From the far north they heard a low wail |низкий вой| of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves |клонилась волнами| before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples |рябь| in the grass coming from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
“There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife. “I’ll go look after the stock |посмотрю как там скот|.” Then he ran toward the sheds |скотному двору| where the cows and horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand |надвигается|.
“Quick, Dorothy!” she screamed. “Run for the cellar!”
Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open |распахнула| the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last |наконец-то| and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek |визг| from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled |прокрутился| around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still |спокоен, неподвижен|, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled |завывал| horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly |сильно накренился|, she felt as if she were being rocked gently |как будто ее мягко покачивали|, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about |по всей| the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.