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"Oh – that!" he said, starting. "You would like to hear about civilization.
“哦——那个嘛！”他开始说。“您愿意听听有关文明的事。
Certainly. Had I got to where my respirator fell down?"
当然可以。我是不是已经说到我的呼吸保护器落下来的事？”
"No – but I understand everything now.
“不——不过现在我已经明了种种事情了。
You put on your respirator, and managed to walk along the surface of the earth to a vomitory,
你戴上你的呼吸保护器，设法沿着地球表面走到一个出口处去，
and there your conduct was reported to the Central Committee."
就在那里，你的行径给报告到中央委员会去了。”
"By no means." He passed his hand over his forehead, as if dispelling some strong impression.
“绝不是这样。” 他用手摸了摸前额，好像是驱除什么强烈的印象似的。
Then, resuming his narrative, he warmed to it again.
后来——接着叙述下去，他便又热烈地谈起来。
"My respirator fell about sunset. I had mentioned that the fountain seemed feebler, had I not?"
“我的呼吸保护器大约是在日落的时候落下来的。我已经提到过，那个空气喷泉似乎比较软弱无力了，我没有提到过吗？”
"Yes." "About sunset, it let the respirator fall.
“提到过。”“大约在日落的时候，那空气喷泉使呼吸保护器落了下来。
As I said, I had entirely forgotten about the Machine, and I paid no great attention at the time, being occupied with other things.
像我说过的那样，当时我已经完全忘记了大机器的事，当时我没大注意，也因为我正专心注意别的事情。
I had my pool of air, into which I could dip when the outer keenness became intolerable,
我有我的空气池，在外界的锋利变得难以忍受的时候，我可以浸到它里面去，
and which would possibly remain for days, provided that no wind sprang up to disperse it.
这可能会保持上几天，假定不起风把空气驱散的话。
Not until it was too late did I realize what the stoppage of the escape implied.
没等到太迟，我就体会到阻止逃跑的含义是什么了。
You see – the gap in the tunnel had been mended; the Mending Apparatus; the Mending Apparatus, was after me.
您知道——隧道里的断口已经修理过；那台修理机；那台修理机就跟在我后面哩。
"One other warning I had, but I neglected it.
“我得到了另一个警告，可是我把它忽略了。
The sky at night was clearer than it had been in the day, and the moon,
在夜里，天空比在白昼更为晴朗。还有那月亮，
which was about half the sky behind the sun, shone into the dell at moments quite brightly.
在太阳的后面，大约在半天空，不时相当亮地照进那小小的谷地里。
I was in my usual place – on the boundary between the two atmospheres –
我在我通常呆的地方——恰在两种空气的分界上——
when I thought I saw something dark move across the bottom of the dell, and vanish into the shaft.
这时我想我看见了些什么黑东西移动着横过谷底，消失在上下行的通道里。
In my folly, I ran down. I bent over and listened, and I thought I heard a faint scraping noise in the depths.
我一阵糊涂，跑了过去。我弯下身去细听，我认为我听到在深处有一种微弱的刮擦声。
"At this – but it was too late – I took alarm. I determined to put on my respirator and to walk right out of the dell.
“一听到这——但是已经太迟了——我大吃一惊。我决定戴上我的呼吸保护器，立刻走出那个小山谷，
But my respirator had gone. I knew exactly where it had fallen – between the stopper and the aperture
可是我的呼吸保护器不见了。我准确地知道它降落在那个地方——落在制动器和洞口之间——
–and I could even feel the mark that it had made in the turf.
甚至我能够摸到它留在草根土上的痕迹。
It had gone, and I realized that something evil was at work, and I had better escape to the other air, and,
它不见了，我理解到是有什么鬼东西在作怪，我倒不如逃到另一种空气里去，
if I must die, die running towards the cloud that had been the colour of a pearl.
要是我一定得死的话，那就跑向珍珠色的那片云里去死。
I never started. Out of the shaft – it is too horrible.
我可并未动身。在上下行的通道的外面——那太可怕了——
A worm, a long white worm, had crawled out of the shaft and gliding over the moonlit grass.
一条虫，一条好长的白虫从上下行的通道里爬了出来，在月光下的草地上滑行着。
I screamed. I did everything that I should not have done,
我尖声叫了起来。我做了种种我不该那样做的事，
I stamped upon the creature instead of flying from it, and it at once curled round the ankle.
我踩在这个活东西上，而没有飞速跑开它，于是它立刻缠上我的踝部。
Then we fought. The worm let me run all over the dell, but edged up my leg as I ran.
我们便战斗起来。这条虫随着我跑遍那个小山谷，可是在我跑的时候，它却慢慢爬上我的两条腿。
"Help!" I cried. (That part is too awful. It belongs to the part that you will never know.)
“救命啊！”我喊着。（那部分太可怕了。那属于您永远也不应该知道的部分。）
"Help!" I cried. (Why cannot we suffer in silence?)
（“救命啊！”我喊着。（为什么我们不能沉默地忍受呢？）
