第七章

　　The mesa was like a ship becalmed in a strait of lion-coloured dust.

　　崖顶螈像一艘静静旋泊在狮子黄的海湾边的船。

　　The channel wound between precipitous banks, and slanting from one wall to the other across the valley ran a streak of green-the river and its fields.

　　峡谷迤逦在陡峭的谷岸里，谷里一道道崖壁逐渐矮去，露出一带绿色——那是河流和它的原野。

　　On the prow of that stone ship in the centre of the strait, and seemingly a part of it, a shaped and geometrical outcrop of the naked rock, stood the pueblo of Malpais.

　　海峡正中的石船头上，伸出一片几何图形的光溜溜的整齐的山崖，马尔佩斯印第安人村就在那里，好像是石船的一部分。

　　Block above block, each story smaller than the one below, the tall houses rose like stepped and amputated pyramids into the blue sky.

　　那高高的房屋一幢一幢直往蓝天伸去，越高越小，宛如一级一级砍掉了角的金字塔。

　　At their feet lay a straggle of low buildings, a criss-cross of walls; and on three sides the precipices fell sheer into the plain.

　　脚下是七零八落的矮屋的纵横交错的墙壁。悬崖峭壁从三面直落平原。

　　A few columns of smoke mounted perpendicularly into the windless air and were lost.

　　没有风，几缕炊烟笔直地升上来，消失了。

　　"Queer," said Lenina. "Very queer." It was her ordinary word of condemnation.

　　“这儿很怪，”列宁娜说，“太怪了。”那是她表示谴责的一贯用语。

　　"I don't like it. And I don't like that man."

　　“我不喜欢，那个人我也不喜欢。”

　　She pointed to the Indian guide who had been appointed to take them up to the pueblo.

　　她指着被指定带他们上印第安村落去的向导。

　　Her feeling was evidently reciprocated; the very back of the man, as he walked along before them, was hostile, sullenly contemptuous.

　　她的感觉显然得到了响应。走在他们前面的人就连背也带着敌意和阴沉的轻蔑。

　　"Besides," she lowered her voice, "he smells."

　　“而且，”她放低了声音说，“他有臭味。”

　　Bernard did not attempt to deny it. They walked on.

　　伯纳没有打算反对。他们往前走去。

　　Suddenly it was as though the whole air had come alive and were pulsing, pulsing with the indefatigable movement of blood. Up there, in Malpais, the drums were being beaten.

　　突然，整个空气都似乎活跃了起来，搏动起来，以不疲倦的脉冲跳动着——在上面，马尔佩斯，有人在打鼓。

　　Their feet fell in with the rhythm of that mysterious heart; they quickened their pace. Their path led them to the foot of the precipice.

　　他们踏着那神秘的心跳的节拍，加快了步伐，沿着小径来到了悬崖底下。

　　The sides of the great mesa ship towered over them, three hundred feet to the gunwale.

　　那硕大的石原船的峭壁高耸在他们头上，船舷距地面有三百公尺之高。

　　"I wish we could have brought the plane," said Lenina, looking up resentfully at the blank impending rock-face. "I hate walking. And you feel so small when you're on the ground at the bottom of a hill."

　　“我真恨不得能够带了飞机来，”列宁娜抬头望着那高峻逼人的绝壁，气恼地说，“我讨厌走路，在高山下的地面上走路，叫人觉得渺小。”

　　They walked along for some way in the shadow of the mesa, rounded a projection, and there, in a water-worn ravine, was the way up the companion ladder.

　　他们在石源的阴影里走过一段路，绕过一道突岩，崖水浸渍的峡谷中有一条小径通向“舰艇军官扶梯”。

　　They climbed. It was a very steep path that zigzagged from side to side of the gully.

　　他们开始爬山。山道陡峭，在山谷两边拐来拐去。

　　Sometimes the pulsing of the drums was all but inaudible, at others they seemed to be beating only just round the corner.

　　那搏动的鼓点有时几乎听不见了，有时又仿佛拐过弯就能看见。

　　When they were half-way up, an eagle flew past so close to them that the wind of his wings blew chill on their faces.

　　他们爬到半山，一只苍鹰贴面飞过，翅膀扇来一阵寒风，吹到他们脸上。

　　In a crevice of the rock lay a pile of bones.

　　岩石的缝隙里有一堆狰狞可怕的白骨。

　　It was all oppressively queer, and the Indian smelt stronger and stronger.

　　一切都奇怪得通人。印第安人的气味越来越浓。

　　They emerged at last from the ravine into the full sunlight.

　　他们终于走出峡谷，进入阳光。

　　The top of the mesa was a flat deck of stone.

　　石源的顶是平坦的“甲板”。

　　"Like the Charing-T Tower," was Lenina's comment.

　　“跟切林T字架大楼一样。”列宁娜评价道。

　　But she was not allowed to enjoy her discovery of this reassuring resemblance for long. A padding of soft feet made them turn round.

　　但是她却没有多少机会欣赏这个令她欣慰的发现，一阵软底的脚步声叫他们转过了身子。

　　Naked from throat to navel, their dark brown bodies painted with white lines ("like asphalt tennis courts," Lenina was later to explain), their faces inhuman with daubings of scarlet, black and ochre, two Indians came running along the path.

　　两人都从喉咙赤裸到肚脐，黑褐色的身子上画着白道道（像铺沥青的网球场，列宁娜后来解释说），脸上涂满朱红、漆黑和黄褐，已经不像人样。两个印第安人跑了过来。

　　Their black hair was braided with fox fur and red flannel.

　　黑头发用狐狸毛和红色的法兰绒编成鞭子。