美丽新世界Brave New World 第17章(4)

 　　One of the numerous things in heaven and earth that these philosophers didn't dream about was this (he waved his hand),

　　天地之间有一种哲学家们连做梦也没有想到过的存在，那就是我们，（他挥舞着一只手）

　　us, the modern world. 'You can only be independent of God while you've got youth and prosperity;

　　就是我们这个现代的世界。你只能在获得青春和昌盛之时对上帝独立。

　　independence won't take you safely to the end.

　　独立并不能把你安全地送到最后。

　　Well, we've now got youth and prosperity right up to the end.

　　可是我们却自始至终得到了青春和繁荣，

　　What follows? Evidently, that we can be independent of God.

　　随之而来的能有什么？显然我们是能够独立于上帝之外的。

　　The religious sentiment will compensate¹ us for all our losses.

　　宗教情绪将弥补我们的一切损失。

　　But there aren't any losses for us to compensate; religious sentiment is superfluous².

　　可是我们并没有需要弥补的损失；宗教情绪是多余的东西。

　　And why should we go hunting for a substitute for youthful desires,

　　既然青年时期的欲望全都可以满足，

　　when youthful desires never fail?

　　为什么还要寻求那欲望的代用品呢？

　　A substitute for distractions³, when we go on enjoying all the old fooleries to the very last?

　　既然我们能够从自古以来的种种胡闹活动获得尽情的享受，为什么还要追求那类娱乐的代用品呢？

　　What need have we of repose⁴ when our minds and bodies continue to delight in activity?

　　既然我们的身心都能在活动中不断获得愉悦，为什么还要休息呢？

　　of consolation⁵, when we have soma? of something immovable, when there is the social order?

　　既然我们有唆麻，为什么还需要安慰呢？既然我们已经获得了社会秩序，为什么还需要追求永恒呢？”

1 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

2 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

3 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

5 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。