評(píng)論
打印
"Well, the Book"s wrong, for I have been out on my feet."
“哦，大書是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)用雙腳走出去過。”
For Kuno was possessed of a certain physical strength.
這是因?yàn)榛Z具有相當(dāng)?shù)捏w力。
By these days it was a demerit to be muscular.
到這個(gè)時(shí)代，肌肉發(fā)達(dá)乃是個(gè)缺陷。
Each infant was examined at birth, and all who promised undue strength were destroyed.
每個(gè)嬰兒一出生就要受到檢查，所有那些體力可能特殊的都被消滅掉。
Humanitarians may protest, but it would have been no true kindness to let an athlete live;
人道主義者們可以抗議，不過并沒有讓一個(gè)身強(qiáng)力壯的人存活下去的真誠善意；
he would never have been happy in that state of life to which the Machine had called him;
他處在大機(jī)器叫他處的那種生活狀態(tài)里，是永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)幸福的。
he would have yearned for trees to climb, rivers to bathe in, meadows and hills against which he might measure his body.
他會(huì)渴望有些樹木給他爬一爬；有些河流給他在里面洗個(gè)澡；有些草場(chǎng)，還有些他可以用來估量一下身體的小山。
Man must be adapted to his surroundings, must he not?
人必須永遠(yuǎn)適應(yīng)他的環(huán)境，難過不是嗎？
In the dawn of the world our weakly must be exposed on Mount Taygetus,
在世界的黎明時(shí)代，我們的強(qiáng)者必定暴露在泰格特斯山上；
in its twilight our strong will suffer euthanasia, that the Machine may progress,
在它的黃昏時(shí)期，我們的強(qiáng)者會(huì)遭到無痛死亡，這樣大機(jī)器就可以永遠(yuǎn)前進(jìn)，
that the Machine may progress, that the Machine may progress eternally.
大機(jī)器就可以永遠(yuǎn)前進(jìn)，大機(jī)器就可以永遠(yuǎn)前進(jìn)。
"You know that we have lost the sense of space."
“您知道，我們已經(jīng)喪失了空間感。”
We say "space is annihilated", but we have annihilated not space, but the sense thereof.
我們現(xiàn)在說：“空間是被殲滅了”，不過我們殲滅的并不是空間，而是對(duì)它的感識(shí)。
We have lost a part of ourselves. I determined to recover it,
我們已經(jīng)喪失了我們自己的某種官能。我決心要恢復(fù)它，
and I began by walking up and down the platform of the railway outside my room.
于是我開始采用在我房間外邊的鐵路月臺(tái)上踱來踱去的辦法。
Up and down, until I was tired, and so did recapture the meaning of "Near" and "Far".
我踱來踱去，直到疲倦為止，這樣，我就重新獲得了“近”和“遠(yuǎn)”的意義。
"Near" is a place to which I can get quickly on my feet,
“近”就是用我的雙腳可以很快走到的地方，
not a place to which the train or the air-ship will take me quickly.
并不是火車或飛艇載著我們很快可達(dá)到的地方。
"Far" is a place to which I cannot get quickly on my feet;
“遠(yuǎn)”就是我不能用我的雙腳很快走到的地方；
the vomitory is "far", though I could be there in thirty-eight seconds by summoning the train.
那個(gè)出口是“遠(yuǎn)”的，盡管我叫來火車時(shí)在38秒內(nèi)就可以到達(dá)那里。
Man is the measure. That was my first lesson. Man"s feet are the measure for distance,
人就是衡量的尺度。那就是我所上的第一課。人的兩腳是衡量距離的尺度，
his hands are the measure for ownership, his body is the measure for all that is lovable and desirable and strong.
兩手是衡量所有權(quán)的尺度，身體是衡量一切可愛的、稱心如意的和強(qiáng)而有力的東西的尺度。
Then I went further: it was then that I called to you for the first time, and you would not come.
隨后我更進(jìn)一步：就是那時(shí)我第一次打電話結(jié)您，可是您不肯來。
"This city, as you know, is built deep beneath the surface of the earth, with only the vomitories protruding.
“這個(gè)城，正像您所知道的那樣，是建在地球表面下的深處的，只有些出口突了出來。
Having paced the platform outside my own room, I took the lift to the next platform and paced that also,
經(jīng)過一陣在房間外面的月臺(tái)上踱來踱去以后，我乘著升降機(jī)到了另一個(gè)月臺(tái)，也在那里踱來踱去，
and so with each in turn, until I came to the topmost, above which begins the earth.
就這樣順序在每個(gè)月臺(tái)上這樣做，直到我到了最高的那個(gè)月臺(tái)，在那個(gè)月臺(tái)上方，就是地面了。
All the platforms were exactly alike, and all that I gained by visiting them was to develop my sense of space and my muscles.
所有這些月臺(tái)都是線毫不差地一式一樣，通過走過這些月臺(tái)，我所獲得的一切就是發(fā)展了我的空間感和我的肌肉。
I think I should have been content with this – it is not a little thing,
我想我應(yīng)當(dāng)對(duì)這一點(diǎn)成到滿意——這可不是一件小事
– but as I walked and brooded, it occurred to me that our cities had been built in the days when men still breathed the outer air,
——不過在我走著和深思的時(shí)候，我偶然想列，我們的這些城市原是在人們還呼吸著外界空氣的那些歲月里修建的，
and that there had been ventilation shafts for the workmen.
而且還有供工人用的空氣調(diào)節(jié)筒。
I could think of nothing but these ventilation shafts.
我只能想到這些空氣調(diào)節(jié)筒，卻想不出什么別的東西。
Had they been destroyed by all the food-tubes and medicine-tubes and music- tubes that the Machine has evolved lately?
它們是不是由于大機(jī)器近來改進(jìn)的一切食品管筒、醫(yī)藥管筒和音樂管筒而毀掉了呢？
Or did traces of them remain? One thing was certain.
是不是它們的遺跡還保留著？有一件事是肯定的。
If I came upon them anywhere, it would be in the railway-tunnels of the topmost storey.
如果我會(huì)在什么地方碰到這些遺跡的話，那就必然是在鐵路隧道的最高層。
Everywhere else, all space was accounted for.
在其他各處，整個(gè)空間都被占滿了。
"I am telling my story quickly, but don"t think that I was not a coward or that your answers never depressed me.
“我現(xiàn)在把我的事情講得很快，但您不要認(rèn)為我過去就不是個(gè)懦夫，也不要認(rèn)為您的回答從來沒有使我感到意氣消沉。
It is not the proper thing, it is not mechanical, it is not decent to walk along a railway-tunnel.
這可不是一件普普通通的事，它是不合大機(jī)器的規(guī)定的。沿著鐵路隧道走是不正派的事。
I did not fear that I might tread upon a live rail and be killed.
我倒不怕我可能踩在一條活軌上就此喪命。
I feared something far more intangible-doing what was not contemplated by the Machine.
我怕的是那遠(yuǎn)為更捉摸不定的什么事——在做著大機(jī)器所不考慮做的事。
Then I said to myself, "Man is the measure", and I went, and after many visits I found an opening.
于是我對(duì)自己說：“人是尺度”，于是我照常走去，經(jīng)過多次探視，我找到了一個(gè)出口。
