美丽新世界Brave New World 第2章(3)

 　　One of the students held up his hand;

　　一个学生举起了手：

　　and though he could see quite well why you couldn't have lower-cast people wasting the Community's time over books,

　　不能让低种姓的人在书本上去浪费社会的时间，而且读书总有可能读到什么东西，

　　and that there was always the risk of their reading something which might undesirably¹ decondition one of their reflexes,

　　有破坏他们的某个条件设置的危险，那是不可取的。

　　yet … well, he couldn't understand about the flowers.

　　这些他都很想得通；但……晤，但对花他却想不通，

　　Why go to the trouble of making it psychologically impossible for Deltas² to like flowers?

　　为什么要费力气去让德尔塔们从心理上厌恶花？

　　Patiently the D.H.C. explained.

　　孵化及条件设置中心主任耐。

　　If the children were made to scream at the sight of a rose, that was on grounds of high economic policy.

　　心地做了解释。培养孩子们见了玫瑰花就尖叫是为了高度节约。

　　Not so very long ago (a century or thereabouts), Gammas, Deltas, even Epsilons, had been conditioned to like flowers–flowers in particular and wild nature in general.

　　不能算很久以前（大约才过去一个世纪），伽玛们、德尔塔们甚至爱扑塞隆们都有喜欢花朵的条件设置——一般地说是喜欢野外的自然，特殊地说是喜欢花朵。

　　The idea was to make them want to be going out into the country at every available opportunity, and so compel them to consume transport.

　　其目的是让他们一有机会就产生到田野里去的要求，逼得他们多花交通费。

　　"And didn't they consume transport?" asked the student.

　　“他们花交通费了吗？”学生问。

　　"Quite a lot," the D.H.C. replied. "But nothing else."

　　“花了很多，”主任回答，“但是别的费用却不必花了。”

　　Primroses³ and landscapes, he pointed⁴ out, have one grave defect: they are gratuitous⁵.

　　主任指出，樱草花和风景都有一个严重的缺点：它们是免费的。

　　A love of nature keeps no factories busy.

　　爱好大自然能使工厂工作懈怠。

　　It was decided⁶ to abolish the love of nature, at any rate among the lower classes; to abolish the love of nature, but not the tendency to consume transport.

　　于是决定取消了对大自然的爱——至少取消了低种姓的人对大自然的爱；却并不取消花交通费的倾向。

　　For of course it was essential that they should keep on going to the country, even though they hated it.

　　因为他们仍须到农村去，即使憎恨也得去，那是根本的。

　　The problem was to find an economically sounder reason for consuming transport than a mere⁷ affection for primroses and landscapes.

　　问题是能在经济上为交通消费找出更站得住脚的理由，而不是喜欢樱草花和风景什么的。

　　It was duly found.

　　恰当的理由后来找到了。

　　"We condition the masses to hate the country," concluded the Director.

　　“我们设置了条件，让人群不喜欢乡村，”主任的结论是，

　　"But simultaneously⁸ we condition them to love all country sports.

　　“却又设置了条件让他们喜欢田野里的一切运动。

　　At the same time, we see to it that all country sports shall entail⁹ the use of elaborate apparatus¹⁰.

　　而我们同时又注意让田野里的运动消耗精美的器材；

　　So that they consume manufactured articles as well as transport. Hence those electric shocks."

　　让他们既消费工业品也花交通费。因此我们才给婴儿电击。”

　　"I see," said the student, and was silent, lost in admiration¹¹.

　　“明白了。”学生说完便住了嘴，佩服得五体投地。

　　There was a silence; then, clearing his throat, "Once upon a time," the Director began, "while our Ford¹² was still on earth, there was a little boy called Reuben Rabinovitch. Reuben was the child of Polish-speaking parents."

　　沉默。主任清了清嗓子，“从前，”他开始说，“在我主福帝还在世的时候，有一个小孩，叫做鲁本·拉宾挪维奇，父母说波兰语，’

　　The Director interrupted himself. "You know what Polish is, I suppose?"

　　主任岔开了一句，“你们是知道什么叫波兰语的吧，我看？”

　　"A dead language."

　　“是一种死亡的语言。”

　　"Like French and German," added another student, officiously showing off his learning.

　　“像法语和德语一样。”另一个学生插嘴补充，炫耀着学识。

　　"And 'parent'?" questioned the D.H.C.

　　“还有‘父母’，你们知道吧？”主任问。

　　There was an uneasy silence. Several of the boys blushed.

　　短暂的木好意思的沉默，几个孩子脸红了。

　　They had not yet learned to draw the significant but often very fine distinction between smut and pure science.

　　他们还没有学会区别粗俗科学与纯粹科学之间的重大的却也微妙的差异。

　　One, at last, had the courage to raise a hand.

　　但毕竟有一个学生鼓起勇气举起了手。

1 undesirably   

参考例句：

2 deltas   

希腊字母表中第四个字母( delta的名词复数 )； （河口的）三角洲

参考例句：

• Tidal channels, deltas, and washover fans are characteristically associated with offshore bars. 潮汐水道、三角洲和冲刷扇典型地与滨外砂洲伴生在一起。
• I know many of the early civilizations prospered on deltas. 我知道很多古老的文明都是在三角洲上蓬勃发展起来的。

3 primroses   

n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 )；淡黄色；追求享乐（招至恶果）

参考例句：

• Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The primroses were bollming; spring was in evidence. 迎春花开了，春天显然已经到了。 来自互联网

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 gratuitous   

adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的

参考例句：

• His criticism is quite gratuitous.他的批评完全没有根据。
• There's too much crime and gratuitous violence on TV.电视里充斥着犯罪和无端的暴力。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

9 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

10 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

11 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

12 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。