Теория закономерных соответствий и её применение на практике
Some of us1 headed north over the bridge, slowly and unnoticed. We followed the beads of light that trace the river banks towards the luminous face of Big Ben, and took refuge in the Underground at Charing Cross. We stood waiting until a voice shouted: "Get them out, Macl" He ushered us silently out, and a man in a peaked cap drew the station gates shut.
Charing Cross at night reeks of chips and sweat. One man was already asleep on a milk crate, coat over his head, and another curled up under the bridge2. Victoria Enbankment gardens looked enticing, but the gate was locked. One man was snoring on a fruit stall at the entrance to Temple Gardens. All the paik benches had been taken, each occupied by two cardboard boxes inside which someone had crawled to sleep. Some had the added luxury of a polyethylene sheet on top of the boxes. The rest of us made do with newspapers on the ground keeping clear of the rubbish tip at the end of the gardens. One man was shouting in his sleep, others walked about with slow steps.
The cold numbs you through. You try to sleep but instead watch open-eyed the searchlight of London. One man scrutinises waste bins for tobacco; a woman searches for a place to sleep in.
Another man beats his hands together from the cold. He has been sleeping out now but still wears a belted raincoat and trilby. He thinks he looks smart; and in his way he does. "I always come here. Staying in a hostel gets too bad. At seven I'll go down to the casual labour exchange to see if any work's doing. By that time the Temple Gardens will be cleared of cardboard, ready for the tourists and commuters." (The Times)
1. Some of us ... — вместе с другими репортёрами газеты автор статьи, обследуя положение бездомных в Лондоне, проводит ночь в их среде.
2. Более полувека тому назад Анатоль Франс заметил: равенство в капиталистических странах заключается в одинаковом праве нищего и миллионера спать под мостом.
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