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"Once the Minister of Warfare was gone," he went on, "we turned our minds to modern warfare, and we began to make great progress. Modern warfare gives grand opportunities to little countries. Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great Power, and we could only obey. But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations? Must we be silent then about our just aspirations? No. We shall speak."
“國防部長下臺后，”他繼續說，“我們將注意力轉向現代戰爭，并開始取得巨大的進步。現代戰爭使小國家獲得了天賜良機。以前，如果一個國家有十二艘戰艦，就算是非常強大了，我們只能服從它。但是如果我們知道怎樣釋放一場足以摧毀所有國家的瘟疫，那又會發生什么事情呢？我們還要對我們正義的志向保持沉默嗎？不。我們應該講出來。”
"Certainly," I said.
“當然，”我說道。
"Other nations know something of germ warfare," the stranger said. "We looked for a new and deadlier germ. And we had the man who could not only give us that, but a more effective way to spread it—his name was Silvary Carasierra. We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work."
“其他國家知道一點細菌戰的技術，”這個陌生人說道，“而我們則尋找新的更致命的細菌。我們有這樣一個人，他叫西爾韋雷?卡拉西爾拉。他不僅能夠制造出這樣的細菌，并且還懂得如何更有效地傳播細菌。我們知道，只要卡拉西爾拉能堅持工作的話，我們就可以獲得驚人的力量。”
"Idle, was he?" I said, for I thought it very likely in a hot country like that.
“他很懶，是吧？”我想熱帶國家的人很可能是這樣的。
"No," said the stranger. "Never idle. Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions. Yes, he worked and he was working for us on something wonderful. Ah, well. We relied, and rightly, on that man's wisdom; but we forgot his folly."
“不是，”陌生人否定道，“他從不偷懶，總是為強烈的志向所激勵著。他全身心投入創造發明。對，他努力工作，為我們創造非凡的東西。唉，我們信任這個人的智慧；但我們卻忽略了他愚蠢的一面。”
