美丽新世界Brave New World 第1章(4)

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　　“因为在自然状态下，要让两百个卵子成熟需要三十年之久。

　　But our business is to stabilize² the population at this moment, here and now.

　　但我们现在的任务是稳定人口，稳定在此时此地的水平。

　　Dribbling³ out twins over a quarter of a century–what would be the use of that?"

　　花四分之一个世纪去生产少数几个多生子——那能有什么用处？”

　　Obviously, no use at all. But Podsnap's Technique had immensely accelerated the process of ripening⁴.

　　显然毫无用处。但是泼孜纳普技术却大大加速了成熟的过程。

　　They could make sure of at least a hundred and fifty mature eggs within two years.

　　他们有把握在两年之内至少生产出二百五十个成熟的卵子。

　　Fertilize⁵ and bokanovskify–in other words, multiply by seventy-two–and you get an average of nearly eleven thousand brothers

　　然后让它们受精，再波坎诺夫斯基化——换句话说，乘以七十二，于是你得到差不多一万一千个兄弟姐妹，

　　and sisters in a hundred and fifty batches⁶ of identical twins, all within two years of the same age.

　　一百五十批恒等多生子女，全都在两年之内出生，年龄一样大。

　　"And in exceptional cases we can make one ovary yield us over fifteen thousand adult individuals."

　　“在特殊的例外情况下我们可以用一个卵子培养出一万五千个成年人。”

　　Beckoning⁷ to a fair-haired, ruddy young man who happened to be passing at the moment.

　　主任向一个浅色头发的壮健青年招了招手——那人正好路过。

　　"Mr. Foster," he called. The ruddy young man approached. "Can you tell us the record for a single ovary, Mr. Foster?"

　　“福斯特先生。”他叫道。那壮健的青年走了过来。“你能够告诉我们一个卵子的最高记录是多少么？”

　　"Sixteen thousand and twelve in this Centre," Mr. Foster replied without hesitation⁸.

　　“在本中心是一万六千零一十二个。”福斯特先生毫不犹豫地回答。

　　He spoke⁹ very quickly, had a vivacious¹⁰ blue eye, and took an evident pleasure in quoting figures.

　　他长着一对快活的蓝眼睛，说话迅速，显然很以引述数字为乐。

　　"Sixteen thousand and twelve; in one hundred and eighty-nine batches of identicals.

　　“一万六千零一十二个，共是一百八十九批恒等多生子。

　　But of course they've done much better," he rattled¹¹ on, "in some of the tropical Centres.

　　但是在赤道的有些孵化中心”他滔滔不绝地说了下去，

　　Singapore has often produced over sixteen thousand five hundred; and Mombasa has actually touched the seventeen thousand mark.

　　“成绩还要好得多。新加坡的产量常常超过一万六千五百个；而蒙巴萨实际上已达到一万七千的指标。

　　But then they have unfair advantages. You should see the way a negro ovary responds to pituitary!

　　但是他们的条件优越。你要是能看看黑人卵子对新液的反应就好了！

　　It's quite astonishing, when you're used to working with European material.

　　你若是习惯于使用欧洲材料的话，黑人卵子的反应会叫你大吃一惊的。

　　Still," he added, with a laugh (but the light of combat was in his eyes and the lift of his chin was challenging), "still, we mean to beat them if we can.

　　不过，”他笑了笑，又说（但眼里却有战斗的光彩，翘起的下巴也带有挑战意味），“不过，只要有可能我们还是想超过他们。

　　I'm working on a wonderful Delta-Minus ovary at this moment. Only just eighteen months old.

　　目前我正在培养一个惊人的德尔塔加卵子，只有十八个月时间，

　　Over twelve thousand seven hundred children already, either decanted¹² or in embryo¹³. And still going strong. We'll beat them yet."

　　却已经有一千二百七十个孩子，有的已经换瓶，有的还处于胚胎状态，可仍然健壮。我们还有可能超过蒙巴萨。”

　　"That's the spirit I like!" cried the Director, and clapped Mr. Foster on the shouder.

　　“我喜欢的就是这种精神户主任拍了拍福斯特先生的肩膀，叫道，

　　"Come along with us, and give these boys the benefit of your expert knowledge."

　　“跟我们一块走走吧，让孩子们有幸获得你的专门知识。”

　　Mr. Foster smiled modestly. "With pleasure." They went.

　　福斯特先生客气地笑了笑。“乐意效劳。”便一起走了。

　　In the Bottling Room all was harmonious¹⁴ bustle¹⁵ and ordered activity.

　　装瓶室一片繁忙，却节奏和谐，井井有条。

　　Flaps of fresh sow's peritoneum ready cut to the proper size came shooting up in little lifts from the Organ Store in the sub-basement.

　　切成适当大小的新鲜母猪腹膜片从大楼次底层的器官库里由小电梯里送出来，吱的一声，然后是咔哒！

　　Whizz and then, click! the lift-hatches hew¹⁶ open; the bottle-liner had only to reach out a hand, take the flap, insert, smooth-down,

　　电梯孵化器打开；装瓶线上的人只须伸出一只手，抓住腹膜片，塞进瓶里，按平，

　　and before the lined bottle had had time to travel out of reach along the endless band, whizz, click!

　　已经装好的瓶子还没有沿着运输线走开，吱，咔哒！

　　another flap of peritoneum had shot up from the depths, ready to be slipped into yet another bottle, the next of that slow interminable procession on the band.

　　又一块腹膜片已经从下面冒了出来，只等着被塞进另一个瓶子——那缓慢的传送带上的无穷的行列里的下一个瓶子。

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