美丽新世界Brave New World 第18章(14)

 　　A convincing thunder rumbled¹ through the words. He lifted another spadeful of earth.

　　一声有说服力的霹雳通过这话隆隆炸出。他铲起了另一锹土。

　　Why had Linda died? Why had she been allowed to become gradually less than human and at last … He shuddered².

　　琳妲是为什么死的？为什么要让她慢慢地变，变得越来越没有个人样，然后终于？……他打了一个寒碜。

　　A good kissing carrion³.

　　一块大可亲吻的臭狗肉。

　　He planted his foot on his spade and stamped it fiercely into the tough ground.

　　他把脚踏在铲子上狠狠地往结实的土地里踩。

　　As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.

　　我们在上帝面前就像顽童眼里的苍蝇；他们杀死我们只为了取乐。

　　Thunder again; words that proclaimed themselves true–truer somehow than truth itself.

　　又是一声炸雷。那可是千真万确的道理——在一定的意义上比真理还要真实。

　　And yet that same Gloucester had called them ever-gentle gods.

　　可是那同一个格罗斯特又把他们叫做永远温柔的神灵。

　　Besides, thy best of rest is sleep and that thou oft provok'st; yet grossly fear'st thy death which is no more.

　　你最好的休息是睡眠，你也常常渴望睡眠，可你又愚蠢地怕死，而死只是不存在而已。

　　No more than sleep.Sleep. Perchance to dream. His spade struck against a stone; he stooped to pick it up.

　　死亡不过是睡觉，睡觉，也许还做梦。他的铁锹铲在一块石头上，他弯下身子要拣起石头。

　　For in that sleep of death, what dreams? …

　　因为在那死亡的梦里，会出现什么样的梦？……

　　A humming overhead had become a roar; and suddenly he was in shadow, there was something between the sun and him.

　　头顶的嗡嗡声变成了轰鸣；一片阴影突然遮住了他，有什么东西插到他和阳光之间了！

　　He looked up, startled, from his digging,

　　他吃了一惊，停下挖土和思想，抬头一看。

　　from his thoughts; looked up in a dazzled bewilderment,

　　眼前的景象使他头昏眼花，混乱糊涂。

　　his mind still wandering in that other world of truer-than-truth, still focused on the immensities of death and deity⁴;

　　他的心还在另外一个世界游荡，在那比真实还真实的世界里，还集中在死亡与神灵的汗漫天涯里，

　　looked up and saw, close above him, the swarm⁵ of hovering⁶ machines.

　　抬头却看见了那黑压压一大片悬浮的直升机向他的头顶逼了过来。

　　Like locusts⁷ they came, hung poised⁸, descended⁹ all around him on the heather.

　　直升机像蝗虫一样飞着，悬浮在空中，在他四面八方降落，落到石南丛里，

　　And from out of the bellies¹⁰ of these giant grasshoppers¹¹ stepped men in white viscose-flannels,

　　然后从这些硕大无朋的蝗虫肚子里走出了穿白色黏胶法兰绒衫的男士，

　　women (for the weather was hot) in acetate-shantung pyjamas¹² or velveteen shorts and sleeveless, half-unzippered singlets–one couple from each.

　　和因为怕热穿着人造丝山东宽袍、天鹅绒短裤、或无袖坦胸连衣裙的女士——每架飞机一对。

　　In a few minutes there were dozens of them, standing¹³ in a wide circle round the lighthouse, staring, laughing, clicking their cameras,

　　几分钟之内已经下来了好几十对。他们围着灯塔站成了一个大圆圈，瞪着眼看着，哈哈地笑着，照相机咋哒咋哒响着，

　　throwing (as to an ape) peanuts, packets of sex-hormone chewing-gum, pan-glanduar petite beurres.

　　向他扔着花生、性激素口香糖和泛腺小奶油饼，像扔给猴子一样。

　　And every moment–for across the Hog's Back the stream of traffic now flowed unceasingly–their numbers increased.

　　他们的人数在每时每刻增加，因为现在野猪背上飞机的洪流还在不停拥来。

　　As in a nightmare, the dozens became scores, the scores hundreds.

　　几十个立即变成了上百个，然后是几百个，仿佛是一场噩梦。

1 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

2 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 carrion   

n.腐肉

参考例句：

• A crow of bloodthirsty ants is attracted by the carrion.一群嗜血的蚂蚁被腐肉所吸引。
• Vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill.兀鹫通常以腐肉和公路上的死伤动物为食。

4 deity   

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

• Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。
• The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

5 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

6 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

7 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

11 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

12 pyjamas   

n.（宽大的）睡衣裤

参考例句：

• This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
• Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。