美丽新世界Brave New World 第11章(2)

 "Which will finish her off in a month or two," the doctor confided¹ to Bernard.

“那会叫她在一两个月之内死去的。”医生对伯纳透露了真情。

One day the respiratory centre will be paralyzed.

有一天她的呼吸系统中心会瘫痪，

No more breathing Finished.

不能呼吸，于是就完了。

And a good thing too.

倒也是好事

If we could rejuvenate², of course it would be different. But we can't.

我们如果能够返老还童，那又是另外一回事了，可惜办不到。

Surprisingly, as every one thought (for on soma-holiday Linda was most conveniently out of the way),John raised objections.

出乎每个人意料之外（琳妲在度唆麻假，不会碍事），提出反对的倒是约翰。

But aren't you shortening her life by giving her so much?

咱们给她那么大的分量岂不是要缩短她的寿命吗？

"In one sense, yes," Dr. Shaw admitted.

“在某种意义上讲，是的，”萧大夫承认，

But in another we're actually lengthening³ it.

可是从另一种意义上讲我们实际上是在延长她的寿命。

The young man stared, uncomprehending.

小伙子莫名其妙地瞪大了眼睛。

"Soma may make you lose a few years in time," the doctor went on.

“唆麻让你失去了几年寿命，”大夫说下去，

But think of the enornous, immeasurable durations it can give you out of time.

但是，想一想它在时间以外给你的悠久岁月吧。

Every soma-holiday is a bit of what our ancestors used to call eternity⁴.

那是长得难以计量的。每一次唆麻假在我们祖先的眼里都是永恒呢。

John began to understand. "Eternity was in our lips and eyes," he murmured.

约翰开始明白了。“原来永恒只在我们嘴上和眼睛里。”他喃喃地说。

Eh?

你说什么？

Nothing.

没有说什么。

"Of course," Dr. Shaw went on, you can't allow people to go popping off into eternity if they've got any serious work to do.

“当然，”萧大夫说下去，别人有正经工作要做你就不能打发他到永恒去，But as she hasn't got any serious work …

可是她并没有什么正经工作要做……。

"All the same," John persisted, "I don't believe it's right."“可我照样，”约翰坚持，“认为这不合适。”

The doctor shrugged⁵ his shoulders. "Well, of course, if you prefer to have her screaming mad all the time …"大夫耸了耸肩。“好了，如果你宁可让她发疯一样叫喊，喊个没完的话，你可以……。”

In the end John was forced to give in.

约翰最后只好让步了。

Linda got her soma. Thenceforward she remained in her little room on the thirty-seventh floor of Bernard's apartment house,琳妲得到了竣麻。从此以后她便呆在三十七楼伯纳公寓的小房间里，in bed, with the radio and television always on, and the patchouli tap just dripping,躺在床上，永远开着收音机、电视机永远开着印度薄荷香水，让它滴着；and the soma tablets within reach of her hand—there she remained;唆麻片放在一伸手就够得着的地方——她呆在那儿，and yet wasn't there at all, was all the time away, infinitely⁶ far away, on holiday; on holiday in some other world,她永远在辽远处度假，在虚无缥缈的地方，在另一个世界。

where the music of the radio was a labyrinth⁷ of sonorous⁸ colours, a sliding, palpitating labyrinth, that led (by what beautifully inevitable⁹ windings) to a bright centre of absolute conviction;那儿收音机的音乐是一个色彩绚烂的深渊，一个滑音演奏的悸动的深渊，通向一个光明灿烂的绝对信念的中心（其间经过了多少美妙的曲折）；where the dancing images of the television box were the performers in some indescribably delicious all-singing feely; where the dripping patchouli was more than scent—was the sun, was a million saxophones, was Popé making love, only much more so, incomparably more, and without end.

在那儿，闪烁在电视机里的形象是某些在美妙得难以描述的，全是歌唱的感官片里的演员。在那儿滴下的印度薄荷不光是香水，也是阳光，也是一百万只色唆风，也是跟她做爱的波培，只是比那还要美妙得多，美妙得没法比，而且无穷无尽。

 

1 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rejuvenate   

v.(使)返老还童；(使)恢复活力

参考例句：

• The mountain air will rejuvenate you.山里的空气会使你恢复活力。
• Exercise is perhaps the most effective way to rejuvenate your skin.锻炼可能是使皮肤恢复活力的最好手段。

3 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分

4 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

7 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

8 sonorous   

adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇

参考例句：

• The sonorous voice of the speaker echoed round the room.那位演讲人洪亮的声音在室内回荡。
• He has a deep sonorous voice.他的声音深沉而洪亮。

9 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。