At last we were at the Cathedral. Its great grey front, embellished with hundreds of statues and boasting a pair of the finest oak doors in Europe, rose for the first time before me, and the sudden sense of my audacity almost overcame me. Everything was in a mist as I dismounted. I saw the Marshal and Sapt dimly, and dimly the throng of gorgeously robed priests who awaited me. And my eyes were still dim as I walked up the great nave, with the pealing of the organ in my ears. I saw nothing of the brilliant throng that filled it, I hardly distinguished the stately figure of the Cardinal as he rose from the archiepiscopal throne to greet me. Two faces only stood out side by side clearly before my eyes – the face of a girl, pale and lovely, surmounted by a crown of the glorious Elphberg hair (for in a woman it is glorious), and the face of a man, whose full-blooded red cheeks, black hair, and dark deep eyes told me that at last I was in presence of my brother, Black Michael. And when he saw me his red cheeks went pale all in a moment, and his helmet fell with a clatter on the floor. Till that moment I believe that he had not realized that the King was in very truth come to Strelsau.

Of what followed next I remember nothing (о том, что последовало дальше, я ничего не помню). I knelt before the altar and the Cardinal anointed my head (я преклонил колени перед алтарем, и кардинал помазал мне голову миром; to kneel; knee – колено; to anoint – смазывать /рану/; миропомазывать). Then I rose to my feet, and stretched out my hand (потом я встал: «поднялся на ноги», протянул руку) and took from him the crown of Ruritania and set it on my head (взял у него корону Руритании, надел ее себе на голову), and I swore the old oath of the King (и поклялся древней клятвой Короля; to swear); and (if it were a sin, may it be forgiven me) (и (если это был грех, да будет он мне прощен)) I received the Holy Sacrament there before them all (я причастился там перед всеми ними; to receive the Holy Sacrament – приобщаться Святых Тайн). Then the great organ pealed out again (потом снова загремел огромный орган), the Marshal bade the heralds proclaim me (маршал приказал герольдам восславить меня; to proclaim – провозглашать; превозносить, воздавать хвалу; to bid – предлагать цену; приказывать), and Rudolf the Fifth was crowned King (и Рудольф Пятый стал коронованным королем); of which imposing ceremony an excellent picture hangs now in my dining-room (эта впечатляющая церемония /отображена/ на превосходной картине, которая висит теперь в моей столовой). The portrait of the King is very good (король на ней вышел очень удачно: «портрет короля очень хорош»).

Then the lady with the pale face and the glorious hair (и вот, дама с бледным лицом и прекрасными волосами), her train held by two pages (со шлейфом, поддерживаемым двумя пажами; train – поезд; шлейф, трен /платья/), stepped from her place and came to where I stood (сошла со своего места и подошла туда, где я стоял). And a herald cried (а герольд выкрикнул):

“Her Royal Highness the Princess Flavia (ее королевское высочество принцесса Флавия)!”

Of what followed next I remember nothing. I knelt before the altar and the Cardinal anointed my head. Then I rose to my feet, and stretched out my hand and took from him the crown of Ruritania and set it on my head, and I swore the old oath of the King; and (if it were a sin, may it be forgiven me) I received the Holy Sacrament there before them all. Then the great organ pealed out again, the Marshal bade the heralds proclaim me, and Rudolf the Fifth was crowned King; of which imposing ceremony an excellent picture hangs now in my dining-room. The portrait of the King is very good.