially
………………………… ……………..…………………………..……. .
2. I don’t believe it. You have …………………………..………………….
about my real father for all these years. I will never forgive you.
3. I followed your advice and asked her out, but I
……………………………………………. . She told me I was wasting my
time.
4. I wanted to talk to her at the party, but she was
……………………………………………………. all the time, so I didn’t.
5. Santini is not a problem anymore. His
………………………………………………. . He won’t live longer than
a few weeks.
6. The woman simply refuses to listen to reasonable arguments. We seem to
have a …………………..……………………………………………. to
convince her.
7. There can be no doubt that it’s Jerry who
……………………………………………. for it, not John as we originally
thought.
8. What do you mean? $10 for this?! It’s a
…………………………………………………. ! I’m not going to pay that
much!
9. When I heard what he was planning to do…, well, his words
……………………………………….…………………………………. .
He’s insane.
10. Why don’t you stop ……………………………………………. and start
doing something to save your marriage.
11. You said you had ………………………………………………. . So how
come we have so many legal problems now?
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III. Translate the following sentences into English using the phrases from the
text:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Będzie bardzo trudno ponownie zdobyć jej zaufanie.
Jego sukces jest zasługą jego rodziców.
Jego wizje przyprawiają mnie o dreszcze.
Jej oświadczenie rzuciło światło na całą sprawę.
Jest jeszcze druga strona medalu, o której nie pomyślałeś.
Kompletnie mnie nie obchodzi co się z nim stanie.
Ktoś chyba na ciebie rzucił klątwę.
MoŜemy się spotkać w dogodnym dla pana momencie.
Muszę ciebie zastrzelić. Ktoś dał mi na ciebie zlecenie.
Na przyjęciu postanowiła go traktować jak powietrze.
Nie uda ci się dłuŜej trzymać jej w niewiedzy na temat jej rodziców.
Nigdy tyle nie zapłacę! To rozbój w biały dzień!
Obawiam się, Ŝe mamy twardy orzech do zgryzienia.
Powszechnie wiadomo, Ŝe takie warunki są niemoŜliwe do spełnienia.
Pracowałem cięŜko przez lata, ale się opłaciło.
Przestań pieprzyć głupoty. To są bzdury.
Spodziewaliśmy się chłodnego przyjęcia, ale nie do tego stopnia.
Tego typu działania prowadzimy standardowo.
Twoje dni w tej firmie są policzone.
Ty nie wiedziałeś, Ŝe ona jest nieślubnym dzieckiem?
UŜalanie się nad sobą nic ci nie pomoŜe.
Wydawało się, Ŝe zabezpieczyliśmy się ze wszystkich stron, a takiego
zdarzenia nie przewidzieliśmy.
23. Zostaniesz poinformowany we właściwym czasie.
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