美丽新世界Brave New World 第6章(9)

 　　The Warden¹ was a blond and brachycephalic Alpha-Minus, short, red, moon-faced, and broad-shouldered, with a loud booming voice, very well adapted to the utterance² of hypnop.dic wisdom.

　　总监是个金头发白皮肤的阿尔法减。矮个儿、脸短而圆，像月亮、粉红色，肩膀宽阔，声音高亢而多共鸣，娴于表达睡眠教育的智慧。

　　He was a mine of irrelevant³ information and unasked-for good advice.

　　他是座装满了七零八碎的消息和不清自来的友谊忠告的矿山。

　　Once started, he went on and on–boomingly.

　　话匣子一打开就没完没了——共鸣腔嗡嗡地响。

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

　　“……五十六万平方公里明确划分为四个明确区别的保留区，每个区都由高压电网隔离。”

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

　　这时伯纳却毫无理由地想起了他让浴室里的古龙香水龙头大开着，香水不断在流。

　　"… supplied with current from the Grand Canyon⁴ hydro-electric station."

　　“……高压电是由大峡谷水电站供应的。”

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

　　“我回去时怕要花掉一笔财富呢。”

　　With his mind's eye, Bernard saw the needle on the scent⁵ meter creeping round and round, antlike, indefatigable⁶.

　　他心里的眼睛看见那香水指针一圈一圈不疲倦地走着，像蚂蚁一样。

　　"Quickly telephone to Helmholtz Watson."

　　“赶快给赫姆霍尔兹·华生打个电话。”

　　"… upwards⁷ of five thousand kilometres of fencing at sixty thousand volts⁸."

　　“……五千多公里的电网，电压六千伏特。”

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

　　“真的吗？”列宁娜礼貌地说。她并不真正明白总监说的是什么，只按照他那戏剧性的停顿做出的暗示表现反应。

　　When the Warden started booming, she had inconspicuously swallowed half a gramme of soma, with the result that she could now sit, serenely⁹ not listening, thinking of nothing at all, but with her large blue eyes fixed¹⁰ on the Warden's face in an expression of rapt attention.

　　她在那总监的大嗓门开始嗡嗡响时就已经悄悄吞服了半克唆麻，现在可以心平气和地坐着不听，只把她那蓝色的大眼睛好像很入神地盯住总监的脸。

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

　　“一接触到电网就意味着死亡，”总监庄严地宣布，

　　"There is no escape from a Savage¹¹ Reservation."

　　“要想从保留地逃出是绝对办不到的。”

　　The word "escape" was suggestive.

　　“逃”给了他暗示。

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

　　“也许，”伯纳欠起身子，“我们应该考虑告辞了。”

　　The little black needle was scurrying¹², an insect, nibbling¹³ through time, eating into his money.

　　那小黑针在匆匆走着。那是一只虫子，啮食着时间，吞噬着他的钱。

　　"No escape," repeated the Warden, waving him back into his chair; and as the permit was not yet countersigned¹⁴ Bernard had no choice but to obey.

　　“逃是逃不掉的。”总监重复那话，挥手叫他们坐回椅子。伯纳只好服从，批准书毕竟还没有签字。

　　"Those who are born in the Reservation–and remember, my dear young lady," he added, leering obscenely at Lenina, and speaking in an improper¹⁵ whisper, "remember that, in the Reservation, children still are born,

　　“那些在保留地里出生的人，记住，亲爱的小姐，”他淫亵地望了列宁娜一眼，用一种不老实的低声说，“记住，在保留地，孩子还是生下来的。

　　yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem …" (He hoped that this reference to a shameful¹⁶ subject would make Lenina blush; but she only smiled with simulated intelligence and said, "You don't say so!"

　　是的，虽然叫人恶心，实际上还是生下来的……”（他希望提起这个话题会叫列宁娜脸红；但是她只装做聪明的样子微笑着说，“真的吗？”

　　Disappointed, the Warden began again. ) "Those, I repeat who are born in the Reservation are destined¹⁷ to die there."

　　总监失望了，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……一分钟一公合古龙香水，一小时六公升。

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

　　“也许，”伯纳再做努力，“我们应该……”

　　Leaning forward, the Warden tapped the table with his forefinger¹⁸. "You ask me how many people live in the Reservation. And I reply"–triumphantly" I reply that we do not know. We can only guess."

　　总监躬起身来用食指敲着桌子，“你问我我的人在保留地是怎么生活的，我的回答是”——得意扬扬地，“不知道。我们只能猜测。”

1 warden   

n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人

参考例句：

• He is the warden of an old people's home.他是一家养老院的管理员。
• The warden of the prison signed the release.监狱长签发释放令。

2 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

3 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

6 indefatigable   

adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的

参考例句：

• His indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.他不屈不挠的精神帮助他对抗病魔。
• He was indefatigable in his lectures on the aesthetics of love.在讲授关于爱情的美学时，他是不知疲倦的。

7 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

8 volts   

n.（电压单位）伏特( volt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置电势Vf通常只低于接地电位几伏。 来自辞典例句
• If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能产生几千伏的电位差。 来自辞典例句

9 serenely   

adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地

参考例句：

• The boat sailed serenely on towards the horizon.小船平稳地向着天水交接处驶去。
• It was a serenely beautiful night.那是一个宁静美丽的夜晚。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

12 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

13 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 countersigned   

v.连署，副署，会签 （文件）( countersign的过去式 )

参考例句：

• "Behold your papers, Jarvis Lorry, countersigned." “看看你们的证件吧！贾维斯 - 罗瑞，已经签过字了。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• The payment has to countersigned by the mortgagor. 该付款必须有抵押人的会签。 来自口语例句

15 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

16 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

17 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

18 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。