美丽新世界Brave New World 第16章(2)

 　　Bernard started and looked horrified¹. What would the Controller think?

　　伯纳吃了一惊，满脸惶恐。总统会怎么想呢？

　　To be labelled as the friend of a man who said that he didn't like civilization–said it openly and, of all people, to the Controller–it was terrible.

　　给他安上个罪名，说他跟不喜欢文明的人做朋友——而且是在总统面前，不是在别人面前公开表示，太可怕了。

　　"But, John," he began. A look from Mustapha Mond reduced him to an abject² silence.

　　“可是，约翰……”他说话了。但穆斯塔法.蒙德瞄了他一眼，他便卑微地闭了嘴。

　　"Of course," the Savage³ went on to admit, "there are some very nice things. All that music in the air, for instance …"

　　“当然，”野蛮人继续交代，“有一些很好的东西。比如空中的音乐……”

　　Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about my ears and sometimes voices.

　　有时候千百种弦乐之音会在我耳里缭绕不去，有时又有歌声。

　　The Savage's face lit up with a sudden pleasure. "Have you read it too?" he asked.

　　野蛮人的脸突然焕发出了欢乐的光彩。“你也读过莎士比亚？”他问道，

　　I thought nobody knew about that book here, in England.

　　我还以为这本书在英格兰这地方没有人知道呢。

　　Almost nobody. I'm one of the very few. It's prohibited, you see.

　　几乎没有人知道，我是极少数知道的人之一。那书是被禁止的，你看。

　　But as I make the laws here, I can also break them. With impunity⁴, Mr. Marx, he added, turning to Bernard.

　　但这儿的法律既然是我制定的，我当然也可以不遵守，我有豁免权，马克思先生，他转身对着伯纳，

　　"Which I'm afraid you can't do." Bernard sank into a yet more hopeless misery⁵.

　　加上一句，“而你，我怕是不能够不遵守。”伯纳沉入了更加绝望的痛苦之中。

　　"But why is it prohibited?" asked the Savage.

　　“可是，为什么要禁止莎士比亚呢？”野蛮人问道。

　　In the excitement of meeting a man who had read Shakespeare he had momentarily forgotten everything else.

　　由于见到一个读过莎士比亚的人感到兴奋，他暂时忘掉了别的一切。

　　The Controller shrugged⁶ his shoulders.

　　总统耸了耸肩。

　　Because it's old; that's the chief reason. We haven't any use for old things here.

　　因为莎士比亚古老，那是主要的理由。古老的东西在我们这儿是完全没有用的。

　　Even when they're beautiful?

　　即使美也没有用？

　　Particularly when they're beautiful. Beauty's attractive, and we don't want people to be attracted by old things.

　　特别是美的东西。美是有吸引力的，而我们却不愿意让人们受到古老的东西吸引。

　　We want them to like the new ones.

　　我们要他们喜欢新东西。

　　But the new ones are so stupid and horrible.

　　可这些新东西却那么愚蠢而且可怕。

　　Those plays, where there's nothing but helicopters flying about and you feel the people kissing.

　　那些新戏里除了飞来飞去的直升机和叫你感觉得到的接吻，什么都没有。

　　He made a grimace⁷.

　　他做了个鬼脸。

1 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

2 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

3 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。

4 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。