美麗新世界Brave New World 第8章(4)

And she would tell him about the lovely music thatcame out of a box, and all the nice games you couldplay, and the delicious things to eat and drink, andthe light that came when you pressed a little thing inthe wall, and the pictures that you could hear andfeel and smell, as well as see, and the pink and greenand blue and silver houses as high as mountains, andeverybody happy and no one ever sad or angry, andanother box for making nice smells, and every onebelonging to every one else, and the boxes whereyou could see and hear what was happening at theother side of the world, and babies in lovely clean bottles–everything so clean,and no nastysmells, no dirt at all–and people never lonely, but living together and being so jolly and happy,like the summer dances here in Malpais, but much happier, and the happiness being thereevery day, every day. …

她告訴他從一個盒子里放出來的好聽的音樂，好玩的、好吃的。好喝的東西;在墻上一個東西上一按，就會發(fā)出亮光;還有圖畫，不光是看得見，而且還聽得見，摸得著，聞得出;還有一種盒子，能夠發(fā)出愉快的香味;還有山那么高的房子，粉紅色的，綠色的，藍(lán)色的，銀灰色的。那兒每個人都非常快活，沒有人會傷心或者生氣。每個人都屬于每個其他的人。還有那些盒子，在那兒你可以看見和聽見世界那一邊發(fā)生的事情，還有瓶子里的可愛的小嬰兒——一切都那么干凈，沒有臭味，沒有骯臟，人們從來不會孤獨，大家在一起快快活活地過日子，像在這兒馬爾佩斯開夏令舞會時一樣。只是快活得多，而且每天都快活，每天都快活……

He listened by the hour.

他一小時一小時地聽著。

And sometimes, when he and the other children were tired with too much playing, one of theold men of the pueblo would talk to them, in those other words, of the great Transformer of theWorld;and of the long fight between Right Hand and Left Hand, between Wet and Dry; ofAwonawilona, who made a great fog by thinking in the night, and then made the whole worldout of the fog; of Earth Mother and Sky Father; of Ahaiyuta and Marsailema, the twins of Warand Chance; of Jesus and Pookong; of Mary and Etsanatlehi, the woman who makes herselfyoung again; of the Black Stone at Laguna and the Great Eagle and Our Lady of Acoma.

有時他跟別的孩子們玩膩了，村子里的老人也會用另外的語言對他們講故事。講世界的偉大的改造者;講左手跟右手、干和濕之間的長期斗爭;講晚上一想就想出了大霧，然后又把全世界從霧里救出來的阿沃納微羅那;講地母和天父;講戰(zhàn)爭與機遇的孿生子阿海雨塔和瑪塞列螞;講耶穌和菩公;講瑪利和讓自己青春重現(xiàn)的哀擦那雷喜;講拉古納的黑石頭和阿扣馬的大鷹和圣母。

Strange stories, all the more wonderful to him for being told in the other words and so not fullyunderstood.

全是些離奇的故事，因為是用另一種語言講的，不大聽得懂，所以特別好聽。

Lying in bed, he would think of Heaven and London and Our Lady of Acoma and the rows androws of babies in clean bottles

他常躺在床上想著天堂和倫敦、阿扣馬圣母和一排排清潔的瓶子里的嬰兒。

and Jesus flying up and Linda flying up and the great Director of World Hatcheries andAwonawilona.

耶穌飛上天，琳組飛上天，還有世界孵化中心的偉大主任和阿沃納微羅那。

Lots of men came to see Linda. The boys began to point their fingers at him.

許多男人來看琳妲。孩子們開始用指頭指他。

In the strange other words they said that Linda was bad; they called her names he did notunderstand, but that he knew were bad names.

他們用那另外一種陌生語言說琳妲是壞女人。他們叫了她一些名字，他聽不懂，卻明白都是壞名字。

One day they sang a song about her, again and again.

有一天他們唱了她一個歌，唱了又唱。

He threw stones at them.

他對他們?nèi)邮^。

They threw back; a sharp stone cut his cheek.

他們也扔石頭打他，一塊尖石頭砸傷了他的臉。

The blood woudn't stop; he was covered with blood.

血流不止，他滿身是血。

Linda taught him to read.

琳妲教他讀書。

With a piece of charcoal she drew pictures on the wall–an animal sitting down, a baby inside abottle; then she wrote letters.

她用一塊木炭在墻上畫了些畫——一只動物坐著，一個嬰兒在瓶子里，然后又寫些字母。

THE CAT IS ON THE MAT. THE TOT IS IN THE POT. He learned quickly and easily.

寫：小小子蹲瓶子，小貓咪坐墊子。他學(xué)得又快又輕松。

When he knew how to read all the words she wrote on the wall,

他會讀墻上所有的字之后

Linda opened her big wooden box and pulled out from under those funny little red trousers shenever wore a thin little book.

琳妲打開了她的大木箱，從那些她從來不穿的滑稽的小紅褲下面抽出了一本薄薄的小書。