美麗新世界Brave New World 第7章(5)

A great yell went up from the crowd, and all theother dancers ran towards him with out-stretchedhands.

人群鳴哇一聲大叫起來，其他的舞人全都兩手前伸，向他跑去。

He tossed the snakes to the first-comers, thendipped back into the chest for more.

那人把蛇拋向了跑來的第一群人，又伸手到柜子里去抓。

More and more, black snakes and brown andmottled-he flung them out.

越來越多的黑蛇、黃蛇和花蛇被扔了出來。

And then the dance began again on a different rhythm.

舞蹈以另一種節(jié)奏重新開始。

Round and round they went with their snakes, snakily, with a soft undulating movement at theknees and hips. Round and round.

人們抓住蛇一圈又一圈跳著，膝蓋和腰像蛇一樣柔和地扭動著。

Then the leader gave a signal, and one after another, all the snakes were flung down in themiddle of the square;

然后領舞人發(fā)出信號，人們又把蛇一條又一條扔向廣場中心。

an old man came up from underground and sprinkled them with corn meal,

一個老頭從地下室出來了，把玉米片撒到蛇身上。

and from the other hatchway came a woman and sprinkled them with water from a black jar.

另一個婦女又從另一個地下室鉆了出來，把一黑罐水灑到蛇身上。

Then the old man lifted his hand and, startingly, terrifyingly, there was absolute silence.

然后老頭舉起了雙手。出現了驚人的、意外的、絕對的寂靜。

The drums stopped beating, life seemed to have come to an end.

鼓聲停止了，生命也似乎停止了。

The old man pointed towards the two hatchways that gave entrance to the lower world. Andslowly, raised by invisible hands from below, there emerged from the one a painted image ofan eagle, from the other that of a man, naked, and nailed to a cross.

老頭用手指了指兩個通向地下世界的洞口，這時從一個洞口出現了一只畫成的鷹，像是被一只看不見的手舉起的;從另一個洞口出現了一個釘在十字架上的赤裸的人的畫像。

They hung there, seemingly self-sustained, as though watching.

兩幅畫懸在那里，好像靠自己的力量支撐著，在打量著人群。

The old man clapped his hands. Naked but for a white cotton breech-cloth, a boy of abouteighteen stepped out of the crowd and stood before him, his hands crossed over his chest, hishead bowed.

老人拍拍手，一個大約十八歲的小伙子走出人群。他除了腰上一塊白棉布，全身一絲不掛。小伙子在胸前交叉了兩手，低頭站到老人面前。

The old man made the sign of the cross over him and turned away.

老人在他頭上畫了一個十字，轉過身子。

Slowly, the boy began to walk round the writhing heap of snakes.

小伙子繞著那堆扭來扭去的蛇慢吞吞地轉起圈來。

He had completed the first circuit and was half-way through the second when, from among thedancers,

第一圈轉完，第二圈才轉了一半，一個人走出了跳舞的人群。

a tall man wearing the mask of a coyote and holding in his hand a whip of plaited leather,advanced towards him.

那人高個子，戴一個郊狼面具，手上拿一根皮帶編成的鞭子，向小伙子走去。

The boy moved on as though unaware of the other's existence.

小伙子繼續(xù)轉著圈，仿佛不知道那人的存在。

The coyote-man raised his whip, there was a long moment af expectancy, then a swiftmovement, the whistle of the lash and its loud flat-sounding impact on the ftesh.

郊狼人舉起鞭子，等了許久，一個猛烈的動作，一聲呼嘯，鞭子響亮地抽打在皮肉上。

The boy's body quivered; but he made no sound, he walked on at the same slow, steady pace.

小伙子身子一抖，卻沒有出聲，繼續(xù)用同樣緩慢穩(wěn)定的步伐轉著圈。

The coyote struck again, again; and at every blow at first a gasp, and then a deep groan wentup from the crowd.

郊狼又是一鞭，再是一鞭，鞭子抽時人群起初倒抽了一口氣，接著便發(fā)出了低沉的呻吟。

The boy walked. Twice, thrice, four times round he went. The blood was streaming. Five timesround, six times round.

小伙子繼續(xù)走。一圈，兩圈，三圈，他圍著圈子走了四圈，流起血來。五圈，六圈。

Suddenly Lenina covered her face shish her hands and began to sob.

列寧娜突然用手捂住了自己的臉啜泣了。

"Oh, stop them, stop them!" she implored. But the whip fell and fell inexorably. Seven timesround.

“啊，叫他們別打了，別打了!”她哀求道。但是鞭子一鞭又一鞭無情地抽著，七圈。

Then all at once the boy staggered and, still without a sound, pitched forward on to his face.

小伙子突然打了一個趔趄，卻仍然沒有出聲，只是撲倒了下去。