美麗新世界 Brave New World 第6章(9)

The Warden was a blond and brachycephalic Alpha-Minus, short, red, moon-faced, and broad-shouldered, with a loud booming voice, very welladapted to the utterance of hypnop.dic wisdom.

總監(jiān)是個(gè)金頭發(fā)白皮膚的阿爾法減。矮個(gè)兒、臉短而圓，像月亮、粉紅色，肩膀?qū)掗?，聲音高亢而多共鳴，嫻于表達(dá)睡眠教育的智慧。

He was a mine of irrelevant information andunasked-for good advice.

他是座裝滿了七零八碎的消息和不清自來(lái)的友誼忠告的礦山。

Once started, he went on and on–boomingly.

話匣子一打開就沒(méi)完沒(méi)了——共鳴腔嗡嗡地響。

"… five hundred and sixty thousand square kilometres, divided into four distinct Sub-Reservations, each surrounded by a high-tension wire fence."

“……五十六萬(wàn)平方公里明確劃分為四個(gè)明確區(qū)別的保留區(qū)，每個(gè)區(qū)都由高壓電網(wǎng)隔離。”

At this moment, and for no apparent reason, Bernard suddenly remembered that he had leftthe Eau de Cologne tap in his bathroom wide open and running.

這時(shí)伯納卻毫無(wú)理由地想起了他讓浴室里的古龍香水龍頭大開著，香水不斷在流。

"… supplied with current from the Grand Canyon hydro-electric station."

“……高壓電是由大峽谷水電站供應(yīng)的。”

"Cost me a fortune by the time I get back."

“我回去時(shí)怕要花掉一筆財(cái)富呢。”

With his mind's eye, Bernard saw the needle on the scent meter creeping round and round,antlike, indefatigable.

他心里的眼睛看見(jiàn)那香水指針一圈一圈不疲倦地走著，像螞蟻一樣。

"Quickly telephone to Helmholtz Watson."

“趕快給赫姆霍爾茲·華生打個(gè)電話。”

"… upwards of five thousand kilometres of fencing at sixty thousand volts."

“……五千多公里的電網(wǎng)，電壓六千伏特。”

"You don't say so," said Lenina politely, not knowing in the least what the Warden had said, buttaking her cue from his dramatic pause.

“真的嗎?”列寧娜禮貌地說(shuō)。她并不真正明白總監(jiān)說(shuō)的是什么，只按照他那戲劇性的停頓做出的暗示表現(xiàn)反應(yīng)。

When the Warden started booming, she had inconspicuously swallowed half a gramme of soma,with the result that she could now sit, serenely not listening, thinking of nothing at all, but withher large blue eyes fixed on the Warden's face in an expression of rapt attention.

她在那總監(jiān)的大嗓門開始嗡嗡響時(shí)就已經(jīng)悄悄吞服了半克唆麻，現(xiàn)在可以心平氣和地坐著不聽，只把她那藍(lán)色的大眼睛好像很入神地盯住總監(jiān)的臉。

"To touch the fence is instant death," pronounced the Warden solemnly.

“一接觸到電網(wǎng)就意味著死亡，”總監(jiān)莊嚴(yán)地宣布，

"There is no escape from a Savage Reservation."

“要想從保留地逃出是絕對(duì)辦不到的。”

The word "escape" was suggestive.

“逃”給了他暗示。

"Perhaps," said Bernard, half rising, "we ought to think of going."

“也許，”伯納欠起身子，“我們應(yīng)該考慮告辭了。”

The little black needle was scurrying, an insect, nibbling through time, eating into his money.

那小黑針在匆匆走著。那是一只蟲子，嚙食著時(shí)間，吞噬著他的錢。

"No escape," repeated the Warden, waving him back into his chair; and as the permit was notyet countersigned Bernard had no choice but to obey.

“逃是逃不掉的。”總監(jiān)重復(fù)那話，揮手叫他們坐回椅子。伯納只好服從，批準(zhǔn)書畢竟還沒(méi)有簽字。

"Those who are born in the Reservation–and remember, my dear young lady," he added, leeringobscenely at Lenina, and speaking in an improper whisper, "remember that, in theReservation, children still are born,

“那些在保留地里出生的人，記住，親愛(ài)的小姐，”他淫褻地望了列寧娜一眼，用一種不老實(shí)的低聲說(shuō)，“記住，在保留地，孩子還是生下來(lái)的。

yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem …" (He hoped that this reference to a shamefulsubject would make Lenina blush; but she only smiled with simulated intelligence and said, "You don't say so!"

是的，雖然叫人惡心，實(shí)際上還是生下來(lái)的……”(他希望提起這個(gè)話題會(huì)叫列寧娜臉紅;但是她只裝做聰明的樣子微笑著說(shuō)，“真的嗎?”

Disappointed, the Warden began again. ) "Those, I repeat who are born in the Reservation aredestined to die there."

總監(jiān)失望了，又接了下去。)“在保留地出生的人都是注定要在保留地死去的。”

Destined to die … A decilitre of Eau de Cologne every minute. Six litres an hour.

注定要死……一分鐘一公合古龍香水，一小時(shí)六公升。

"Perhaps," Bernard tried again, "we ought …"

“也許，”伯納再做努力，“我們應(yīng)該……”

Leaning forward, the Warden tapped the table with his forefinger. "You ask me how manypeople live in the Reservation. And I reply"–triumphantly" I reply that we do not know. We canonly guess."

總監(jiān)躬起身來(lái)用食指敲著桌子，“你問(wèn)我我的人在保留地是怎么生活的，我的回答是”——得意揚(yáng)揚(yáng)地，“不知道。我們只能猜測(cè)。”