美丽新世界Brave New World 第11章(14)

 ...rescuers. They interrupted themselves for a moment to sing a synthetic¹ quartet,

四个人插入了一个合成音乐四重唱，

with full super-orchestral accompaniment and gardenias² on the scent³ organ.

由超级交响乐队全面伴奏，还配合了嗅觉器官的栀子花香。

Then the bearskin made a final appearance and, amid a blare of saxophones, the last stereoscopic kiss faded into darkness, the last electric titillation⁴ died on the lips like a dying moth⁵ that quivers, quivers, ever more feebly, ever more faintly, and at last is quiet, quite still.

熊皮最后出现，在响亮的色唆风音乐中，最后的立体接吻在黑暗里淡出，最后的酥麻震颤在唇上颤抖着，颤抖着，有如濒临死亡的飞蛾，越来越弱，越来越轻，终于静止了，不动了。

But for Lenina the moth did not completely die.

但对列宁娜来说，那飞蛾还没有完全死亡。

Even after the lights had gone up, while they were shuffling⁶ slowly along with the crowd towards the lifts,

即使在灯光大亮、他们随着人群慢慢往电梯蜇去时，

its ghost still fluttered against her lips,

那飞蛾的幽灵仍然在她的唇上拍着翅膀

still traced fine shuddering⁷ roads of anxiety and pleasure across her skin.

在她的皮肤上散布着精微的，令她震颤的渴求和欢乐。

Her cheeks were flushed. She caught hold of the Savage's arm and pressed it, limp, against her side.

她面颊泛着红晕，抓住野蛮人手臂，瘫软地搂住它贴在胸前。

He looked down at her for a moment, pale, pained, desiring, and ashamed of his desire.

他低头看了看她，苍白了，痛苦了，动了情，却为自己的欲望感到羞耻。

He was not worthy⁸, not … Their eyes for a moment met.

他配不上她，他不够资格……两人的眼光碰上了。

What treasures hers promised! A queen's ransom⁹ of temperament¹⁰.

她的眼光向他许诺了什么样的珍宝呀！那气质可以抵得一个王后的赎金。

Hastily he looked away, disengaged his imprisoned¹¹ arm.

他赶紧看向别处，抽回了被俘虏的手臂。

He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of.

他暗暗害怕，怕她不再是他配不上的那个姑娘。

"I don't think you ought to see things like that," he said,

“我觉得你不应该看那样的东西。”他说，

making haste to transfer from Lenina herself to the surrounding circumstances the blame for any past or possible future lapse¹² from perfection.

赶紧把过去和今后可能玷污了她的冰清玉洁的原因转嫁到环境上去。

Things like what, John?

什么样的东西，约翰？

Like this horrible film.

这样可怕的电影之类的东西。

"Horrible?" Lenina was genuinely astonished. "But I thought it was lovely."

“可怕？”列宁娜确实大吃了一惊。“可我觉得很美好。”

"It was base," he said indignantly, "it was ignoble¹³."

“下流，”他义愤地说，“卑鄙。”

She shook her head. "I don't know what you mean." Why was he so queer? Why did he go out of his way to spoil things?

她摇摇头，“我木明白你的意思。”他怎么那么奇怪？他怎么会一反常态来破坏情绪？

In the taxicopter he hardly even looked at her.

在直升计程飞机里他几乎没望过她一眼。

Bound by strong vows¹⁴ that had never been pronounced, obedient to laws that had long since ceased to run, he sat averted¹⁵ and in silence.

他为自己从来没有说出口的誓言所约束，服从着很久没有起过作用的法则。他别过身子坐着，一声不响。

Sometimes, as though a finger had plucked at some taut¹⁶, almost breaking string, his whole body would shake with a sudden nervous start.

有时他整个身子会突然神经质地战抖起来，好像有手指拨动了一根紧得几乎要断裂的琴弦。

1 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。

2 gardenias   

n.栀子属植物，栀子花( gardenia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her favorite essence smells like gardenias. 她喜欢的香水闻起来象栀子花。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her favourite essence smells like gardenias. 她喜欢的香水闻起来像栀子花。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 titillation   

n.搔痒，愉快；搔痒感

参考例句：

5 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

6 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

8 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

9 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

10 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

11 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

12 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

13 ignoble   

adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的

参考例句：

• There's something cowardly and ignoble about such an attitude.这种态度有点怯懦可鄙。
• Some very great men have come from ignoble families.有些伟人出身低微。

14 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

15 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

16 taut   

adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的

参考例句：

• The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
• Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了，因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。