美丽新世界Brave New World 第13章(4)

 "Why should you think it necessary ..." Lenina began, but left the sentence unfinished.

“你为什么非要先办……”列宁娜开始了，却住了口，

There was a note of irritation¹ in her voice.

口气略带温怒。

When one has leant forward, nearer and nearer, with parted lips—only to find oneself, quite suddenly, as a clumsy oaf scrambles² to his feet, leaning towards nothing at all—well, there is a reason, even with half a gramme of soma circulating in one's blood-stream, a genuine reason for annoyance³.

人家微张嘴，向你靠来，越靠越近，却突然发现靠了个空，你这个笨蛋却跳到一边去了。哼，尽管有半克唆麻在血液里流动，也免不了有充分的道理叫她烦恼。

"At Malpais," the Savage⁴ was incoherently mumbling⁵, you had to bring her the skin of a mountain lion—I mean, when you wanted to marry some one. Or else a wolf.

“要是在马尔佩斯，”野蛮人前言不搭后语地卿咕道，就应该给你带一张山狮皮来——我是说如果想跟你结婚的话。否则就带一只狼也行。

"There aren't any lions in England," Lenina almost snapped.

“可是英格兰共没有狮子。”列宁娜几乎怒吼了。

"And even if there were," the Savage added, with sudden contemptuous resentment⁶,

“即使有狮子，”野蛮人突然恨恨地轻蔑地说下去，

people would kill them out of helicopters, I suppose, with poison gas or something. I wouldn't do that, Lenina.

我也担心他们是会坐了直升飞机去射杀，或是用毒气之类的东西去捕猎的；我可决不会干那种事，列宁娜。

He squared his shoulders, he ventured to look at her and was met with a stare of annoyed incomprehension.

他挺了挺胸，鼓起勇气看着她，却看见列宁娜懊恼地，不理解地反盯着他，

Confused, "I'll do anything," he went on, more and more incoherently. Anything you tell me.

他狼狈了，更加语无伦次了。我一定要做点什么，你要我做什么我就做什么。

There be some sports are painful–you know. But their labour delight in them sets off.

有一类游戏是很吃力的，但兴趣会使人忘记辛苦。

That's what I feel. I mean I'd sweep the floor if you wanted.

这正是我的感觉。我是说，如果你需要，我可以为你扫地。

"But we've got vacuum cleaners here," said Lenina in bewilderment. "It isn't necessary."

“但是我们这儿有真空除尘器，”列宁娜莫名其妙地说，“哪儿用得着扫地呀！”

No, of course it isn't necessary. But some kinds of baseness are nobly undergone.

当然用不着，有一类卑微的工作是用艰苦卓绝的精神忍受的，最低贱的事往往指向最崇高的目标。

I'd like to undergo something nobly. Don't you see?

我想用艰苦卓绝的精神忍受一些压力。你明白吗？

But if there are vacuum cleaners ...

但是，既然有了真空除尘器……

That's not the point.

问题不在这儿。

"And Epsilon Semi-Morons to work them," she went on, "well, really, why?"

“而且除尘器还由爱扑塞隆半白痴使用，”她继续说，“老实说吧，为什么还要……？”

1 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

2 scrambles   

n.抢夺( scramble的名词复数 )v.快速爬行( scramble的第三人称单数 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• The breaking of symmetry scrambles the underlying order of nature. 对称性的破坏会打乱自然界的根本秩序。 来自互联网
• The move comes as Japan scrambles for ways to persuade women to have more babies. 这一行动的出现正值日本政府想尽各种办法鼓励妇女多生育孩子。 来自互联网

3 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

4 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。

5 mumbling   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
• He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

6 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。