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"What do you mean, why's it got to be built?" he said. "It's a bypass. You've got to build bypasses."
“你这是什么意思，凭什么它一定得建？”他说，“这是通道。你们总得建通道吧。”
Bypasses are devices which allow some people to drive from point A to point B very fast whilst other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people of point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people of point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.
通道是一种装置，它使A点的人能够很快地到达B点，同时B点的人也能够很快地到达A点。住在两点之间的C点的人，通常会感到非常奇怪：A点有什么好，弄得B点的这么多人都渴望去那儿：B点又有什么好，使得A点的这么多人都渴望去那儿。他们通常倾向于希望人们能一劳永逸地去到自己想去的任何地方。
Mr Prosser wanted to be at point D. Point D wasn't anywhere in particular, it was just any convenient point a very long way from points A, B and C. He would have a nice little cottage at point D, with axes over the door, and spend a pleasant amount of time at point E, which would be the nearest pub to point D. His wife of course wanted climbing roses, but he wanted axes. He didn't know why - he just liked axes. He flushed hotly under the derisive grins of the bulldozer drivers.
普洛塞先生想去D点。D点并不是一个特定的什么地方，它只是远离A、B和C点的任何一个方便的去处。他在那儿会有一间舒适的乡间小屋，门上挂着斧头，他可以在E点度过快乐的时光，而E点是指距离D点最近的酒馆。当然，他的妻子会更希望要生长着的玫瑰，但他就是想要斧头。他也不知道为什么——就是喜欢斧头。这时，他看到了推土机司机们嘲弄的笑容，脸一下子变得通红。
He shifted his weight from foot to foot, but it was equally uncomfortable on each. Obviously somebody had been appallingly incompetent and he hoped to God it wasn't him.
他换着脚支撑身体，但两只都不舒服。显然，这里将会有什么人不能胜任，上帝保佑，他希望不是自己。
Mr Prosser said: "You were quite entitled to make any suggestions or protests at the appropriate time you know."
普洛塞先生说：“你被赋予了充分的权利在适当的时候提出建议或是抗议，这一点你是知道的。”
"Appropriate time?" hooted Arthur. "Appropriate time? The first I knew about it was when a workman arrived at my home yesterday. I asked him if he'd come to clean the windows and he said no he'd come to demolish the house. He didn't tell me straight away of course. Oh no. First he wiped a couple of windows and charged me a fiver. Then he told me."
“适当的时候？”阿瑟轻蔑地哼了一声。“适当的时候？昨天有个工人到我家来，我才头一次听说这件事情。当时我问他是不是来擦窗户的，他说不是，他是来推倒我这间房子的。当然，他并没有直接告诉我这个。他先为我擦了两扇窗户，收了我5块钱，然后才告诉我的。”
"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine month."
“可是，邓特先生，你要知道，这些计划在本地的规划办公室已经放了9个月了。”
"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anybody or anything."
“噢，是吗？那好吧，我告诉你，我一听到这个消息就直接去找这些计划来看，那是昨天下午的事儿。但你好像忘了去关注它们一下，不是吗？我是指，像你刚才所说的那样。”
"But the plans were on display ..."
“可是，这些计划应该就是向公众展示的啊……”
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
“展示？我最后不得不到地下室里去把它们翻出来。”
"That's the display department."
“那儿就是我们的展示室呀。”
"With a torch."
“那么昏暗的灯光？”
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
“哦，是这样，有的灯可能坏了。”
"So had the stairs."
“还有楼梯也坏了。”
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
“好吧。不过你瞧，你最终还是看到通告了，不是吗？”
"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard."
“是，”阿瑟说，“我确实是看到了。只不过是在一间废弃厕所里扔着的一个上了锁的文件柜的最低层，厕所门上还写着‘小心豹子’。”
