美丽新世界Brave New World 第17章(5)

 　　Then you think there is no God?

　　那么你认为上帝是没有的？

　　No, I think there quite probably is one.

　　不，我倒认为上帝十之八九是有的。

　　Then why? …

　　为什么？……

　　Mustapha Mond checked him. But he manifests himself in different ways to different men.

　　穆斯塔法.蒙德打断了他的话。但是上帝对不同的人有不同的表现。

　　In premodern times he manifested himself as the being that's described in these books. Now …

　　在现代期以前上帝的表现正如这本书里所描述的。可是现在……

　　"How does he manifest himself now?" asked the Savage¹.

　　“可是现在上帝是怎样表现自己的呢？”野蛮人问。

　　Well, he manifests himself as an absence; as though he weren't there at all.

　　喔，他表现为一种虚无的存在；仿佛根本不存在。

　　That's your fault.

　　那可是你们的错。

　　Call it the fault of civilization. God isn't compatible with machinery² and scientific medicine and universal happiness.

　　把它叫做文明的错吧。上帝跟机器、科学医药和普遍的幸福是格格不入的。

　　You must make your choice.

　　你必须做出选择。

　　Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness.

　　我们的文明选择了机器、医药和幸福。

　　That's why I have to keep these books locked up in the safe.

　　因此我就把这些书锁进了保险箱。

　　They're smut. People would be shocked it …

　　它们肮脏，会吓坏人的……

　　The Savage interrupted him. "But isn't it natural to feel there's a God?"

　　野蛮人打断了他。“可是，感到上帝的存在不是很自然的吗？”

　　"You might as well ask if it's natural to do up one's trousers with zippers," said the Controller sarcastically³.

　　“你倒不如问：穿裤子拉拉链不也是很自然的吗？”总统尖刻地说，

　　You remind me of another of those old fellows called Bradley.

　　你叫我想起了另外一个这样的老头，他叫布拉德利。

　　He defined philosophy as the finding of bad reason for what one believes by instinct.

　　他对哲学下的定义是：为自己出于本能所相信的东西寻找出的蹩脚的解释！

　　As if one believed anything by instinct! One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.

　　仿佛那时人们的信仰是出于本能似的！一个人相信什么是由他的条件设置决定的。

　　Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons–that's philosophy.

　　找出些蹩脚理由为自己因某种蹩脚理由相信的东西辩护——那就是哲学。

　　People believe in God because they've been conditioned to. "But all the same," insisted the Savage,

　　人们相信上帝因为他们的条件设置使他们相信。“可是情况还是一样，”野蛮人坚持不懈，

　　it is natural to believe in God when you're alone–quite alone, in the night, thinking about death …

　　在孤独的时候你就相信上帝，当你很孤独，在夜里，思考着死亡的时候。

　　"But people never are alone now," said Mustapha Mond. We make them hate solitude⁴;

　　“可是现在人们是决不会孤独的，”穆斯塔法蒙德说，我们把他们制造得仇恨孤独；

　　and we arrange their lives so that it's almost impossible for them ever to have it.

　　我们为他们安排的生活使他们几乎不可能孤独。

1 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。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

4 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。