208.英文正文（208）

“thenwhybothertotortureme？”thoughtwinston，withamomentarybitterness。o’briencheckedhisstepasthoughwinstonhadutteredthethoughtaloud。hislargeuglyfacecamenearer，withtheeyesalittlenarrowed。

“youarethinking，”hesaid，“thatsinceweintendtodestroyyouutterly，sothatnothingthatyousayordocanmakethesmallestdifference—inthatcase，whydowegotothetroubleofinterrogatingyoufirst？thatiswhatyouwerethinking，wasitnot？”

“yes，”saidwinston。

o’briensmiledslightly。“youareaflawinthepattern，winston。youareastainthatmustbewipedout。didinottellyoujustnowthatwearedifferentfromthepersecutorsofthepast？wearenotcontentwithnegativeobedience，norevenwiththemostabjectsubmission。whenfinallyyousurrendertous，itmustbeofyourownfreewill。wedonotdestroythehereticbecauseheresistsus：solongasheresistsusweneverdestroyhim。weconverthim，wecapturehisinnermind，wereshapehim。weburnallevilandallillusionoutofhim；webringhimovertoourside，notinappearance，butgenuinely，heartandsoul。wemakehimoneofourselvesbeforewekillhim。itisintolerabletousthatanerroneousthoughtshouldexistanywhereintheworld，howeversecretandpowerlessitmaybe。evenintheinstantofdeathwecannotpermitanydeviation。intheolddaysthehereticwalkedtothestakestillaheretic，proclaiminghisheresy，exultinginit。eventhevictimoftherussianpurgescouldcarryrebellionlockedupinhisskullashewalkeddownthepassagewaitingforthebullet。butwemakethebrainperfectbeforeweblowitout。thecommandoftheolddespotismswas‘thoushaltnot’。thecommandofthetotalitarianswas‘thoushalt’。ourcommandis‘thouart’。noonewhomwebringtothisplaceeverstandsoutagainstus。everyoneiswashedclean。eventhosethreemiserabletraitorsinwhoseinnocenceyouoncebelieved—jones，aaronson，andrutherford—intheendwebrokethemdown。itookpartintheirinterrogationmyself。isawthemgraduallyworndown，whimpering，grovelling，weeping—andintheenditwasnotwithpainorfear，onlywithpenitence。bythetimewehadfinishedwiththemtheywereonlytheshellsofmen。therewasnothingleftinthemexceptsorrowforwhattheyhaddone，andloveofbigbrother。itwastouchingtoseehowtheylovedhim。theybeggedtobeshotquickly，sothattheycoulddiewhiletheirmindswerestillclean。”