評論
打印
"What a queer, excited way you have of speaking," he looked annoyed.
“你怎么用這樣激動的怪調(diào)說話，”這人顯得有些不大高興。
"Tell me," I said again. "Is this the year 3000?"
“請告訴我，”我又說，“今年是不是公元3000年？”
"I haven't the faintest idea," he said.
“我一無所知，”他回答道。
"Don't you keep track of them any more?" I gasped.
“難道你們不再記載時間了嗎？”我吃驚地倒抽了一口氣。
"We used to," said the man. "But it died out. Why," he continued, "after we eliminated death—"
“我們曾經(jīng)記載過，”那人說道。“但后來就沒有了。因為，”他接著說，“在我們消滅了死亡以后——”
"Eliminated death!" I cried, sitting upright.
“消滅死亡！”我叫道，興奮得坐直了起來。
"I was saying—after we had eliminated death, and food, and—"
“我剛才說到——在我們消滅了死亡和食物以及——”
"Stop!" I said, my brain reeling. "Tell me one thing at a time."
“等等！”我說，這時我的腦子都暈了，“請您一件一件地講。”
"Humph!" he ejaculated. "I see, you must have been asleep a long time. Go on then and ask questions."
他突然“哼”了一聲，說道：“我明白了，您肯定是睡了很長時間了。好吧，您有問題就問吧。”
Oddly enough the first question that sprang to my lips was—
奇怪的是，我脫口而出的第一個問題居然是——
"What are those clothes made of?"
“您身上穿的衣服是什么做的？”
"Asbestos," answered the man.
“石棉，”那人回答說。
"Thank you," I answered. "Now tell me where I am."
“謝謝，”我回答道，“現(xiàn)在請告訴我，我這是在哪里？”
"You are in a museum. The figures in the cases are specimens like yourself. But here," he said, "if you want really to find out about what is evidently a new epoch to you, get off your platform and come out on Broadway."
“您現(xiàn)在在一家博物館里。那些櫥窗里的人都是像您一樣的展品。但是，”他說，“如果您真想了解這個對您來說顯然全新的時代，您就要從這展臺上走下來，出去到百老匯大街看看。”
I got down. But the moment we came out upon the street, I stood riveted in astonishment.
我走下了展臺。可是我們剛走到街上，我就吃驚地站在那里，動彈不得了。
