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一九八四|Nineteen Eighty-Four

第三部 第五章|Part 3 Chapter 5

属类: 双语小说 【分类】世界名著 -[作者: 乔治.奥威尔] 阅读:[7190]
别名《1984》
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在他被监禁的每一个阶段,他都知道——至少是似乎知道——他在这所没有窗户的大楼里的什么地方。可能是由于空气压力略有不同。警卫拷打他的那个牢房是在地面以下。

1
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At each stage of his imprisonment he had known, or seemed to know, whereabouts he was in the windowless building. Possibly there were slight differences in the air pressure. The cells where the guards had beaten him were below ground level.

2
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奥勃良讯问他的房间是在高高的顶层。现在这个地方则在地下有好几公尺深,到了不能再下去的程度。

2
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The room where he had been interrogated by O’Brien was high up near the roof. This place was many metres underground, as deep down as it was possible to go.

3
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这个地方比他所呆过的那些牢房都要大。但是他很少注意到他的周围环境。他所看到的只是面前有两张小桌子,上面都铺着绿呢桌布。一张桌子距他只有一两公尺远,另一张稍远一些,靠近门边。他给绑在一把椅子上,紧得动弹不得,甚至连脑袋也无法转动。他的脑袋后面有个软垫子把它卡住,使他只能往前直看。

3
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It was bigger than most of the cells he had been in. But he hardly noticed his surroundings. All he noticed was that there were two small tables straight in front of him, each covered with green baize. One was only a metre or two from him, the other was further away, near the door. He was strapped upright in a chair, so tightly that he could move nothing, not even his head. A sort of pad gripped his head from behind, forcing him to look straight in front of him.

4
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起先只有一个人在屋里,后来门开了,奥勃良走了进来。

4
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For a moment he was alone, then the door opened and O’Brien came in.

5
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“你有一次问我,”奥勃良说,“101号房里有什么。我告诉你,你早已知道了答案。人人都知道这个答案。101号房里的东西是世界上最可怕的东西。”

5
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’You asked me once,’ said O’Brien, ’what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.’

6
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门又开了。一个警卫走了进来,手中拿着一只用铁丝做的筐子或篮子那样的东西。他把它放在远处的那张桌子上。

6
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The door opened again. A guard came in, carrying something made of wire, a box or basket of some kind. He set it down on the further table.

7
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由于奥勃良站在那里,温斯顿看不到那究竟是什么东西。

7
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Because of the position in which O’Brien was standing. Winston could not see what the thing was.

8
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奥勃良又说道:“世界上最可怕的东西因人而异。可能是活埋,也可能是烧死,也可能是淹死,也可能是钉死,也可能是其他各种各样的死法。在有些情况下,最可怕的东西是一些微不足道的小东西,甚至不是致命的东西。”

8
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’The worst thing in the world,’ said O’Brien, ’varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not even fatal.’

9
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他向旁边挪动了一些,温斯顿可以看清楚桌上的东西。

9
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He had moved a little to one side, so that Winston had a better view of the thing on the table.

10
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那是一只椭圆形的铁笼子,上面有个把手可以提起来。它的正面装着一只击剑面罩一样的东西,但凹面朝外。这东西虽然距他有三、四公尺远,但是他可以看到这只铁笼子按纵向分为两部分,里面都有什么小动物在里面。这些小动物是老鼠。

10
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It was an oblong wire cage with a handle on top for carrying it by. Fixed to the front of it was something that looked like a fencing mask, with the concave side outwards. Although it was three or four metres away from him, he could see that the cage was divided lengthways into two compartments, and that there was some kind of creature in each. They were rats.

11
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“至于你,”奥勃良说,“世界上最可怕的东西正好是老鼠。”

11
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’In your case,’ said O’Brien, ’the worst thing in the world happens to be rats.’

12
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温斯顿当初一看到那铁笼子,全身就有预感似的感到一阵震颤,一种莫明的恐惧。如今他突然明白了那铁笼子正面那个面罩一样的东西究竟是干什么用的。他吓得屎尿直流。

12
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A sort of premonitory tremor, a fear of he was not certain what, had passed through Winston as soon as he caught his first glimpse of the cage. But at this moment the meaning of the mask-like attachment in front of it suddenly sank into him. His bowels seemed to turn to water.

13
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“你可不能这样做!”他声嘶力竭地叫道。“你可不能,你可不能这样做!”

13
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’You can’t do that!’ he cried out in a high cracked voice. ’You couldn’t, you couldn’t! It’s impossible.’

14
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“你记得吗,”奥勃良说,“你梦中感到惊慌的时刻?你的面前是一片漆黑的墙,你的耳朵里听到一阵震耳的隆隆声。

14
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’Do you remember,’ said O’Brien, ’the moment of panic that used to occur in your dreams? There was a wall of blackness in front of you, and a roaring sound in your ears.

