美丽新世界Brave New World 第17章(7)

 　　"Are you sure?" asked the Savage¹.

　　“你有把握？”野蛮人问，

　　Are you quite sure that the Edmund in that pneumatic chair hasn't been just as heavily punished as the Edmund who's wounded and bleeding to death?

　　你有充分的把握坐这儿气垫椅里的爱德蒙不会遭到跟那个爱德蒙同样严厉的惩罚？

　　The gods are just. Haven't they used his pleasant vices² as an instrument to degrade him?

　　那个受伤流血快要死去的爱德蒙。诸神是公正的……他们难道不会因为他寻欢作乐、成为邪恶的工具而贬斥他？

　　Degrade him from what position? As a happy, hard-working, goods-consuming citizen he's perfect.

　　在什么地方贬斥他？作为一个快乐、勤奋、消费着商品的公民，这个爱德蒙无懈可击。

　　Of course, if you choose some other standard than ours,

　　当然，如果你要采用跟我们不同的标准，

　　then perhaps you might say he was degraded. But you've got to stick to one set of postulates³.

　　你也许可以说他被贬斥了。但是我们应该坚持同一套规则，

　　You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy.

　　不能按玩汪汪狗患离心球的规则玩电磁高尔夫。

　　"But value dwells not in particular will," said the Savage.

　　“但是价值不能够凭私心的爱憎决定；”野蛮人说，

　　It holds his estimate and dignity as well wherein 'tis precious of itself as in the prizer.

　　一方面这东西的本身必须确有可贵之处，另一方面它还必须为估计者所重视。它的价值必须这样来确定。

　　"Come, come," protested Mustapha Mond, "that's going rather far, isn't it?"

　　“好了，好了，”穆斯塔法.蒙德抗议了，“这不离题太远了吗？”

　　If you allowed yourselves to think of God, you wouldn't allow yourselves to be degraded by pleasant vices.

　　如果你让你自己想到上帝，就不会让自己因为风流罪过而堕落。

　　You'd have a reason for bearing things patiently, for doing things with courage. I've seen it with the Indians.

　　你必须有理由耐心地承担一切和鼓起勇气做事。这，我在印第安人身上看见过。

　　"l'm sure you have," said Mustapha Mond. But then we aren't Indians.

　　“我肯定你看见过，”穆斯塔法.蒙德说，但我们不是印第安人，

　　There isn't any need for a civilized⁴ man to bear anything that's seriously unpleasant.

　　我们没有必要让文明人承担什么严重的折磨。

　　And as for doing things–Ford forbid that he should get the idea into his head.

　　至于鼓起勇气做事——福帝禁止这种念头进入人们的头脑。

　　It would upset the whole social order if men started doing things on their own.

　　如果每个人都独行其是，整个社会秩序就会叫打乱了。

　　What about self-denial, then? If you had a God, you'd have a reason for self-denial.

　　那么对自我否定你们又怎么看呢？既然有上帝，你们也就有自我否定的理由。

　　But industrial civilization is only possible when there's no self-denial.

　　但是必须取消了自我否定才会有工业文明。

　　Self-indulgence up to the very limits imposed by hygiene⁵ and economics. Otherwise the wheels stop turning.

　　必须自我放纵到卫生和经济所能容忍的最高限度，否则轮子就会停止转动。

1 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。

2 vices   

缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳

参考例句：

• In spite of his vices, he was loved by all. 尽管他有缺点，还是受到大家的爱戴。
• He vituperated from the pulpit the vices of the court. 他在教堂的讲坛上责骂宫廷的罪恶。

3 postulates   

v.假定，假设( postulate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They proclaimed to be eternal postulates of reason and justice. 他们宣称这些原则是理性和正义的永恒的要求。 来自辞典例句
• The school building programme postulates an increase in educational investment. 修建校舍的计画是在增加教育经费的前提下拟定的。 来自辞典例句

4 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

5 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。