評(píng)論
打印
John thought of his children， sailing on the river in their boat．He thought of the seals，and people fishing， and little children playing on the beach and swimming．'We've got to build them！'he said．
約翰想到他的孩子們，乘他們的船行駛在這條河上。他想到海豹，想到人們釣魚(yú)，想到小孩們?cè)诤訛┥贤嫠＃诤永镉斡尽Ｋf(shuō)：“我們不得不造機(jī)器！”
David Wilson looked at him carefully． His voice，when he spoke，was very quiet and hard．'Listen to me，John．You're a very good scientist，and we're lucky to have you in this com-pany．But you're not a businessman， and I am．Look at this．'He picked up a sheet of paper， and held it across the table for John to see．It showed how much money the compa-ny had．'We borrowed ten million pounds last year， and we employed four hundred more people．Think how much that means to a small town like this！'
大衛(wèi)·威爾遜仔細(xì)地看著他。他說(shuō)話時(shí)的聲音非常平靜而且堅(jiān)定。“聽(tīng)我說(shuō)，約翰。你是一個(gè)很出色的科學(xué)家，我們有幸雇你在這個(gè)公司干活。但是你不是一個(gè)商人，而我是。你瞧。”他拿起一張紙，從桌子對(duì)面遞過(guò)來(lái)給約翰看。它顯示出公司有多少錢。“去年我們借了1000萬(wàn)英鎊，并且又雇用了400人。想想對(duì)這樣一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)來(lái)說(shuō)這意味著多少？”
'I know，'said John．'But…'
“我知道，”約翰說(shuō)。“但是……”
'Just a minute．Listen to me．If we build these cleaning machines of yours，people will lose their jobs—a lot of people！This company can't afford to borrow any more money，John．We just can't do it！'
“等等。聽(tīng)我說(shuō)。如果我們制造你建議的這些凈化機(jī)器，人們將會(huì)丟失他們的工作——很多人！這個(gè)公司擔(dān)負(fù)不起借更多的錢，約翰。我們真是不能那樣做。”
John stood up．'And what happens if people get ill because of this？ Have you thought of that？What will the newspapers say then？'
約翰站了起來(lái)。“那么如果人們因此而得病怎么辦？你想過(guò)沒(méi)有？到那時(shí)報(bào)紙會(huì)怎么說(shuō)？”
'No one will get ill，because no one drinks that water，John．The newspapers will never know about it．'
“沒(méi)人會(huì)得病，因?yàn)闆](méi)人喝那種水，約翰。報(bào)紙永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)知道此事。”
'They will if I tell them．'
“如果我告訴他們，他們就會(huì)知道。”