15
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墙的另一面有什么可怕的东西在那里。你知道自已很明白那是什么东西,但是你不敢明说。墙的另一面是老鼠。”

15
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There was something terrible on the other side of the wall. You knew that you knew what it was, but you dared not drag it into the open. It was the rats that were on the other side of the wall.’

16
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“奥勃良!”温斯顿说,竭力控制自已的声音。“你知道没有这个必要。你到底要我干什么?”

16
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’O’Brien!’ said Winston, making an effort to control his voice. ’You know this is not necessary. What is it that you want me to do?’

17
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奥勃良没有直接回答。等他说话时,他又用了他有时用的教书先生的口气。他沉思地看着前面,好象是对坐在温斯顿背后什么地方的听众说话。

17
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O’Brien made no direct answer. When he spoke it was in the schoolmasterish manner that he sometimes affected. He looked thoughtfully into the distance, as though he were addressing an audience somewhere behind Winston’s back.

18
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“痛楚本身,”他说,“并不够。有的时候一个人能够咬紧牙关不怕痛,即使到了要痛死的程度。但是对每一个人来说,都各有不能忍受的事情——连想也不能想的事情。这并不牵涉到勇敢和怯懦问题。要是你从高处跌下来时抓住一根绳子,这并不是怯懦。要是你从水底浮上水面来,尽量吸一口气,这也并不是怯懦。这不过是一种无法不服从的本能。

18
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’By itself,’ he said, ’pain is not always enough. There are occasions when a human being will stand out against pain, even to the point of death. But for everyone there is something unendurable -- something that cannot be contemplated. Courage and cowardice are not involved. If you are falling from a height it is not cowardly to clutch at a rope. If you have come up from deep water it is not cowardly to fill your lungs with air. It is merely an instinct which cannot be destroyed.

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老鼠也是如此。对你来说,老鼠无法忍受。这是你所无法抗拒的一种压力形式,哪怕你想抗拒也不行。要你做什么你就得做什么。”

19
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It is the same with the rats. For you, they are unendurable. They are a form of pressure that you cannot withstand, even if you wished to. You will do what is required of you.

20
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“但是要我做什么?要我做什么?我连知道也不知道,我怎么做?”

20
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’But what is it, what is it? How can I do it if I don’t know what it is?’

21
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奥勃良提起铁笼子,放到较近的一张桌子上。他小心翼翼地把它放在绿呢桌布上。温斯顿可以感到耳朵里血往上涌的声音。他有一种孤处一地的感觉,好象处身在一个荒凉的大平原中央,这是个阳光炙烤的沙漠,什么声音都从四面八方的远处向他传来。其实,放老鼠的笼子距他只有两公尺远。

21
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O’Brien picked up the cage and brought it across to the nearer table. He set it down carefully on the baize cloth. Winston could hear the blood singing in his ears. He had the feeling of sitting in utter loneliness. He was in the middle of a great empty plain, a flat desert drenched with sunlight, across which all sounds came to him out of immense distances. Yet the cage with the rats was not two metres away from him.

22
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这些老鼠都很大,都到了鼠须硬挺、毛色发棕的年龄。

22
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They were enormous rats. They were at the age when a rat’s muzzle grows blunt and fierce and his fur brown instead of grey.

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“老鼠,”奥勃良仍向看不见的听众说,“是啮齿动物,但是也食肉。这一点你想必知道。你一定也听到过本市贫民区发生的事情。在有些街道,做妈妈的不敢把孩子单独留在家里,哪怕只有五分钟,老鼠就会出动,不需多久就会把孩子皮肉啃光。只剩几根小骨头。它们也咬病人和快死的人。他们能知道谁没有还手之力,智力真是惊人。”

23
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’The rat,’ said O’Brien, still addressing his invisible audience, ’although a rodent, is carnivorous. You are aware of that. You will have heard of the things that happen in the poor quarters of this town. In some streets a woman dare not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes. The rats are certain to attack it. Within quite a small time they will strip it to the bones. They also attack sick or dying people. They show astonishing intelligence in knowing when a human being is helpless.’

24
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铁笼子里传来一阵吱吱的叫声。温斯顿听着好象是从远处传来一样。原来老鼠在打架,它们要想钻过隔开它们的格子到对面去。他也听到一声绝望的呻吟。这,似乎也是从他身外什么地方传来的。

24
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There was an outburst of squeals from the cage. It seemed to reach Winston from far away. The rats were fighting; they were trying to get at each other through the partition. He heard also a deep groan of despair. That, too, seemed to come from outside himself.

25
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奥勃良提起铁笼子,他在提起来的时候,按了一下里面的什么东西,温斯顿听到咔嚓一声,他拼命想挣脱开他绑在上面的椅子。但一点也没有用。他身上的每一部分,甚至他的脑袋都给绑得一动也不能动。奥勃良把铁笼子移得更近一些,距离温斯顿的眼前不到一公尺了。

25
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O’Brien picked up the cage, and, as he did so, pressed something in it. There was a sharp click. Winston made a frantic effort to tear himself loose from the chair. It was hopeless; every part of him, even his head, was held immovably. O’Brien moved the cage nearer. It was less than a metre from Winston’s face.

