他們頭上是巨大蓬松的云朵,有如幾個神話力土的模糊的胴體垂在蔚藍的空中,或是高聳在他們頭上。
Out of one of them suddenly dropped a small scarlet insect, buzzing as it fell.
一個鮮紅的小蟲突然嗡嗡鳴叫著從一個力士身子里往下降落。
"There's the Red Rocket," said Henry, "just come in from New York." Looking at his watch. "Seven minutes behind time," he added, and shook his head."These Atlantic services–they're really scandalously unpunctual."
“那就是紅色火箭,”亨利說,“剛從紐約飛到”他看看表,“遲到了七分鐘,”他搖了搖頭補充,“這些大西洋航班——的確誤了點,太丟臉了。”
He took his foot off the accelerator. The humming of the screws overhead dropped an octave and a half, back through wasp and hornet to bumble bee, to cockchafer,to stag-beetle.
他一松腳下的加速器,頭頂上螺旋槳的轟鳴聲降低了八度半,從大黃蜂變成了黃蜂、蜜蜂、金龜子、鹿角蟲。
The upward rush of the machine slackened off; a moment later they were hanging motionless in the air.
飛機上升的沖刺減緩下來,不一會兒他們便一動不動是在了空中。
Henry pushed at a lever; there was a click.
亨利推了一根杠桿,咋的一聲,他們前面的螺旋槳開始了旋轉。
Slowly at first, then faster and faster, till it was a circular mist before their eyes, the propeller in front of them began to revolve.The wind of a horizontal speed whistled ever more shrilly in the stays.
起初很緩慢,漸漸變快,最后眼前便成了一片圓形的光霧,懸浮平飛的高速風叫得越發(fā)尖利了。
Henry kept his eye on the revolution-counter; when the needle touched the twelve hundred mark, he threw the helicopter screws out of gear.
亨利的眼睛盯住轉速盤,見那指針指到一千二,便松開了上升螺旋槳。
The machine had enough forward momentum to be able to fly on its planes.
飛機已有足夠的前沖量靠機器維持飛行。
Lenina looked down through the window in the floor between her feet.
列寧娜通過兩腿之間的地板窗戶看下去。
They were flying over the six kilometre zone of park-land that separated Central London from its first ring of satellite suburbs.
他們正在六英里的公園地帶上空飛過,那一地帶把倫敦中心區(qū)和第一衛(wèi)星郊區(qū)分隔開來。
The green was maggoty with fore-shortened life.
綠色地帶上的縮小了的人群像是蛆蟲。
Forests of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy towers gleamed between the trees.
樹林里閃亮著無數(shù)汪汪狗急離心游戲塔,猶如森林。
Near Shepherd's Bush two thousand Beta-Minus mixed doubles were playing Riemann-surface tennis.
牧人灌木叢附近,兩千對比塔減正在進行瑞曼面網(wǎng)球混合雙打。
A double row of Escalator Fives Courts lined the main road from Notting Hill to Willesden.
從諾丁山到維爾施登的干道兩旁是五號自動扶梯球場。
In the Ealing stadium a Delta gymnastic display and community sing was in progress.
依林運動場上一場德爾塔體操表演和社會歌演唱正在進行。
"What a hideous colour khaki is," remarked Lenina, voicing the hypnop.dic prejudices of her caste.
“咔嘰是多么丑陋的顏色。”列寧娜說,表達了她從睡眠教育獲得的階級偏見。
The buildings of the Hounslow Feely Studio covered seven and a half hectares. Near them a black and khaki army of labourers was busy revitrifying the surface of the Great West Road.
杭斯洛感官片攝制廠占地七公頃半,附近有一支穿黑色咔嘰制服的勞動者隊伍正為西大路重新鋪設玻璃而忙碌。
One of the huge travelling crucibles was being tapped as they flew over. The molten stone poured out in a stream of dazzling incandescence across the road, the asbestos rollers came and went; at the tail of an insulated watering cart the steam rose in white clouds.
他倆飛過時,一個流動坩堝剛好打開,熔化的玻璃發(fā)出刺目的強光滾滾流向路面。石棉壓路機碾來碾去,絕緣灑水車后蒸騰起一片白霧。
At Brentford the Television Corporation's factory was like a small town.
市冷特福的電視機公司工廠簡直像一個小市鎮(zhèn)。
"They must be changing the shift," said Lenina.
“他們準是在換班。”列寧娜說。
Like aphides and ants, the leaf-green Gamma girls, the black Semi-Morons swarmed round the entrances,or stood in queues to take their places in the monorail tram-cars.
淡綠色的伽瑪姑娘和黑衣的半白癡們像蚜蟲和螞蟻一樣在門口擠來擠去,有的在排隊,準備上單軌電車。
Mulberry-coloured Beta-Minuses came and went among the crowd.
人群之間走來走去的是桑葚色的比塔減。
The roof of the main building was alive with the alighting and departure of helicopters.
主樓頂上直升機或升或降,一片繁忙景象。
"My word," said Lenina, "I'm glad I'm not a Gamma."
“說心里話,”列寧娜說,“我幸好不是個伽瑪。”
Ten minutes later they were at Stoke Poges and had started their first round of Obstacle Golf.
十分鐘后他們已來到斯托克波吉,玩起了第一局障礙高爾夫。