美丽新世界Brave New World 第16章(4)（打印版）

　　The Savage was silent for a little. "All the same," he insisted obstinately, "Othello's good, Othello's better than those feelies."

　　野蛮人沉默了一会儿。“可是《奥塞罗》是好的，《奥塞罗》要比感官电影好。”

　　"Of course it is," the Controller agreed. But that's the price we have to pay for stability.

　　“当然要好，”总统表示同意，可那正是我们为安定所付出的代价。

　　You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art.

　　你不能不在幸福和人们所谓的高雅艺术之间进行选择。

　　We've sacrificed the high art. We have the feelies and the scent organ instead.

　　我们就用感官电影和馨香乐器代替了艺术。

　　But they don't mean anything.

　　可那些东西什么意思都没有。

　　They mean themselves; they mean a lot of agreeable sensations to the audience.

　　意思就在它们本身。它们对观众意味着大量的感官享受。

　　But they're … they're told by an idiot.

　　可是，它们是……是一个白痴所讲的故事。

　　The Controller laughed. You're not being very polite to your friend, Mr. Watson.One of our most distinguished Emotional Engineers …

　　总统哈哈大笑。你对你的朋友华生先生可不太礼貌，他可是我们一个最杰出的情绪工程师呢……

　　"But he's right," said Helmholtz gloomily. "Because it is idiotic. Writing when there's nothing to say …"

　　“可是他倒说对了，”赫姆霍尔兹阴郁地说，“无事可写却偏要写，确实像个白痴……”

　　Precisely. But that require the most enormous ingenuity.

　　说个正着，但是那正好要求最巨大的聪明才智，

　　You're making fiivvers out of the absolute minimum of steel–works of art out of practically nothing but pure sensation.

　　是叫你使用少到不能再少的钢铁去制造汽车——实际上是除了感觉之外几乎什么都不用，却制造着艺术品。

　　The Savage shook his head. "It all seems to me quite horrible."

　　野蛮人摇摇头。“在我看来这似乎可怕极了。”

　　Of course it does. Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery.

　　当然可怕。但是跟受苦受难的太高代价比起来，现实的幸福看起来往往相当廉价。

　　And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability.

　　而且，稳定当然远远不如动乱那么热闹；

　　And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune,

　　心满意足也不如跟不幸做殊死斗争那么动人；

　　none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation,or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt.

　　也不如抗拒引诱，或是抗拒为激情和怀疑所颠倒那么引人入胜。

　　Happiness is never grand.

　　幸福从来就不伟大。