美丽新世界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.

人群鸣哇一声大叫起来，其他的舞人全都两手前伸，向他跑去。

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

那人把蛇抛向了跑来的第一群人，又伸手到柜子里去抓。

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

越来越多的黑蛇、黄蛇和花蛇被扔了出来。

And then the dance began again on a different rhythm.

舞蹈以另一种节奏重新开始。

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

人们抓住蛇一圈又一圈跳着，膝盖和腰像蛇一样柔和地扭动着。

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

然后领舞人发出信号，人们又把蛇一条又一条扔向广场中心。

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

一个老头从地下室出来了，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.

另一个妇女又从另一个地下室钻了出来，把一黑罐水洒到蛇身上。

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

然后老头举起了双手。出现了惊人的、意外的、绝对的寂静。

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

鼓声停止了，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.

老头用手指了指两个通向地下世界的洞口，这时从一个洞口出现了一只画成的鹰，像是被一只看不见的手举起的;从另一个洞口出现了一个钉在十字架上的赤裸的人的画像。

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

两幅画悬在那里，好像靠自己的力量支撑着，在打量着人群。

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，一个大约十八岁的小伙子走出人群。他除了腰上一块白棉布，全身一丝不挂。小伙子在胸前交叉了两手，低头站到老人面前。

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

老人在他头上画了一个十字，转过身子。

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

小伙子绕着那堆扭来扭去的蛇慢吞吞地转起圈来。

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

第一圈转完，第二圈才转了一半，一个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.

那人高个子，戴一个郊狼面具，手上拿一根皮带编成的鞭子，向小伙子走去。

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

小伙子继续转着圈，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.

郊狼人举起鞭子，等了许久，一个猛烈的动作，一声呼啸，鞭子响亮地抽打在皮肉上。

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，却没有出声，继续用同样缓慢稳定的步伐转着圈。

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，鞭子抽时人群起初倒抽了一口气，接着便发出了低沉的呻吟。

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

小伙子继续走。一圈，两圈，三圈，他围着圈子走了四圈，流起血来。五圈，六圈。

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

列宁娜突然用手捂住了自己的脸啜泣了。

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

“啊，叫他们别打了，别打了!”她哀求道。但是鞭子一鞭又一鞭无情地抽着，七圈。

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

小伙子突然打了一个趔趄，却仍然没有出声，只是扑倒了下去。