美丽新世界Brave New World 第3章(2)

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　　那姑娘匆匆地跑掉了，消失在灌木丛里。

　　"Exquisite² little creature!" said the Director, looking after her.

　　“美妙的小东西！”主任望着她说，

　　Then, turning to his students, "What I'm going to tell you now," he said, "may sound incredible. But then, when you're not accustomed to history, most facts about the past do sound incredible."

　　然后转身对学生们讲，“我现在要想告诉你们的话，”他说，“听起来也许有些难以相信，不过，在你们不了解历史的时候，过去的事大部分听起来的确叫人难以相信。”

　　He let out the amazing truth.

　　他讲出了一些惊人的事实。

　　For a very long period before the time of Our Ford³, and even for some generations afterwards, erotic play between children had been regarded as abnormal (there was a roar of laughter); and not only abnormal, actually immoral⁴ (no!): and had therefore been rigorously suppressed.

　　在我主福帝时代之前很久，甚至那以后好多代，孩子之间的性游戏都是被看做不正常的（爆发出一阵哈哈大笑）；不但不正常，甚至不道德（不会吧！）；因此曾经受到严厉的压制。

　　A look of astonished incredulity appeared on the faces of his listeners.

　　听他说话的人脸上露出惊讶的、不肯相信的表情。

　　Poor little kids not allowed to amuse themselves? They could not believe it.

　　连让可怜的小娃娃快活快活都不行吗？他们简直不能相信。

　　"Even adolescents," the D.H.C. was saying, "even adolescents like yourselves …"

　　“就连少年也不准的，”主任说着，“就连像你们这样的少年也……”，

　　"Not possible!"

　　“不可能！”

　　"Barring a little surreptitious auto-erotism and homosexuality–absolutely nothing."

　　“除了一点偷偷摸摸的自恋行为和同性恋之外绝对什么都没有。”

　　"Nothing?"

　　“什么都没有？”

　　"In most cases, till they were over twenty years old."

　　“大部分人没有，直到满了二十岁。”

　　"Twenty years old?" echoed the students in a chorus of loud disbelief.

　　“二十岁？”学生们一起大声叫道，简直难以置信。

　　"Twenty," the Director repeated. "I told you that you'd find it incredible."

　　“二十岁，”主任重复道，“我告诉过你们，确实令人难以相信。”

　　"But what happened?" they asked. "What were the results?"

　　“可后来怎么样啦？”学生们问道，“结果呢？”

　　"The results were terrible." A deep resonant⁵ voice broke startlingly into the dialogue.

　　“结果很可怕。”一个深沉震响的声音插了进来，叫大家吃了一惊。

　　They looked around.

　　他们转身一看。

　　On the fringe of the little group stood a stranger–a man of middle height, black-haired, with a hooked nose, full red lips, eyes very piercing and dark.

　　人群旁边站了个陌生人——中等个子，黑头发，鹰钩鼻子，丰满的红嘴唇，黑眼睛，犀利的目光。

　　"Terrible," he repeated.

　　“可怕。”那人重复道。

　　The D.H.C. had at that moment sat down on one of the steel and rubber benches conveniently scattered⁶ through the gardens;

　　这时主任已经在一条钢架橡胶凳上坐下来——为了方便，这种长凳在花园里到处都有。

　　but at the sight of the stranger, he sprang to his feet and darted⁷ forward, his hand outstretched, smiling with all his teeth, effusive⁸.

　　但是一见到那陌生人，却立即跳了起来，伸出两手，跑了上去，露出了他的全部大牙，满脸堆笑。

　　"Controller! What an unexpected pleasure!

　　“总统！多么意外的幸运！

　　Boys, what are you thinking of? This is the Controller; this is his fordship, Mustapha Mond."

　　孩子们！你们在想什么呀？这就是总统；就是穆斯塔法·蒙德福下。”

　　In the four thousand rooms of the Centre the four thousand electric clocks simultaneously⁹ struck four.

　　中心的四千间屋子里四千座电钟同时敲了四点。

　　Discarnate voices called from the trumpet¹⁰ mouths.

　　喇叭口发出了并非出自血肉的声音：

　　"Main Day-shift off duty. Second Day-shift take over. Main Day-shift off …"

　　“前白班下班。后白班接班。前白班下班……”

　　In the lift, on their way up to the changing rooms, Henry Foster and the Assistant Director of Predestination rather pointedly¹¹ turned their backs on Bernard Marx from the Psychology¹² Bureau: averted¹³ themselves from that unsavoury reputation.

　　在去更衣室的电梯上，亨利·福斯特和条件设置中心主任助理见了心理局来的伯纳·马克思便相当不客气地背过脸，避开了那个名声不好的人。

　　The faint hum and rattle¹⁴ of machinery¹⁵ still stirred the crimson¹⁶ air in the Embryo¹⁷ Store.

　　微弱的嗡嗡声和机器的轻微滴答仍震荡着胚胎室里猩红的空气。

　　Shifts might come and go, one lupus-coloured face give place to another; majestically¹⁸ and for ever the conveyors crept forward with their load of future men and women.

　　班组交替着，一张张红斑狼疮似的面孔被一张张红斑狼疮似的面孔代替着；传送带永远带着未来的男人和女人庄重地向前运行。

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