美丽新世界Brave New World 第6章(1)

 　　Chapter Six

　　第六章

　　Odd, odd, odd, was Lenina's verdict on Bernard Marx.

　　古怪，古怪，太古怪，这是列宁娜对伯纳·马克思所下的断语。

　　So odd, indeed, that in the course of the succeeding weeks she had wondered more than once whether she shouldn't change her mind about the New Mexico holiday, and go instead to the North Pole with Benito Hoover.

　　太古怪，以后的几个星期，她曾不止一次地考虑要不要改变跟他到墨西哥去旅游的打算，而跟本尼托·胡佛一起到北极去。

　　The trouble was that she knew the North Pole, had been there with George Edzel only last summer, and what was more, found it pretty grim.

　　问题是她已经去过北极，去年夏天才跟乔治·埃泽尔去过，而且觉得那儿相当难受。

　　Nothing to do, and the hotel too hopelessly old-fashioned–no television laid on in the bedrooms, no scent¹ organ, only the most putrid² synthetic³ music, and not more than twenty-five Escalator-Squash Courts for over two hundred guests.

　　无事可做。旅馆又老式得要命。寝室里没有配备电视，没有香味乐器，只有最讨厌的合成音乐，两千多客人只有二十五个自动扶梯手球场。

　　No, decidedly she couldn't face the North Pole again.

　　不行，她绝对不能再到北极去玩。

　　Added to which, she had only been to America once before. And even then, how inadequately⁴!

　　何况她还只去过美国一次，去得多么糟糕！

　　A cheap week-end in New York–had it been with Jean-Jacques Habibullah or Bokanovsky Jones? She couldn't remember.

　　只在纽约过了一个廉价的周末，是跟让·雅克·哈比布拉还是跟波坎诺夫斯基·琼斯去的她已经不记得了，

　　Anyhow, it was of absolutely no importance.

　　可那毕竟一点也不重要。

　　The prospect⁵ of flying West again, and for a whole week, was very inviting⁶.

　　再到西方去整整过一个礼拜，对她还是很有吸引力的。

　　Moreover, for at least three days of that week they would be in the Savage⁷ Reservation.

　　何况其中至少可以有三天在野蛮人保留地度过

　　Not more than half a dozen people in the whole Centre had ever been inside a Savage Reservation.

　　——那地方在整个胎孕中心只有六七个人去过。

　　As an Alpha-Plus psychologist, Bernard was one of the few men she knew entitled to a permit.For Lenina, the opportunity was unique.

　　她知道伯纳是个阿尔法加，心理学家，是少数几个有被批准资格的人之一。 对她说来，那是个罕见的机会。

　　And yet, so unique also was Bernard's oddness that she had hesitated to take it, had actually thought of risking the Pole again with funny old Benito.

　　而伯纳的古怪也罕见，要接受伯纳，她感到犹豫，实际上她还考虑过冒一冒险，跟有趣的老本尼托再去一趟北极。

　　At least Benito was normal. Whereas Bernard …

　　本尼托至少是正常的，而伯纳却……

　　"Alcohol in his blood-surrogate," was Fanny's explanation of every eccentricity⁸.

　　范尼对每一种怪脾气的解释都是：“代血剂里的酒精。”

　　But Henry, with whom, one evening when they were in bed together, Lenina had rather anxiously discussed her new lover, Henry had compared poor Bernard to a rhinoceros⁹.

　　但是有天晚上列宁娜跟亨利一起在床上很焦急地谈起了她那新情人时，亨利却把可怜的伯纳比做一头犀牛。

　　"You can't teach a rhinoceros tricks," he had explained in his brief and vigorous style. "Some men are almost rhinoceroses¹⁰; they don't respond properly to conditioning.

　　“你可没有法子教犀牛玩花样，”他以他那简短有力的风格解释，‘有些人简直跟犀牛差不多，对于条件设置不能正常反应。

　　Poor Devils! Bernard's one of them. Luckily for him, he's pretty good at his job.

　　可怜的怪物！伯纳就是一个。幸好他业务还挺律，否则主任早开除他了。

　　Otherwise the Director would never have kept him. However," he added consolingly, "I think he's pretty harmless."

　　不过，”他安慰说，“我觉得他倒无伤大雅。”

　　Pretty harmless, perhaps; but also pretty disquieting¹¹.

　　无伤大雅，也许，可也叫人很不放心。

　　That mania¹², to start with, for doing things in private. Which meant, in practice, not doing anything at all.

　　首先，他那老干私事的怪癖，实际上就是游手好闲。

　　For what was there that one could do in private.

　　一个人私下能够有什么可干？

　　(Apart, of course, from going to bed: but one couldn't do that all the time.) Yes, what was there? Precious little.

　　（当然，除了上床之外，可人总不能老上床的，）而床上能干什么？没有多少可干的。

　　The first afternoon they went out together was particularly fine.

　　他们俩第一次出去那天天气特别好。

　　Lenina had suggested a swim at Toquay Country Club followed by dinner at the Oxford¹³ Union. But Bernard thought there would be too much of a crowd.

　　列宁娜建议去牛津联合会去吃饭，然后到托开乡村俱乐部游泳，可是伯纳嫌人多。

　　Then what about a round of Electro-magnetic Golf at St. Andrew's? But again, no: Bernard considered that Electro-magnetic Golf was a waste of time.

　　那么到圣安德鲁司去打电磁高尔夫呢？仍然不同意。玩电磁高尔夫总不能认为是浪费时间吧！

　　"Then what's time for?" asked Lenina in some astonishment¹⁴.

　　“那么时间是拿来干什么的呢？”列宁娜多少有些惊讶地问。

　　Apparently¹⁵, for going walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now proposed.

　　那显然是到湖区去散步了。因为那就是他现在提出的建议。

　　Land on the top of Skiddaw and walk for a couple of hours in the heather. "Alone with you, Lenina."

　　在斯基朵的尽头上岸，到石南丛里去转一两个小时。“跟你单独在一起，列宁娜。”

　　"But, Bernard, we shall be alone all night."

　　“但是，伯纳，我们整个晚上都要单独在一起的。”

1 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。

2 putrid   

adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的

参考例句：

• To eat putrid food is liable to get sick.吃了腐败的食物容易生病。
• A putrid smell drove us from the room.一股腐臭的气味迫使我们离开这房间。

3 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

4 inadequately   

ad.不够地；不够好地

参考例句：

• As one kind of building materials, wood is inadequately sturdy. 作为一种建筑材料，木材不够结实。
• Oneself is supported inadequately by the money that he earns. 他挣的钱不够养活自己。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

7 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。

8 eccentricity   

n.古怪，反常，怪癖

参考例句：

• I can't understand the eccentricity of Henry's behavior.我不理解亨利的古怪举止。
• His eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.在他去世之前他的古怪脾气就早已闻名遐尔了。

9 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

10 rhinoceroses   

n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚

参考例句：

• Rhinoceroses and dragons for once will let us walk in peace. 犀牛与龙安歇，让我们能平静地行走。 来自互联网
• Although the rhinoceroses are very heavy, they can run very fast. 犀牛虽然体型笨重，但仍能以相当快的速度行走或奔跑。 来自互联网

11 disquieting   

adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
• That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句

12 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

13 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

14 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。