評論
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She was shocked again.
她又一次大吃一驚。
"Mother, you must come, if only to explain to me what is the harm of visiting the surface of the earth."
“母親，您一定要來，哪怕只是給我解釋解釋觀光地球的表面有什么害處也好。”
"No harm," she replied, controlling herself.
“沒有什么害處，”她控制著自己回答說。
"But no advantage. The surface of the earth is only dust and mud, no advantage.
“不過也沒有什么好處。地球的表面只是塵土和泥濘，
The surface of the earth is only dust and mud, no life remains on it, and you would need a respirator, or the cold of the outer air would kill you.
上面已經沒有生命存在了，而且你需要有一個呼吸保護器，不然的話，外部大氣的寒冷會使你喪命的。
One dies immediately in the outer air."
在外部大氣里，誰都會立刻死掉。”
"I know; of course I shall take all precautions." "And besides—" "Well?" She considered, and chose her words with care.
“我知道；當然我要事事都加小心。”“此外——”“怎么？”她思考著，謹慎地選擇她的字眼。
Her son had a queer temper, and she wished to dissuade him from the expedition.
她的兒子有個古怪脾氣，但她想勸阻他不要做這次遠征。
"It is contrary to the spirit of the age," she asserted.
“這是違反時代精神的。”她堅持說。
"Do you mean by that, contrary to the Machine?" "In a sense, but—" His image is the blue plate faded.
“您的意思是說，這是反對那大機器的嗎？”“在某種意義上是可以這樣說，不過——”他的形象在藍盤里消失了。
"Kuno!" He had isolated himself.
“基諾！”他把他自己隔絕起來了。
For a moment Vashti felt lonely.
有一會兒時間，瓦西蒂感到孤寂了。
Then she generated the light, and the sight of her room, flooded with radiance and studded with electric buttons, revived her.
于是她讓房間亮起來，她那處處通明、電鈕密布的房間的全景使她精神恢復了過來。
There were buttons and switches everywhere – buttons to call for food for music, for clothing.
那里到處是電鈕和開關——要食品的電鈕、要音樂的電鈕、要衣服的電鈕。
There was the hot-bath button, by pressure of which a basin of imitation marble rose out of the floor, filled to the brim with a warm deodorized liquid.
有熱水浴的電鈕，按一下這個電鈕，一個仿云石的澡盆便從地板下面升上來，里面有滿到盆邊的一種溫熱的除臭液體。
There was the cold-bath button.
還有冷浴的電鈕。
There was the button that produced literature, and there were of course the buttons by which she communicated with her friends.
有創作文學的電鈕，當然還有她借以同她的朋友們交談的電鈕。
The room, though it contained nothing, was in touch with all that she cared for in the world.
這個房間，雖然里面沒有什么東西，卻同她所關心的世界上的一切保持著接觸。
Vashanti's next move was to turn off the isolation switch, and all the accumulations of the last three minutes burst upon her.
瓦西蒂的下一步行動是關掉那個隔絕開關，于是最近三分鐘所積壓的一切一下子都麋集到她身上來。
The room was filled with the noise of bells, and speaking-tubes.
房里是一片電鈴聲和話筒聲。
What was the new food like? Could she recommend it? Has she had any ideas lately? Might one tell her one's own ideas?
那種新食品怎么樣？她能不能給推薦呢？她最近有什么思想意念嗎？有個人想同她談談自己的思想意念，可以嗎？
Would she make an engagement to visit the public nurseries at an early date? – say this day month.
她肯不肯約定一個早一點的日期，去訪問公立保育所呢？——假定說下個月的今天吧。
To most of these questions she replied with irritation – a growing quality in that accelerated age.
對于這些問題，她大多很不耐煩地一一作了回答，這是年齡日增的一個鮮明的特點。
She said that the new food was horrible.
她說，那種新食品簡直叫人生厭。
That she could not visit the public nurseries through press of engagements.
她說她不能由于約定催逼得緊就去訪問公立保育所。
That she had no ideas of her own but had just been told one-that four stars and three in the middle were like a man: she doubted there was much in it.
她說她沒有什么自己的思想意念，只不過聽一個人告訴她，四顆星和在它們當中的三顆星是像一個人的腰帶，她不認為其中有什么意義。
Then she switched off her correspondents, for it was time to deliver her lecture on Australian music.
隨后她關掉她的通訊開關，因為已是該做她那篇論奧地利音樂的演講的時候了。
