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5 The new experiment
5 新實驗
A few days later，John asked Mary to look at another experiment．He took her into a long，quiet room at the back of the factory．The room was full of the noises of small animals．
幾天以后，約翰讓瑪麗去觀看另一個實驗。他將她帶進工廠后面一個僻靜的長屋子里。屋子里充滿小動物的叫聲。
'I've been testing the waste products，'he said．'Here，look at this．'He gave her a sheet of paper．'Some of these rats have had the waste products in their food and drinking water．There's no real problem yet． One or two have become ill，but not many．There's nothing very serious．'
“我一直在測試這些廢料，”他說，“看這東西。”他遞給她一張紙。“這其中一些老鼠已經食用了攙有廢料的食物和飲用水。還沒有出現真正的問題。有一兩只已經病了，但不多。情況不是很嚴重。”
Mary read the results carefully．She didn't like this kind of experiment，but she knew it was necessary． And John was right；no rats had died，and not very many were ill．
瑪麗仔細地讀著實驗結果。她不喜歡這種實驗，但是她知道這有必要。而且約翰是對的。還沒有老鼠死亡，生病的也不多。
'So what do you want to show me?'she asked．
“那么你想證明什么？”她問。
'This，'he said．He opened a box by the window．'These ten rats have had the waste products in their drinking water for two weeks now． I gave them a lot—five parts per million．They're going to have babies today．If the babies are OK， we've got nothing to worry about．'
“這一點，”他說。他打開靠近窗戶的一個箱子。“這10只老鼠喝了攙有廢料的水到現在已經有兩個星期了。我給了它們許多——一百萬分之五。它們今天要下小崽兒了。如果它們的小崽兒沒問題，我們就不用擔心了。”
'Oh，John，'she said．'What an awful thing to do！'
“哦，約翰，”她說，“做這樣的事真可怕。”
'I know，I know，'he said． But he wasn't listening．'Look，'he said excitedly．'Some of them have been born al-ready！'
“我知道，我知道，”他說。但他并沒有在聽。“看呀，”他興奮地說，“有些已經生下了。”
He lifted some of the baby rats out of the box and looked at them through a magnifying glass．
他從箱子里提出幾只鼠崽兒，用放大鏡觀看它們。
'Oh dear，'he said at last， sadly．Perhaps there is a prob-lem．Look！'
“哦，我的天啊，”他最后懊喪地說，“也許有問題。你瞧！”
Mary looked through the magnifying glass．She began to feel ill．There was a long silence．
瑪麗透過放大鏡觀看。她開始感到不好受。沉默了很長一段。
