'read(path, offset, length[, bufsize]) -> data
Read data from a file.'

def read(self, path, offset, length, bufsize=None):

    path = Hdfs.normpath(path)
    params = self._getparams()
    params['op'] = 'OPEN'
    params['offset'] = long(offset)
    params['length'] = long(length)
    if (bufsize is not None):
        params['bufsize'] = bufsize
    try:
        return self._root.get(path, params)
    except WebHdfsException as ex:
        if ('out    of    the    range' in ex.message):
            return ''
        raise ex