26
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“我已经按了一下第一键,”奥勃良说。“这个笼子的构造你是知道的。面罩正好合你的脑袋,不留空隙。我一按第二键,笼门就拉开。这些饿慌了的小畜牲就会象万箭齐发一样窜出来。你以前看到过老鼠窜跳没有?它们会直扑你的脸孔,一口咬住不放。有时它们先咬眼睛。有时它们先咬面颊,再吃舌头。”

26
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’I have pressed the first lever,’ said O’Brien. ’You understand the construction of this cage. The mask will fit over your head, leaving no exit. When I press this other lever, the door of the cage will slide up. These starving brutes will shoot out of it like bullets. Have you ever seen a rat leap through the air? They will leap on to your face and bore straight into it. Sometimes they attack the eyes first. Sometimes they burrow through the cheeks and devour the tongue.’

27
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铁笼子又移近了一些。越来越近了。温斯顿听见一阵阵尖叫。好象就在他的头上。但是他拼命克制自已,不要惊慌。要用脑筋想,哪怕只有半秒钟,这也是唯一的希望。突然,他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。他感到一阵猛烈的恶心,几乎晕了过去。眼前漆黑一片。他刹那间丧失了神志,成了一头尖叫的畜生。但是他紧紧抱住一个念头,终于在黑暗中挣扎出来。只有一个办法,唯一的办法,可以救自己。

27
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The cage was nearer; it was closing in. Winston heard a succession of shrill cries which appeared to be occurring in the air above his head. But he fought furiously against his panic. To think, to think, even with a split second left -- to think was the only hope. Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. There was a violent convulsion of nausea inside him, and he almost lost consciousness. Everything had gone black. For an instant he was insane, a screaming animal. Yet he came out of the blackness clutching an idea. There was one and only one way to save himself.

28
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那就是必须在他和老鼠之间插进另外一个人,另外一个人的身体来挡开。

28
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He must interpose another human being, the body of another human being, between himself and the rats.

29
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面罩的圈子大小正好把别的一切东西排除于他的视野之外。铁笼门距他的脸只有一两个巴掌远。老鼠已经知道可以大嚼一顿了,有一只在上窜下跳,另外一只老得掉了毛,后腿支地站了起来,前爪抓住铁丝,鼻子到处在嗅。温斯顿可以看到它的胡须和黄牙。黑色的恐怖又袭上心来。他眼前一片昏暗,束手无策,脑里一片空白。

29
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The circle of the mask was large enough now to shut out the vision of anything else. The wire door was a couple of hand-spans from his face. The rats knew what was coming now. One of them was leaping up and down, the other, an old scaly grandfather of the sewers, stood up, with his pink hands against the bars, and fiercely sniffed the air. Winston could see the whiskers and the yellow teeth. Again the black panic took hold of him. He was blind, helpless, mindless.

30
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“这是古代中华帝国的常用惩罚,”奥勃良一如既往地训诲道。

30
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’It was a common punishment in Imperial China,’ said O’Brien as didactically as ever.

31
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面罩挨到了他的脸上。铁丝碰在他的面颊上。接着——

31
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The mask was closing on his face. The wire brushed his cheek. And then --

32
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唉,不,这并不能免除,这只是希望,小小的一线希望。太迟了,也许太迟了。但是他突然明白,在整个世界上,他只有一个人可以把惩罚转嫁上去——只有一个人的身体他可以把她插在他和老鼠之间。他一遍又一遍地拼命大叫:

32
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no, it was not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. Too late, perhaps too late. But he had suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whom he could transfer his punishment -- one body that he could thrust between himself and the rats. And he was shouting frantically, over and over.

33
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“咬裘莉亚!咬裘莉亚!别咬我!裘莉亚!你们怎样咬她都行。把她的脸咬下来,啃她的骨头。别咬我!裘莉亚!别咬我!”

33
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’Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!’

34
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他往后倒了下去,掉到了深渊里,离开了老鼠。他的身体仍绑在椅子上,但是他连人带椅掉下了地板,掉过了大楼的墙壁,掉过了地球,掉过了海洋,掉过了大气层,掉进了太空,掉进了星际——远远地,远远地,远远地离开了老鼠。

34
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He was falling backwards, into enormous depths, away from the rats. He was still strapped in the chair, but he had fallen through the floor, through the walls of the building, through the earth, through the oceans, through the atmosphere, into outer space, into the gulfs between the stars -- always away, away, away from the rats.

35
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他已在光年的距离之外,但是奥勃良仍站在他旁边。他的脸上仍冷冰冰地贴着一根铁丝。但是从四周的一片漆黑中,他听到咔嚓一声,他知道笼门已经关上,没有打开。

35
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He was light years distant, but O’Brien was still standing at his side. There was still the cold touch of wire against his cheek. But through the darkness that enveloped him he heard another metallic click, and knew that the cage door had clicked shut and not open.

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