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Then I realized for the first time, just what work had meant in the old life, and how much of the texture of life had been bound up in the keen effort of it.
這下我才第一次明白工作在我們原來的生活中的意義，明白生活的質量和內涵與我們對生活的熱切追求的努力多么密切相關。
Presently my eyes looked upward: dangling at the top of a building I saw what seemed to be the remains of telephone wires.
過了一會兒，我的眼睛往上一看，發現一座建筑的頂上有個東西在擺動，好像是殘留下來的電話線頭。
"What became of all the system of communication?" I asked.
“那些通信系統現在怎么樣了呢？”我問道。
"Ah," said the Man in Asbestos, "all cut out. You see, when work stopped and commerce ended, and food was needless, and the weather killed, there was nothing to communicate and it was foolish to move about. Besides it was dangerous!"
“哦，”那個穿石棉衣服的人說，“也全都去掉了。你看，工作停止了，商業沒有了，食品不需要了，天氣變化也消滅了。這樣一來，就沒有需要交流的東西了。那如果有人還要四處走動，就成傻瓜了。再說，這還有危險！”
"So!" I said. "You still have danger?"
“原來！”我說，“你們還仍然會有危險？”
"Why, yes," he said.
“對，有啊，”他說。
"Do you mean you can still die?" I asked.
“這意思是不是你們還是有可能死去？”我問道。
"No," said the Man in Asbestos, "there's been no death for centuries past; we cut that out. Disease and death were simply a matter of germs. Well, we hunted them down one by one and destroyed them."
“不，”那個穿石棉衣的人說，“已經有幾百年沒人死了。我們把死亡給消除了。疾病和死亡其實就是細菌惹的禍。我們把細菌一個一個找了出來，統統消滅了。”
"And you mean to say," I ejaculated in amazement, "that nowadays you live for ever?"
“那您的意思是，”我馬上吃驚地問道，“現在你們能永遠活下去？”
"Yes," he said, "unless, of course, we get broken. Therefore we took steps to cut out all accidents. We forbid all streetcars, street traffic, airplanes, and so on."
“不錯，”他說，“當然，除非我們受傷。所以我們采取措施，把一切事故都消滅了。為此我們禁止一切電車、車輛和飛機等交通工具的使用。”
